Mrs. Jones's 8th Grade ELA Classroom
Well it's that time again! Project time in English class. I'm so excited. For the last 22 days, we will read the novel, Last Night I Sang to the Monster, and we will create poetry and visual art as ways to respond to this novel. We will start our unit on Monday. Please be sure to read the poem Ode to a Breakdown!
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Just a reading I found !
One of my recent juniors was particularly eloquent on the subject.
After having sat in my classroom for a year forcefully projecting his
boredom, he started an e-mail dialogue with me over the summer. “The
reason for studying fiction escapes me,” he wrote. “Why waste time
thinking about fabricated situations when there are plenty of real
situations that need solutions? Cloning, ozone depletion, and alternate
fuels are a few of the countless problems that need to be addressed by
the next generation, my generation.”
Okay, you may think, this is
a kid geared to excel in history and science, not literature. But read
his closing words: “Granted fiction has a place in this world, but it
is not in the classroom. It is beside the night lamp next to your bed,
the car ride to the beach, the soft glow of a fireplace. Fiction is
about spending beautiful days indoors because you can’t wait to get to
the next page. Because I like science fiction, my Shakespeare, my
Fitzgerald, my Dickinson are Haldeman, Asimov, Herbert. They dare me to
think and question my beliefs.”
So there you have it: A smart
teen and motivated reader goes to high-school English class and
discovers that the classics have nothing to offer him. “The reason I
did not participate in class,” he admitted, “was that I found the
reading a chore.” — Nancy Schnog, The Washington Post
One of my recent juniors was particularly eloquent on the subject.
After having sat in my classroom for a year forcefully projecting his
boredom, he started an e-mail dialogue with me over the summer. “The
reason for studying fiction escapes me,” he wrote. “Why waste time
thinking about fabricated situations when there are plenty of real
situations that need solutions? Cloning, ozone depletion, and alternate
fuels are a few of the countless problems that need to be addressed by
the next generation, my generation.”
Okay, you may think, this is
a kid geared to excel in history and science, not literature. But read
his closing words: “Granted fiction has a place in this world, but it
is not in the classroom. It is beside the night lamp next to your bed,
the car ride to the beach, the soft glow of a fireplace. Fiction is
about spending beautiful days indoors because you can’t wait to get to
the next page. Because I like science fiction, my Shakespeare, my
Fitzgerald, my Dickinson are Haldeman, Asimov, Herbert. They dare me to
think and question my beliefs.”
So there you have it: A smart
teen and motivated reader goes to high-school English class and
discovers that the classics have nothing to offer him. “The reason I
did not participate in class,” he admitted, “was that I found the
reading a chore.” — Nancy Schnog, The Washington Post
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Welcome to My Blog!
Welcome to my blog ! You will have to bear with me as I learn how to blog. I love reading blogs on literature so I figured I would start my own. I'm a 6th gr. English teacher with aspirations to move to the high school level. I love to read young adult literature. It is one of my favorite genres of reading. I particularly like young adult literature that the students can relate too. However, I have found that many teachers shy away from these books. Why? These are the books that the richest discussions come from. Aren't we depriving students the opportunity to participate in these types of discussions by forcing the classics on them? Yes! Don't quote me ! Just my opinion!
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