Teaching Today
A blog following teacher Aaron Jura as he plans engaging, yet relevant English Language Arts content for High School students in New Orleans, LA.
So, the beginning of the year is upon most of us. I have already lived through my first week back. I must say, I love the first week back at school. I really do enjoy meeting all the new faces and getting to know them on a deeper level. This deep level of engagement is key to success later on -- especially once some form of fatigue starts setting in. Over the summer, as I have previously posted, I was fortunate enough to attend an NEH seminar on Appalachian Literature at Shepherd University in WV. One activity (of many) I have adapted to my first week lesson was George Ella Lyon's Where I'm From poem. I not only provided students with Lyon's version, but also with a template so that they could create their own. The level of work and creative writing I got back was breathtaking -- nearly publishable. Check out the poem and template here.
0 Comments
I'm sure you're familiar with the classic game of Jenga. Pull out a piece and attempt to keep the tower standing. Well, turns out, this works really great as a review activity for studying literature. I ran across the Literary Jenga product on TpT and I am absolutely in LOVE with it. I have been looking for ways to "gamify" classroom learning to increase engagement. Literary Jenga is a way to start out with low/no tech requirements. If you're feeling adventurous -- Breakout EDU offers a cool program where students seek out clues and answers to break into a locked box. Think of the teamwork required to complete this task. There is a library of created games or you can create your own. Set a timer and let the class begin -- no hints! Back at school and enjoying the fresh start of a new school year. After such an inspirational summer working with amazing educators and scholars from all over the country (and world) I am back to school. A particular educator, Marjie Bowker, who I met during my summer NEH seminar, directs an ingenious self-published narrative writing program at her high-needs school in the Seattle, WA area. Check out more on this amazing program here. Being that teachers ARE the greatest thieves out there -- I decided to start a self-published student generated narrative writing program at my school. While the project is just getting going at this point, I will be sure to update you with progress and any takeaways I have with trying to launch this type of program in the classroom. At this point we have brainstormed tie in's for professional writer workshops and readings to support the student's writing skills and we are also thinking about ways to embrace other cultures and tie in English Language Learners to the program through our Latin American studies program. Our graphic design and print layout classes will help a professional designer and typesetter with the development and layout (and art) for the project. I think the best part of this project is it is self-sustaining (if done perfectly.) When students are published we sell their books and the revenue from those sales help to support the next year's printing. Here's to another great year and another HUGE project to tackle. Here are some images from my NEH road trip in Appalachia. I thought this movie would make a great film study of character, Appalachian culture, in and out migration, and finally symbolism. Think about the piece of wood Gerdie is attempting to carve as her masterpiece. Why can't she get the face done? What is more important to her -- the face of Christ or the wood itself? Why? What about the argument Gerdie has with Clovis. How is this argument symbolic of Gerdie holding on to her upbringing and story as an Appalachian woman? This weekend the NEH Voices from the Misty Mountains group went on an optional field trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the variety of museums and monuments in the city. I included some pictures from the trip below:
On Wednesday the 20th we had the great pleasure of participating in a small group teaching session with Frank X Walker. Walker's poetry in Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers was especially poignant and relevant -- even though it focuses on revisionist mythmaking surrounding the murder of Medgar Evers by Byron de la Beckwith in Mississippi in the 1960's.
This work is so powerful and I hope to use Walker's work this year in class. Below you will find an NPR story regarding the book and the links above will get you to Amazon to buy it! It is well worth it and something you can use in the classroom or just to think at home. Such an amazing 8-mile kayaking journey from Taylor's Landing to Shepherdstown, WV. I was able to snap pictures of lots of wildlife -- including a bald eagle in flight, some deer, heron, and more.
Today we had the opportunity to do a small group acting workshop with professional actress Nafeesa Monroe who is currently appearing in The Wedding Gift at the Contemporary American Theater Festival here at Shepherd University. WOW! So many takeaways and fun activities to do with students to get them into character or to analyze/summarize plot, etc. I'll be honest -- I almost groan every year when I have to do a drama in English class. I can tell you that this workshop really made me understand how to make this fun and exciting for my kids and I think the icebreakers and activities would be engaging even when studying literature. To tell the story as an actor you need to know how you appear -- in all aspects. We started the session by simply walking around the space at a normal pace. As we got comfortable walking about Nafessa would tell us at what pace to walk (think 1-10, with a 5 being a standard pace.) Then she would announce that we should use a particular part of our body to change our stride. Maybe being led (like you had a string attached to the left hip/then the right hip/toes/heart/head/belly/etc.) Each minor change to the stride helped to produce the look of a different kind of character. I thought the right hip looked more regal or royal, where the heart appeared more open (arms wide and outstretched.) The second exercise was an open scene where a set three line and two character interaction is written down and in pairs you act out your interpretation. Here were the lines: A: Hi B. Hello A: What time is it? B: Um, it's 7. A: Oh. Thanks. B: Sure This forced us to come up with a backstory and add emotions and interactions to the lines to portray a character. My group decided that character A was a woman on a blind date (he's obviously late or she's being ditched) and character B is the waiter at the restaurant. Here's a video example of an acting class using simple dialog and adding the emotion to the scene with their facial expressions and body language: I'll post PART 2 of the acting workshop later on...
I am on my second week of the Voices of the Misty Mountains seminar at Shepherd University here in Shepherdstown, WV. I must say this experience working with Appalachian writers and playwrights has been exceptional. I am excited to continue watching the plays going on here with the Contemporary American Theater Festival. I am also loving working with creative figures like Silas House and Adam Booth (this week we have Kentucky based poet Frank X Walker.)
I will post a more detailed post VERY soon! |
Author
Mr. J is a high school teacher in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mr. J believes in the power of educators to help children and families achieve. Follow his blog for tips and techniques to keep engagement high and student achievement at the forefront. Archives
July 2017
Categories
All
|