Lit Circle Jobs 2.0

Today my district had a three-hour professional development day. While many teachers might cringe as they envision high-priced education bureaucrats and consultants lecturing at teachers in cramped auditoriums, fortunately my school decided to let the staff propose a variety of activities for which colleagues could sign up.

Our tech-savvy librarian offered a workshop on Google Documents. Our special-ed director led a seminar on the school's co-teaching initiative. And I participated in an independent study where I did research and created a new assignment.

One of my most popular blog posts from a couple years ago was about literature circles. During today's workshop, I created six new literature circles roles. When I originally started using literature circles, I had the basics - Connector, Illustrator, Quoter, Question Creator. Click here for my first version. I worked to refine the wording and increase the amount of written response over the last couple of years. At the start of this year, I added two new jobs and tweaked the titles for all. So, in September my students were greeted with this document and presented the following options: Line Illuminator, Connection Captain, Word Warlock, Question Commander, Illustrious Artist, and Summary Sultan. Pretty snazzy right?

For the most part, students got excited about their roles, met my expectations, and effectively used their "jobs" to facilitate both small group and whole-class discussion on the reading. And just when you thought it couldn't get any more exciting, along comes Lit Circle Jobs 2.0! featuring the Character Commandant, Mood Maven, Insightful Identifier, Symbol Sleuth, Mind Muser, and Reactionary Revealer. I'll be trying out these new jobs with my seniors as they read Treasure Island, and my freshmen when we dive into The Old Man and the Sea.

If you have any questions about how I use literature circles, or if you've had your own success using them in your classroom, I would love to hear about it. Those of you who do use my work in your classrooms, please give credit to Mr. B-G, bgenglish.blogspot.com. Thanks!

Circle image from Wassily Kandinsky, www.prints.co.nz/page/fine-art/PROD/7104

The Old Man and the Sea Essay Comment Instructions

I would like your Old Man and the Sea essay comments to answer the following four questions. Write three to four sentences for each question.

I - What is this essay's thesis? Is it clear and concise? Is it focused? Does it engage you? Why or why not?

II - Of all the examples and quotations contained in this essay, which is the strongest? Why? What made it stand out above the others?

III - What is one thing this essay does well? It could be its organization, word choice, writing style, choice of quotations, introduction, conclusion, etc. In addition to mentioning what the author does well, copy and paste an example of what you thought was particularly effective. Be sure to put the example in quotations.

IV - What is one piece of advice that the author might consider the next time he or she is asked to write a similar type of analytical essay?

Your comments should appear below the story you are responding to. When asked to choose an identity, click "Name/URL," then write your first name and last initial in the name field. Leave the URL space blank. Comments not posted according to these instructions will be deleted.

I would like you to respond to a minimum of two essays per class. The essays will be up by the end of school on Monday, March 24th. Please bring a printed copy of your comments to class on Tuesday, March 25th, as I will check them then. Your classmates and I thank you for your valuable feedback.

Six comments = a "check"

Nine comments = a "check plus"

The Old Man and the Sea Research Project

I've revised the Old Man and the Sea research project my 9th graders complete before reading Hemingway's timeless tale of endurance, victory, defeat, and acceptance.

Click here for the updated requirements, which include writing a summary of Hemingway's life and literary accomplishments and researching various aspects of fishing and the fisherman's lifestyle.

The project helps to bring to life a number of the book's key components, and allows students to see how truly incredible Santiago's oceanic feats are.

Before students are set loose in our school's library to gather information, our librarian is going to give them a primer on Internet research, and hook them up with a free Boston Public Library eCard. As an English teacher, I am grateful to have a technologically savvy ally manning our literary depository!

From the hallway to the closet

On Friday I removed my 9th graders' Old Man and the Sea research posters from the hallway. I saved the best ones as models for next year's students. Below are what two of the better posters looked like:

OMS essay comment instructions

I would like your Old Man and the Sea essay comments to answer the following four questions:

I - How strong is this essay's thesis? Is it clear and concise? Is it focused? Does it engage you ?

II - Of all the examples and quotations contained in this essay, which is your favorite? Why?

III - What is one thing this essay does well? It could be its organization, word choice, writing style, choice of quotations, introduction, conclusion, etc.

IV - What is one piece of advice that the author might consider the next time he or she is asked to write a similar type of analytical essay?

Comments should range from one to three paragraphs. Your comments should appear below the story you are responding to. When asked to choose an identity, click "other," then sign your comment with your first name and last initial. Comments not posted according to these instructions will be deleted.

I would like you to respond to a minimum of one essay per class. The essays will be up by the end of school on Monday, March 5th. Due date change: Please bring a printed copy of your comments to class on Tuesday, March 6th, as I will check them then. Thank you for your valuable feedback.

Three comments = a "check"

Six comments = a "check plus"

Old Man Essay Prompts

I've posted a copy of The Old Man and the Sea essay prompts on my English Teaching Resources page.
I'm hoping that students are able to use that page to access handouts and assignment sheets they might have accidentally misplaced.

In a nod toward our school's Environmental Club, I hope that by "going digital" I am able to conserve paper, as when a student asks for a copy of a document I already distributed, I can refer him or her to the blog. I envision in the not-so-distant future a time when assignments are posted solely online, and essays are submitted digitally without unnecessary use of paper.

By posting some of my handouts and assignments online, I allow other teachers to borrow, tailor, and build. I am grateful to teachers like Mrs. Huff who have posted their handouts for others to peruse.

It is extremely beneficial to see how others in the profession teach similar units and concepts. Exposure to others' lessons and ideas have shaped my own instruction by validating what is working and helping me to strengthen, tweak, or scrap things that aren't as effective as I might like them to be.

Thanks the blog, I'm able to commiserate and learn from colleagues I would otherwise never meet due to geographical constraints.

On a final note, the image to the left is a photograph I took of a painting on display at Ernest Hemingway's Key West, FL, home, where he lived for about 10 years.

Fishing search advice

In addition to using the school's library database to search for information, try doing a refined Google search.

Often the most reliable Internet sites for research projects have a URL that ends in .edu, .org, or .gov. The ending of a URL can tell you about a site's "domain." Click here to learn more about domain names.

The domain .edu means the site is produced by an educational institution like a college or university. The domain .org is used for a non-commercial, non-profit site. A .gov site is associated with the United States Government. These types of sites often have reliable information written by professionals, although there are, of course, exceptions.

To limit your Google search to either .edu, .org, or .gov click here. First enter the subject of your search at the top, then type .edu in the domain box. All sites listed should be limited to .edu.
Here are my results of an .edu search for "deep sea fishing."
Do the same for .org and .gov.

After doing a search for deep sea fishing, I tired to do a limited Google search on "fishing as a way of life," but found few entries. So I expanded to a general search, and found some results.

Remember that we also have books about fishing on the book cart. I can help you make photocopies if you find something good.

Click here to learn about the correct way to cite sources using MLA format.

The Old Man and the Sea

Before my freshmen and I begin reading Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, we will do research projects about Hemingway and deep-sea fishing at the library. Click here for the assignment.

One of the tools we'll be using at the library is Infotrac. It's essentially a database of searchable essays and periodicals. Please ask me for the password.

Ms. Stroud said some good "keyword search" words are: saltwater fishing, salt water AND fishing, and fisheries.

If doing a subject search, try: fishing recreation, fishing vessels, marlin fishing, shark fishing, and big game fishing. Here are the results from one of Ms. Stroud's searches.

For those interested in learning more about Hemingway's "masculine prose" writing style, check out this link from Tidewater Community College in Virginia.

It does a decent job explaining the creative choices writers make when trying to write in particular styles. At one point it contrasts F. Scott Fitzgerald's "psychological flourishes" with Hemingway's hard prose.