McCormick, Patricia. Sold. New York: Hyperion Paperbacks, 2008.
Sold tells the story of Lakshmi a young girl living in a remote village in Nepal with her mother, stepfather, and stepbrother. Life in their mountain village is difficult and Lakshmi and her mother slave away in order to make a living for the family. Lakshmi’s stepfather is incapable of working and gambles what little money the family has. As a result, the stepfather sells Lakshmi off to a woman who promises to take her to a better life as a maid in the city—little does Lakshmi know that she is really being sold into prostitution. After arriving in India, Lakshmi finally becomes aware of her fate. Despite her efforts to resist her new situation, she is drugged and raped; and so her new life begins. Lakshmi forms relationships with the women around her and her desire to learn never wavers. Over the course of a year she does her best to try and pay off her debt to Mumtaz—the owner of the brothel—while still maintaining the belief that she is providing her mother and brother with a better life. In the end it is her continued interest in education that helps her escape her circumstances.
The book is written in prose verse and is a very quick and compelling read. McCormick is able to use a sparse amount of words to capture not only the Nepalese lifestyle and the horrific shift in Lakshmi’s life, but also the depth of conviction, hope, and faith that Lakshmi refuses to let go. The premise for the book was researched by McCormick and in her author’s note she recounts the different survivors of sex-trafficking that she had spoken with during the pre-writing stage of the novel. I think this book is a great way to introduce readers to the continued injustices in the world and to make them aware of the precious gift that is freedom. I think the book will resonate with young readers who are the same age as Lakshmi—male or female. Lakshmi is just a young girl who is naïve and trusting of those around her; she expects to be able to trust her stepfather and the women and men she encounters on her journey from Nepal into India, but it is not so. I enjoyed gaining a new perspective and understanding on a terrifying and horrific subject that I was not truly cognizant of before and I think McCormick brings this subject to life with Lakshmi’s tale.
I think the book is teachable because it lends itself to different kinds of exploration. Students can look at the format of the book and discuss what that brings to the text—how and why does McCormick use this medium? The book allows students to focus on a world issue that they might not be aware still exists—human slavery. The book also can be used with different critical lenses—the most obvious being the gender perspective, but also colonialist, reader-response, and even socio-economic. The issue of education and the power of knowledge is also an element that can be targeted in the book. I can also see myself using this book as a gateway between fiction and reality; students could research human-trafficking and the different aspects of that underground market that still exist in the world today. The book is also relatable to students either from the different themes—trust, family, the unknown, power of knowledge, community, faith—to the ability to project one’s own thirteen-year-old self into such a dire predicament.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
CI 5441: Jaramillo Response
Jaramillo, Ann. La Línea. Harrisonburg: Roaring Book Press, 2006.
Miguel Carlos Octavio Pablo de Cervantes has just turned fifteen. Where he is usually treated to a practical gift from his grandmother today he receives something he has been waiting for since he was eight years old—the summons from his father to come to America. Jaramillo follows Miguel’s journey as he leaves his life behind him and embraces the uncertainties of the long journey he must take across la línea. Along the way he encounters many obstacles: a stubborn sister, money-hungry officers and thugs, a strange old man, the mata gente, and a harrowing trek across the deserts of the southwest. Along the way both Miguel and his sister grow and learn the power of hope, the intense need for family, the effects of pride and jealousy, and the dangers of immigrating to the United States—the land of the American Dream and better opportunities for all. The book forces readers to think about these themes as they follow Miguel and Elena on their journey north across the border and into the United States. In the end, Miguel and Elena learn the truth about life in America and reevaluate their paths. As the book closes, we read as Miguel notes that there are “thousands of la líneas in life” sometimes you see them and sometimes you don’t, sometimes they change you immediately and other times it takes a moment of reflection to open your eyes to the change.
I thought this book brought up some interesting points, but I don’t know how much I think that it accurately portrays the experiences of those crossing the Mexican border into the United States. I think Jaramillo is able to capture some of the situations faced by those who cross the border in such a way, but I think there are many different details within the book that are missing. It is hard for me to believe that Miguel and Elena caught so many lucky breaks and were able to come out of the desert alive. It seemed to me like that leg of their journey could have benefited from more details and a greater look into the physical reactions of the body when deprived of water. Having had personal experience with dehydration, it didn’t seem believable or accurately portrayed in the text. Other than that, I thought the themes within the book were both important and chronicled well within the text. The relationship between Miguel and Elena is multi-faceted and it is interesting to see how they change over the course of the book—going from siblings, to enemies, to dependents. I think that the themes within the book are especially relevant with so much debate over the immigration issue in the United States and the many areas in which it is played out in our society. I think students will be able to identify with the characters and/or the themes in the book both because of their relevance in our society and the ability for students to connect with different aspects of the characters—from age to circumstance. I thought the book was fine; I liked it more than I disliked it, but the lack of details and my inability to believe in the events within the book pulls me away from giving it two hearty thumbs up. The issue surrounding the authenticity of the text based on the author's background only bothers me in correlation with the lack of details I think should be present in the text and the unbelievability aspect of the story. Beyond that, I think she did a great job in writing a text her students could relate to--a text that tells an often overlooked point of view.
I think the themes and the relationships within the book are highly teachable in a classroom. Even the format of the book, with extremely short yet rich chapters, lends itself well to being utilized in the classroom. We are using this book as a model text within a book club. After dividing the class into different “clubs,” we are providing them with an opportunity to pick between six different foci to study as they read and sticky note the book together. These different foci include looking at the Miguel and Elena through their “coming-of-age” metamorphosis within the text and the different themes covered within the book—pride/jealousy, family/belonging, hope/resilience, and líneas/obstacles. Each group will have some choice in what they follow throughout the book—giving them a sense of agency. Students will then be asked to work together in reading and sticky-noting the text as they discover passages/quotes that relate to/develop their focus. Each group will record their findings on a T-chart and within the pages of their books on sticky notes. After each class, students will be asked to write a reflective paper about their topic and how it is evolving within the text. At the end of the unit they will be taking their notes and collaboratively writing an essay zeroing in on an aspect of their groups focus. They will then present this essay to the rest of the class. This was each group is responsible for discovering their focus within the text, working together to bring it all together, and reporting their synthesis of the text to the rest of the class. Because of the length of the book and the relevance of its themes, the text is ideal for teaching students both how to participate in a book club successfully and how to use different reading strategies in analyzing a text.
Miguel Carlos Octavio Pablo de Cervantes has just turned fifteen. Where he is usually treated to a practical gift from his grandmother today he receives something he has been waiting for since he was eight years old—the summons from his father to come to America. Jaramillo follows Miguel’s journey as he leaves his life behind him and embraces the uncertainties of the long journey he must take across la línea. Along the way he encounters many obstacles: a stubborn sister, money-hungry officers and thugs, a strange old man, the mata gente, and a harrowing trek across the deserts of the southwest. Along the way both Miguel and his sister grow and learn the power of hope, the intense need for family, the effects of pride and jealousy, and the dangers of immigrating to the United States—the land of the American Dream and better opportunities for all. The book forces readers to think about these themes as they follow Miguel and Elena on their journey north across the border and into the United States. In the end, Miguel and Elena learn the truth about life in America and reevaluate their paths. As the book closes, we read as Miguel notes that there are “thousands of la líneas in life” sometimes you see them and sometimes you don’t, sometimes they change you immediately and other times it takes a moment of reflection to open your eyes to the change.
I thought this book brought up some interesting points, but I don’t know how much I think that it accurately portrays the experiences of those crossing the Mexican border into the United States. I think Jaramillo is able to capture some of the situations faced by those who cross the border in such a way, but I think there are many different details within the book that are missing. It is hard for me to believe that Miguel and Elena caught so many lucky breaks and were able to come out of the desert alive. It seemed to me like that leg of their journey could have benefited from more details and a greater look into the physical reactions of the body when deprived of water. Having had personal experience with dehydration, it didn’t seem believable or accurately portrayed in the text. Other than that, I thought the themes within the book were both important and chronicled well within the text. The relationship between Miguel and Elena is multi-faceted and it is interesting to see how they change over the course of the book—going from siblings, to enemies, to dependents. I think that the themes within the book are especially relevant with so much debate over the immigration issue in the United States and the many areas in which it is played out in our society. I think students will be able to identify with the characters and/or the themes in the book both because of their relevance in our society and the ability for students to connect with different aspects of the characters—from age to circumstance. I thought the book was fine; I liked it more than I disliked it, but the lack of details and my inability to believe in the events within the book pulls me away from giving it two hearty thumbs up. The issue surrounding the authenticity of the text based on the author's background only bothers me in correlation with the lack of details I think should be present in the text and the unbelievability aspect of the story. Beyond that, I think she did a great job in writing a text her students could relate to--a text that tells an often overlooked point of view.
I think the themes and the relationships within the book are highly teachable in a classroom. Even the format of the book, with extremely short yet rich chapters, lends itself well to being utilized in the classroom. We are using this book as a model text within a book club. After dividing the class into different “clubs,” we are providing them with an opportunity to pick between six different foci to study as they read and sticky note the book together. These different foci include looking at the Miguel and Elena through their “coming-of-age” metamorphosis within the text and the different themes covered within the book—pride/jealousy, family/belonging, hope/resilience, and líneas/obstacles. Each group will have some choice in what they follow throughout the book—giving them a sense of agency. Students will then be asked to work together in reading and sticky-noting the text as they discover passages/quotes that relate to/develop their focus. Each group will record their findings on a T-chart and within the pages of their books on sticky notes. After each class, students will be asked to write a reflective paper about their topic and how it is evolving within the text. At the end of the unit they will be taking their notes and collaboratively writing an essay zeroing in on an aspect of their groups focus. They will then present this essay to the rest of the class. This was each group is responsible for discovering their focus within the text, working together to bring it all together, and reporting their synthesis of the text to the rest of the class. Because of the length of the book and the relevance of its themes, the text is ideal for teaching students both how to participate in a book club successfully and how to use different reading strategies in analyzing a text.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Intersession Reflection Day 5:
We're done! I can't believe the week is already over! I thought today's class went really well and the kids were great. I hadn't realized how many of them took their assignments home to work on, or that they would complete them at home and so I felt bad that some students were ready to go before others. Nevertheless, the students were excellent today.
For homeroom we discussed plans for next week and the rest of their break and it was great to hear everyone share something with ease. We didn't have to ask people to share, they were raising their hands or offering up their plans right away. That made me feel great because it suggested that we were able to create an environment that they all felt comfortable in.
Next, I read to the "The Robber Bridegroom" which is a more obscure Grimm's fairy tale and asked them to think about our fairy tale ingredients as I read. It is pretty dark--with cannibalism and kidnapping--but in the end the bad guys are executed. The students absolutely loved it. After the story, which had a lot of gasps and "ewwwws," I asked them to identify some fairy tale ingredients. Students talked about the characters and settings and with a little prompting they used some of our word castle words--motif, foreshadow, and author's purpose. It is great to see them catch on, and I think by referring to the word castle words and our ingredients list at least a couple of times every day (in different contexts and stories) helped to drive the points home.
After homeroom, students did their bell ringer (with a few groans) and then we let them work on their stories. Some worked on finishing their stories and others practiced their skits. The skit group who was already done were given the chance to read or look at some of the YA fairy tale adaptations that we had on display. They were very engaged in reading these and it was nice to see them so focused.
When we went to the stage for the performances, I really didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the plays and presentations. They were awesome! I loved that the first group to go used one of the motifs we talked about in class--the dangerous dark woods--within their story. They even mentioned that they had learned about it in the "Happily Never After Class" they took! Too funny!
Maggie's picture book presentation blew me away! She did all of that at home and finished the last page in class today. I loved her story and it was clear both how she adapted the story and what her moral was. I was proud of her for presenting so strongly--her voice was loud and clear and she read with confidence. She had participated a lot in class but was much more hesitant and quiet.
The next play, with King Duncan, was much more elaborate than I had thought. I also was expecting a bad ending, but they pulled out a "Happily Ever After" kind of ending in the end. I loved how into the play they all were and it was AWESOME to see Jamie have such a big role in the play! In the LRRH skits they put on the other day she was very reserved and quiet, but today she was reading her lines and acting very confidently with her peers!
Mary's story was also fantastic and I loved how into her own world she became. In her reflection she notes how much she loved writing and creating her own story. This is followed by a few lines mentioning how she now wants to write even more--either a longer fairy tale or a fantasy piece of work.
We had our feast, they did their reflections, and with the last fifteen minutes of class we watched a bit of Shrek, calling out the different characters we saw in the movie and how their stories are being twisted or "fractured."
As they were leaving, we handed out their bound and published copies of everyone's fairy tale! They loved this SO much and it was amazing to see how much they enjoyed having their final project and those of their classmates in such a packaged product.
REFLECTION:
I thought the class went really well. I think that everyone learned something in the class and they worked well with us, with each other, and on their own. They loved the creative aspects of the class and did an excellent job with the two reading strategies we presented them with.
If I were to teach this unit again, I would try to implement more challenging activities into the lessons. This could be done by utilizing ideas from critical theory into the unit and identifying some of the different ways one can read a fairy tale, and what this suggests about the stories, authors, and cultures. We did this to a small degree in our class, but it would be great to kick it up a notch with more in depth reading of both well-known and obscure fairy tales from around the world. It would also be neat to examine fairy tales from around the world with more depth.
I think that for Intersession this class was the right mixture of learning and fun, but in a traditional classroom with a traditional curriculum, it would need more (maybe with my suggestions from the paragraph above). The students did meet our goals and standards for the class and learned some new things about fairy tales.
Some things I need to work on are explicit and clear directions, the ability to rethink and regroup myself in order to make something clear, repeating my directions (especially with ELL students in the classroom), and discipline. Some things I thought I did well were connecting with the students and forming some relationship with them, being patient, helping students and checking in with them, keeping students on task during work times, and adjusting the lessons/unit as I went along.
Overall, I thought this was a nice way to baby-step my way into teaching. It was both helpful and stressful to have two other cooperating teachers with me in the classroom, but I think we handled ourselves well and collaborated easily together. We had no problems transitioning from one person to the other and we were all involved in each part of the lesson--whether it was through helping with the discussion, working with students, using our proximity to help keep the class in order, or providing support to both the students and each other.
I learned a lot about middle-schoolers and myself during this experience and I know I will be able to draw on this past week in the weeks and months to come. Intersession was, in general, a great way to help me start to develop myself as a teacher. I would say all our hard work on this unit payed off and the students both learned somethings and had fun; what more can we ask than that?!
For homeroom we discussed plans for next week and the rest of their break and it was great to hear everyone share something with ease. We didn't have to ask people to share, they were raising their hands or offering up their plans right away. That made me feel great because it suggested that we were able to create an environment that they all felt comfortable in.
Next, I read to the "The Robber Bridegroom" which is a more obscure Grimm's fairy tale and asked them to think about our fairy tale ingredients as I read. It is pretty dark--with cannibalism and kidnapping--but in the end the bad guys are executed. The students absolutely loved it. After the story, which had a lot of gasps and "ewwwws," I asked them to identify some fairy tale ingredients. Students talked about the characters and settings and with a little prompting they used some of our word castle words--motif, foreshadow, and author's purpose. It is great to see them catch on, and I think by referring to the word castle words and our ingredients list at least a couple of times every day (in different contexts and stories) helped to drive the points home.
After homeroom, students did their bell ringer (with a few groans) and then we let them work on their stories. Some worked on finishing their stories and others practiced their skits. The skit group who was already done were given the chance to read or look at some of the YA fairy tale adaptations that we had on display. They were very engaged in reading these and it was nice to see them so focused.
When we went to the stage for the performances, I really didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the plays and presentations. They were awesome! I loved that the first group to go used one of the motifs we talked about in class--the dangerous dark woods--within their story. They even mentioned that they had learned about it in the "Happily Never After Class" they took! Too funny!
Maggie's picture book presentation blew me away! She did all of that at home and finished the last page in class today. I loved her story and it was clear both how she adapted the story and what her moral was. I was proud of her for presenting so strongly--her voice was loud and clear and she read with confidence. She had participated a lot in class but was much more hesitant and quiet.
The next play, with King Duncan, was much more elaborate than I had thought. I also was expecting a bad ending, but they pulled out a "Happily Ever After" kind of ending in the end. I loved how into the play they all were and it was AWESOME to see Jamie have such a big role in the play! In the LRRH skits they put on the other day she was very reserved and quiet, but today she was reading her lines and acting very confidently with her peers!
Mary's story was also fantastic and I loved how into her own world she became. In her reflection she notes how much she loved writing and creating her own story. This is followed by a few lines mentioning how she now wants to write even more--either a longer fairy tale or a fantasy piece of work.
We had our feast, they did their reflections, and with the last fifteen minutes of class we watched a bit of Shrek, calling out the different characters we saw in the movie and how their stories are being twisted or "fractured."
As they were leaving, we handed out their bound and published copies of everyone's fairy tale! They loved this SO much and it was amazing to see how much they enjoyed having their final project and those of their classmates in such a packaged product.
REFLECTION:
I thought the class went really well. I think that everyone learned something in the class and they worked well with us, with each other, and on their own. They loved the creative aspects of the class and did an excellent job with the two reading strategies we presented them with.
If I were to teach this unit again, I would try to implement more challenging activities into the lessons. This could be done by utilizing ideas from critical theory into the unit and identifying some of the different ways one can read a fairy tale, and what this suggests about the stories, authors, and cultures. We did this to a small degree in our class, but it would be great to kick it up a notch with more in depth reading of both well-known and obscure fairy tales from around the world. It would also be neat to examine fairy tales from around the world with more depth.
I think that for Intersession this class was the right mixture of learning and fun, but in a traditional classroom with a traditional curriculum, it would need more (maybe with my suggestions from the paragraph above). The students did meet our goals and standards for the class and learned some new things about fairy tales.
Some things I need to work on are explicit and clear directions, the ability to rethink and regroup myself in order to make something clear, repeating my directions (especially with ELL students in the classroom), and discipline. Some things I thought I did well were connecting with the students and forming some relationship with them, being patient, helping students and checking in with them, keeping students on task during work times, and adjusting the lessons/unit as I went along.
Overall, I thought this was a nice way to baby-step my way into teaching. It was both helpful and stressful to have two other cooperating teachers with me in the classroom, but I think we handled ourselves well and collaborated easily together. We had no problems transitioning from one person to the other and we were all involved in each part of the lesson--whether it was through helping with the discussion, working with students, using our proximity to help keep the class in order, or providing support to both the students and each other.
I learned a lot about middle-schoolers and myself during this experience and I know I will be able to draw on this past week in the weeks and months to come. Intersession was, in general, a great way to help me start to develop myself as a teacher. I would say all our hard work on this unit payed off and the students both learned somethings and had fun; what more can we ask than that?!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Intersession Reflection Day 4:
Day number 4, wow. This week has flown by! Today wasn't as energetic or exciting as yesterday, but the responses from the students in their reflection cards were really positive anyway. Today we talked about author's purpose, audience, and motifs.
For homeroom we had the students write "warm fuzzies" about the person sitting to their left on Burger King crowns. They wrote some very nice things and then got to wear the crowns for the rest of the class period.
We reviewed the ingredients of a fairy tale--to get their minds in the right place for writing their own fairy tales later in the class--and we talked about motifs. It was great to see how they were able to understand something new to them and identify common motifs in fairy tales. I was impressed at how detailed the discussion got. We used many of the items from our ingredients list to start us off with motifs and expanded upon them, for example: magic motifs include curses, spontaneous, karma related, animal/human magical helpers; characters include damsels, heroes, helpers, villains, magical creatures; setting is often medieval, in kingdom, far away, summer; and plot usually involves a journey, magical obstacles, traveling from home to dark place, etc. It was great!
It took a while for them to really get author's purpose and audience, but we thought about some stories we had already read together and brainstormed reasons for why the author might have written that particular version of LRRH. Then they broke up into small groups and read a fractured fairy tale, determining the audience and author's purpose. Mary really understood the idea, as well as a few other students, and I think they all have some idea of how they can think about author'sProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
0purpose. Again, they were completely absorbed in reading and on their reflection cards asked for more time to read! Yay!
Today we had a bit of a teacher, not power-struggle, but discrepancy in teaching strategies. I told kids that I was fine with them doodling during our discussion--I do it when I am in class and I know that it can help students focus. While another teacher, soon after told them to stop. I felt bad for letting them doodle and then having them get be reprimanded and told something different by another teacher.
The rest of the class was spent creating their fairy tales and that went really well. Many of them were really excited to take their work home tonight--completely based on their own prerogative. Another good day Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
d the kids are SUPER excited to act out their skits and tell their sto
For homeroom we had the students write "warm fuzzies" about the person sitting to their left on Burger King crowns. They wrote some very nice things and then got to wear the crowns for the rest of the class period.
We reviewed the ingredients of a fairy tale--to get their minds in the right place for writing their own fairy tales later in the class--and we talked about motifs. It was great to see how they were able to understand something new to them and identify common motifs in fairy tales. I was impressed at how detailed the discussion got. We used many of the items from our ingredients list to start us off with motifs and expanded upon them, for example: magic motifs include curses, spontaneous, karma related, animal/human magical helpers; characters include damsels, heroes, helpers, villains, magical creatures; setting is often medieval, in kingdom, far away, summer; and plot usually involves a journey, magical obstacles, traveling from home to dark place, etc. It was great!
It took a while for them to really get author's purpose and audience, but we thought about some stories we had already read together and brainstormed reasons for why the author might have written that particular version of LRRH. Then they broke up into small groups and read a fractured fairy tale, determining the audience and author's purpose. Mary really understood the idea, as well as a few other students, and I think they all have some idea of how they can think about author'sProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
0purpose. Again, they were completely absorbed in reading and on their reflection cards asked for more time to read! Yay!
Today we had a bit of a teacher, not power-struggle, but discrepancy in teaching strategies. I told kids that I was fine with them doodling during our discussion--I do it when I am in class and I know that it can help students focus. While another teacher, soon after told them to stop. I felt bad for letting them doodle and then having them get be reprimanded and told something different by another teacher.
The rest of the class was spent creating their fairy tales and that went really well. Many of them were really excited to take their work home tonight--completely based on their own prerogative. Another good day Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
d the kids are SUPER excited to act out their skits and tell their sto
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Intersession Reflection Day 3:
Today was another great day for Intersession! We had the students read during homeroom and then share a bit about the books they read--which they all easily participated in. Then we did our bell-ringer and it was great to see so much creativity and detail. Tom even had the number of turrets on his castle mentioned in his setting. I got to work more with Jamie in coming up with a setting and I really enjoy talking to her and helping her brainstorm different ideas. She is so bright and delightful; I think she benefits from extra scaffolding and one-on-one instruction/aid. It seems to help her focus and continue working on her own once she has confirmation that she is on the right track.
I was nervous because Nikki's reflection note card was misplaced and so we didn't have one to return to her, especially since she seemed to have been going through something yesterday. Luckily though, she was really involved in today's class. She raised her hand a lot and even went up to the board to draw a plot diagram for the rest of the class.
We talked about plot and the different pieces of it, which went well, and then we dove into Little Red Riding Hood. We read one version and then several alternate endings together. The students LOVED the one in which Red calls out the huntsman for trying to "help" her and to kill the wolf, killing the huntsman in the end and befriending the wolf. After this we mapped out the plot of one story together and then they paired up to work on mapping the plot for a different version. They all were engaged with this activity and worked well together.
Then we had them reenact their own version of LRRH and it was AMAZING! They all got so involved and engaged in this activity. Even the students who are more introverted--and our classroom addition, Jacey--were so excited in planning it out. They performed their skits to the opposite group and they were great! Jamie and Nikki were a bit lackluster in the actually acting of the play, obviously shy--but they were smiling and laughing and having a good time along with everyone else. It was great to see even Edward, a quiet but clever boy, getting caught up in the plays; he was literally leaping through the air! We had them talk about the key plot points and map them out, as well, and they did a great job with this.
Next we went back to character analysis. They did the "What's in your wallet?" activity and were really creative. Bella had a folded wanted poster of the Wolf in his wallet, "Because he doesn't want anyone to see it. He tore it down and put it where no one could see it at all!" At the end of the class they did their reflection cards and it was unanimous--today's class was really fun! They also asked if they could create another play, which is great because that is one of the options they can use for their final project. We are thinking of letting them pair up into groups of 3 to create a play for their project.
Some things to work on...I think we need to find a better way to refocus the students when they get a bit carried away during discussions. They tend to become louder and talk over one another which makes it hard to hear everyone in the class. Sometimes, in trying to get them to be respectful of their fellow students and to quiet them down, we end up adding to the noise with comments or "shhhh!" I think this is something we need to work on, and yet, since we only have a week with these kids it is hard to establish consistent classroom expectations. In reality, I am mostly glad that they are so into the lessons that they are talking so much, but I know that there need to be guidelines and more structure in the discussions to make sure that everyone is heard.
On the plus side, the kids always apologize when they get too loud and they are quiet when they hear us tell them to be respectful to their peers.
One thing I still need to work on is regaining student focus and figuring out my own, successful way of dealing with loud talkers and discussions that get a bit loud and unrestrained. I won't always have two other people there to help with this and I need to find what works for me that I am comfortable with doing.
Tomorrow we write!
I was nervous because Nikki's reflection note card was misplaced and so we didn't have one to return to her, especially since she seemed to have been going through something yesterday. Luckily though, she was really involved in today's class. She raised her hand a lot and even went up to the board to draw a plot diagram for the rest of the class.
We talked about plot and the different pieces of it, which went well, and then we dove into Little Red Riding Hood. We read one version and then several alternate endings together. The students LOVED the one in which Red calls out the huntsman for trying to "help" her and to kill the wolf, killing the huntsman in the end and befriending the wolf. After this we mapped out the plot of one story together and then they paired up to work on mapping the plot for a different version. They all were engaged with this activity and worked well together.
Then we had them reenact their own version of LRRH and it was AMAZING! They all got so involved and engaged in this activity. Even the students who are more introverted--and our classroom addition, Jacey--were so excited in planning it out. They performed their skits to the opposite group and they were great! Jamie and Nikki were a bit lackluster in the actually acting of the play, obviously shy--but they were smiling and laughing and having a good time along with everyone else. It was great to see even Edward, a quiet but clever boy, getting caught up in the plays; he was literally leaping through the air! We had them talk about the key plot points and map them out, as well, and they did a great job with this.
Next we went back to character analysis. They did the "What's in your wallet?" activity and were really creative. Bella had a folded wanted poster of the Wolf in his wallet, "Because he doesn't want anyone to see it. He tore it down and put it where no one could see it at all!" At the end of the class they did their reflection cards and it was unanimous--today's class was really fun! They also asked if they could create another play, which is great because that is one of the options they can use for their final project. We are thinking of letting them pair up into groups of 3 to create a play for their project.
Some things to work on...I think we need to find a better way to refocus the students when they get a bit carried away during discussions. They tend to become louder and talk over one another which makes it hard to hear everyone in the class. Sometimes, in trying to get them to be respectful of their fellow students and to quiet them down, we end up adding to the noise with comments or "shhhh!" I think this is something we need to work on, and yet, since we only have a week with these kids it is hard to establish consistent classroom expectations. In reality, I am mostly glad that they are so into the lessons that they are talking so much, but I know that there need to be guidelines and more structure in the discussions to make sure that everyone is heard.
On the plus side, the kids always apologize when they get too loud and they are quiet when they hear us tell them to be respectful to their peers.
One thing I still need to work on is regaining student focus and figuring out my own, successful way of dealing with loud talkers and discussions that get a bit loud and unrestrained. I won't always have two other people there to help with this and I need to find what works for me that I am comfortable with doing.
Tomorrow we write!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Intersession Reflection Day 2:
Day 2! So, I thought that today went pretty well. It was my day to be the lead teacher for our big activity which was using sticky notes to help us identify characters within different versions of Cinderella--focusing on indirect and direct characteristics for the characters within the story. For homeroom we had each student say hello in another language--this was a great opportunity for some of our more culturally diverse students to shine. One girl, we'll call her Jamie, is Hmong and she is very quiet in class. She shot her hand up to give us an example of a different way to say "Hello!" It was great to see her so engaged. Everyone had fun. Then we played "What's my name again?" and all the students seemed to like this as well--they wanted to go another round but we decided to get to work.
The bellringer was GREAT! Everyone shared their newly made characters by taking on that persona--even the three teachers had to do some improve acting. We were laughing and having a good time, the kids are excited to put it together later in the week.
Next we talked about Cinderella--what does she look like. Because we had a lot of Cinderella books out in the back of the class, I think some of them drew images from there. They also had theri newly created characters in their minds, so, I think they felt like they had more choice in their creations. Despite this, we still had a nice discussion on why our Disney Cinderella looks a certain way and what that says about American values. We went over the definition of culture and value--which went very well--and then we introduced sticky noting by doing a "story time."
The kids sat around me, with their sticky notes ready, and as I read a page we would stop and see what characters and characteristics we found. The kids really got into it and were making a lot of great suggestions. It was nice to have Kim and Brittany in the audience adding their comments too--this gave the kids more scaffolding and modeling by being able to observe their teachers participating and adding to the reading. We cut the group story short and let the kids pair up and chose their own book to sticky note and gave them the worksheet we modeled together. This was the best part of the day!
All the kids were so engrossed in their books! Even Nikki (we will call her), who was having trouble focusing today--Brittany talked to her to make sure she was okay, but we think there is something going on outside of class--was reading her story outloud with her partner and talking about their sticky notes together. Jamie grabbed the Hmong Cinderella book and she worked with her partner--an older and more confident English reader--spent the rest of the class reading their book and filling in their worksheet. Those who finished their books went back and grabbed more. Even Tom, who said he hated fairy tales, was reading another book as soon as he got the chance. Tom and Liza were being a bit chatty, again today, and we did have to separate them, but they worked on the sticky note project together and did well. I think they just get really excited and loud about things which can distract the rest of the class.
It was great to see them so engaged in fairy tales! Kate was checking out the YA adaptations we had on hand--there is a Chinese YA Cinderella book that she was really interested in, she is Asian herself and knew the child version of the Chinese Cinderella already, so this book really appealed to her. It is so important for kids to see themselves represented in books and I saw the power of that today. Anther girl wanted a copy of the Grimm's story to take home and read--spurring similar reactions in Tom and some other students. Based on the enthusiasm that these books were met with and the desire of the students to read more of them, I think we are going to have silent reading tomorrow morning during homeroom so they can check out more of the books!
Overall, I thought today was great. We had to cut out the PSA because we ran out of time, but it is better to have too much planned than not enough. I think we need to besure to give the students the time they need whcih cuts into other activities; as long as reading and writing are getting done, and the kids are having a good time, I don't think we need to worry about the other fun activities that get cut out.
For tomorrow, we have our reflection note cards to hand back--with more messages from the three of us. I hope we can get Nikki's attention and keep it for the whole class while making sure that Tom and Liza don't talk too much or too loudly. We also dive into Little Red Riding Hood tomorrow! Wahoo! Day 3 here we come!
The bellringer was GREAT! Everyone shared their newly made characters by taking on that persona--even the three teachers had to do some improve acting. We were laughing and having a good time, the kids are excited to put it together later in the week.
Next we talked about Cinderella--what does she look like. Because we had a lot of Cinderella books out in the back of the class, I think some of them drew images from there. They also had theri newly created characters in their minds, so, I think they felt like they had more choice in their creations. Despite this, we still had a nice discussion on why our Disney Cinderella looks a certain way and what that says about American values. We went over the definition of culture and value--which went very well--and then we introduced sticky noting by doing a "story time."
The kids sat around me, with their sticky notes ready, and as I read a page we would stop and see what characters and characteristics we found. The kids really got into it and were making a lot of great suggestions. It was nice to have Kim and Brittany in the audience adding their comments too--this gave the kids more scaffolding and modeling by being able to observe their teachers participating and adding to the reading. We cut the group story short and let the kids pair up and chose their own book to sticky note and gave them the worksheet we modeled together. This was the best part of the day!
All the kids were so engrossed in their books! Even Nikki (we will call her), who was having trouble focusing today--Brittany talked to her to make sure she was okay, but we think there is something going on outside of class--was reading her story outloud with her partner and talking about their sticky notes together. Jamie grabbed the Hmong Cinderella book and she worked with her partner--an older and more confident English reader--spent the rest of the class reading their book and filling in their worksheet. Those who finished their books went back and grabbed more. Even Tom, who said he hated fairy tales, was reading another book as soon as he got the chance. Tom and Liza were being a bit chatty, again today, and we did have to separate them, but they worked on the sticky note project together and did well. I think they just get really excited and loud about things which can distract the rest of the class.
It was great to see them so engaged in fairy tales! Kate was checking out the YA adaptations we had on hand--there is a Chinese YA Cinderella book that she was really interested in, she is Asian herself and knew the child version of the Chinese Cinderella already, so this book really appealed to her. It is so important for kids to see themselves represented in books and I saw the power of that today. Anther girl wanted a copy of the Grimm's story to take home and read--spurring similar reactions in Tom and some other students. Based on the enthusiasm that these books were met with and the desire of the students to read more of them, I think we are going to have silent reading tomorrow morning during homeroom so they can check out more of the books!
Overall, I thought today was great. We had to cut out the PSA because we ran out of time, but it is better to have too much planned than not enough. I think we need to besure to give the students the time they need whcih cuts into other activities; as long as reading and writing are getting done, and the kids are having a good time, I don't think we need to worry about the other fun activities that get cut out.
For tomorrow, we have our reflection note cards to hand back--with more messages from the three of us. I hope we can get Nikki's attention and keep it for the whole class while making sure that Tom and Liza don't talk too much or too loudly. We also dive into Little Red Riding Hood tomorrow! Wahoo! Day 3 here we come!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Intersession Reflection Day 1:
Alright, today was our first day of intersession and my first day of teaching--what a rush! It was so exciting to be actually setting up the classroom and prepping for our students to come in. I had been nervous this past week that I would be so tired of looking at my lesson plan, but last night I couldn't sleep from excitement! During the course of the morning, I was so glad to have added more detail and descriptions to our lesson plan this past week. It comforted me to have a plan as to what the day would entail--even though it didn't go quite as we imagined it would. There were certain activities within the lesson plan that took longer than we had expected. Creating our coat of arms for the realms took quite a long time and the students didn't finish them. I think a bit more structure in the creation would have made it easier for them--they could have benefited from a set outline from which they created their crests. This illustrated to me the need to provide choice and a sense of agency but also the need to provide some scaffold in order to move the process along more smoothly. Because this took so long, we had to cut down on our reading time, but, the reading went really well!
After looking at our Intro to Fairy Tales powerpoint (which they all loved) we generated a really great list of ingredients on the wall. With this list we created symbols for each ingredient as a class. Next I read "Rumpelstiltskin" out loud and the students followed along on their own copy. After each paragraph we would stop and I would ask them what happened in the paragraph--or, what could we mark. Everyone was following along and participating. I only saw a couple of students who weren't keeping up as well, but even one of them really stepped up when we talked about the morals of the story. I was surprised at how well they were able to pick up on the morals both on their own and with some prompts from us.
The word castle was another hit within the class and the kids enjoyed a little game at the end. It was during the game that two of the most distant students opened up. One boy who tried to get out of the game on purpose through lack of any kind of effort, ended up winning the game and celebrating his victory (after we called him out on trying on purpose to get out). It seemed like he needed a little push and to feel more confidence in his abilities--where have I heard this before.
For tomorrow, I think that we can work on scaffolding even more, making sure that students aren't talking out of place, and being careful not to try ant talk over or interrupt each other. These were things that I noticed as well as things that were mentioned by the students in their reflection note cards. We asked them what worked about the class, what they could do better, and what we could do better. All around the kids said they had fun and that they could listen and focus more while we could give them more time, repeat directions, and not talk over/interrupt each other. I think after today we have a better division of labor and the experience from today will really help with this as well. It is great to get feedback from the students and to be able to discuss the day with each other!
I hope tomorrow goes just as well! :)
After looking at our Intro to Fairy Tales powerpoint (which they all loved) we generated a really great list of ingredients on the wall. With this list we created symbols for each ingredient as a class. Next I read "Rumpelstiltskin" out loud and the students followed along on their own copy. After each paragraph we would stop and I would ask them what happened in the paragraph--or, what could we mark. Everyone was following along and participating. I only saw a couple of students who weren't keeping up as well, but even one of them really stepped up when we talked about the morals of the story. I was surprised at how well they were able to pick up on the morals both on their own and with some prompts from us.
The word castle was another hit within the class and the kids enjoyed a little game at the end. It was during the game that two of the most distant students opened up. One boy who tried to get out of the game on purpose through lack of any kind of effort, ended up winning the game and celebrating his victory (after we called him out on trying on purpose to get out). It seemed like he needed a little push and to feel more confidence in his abilities--where have I heard this before.
For tomorrow, I think that we can work on scaffolding even more, making sure that students aren't talking out of place, and being careful not to try ant talk over or interrupt each other. These were things that I noticed as well as things that were mentioned by the students in their reflection note cards. We asked them what worked about the class, what they could do better, and what we could do better. All around the kids said they had fun and that they could listen and focus more while we could give them more time, repeat directions, and not talk over/interrupt each other. I think after today we have a better division of labor and the experience from today will really help with this as well. It is great to get feedback from the students and to be able to discuss the day with each other!
I hope tomorrow goes just as well! :)
Friday, November 13, 2009
CI 5472: Documentary
I watched the documentary Red, White, Black, and Blue which recounted the experiences of two 85 year-old men who fought at the battle for Attu island--of the Aleutian Islands--in 1943. The documentary serves to retell an unknown history of the forgotten battle between Japanese and Americans on Attu Island. In 1942 the Japanese invaded Attu and took control of the island, a year later American troops were sent in--unprepared for the bitter conditions of the island--and the expected 72 hour battle lasted 19 grueling days. The story is told from the point of view of Bill with comments made from his friend and fellow infantryman Andy. By using actual footage of the American troops and still images captured during the battle in combination with moving accounts from Bill and other members of the Attu infantry, the creators of the film are able to capture the forgotten horrors of war waged on American soil. Bill and Andy return to the scenes of battle and photographs and film footage from 1943 match both the newly filmed scenes and the accounts of the two men with shocking clarity and validity. The documentary follows the men from their landing in Massacre Bay through the hardships of weather and fighting until the end of the battle 19 days later. The film crew uses moving images and footage (past and present) of the formidable Attu landscape combined with interviews from Bill and his contemporaries as well as experts--Coast Guard members on the island and an Alaskan historian. These shots are filmed in silence or presented with music that adds to the tone by matching the narrative and images--letting you know how to feel about the shots (as if there even was another way to feel).
The documentary focuses entirely on Bill's point of view with comments from other soldiers that emphasize and reinforce his accounts of the battle. What is interesting about the documentary is that it uses images captured from Japanese soldiers on the island. These images suggest the humanity of the Japanese and they seem to be inconsistent with the grenade wielding men who "bonzaied" the Americans killing themselves and their enemy without mercy. Yet it is important to remember Bill when he says that no one can understand what they went through except others who have fought in hand-to-hand combat with a mortal enemy. Bill and his men were sent there to eradicate their enemy and take back the island and the Japanese struggled to maintain their hold; surrender was not an option on either side of the battle-line.
The film is clearly biased by the patriotic feelings of Bill and Andy. Bill acknowledges that the youth of nations have been used, but not abused, as the front-line of defense for their countries since the dawn of time. He was sent there to do a job and he didn't think about the consequences to him or those around him until after the fighting was over. To this day, Bill has some serious racism toward Japanese and these feelings come across in the film. On Engineer Hill there is a titanium star-burst monument erected by the Japanese to honor their fallen soldiers; Bill is outraged by the "audacity" of the Japanese government in erecting the monument on American soil for men who "stole" Attu Island from the U. S. He tells of his efforts to have the monument removed--pushing his own agenda in that regard. He mentions a trip to Hawaii in which he saw Japanese vacationers by the bus load. The image this created for him of Japanese again on American soil disturbed him greatly and seemed to be a catalyst for further work to remove the monument.
In all reality, the documentary accurately captures the account of these two men and the use of photographs and film from the battle itself only add more validity to their claims. We hear the men talk about the "Little Falls Cemetery" which no longer exists only to see the image in a photo; we hear the men talk about the Japanese men racing toward them with grenades and then see them rushing through the fog or with their heads blow up from their own grenades in film clips moments later. I had no doubts in my mind after watching the film that the battle for Attu was bloody and dangerous on all sides. Even Bill's racism can be if not justified then at least explained by his experience. It is only be luck and the ingenuity of an American captain that he survived the battle; while injured from a shot in the leg he had to sit by while the Japanese raided their make-shift hospital tents, killing wounded troops with guns and bayonets.
Bills heartfelt account and the use of excellent primary images and footage made this story successful in convincing me of both the ill-prepared and ill-equipped American soldiers who slid down frozen mountain faces in an effort to win back Attu. They succeeded in doing their duty to their country and while their story has been forgotten by many--their success and pain is undeniable. I leave this documentary feeling patriotic, proud, sympathetic, and more informed--mission accomplished.
Activity:
Provide students with clips from different types of documentaries to watch in class. These clips can come from different time periods. Clips can come from early propaganda focused documentaries from WWII to documentaries, historical documentaries meant to inform, or documentaries with social awareness agendas like Super Size Me, just to name a few. As they watch, have them identify different techniques used by the director of the film, how the documentary is presented, what is the goal, is their an agenda behind the film, who is the audience, is the film biased, what is the purpose of the film, etc. The class can discuss the different reasons for creating documentaries and what makes a successful or effective documentary. Lists can be generated by the class to identify the goals for making these different types of film. For a final project students can choose a type of documentary and create it using the class created lists as guides. This is great way to get students to think more critically about agendas and biases behind the media, as well as a way to work on persuasive or goal based creations (writing and media based).
The documentary focuses entirely on Bill's point of view with comments from other soldiers that emphasize and reinforce his accounts of the battle. What is interesting about the documentary is that it uses images captured from Japanese soldiers on the island. These images suggest the humanity of the Japanese and they seem to be inconsistent with the grenade wielding men who "bonzaied" the Americans killing themselves and their enemy without mercy. Yet it is important to remember Bill when he says that no one can understand what they went through except others who have fought in hand-to-hand combat with a mortal enemy. Bill and his men were sent there to eradicate their enemy and take back the island and the Japanese struggled to maintain their hold; surrender was not an option on either side of the battle-line.
The film is clearly biased by the patriotic feelings of Bill and Andy. Bill acknowledges that the youth of nations have been used, but not abused, as the front-line of defense for their countries since the dawn of time. He was sent there to do a job and he didn't think about the consequences to him or those around him until after the fighting was over. To this day, Bill has some serious racism toward Japanese and these feelings come across in the film. On Engineer Hill there is a titanium star-burst monument erected by the Japanese to honor their fallen soldiers; Bill is outraged by the "audacity" of the Japanese government in erecting the monument on American soil for men who "stole" Attu Island from the U. S. He tells of his efforts to have the monument removed--pushing his own agenda in that regard. He mentions a trip to Hawaii in which he saw Japanese vacationers by the bus load. The image this created for him of Japanese again on American soil disturbed him greatly and seemed to be a catalyst for further work to remove the monument.
In all reality, the documentary accurately captures the account of these two men and the use of photographs and film from the battle itself only add more validity to their claims. We hear the men talk about the "Little Falls Cemetery" which no longer exists only to see the image in a photo; we hear the men talk about the Japanese men racing toward them with grenades and then see them rushing through the fog or with their heads blow up from their own grenades in film clips moments later. I had no doubts in my mind after watching the film that the battle for Attu was bloody and dangerous on all sides. Even Bill's racism can be if not justified then at least explained by his experience. It is only be luck and the ingenuity of an American captain that he survived the battle; while injured from a shot in the leg he had to sit by while the Japanese raided their make-shift hospital tents, killing wounded troops with guns and bayonets.
Bills heartfelt account and the use of excellent primary images and footage made this story successful in convincing me of both the ill-prepared and ill-equipped American soldiers who slid down frozen mountain faces in an effort to win back Attu. They succeeded in doing their duty to their country and while their story has been forgotten by many--their success and pain is undeniable. I leave this documentary feeling patriotic, proud, sympathetic, and more informed--mission accomplished.
Activity:
Provide students with clips from different types of documentaries to watch in class. These clips can come from different time periods. Clips can come from early propaganda focused documentaries from WWII to documentaries, historical documentaries meant to inform, or documentaries with social awareness agendas like Super Size Me, just to name a few. As they watch, have them identify different techniques used by the director of the film, how the documentary is presented, what is the goal, is their an agenda behind the film, who is the audience, is the film biased, what is the purpose of the film, etc. The class can discuss the different reasons for creating documentaries and what makes a successful or effective documentary. Lists can be generated by the class to identify the goals for making these different types of film. For a final project students can choose a type of documentary and create it using the class created lists as guides. This is great way to get students to think more critically about agendas and biases behind the media, as well as a way to work on persuasive or goal based creations (writing and media based).
Thursday, November 12, 2009
CI 5472: Media Analysis
While I was watching the news (Fox 9 News--it was the first one I flipped to) I noticed that there were more local than national news stories—which I understood and expect from a local news program. For the most part, stories These stories ranged from brief overviews of national and world events to community stories. The longest amount of time was spent on a news piece recounting a memorial service held at Ft. Hood in Texas after 13 people were killed by a shooter, a health piece on a local boy who is battling a rare and serious disease, a look inside the Petter’s case, a long segment on weather, a news story on an older St. Paul couple facing foreclosure, and the follow-up account of a stab victim in St. Paul. I was surprised by the length of the weather story as well as the 5-6 minute account of the young boy who is recovering from brain surgery and therapy. Weather is important and the story about the boy is uplifting, but much less time was spent on trying to determine whether or not President Obama will be sending more troops to Afghanistan or if terrorists in the Middle East had gotten their hands on U.S. weaponry. These issues seem more newsworthy than the small health piece that was very specific and the back-and-forth banter of the weatherman and the anchor news reporters.
Overall, it seemed that in order to get through a variety of news stories the reporters spent a small amount of time on stories—enough to mention the story and quote a source—before moving on. This allows the audience to hear a variety of stories in a short amount of time. They also use images and video clips to give the audience more information about the story than they can report in a short amount of time. The stories they spent more time on included eyewitness accounts and interviews with family members or experts in an area. The voice of those being accused of something was usually not heard unless it was a paraphrase or quote that adds to their guilt. Interviews lend a sense of credibility to the stories, especially if they are experts—doctors, lawyers, members of executive or director boards, et. al.. The anchors used their voices to set the tone for the story--letting you know how to react to the story from their tones alone. The anchors themselves were a white man and an African American woman--which was a nice mix to see--yet the stories typically focused on white members of the community and nation unless they were involved in crime stories.
The shows I watch are The Office and Bones, as well as movies featured on HBO. As for news sources, I check the news on AOL Online and BBC America Online. The Office is broadcast on NBC which is owned by General Electric, Bones is a show on FOX which is owned by News Corporation, HBO and AOL are both owned by Time Warner, and BBC America is owned by the British Broadcasting Company. News Corp and Time Warner are major media producers being two of the leading media conglomerates in the U.S. While this means that they have the ability to provide national news and high quality media, it also means that these companies have a major hold in the media market. Eventually this control can become a monopolistic and influence what the American people receive from the media.
Activity:
In order to examine the differences between different local news stations, I think it would be beneficial to have students watch at least two different local news channels and compare the news reports of each channel. They can observe the different stories that are aired as well as the different ways in which channels report different stories--do they use the same footage, witnesses, quotes, etc. If they are able to, they can also note the different techniques used within the broadcast that appeal to the audience--are these the same between stations or do they differ? How effective are the techniques? From their observations students will be asked to identify which station seems more reliable to them and why. Students can then reflect upon their findings and report them back to the rest of the class. From these reflections the class can determine which news sources they find to be the most effective and reliable--this can lead to further descussion as to why students made these decisions.
Overall, it seemed that in order to get through a variety of news stories the reporters spent a small amount of time on stories—enough to mention the story and quote a source—before moving on. This allows the audience to hear a variety of stories in a short amount of time. They also use images and video clips to give the audience more information about the story than they can report in a short amount of time. The stories they spent more time on included eyewitness accounts and interviews with family members or experts in an area. The voice of those being accused of something was usually not heard unless it was a paraphrase or quote that adds to their guilt. Interviews lend a sense of credibility to the stories, especially if they are experts—doctors, lawyers, members of executive or director boards, et. al.. The anchors used their voices to set the tone for the story--letting you know how to react to the story from their tones alone. The anchors themselves were a white man and an African American woman--which was a nice mix to see--yet the stories typically focused on white members of the community and nation unless they were involved in crime stories.
The shows I watch are The Office and Bones, as well as movies featured on HBO. As for news sources, I check the news on AOL Online and BBC America Online. The Office is broadcast on NBC which is owned by General Electric, Bones is a show on FOX which is owned by News Corporation, HBO and AOL are both owned by Time Warner, and BBC America is owned by the British Broadcasting Company. News Corp and Time Warner are major media producers being two of the leading media conglomerates in the U.S. While this means that they have the ability to provide national news and high quality media, it also means that these companies have a major hold in the media market. Eventually this control can become a monopolistic and influence what the American people receive from the media.
Activity:
In order to examine the differences between different local news stations, I think it would be beneficial to have students watch at least two different local news channels and compare the news reports of each channel. They can observe the different stories that are aired as well as the different ways in which channels report different stories--do they use the same footage, witnesses, quotes, etc. If they are able to, they can also note the different techniques used within the broadcast that appeal to the audience--are these the same between stations or do they differ? How effective are the techniques? From their observations students will be asked to identify which station seems more reliable to them and why. Students can then reflect upon their findings and report them back to the rest of the class. From these reflections the class can determine which news sources they find to be the most effective and reliable--this can lead to further descussion as to why students made these decisions.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
CI 5441: Alexie Response
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007.
Arnold Spirit Jr., or Junior as he is known on the “rez,” is a Spokane Indian who realizes he is being suffocated and trapped by the limited opportunities available to him. Junior’s realization leads him to a difficult decision; he must leave the reservation in order to reach his full potential by attending a white school twenty miles away. The novels follows Junior on his journey of discovery among the white students at his new school—Penelope, his anorexic girlfriend; Gordy, his genius friend and ally; Roger, the star-athlete and Junior’s teammate; and Coach, who has unswerving faith in Junior. While Junior is adjusting to his new relationships he also struggles with the existing ones, the troubled lives of his family and the loss of his friend turned enemy—Rowdy—on the reservation. The book explores general themes of class, race, and power as well as more defined themes such as resilience, death, and success. The book forces us to question hoe we think about these important themes by creating contradictory feelings of hope and dejection. As we follow Junior we learn that things are not as clear-cut as we imagine them to be and that for every up there is also a down, sideways, and every-which-way in between. In the end, Junior learns this for himself and comes to terms with his identity as white, Indian, basketball player, loser, winner, boyfriend, friend, enemy—he is what he is; a part-time Indian, full-time human.
The book is a well-written account of a fourteen-year-old boy who tells his life as it happens, how it happens. The use of a diary and the comical cartoon illustrations help readers identify Junior’s part in creating the text—it’s his story and he is going to tell it how it is. Because Junior’s character comes through the text and medium of the text it is easy for readers to identify his characteristics as a teenager. Junior’s voice also shines through with the breadth of teenage topics he is more than willing to present to the reader; he is not afraid to talk about kissing, masturbation, fighting, swearing, or boners. The major themes of the text themselves are important and Alexie creates a character who faces these difficult themes in his day-to-day life. The variety of issues assures that readers will be able to identify with some aspect of Junior’s life and make a relevant connection with him. I loved this book for its humor and ability to broach difficult subjects in an effective, meaningful way. Alexie invites readers into Junior’s world and doesn’t hold anything back and I appreciated that. I liked going through everything with Junior and reading his thoughts as he faced many things far beyond what any young man should.
I think this book is teachable because it is a captivating and humorous text that deals with many important and relevant issues students will face today: prejudice, classism, racism, power struggles, and self-identity issues. The book places these topics in a modern context that is accessible to students and allows them to see themselves and their own experiences mirrored in a text that they can relate to more easily then canonical texts. I think this text would be a great choice for teaching in a classroom. I think this book would be well-received in literature circles and could be looked at through reader-response, postcolonial, and privilege and social class lenses. Something I think you could really focus on throughout the text is identity; this text would be a great way to have students explore their own identities and discover how many different “tribes” they belong to themselves.
Arnold Spirit Jr., or Junior as he is known on the “rez,” is a Spokane Indian who realizes he is being suffocated and trapped by the limited opportunities available to him. Junior’s realization leads him to a difficult decision; he must leave the reservation in order to reach his full potential by attending a white school twenty miles away. The novels follows Junior on his journey of discovery among the white students at his new school—Penelope, his anorexic girlfriend; Gordy, his genius friend and ally; Roger, the star-athlete and Junior’s teammate; and Coach, who has unswerving faith in Junior. While Junior is adjusting to his new relationships he also struggles with the existing ones, the troubled lives of his family and the loss of his friend turned enemy—Rowdy—on the reservation. The book explores general themes of class, race, and power as well as more defined themes such as resilience, death, and success. The book forces us to question hoe we think about these important themes by creating contradictory feelings of hope and dejection. As we follow Junior we learn that things are not as clear-cut as we imagine them to be and that for every up there is also a down, sideways, and every-which-way in between. In the end, Junior learns this for himself and comes to terms with his identity as white, Indian, basketball player, loser, winner, boyfriend, friend, enemy—he is what he is; a part-time Indian, full-time human.
The book is a well-written account of a fourteen-year-old boy who tells his life as it happens, how it happens. The use of a diary and the comical cartoon illustrations help readers identify Junior’s part in creating the text—it’s his story and he is going to tell it how it is. Because Junior’s character comes through the text and medium of the text it is easy for readers to identify his characteristics as a teenager. Junior’s voice also shines through with the breadth of teenage topics he is more than willing to present to the reader; he is not afraid to talk about kissing, masturbation, fighting, swearing, or boners. The major themes of the text themselves are important and Alexie creates a character who faces these difficult themes in his day-to-day life. The variety of issues assures that readers will be able to identify with some aspect of Junior’s life and make a relevant connection with him. I loved this book for its humor and ability to broach difficult subjects in an effective, meaningful way. Alexie invites readers into Junior’s world and doesn’t hold anything back and I appreciated that. I liked going through everything with Junior and reading his thoughts as he faced many things far beyond what any young man should.
I think this book is teachable because it is a captivating and humorous text that deals with many important and relevant issues students will face today: prejudice, classism, racism, power struggles, and self-identity issues. The book places these topics in a modern context that is accessible to students and allows them to see themselves and their own experiences mirrored in a text that they can relate to more easily then canonical texts. I think this text would be a great choice for teaching in a classroom. I think this book would be well-received in literature circles and could be looked at through reader-response, postcolonial, and privilege and social class lenses. Something I think you could really focus on throughout the text is identity; this text would be a great way to have students explore their own identities and discover how many different “tribes” they belong to themselves.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
CI 5472: Ad Analysis
This commercial from the Norwegian Association for the Blind is targeted at those people who feel inclined to distract working blind-seeing eye dogs out in the community. The variety of participants in the commercial allows the audience to assume that the commercial is intended to be seen and internalized by a variety of different people. By using images of people treating working citizens like pets—using a discourse reflecting someone playing with a dog—the audience can comprehend that the ridiculousness of behaving in such a way mirrors the irreverent treatment of working dogs as mere pets when they are doing their job. The ad starts with a simple enough comment and gradually becomes more and more identifiable with the way one treats a dog, ending with a woman taking away a train station workers flag and throwing it in a game of “fetch.” The ad ends with an image of a working dog and the script “vest on = at work.” Letting people know how to recognize working dogs and how to treat them accordingly. The ad is emphasizing the need to respect the animals at work and their owners when they are out and about. I think the ad does a great job in getting this point across by mirroring the work of the dogs with the work of people; the connection makes such behavior seem funny and out of place for both humans and animals. Overall the ad adds a new spin on how we think about working dogs.
In this ad I tried to capture the never-ending search for perfection that over the years has been starting at younger and younger ages with a parody on a common Maybelline commercial tag line. Here we see a picture of an adorable little girl juxtaposed with an enhanced version of the image in which she is wearing make-up and fake hair as well as having been airbrushed to remove some of the flesh around her cheeks. I hoped to convey the ridiculous obsession our nation has with superficial beauty and the tireless pursuit of an impossible, ideal perfection. The use of an infant in the commercial centers around the idea that as children we are typically praised and exalted for the natural appearance, but the search for beauty and perfection is never too early a quest to begin. Today, more and more products and agencies are marketing beauty products or toys to girls—from the newly vamped image of Strawberry Shortcake to makeover kits for girls. Even the much beloved Barbie forces girls to have a false sense of what is natural versus what is an impossible standard of physical and superficial appearance. I chose the Maybelline slogan to help highlight the comparison between natural “born” beauty and the use of make-up or other appearance changing tools that target women from a young age.
Ad Analysis Activity:
I think it would be neat to divide students up into small groups and assign them each a channel to watch 30 minutes of television on. Students would record the different commercials that are presented during that time slot on their designated channel. Students can note not only how many commercials are broadcast during this time period, but also what ads have been selected for that particular channel. In class the next day, students could pair up with those who watched the same channel as them and compare their notes on the commercials aired during the 30 minutes they watched. Using their data they would come up with a summary of the target demographics for the commercials and assumptions of the ads and compare that to the channel itself and the assumptions made in connection with the channel—for example, there might be a lot of beer commercials targeting men on ESPN fitting with the assumption that men are the ones primarily interested in sports and that to enjoy sports one needs alcohol. Groups would then present their findings to the class or use their findings to create a parody commercial that illustrates the connections made within each group between the channel, commercials, target audience, and assumptions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)