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!
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