We had an enjoyable class this week. They're not only working hard, they are engaging well in class discussions.
Our Quick Write this week was inspired by a certain star's first appearance: in 1928 Mickey Mouse premiered in Steamboat Willie, the first talking animated film. I asked the students to write about their favorite animated film, either a movie or a TV series.
The Words of the Day were chosen by Peter, and it was suggested that they do "Stump the Teacher" and not let me look up the words. I must admit that I was stumped by the third word. The words were
gulag -- Russian; an acronym from Glavnoe upravlenieispravitel'no trudovykh lagerei; the Main Directorate of Corrective Labor Camps -- a systems of labor camps in the Soviet Union
raj -- fr. Hindu; raj, rule -- a title for rulership
sabot -- fr, French, cabot, old shoe -- a traditional wooden shoe
They handed in their Rough Drafts of the Comparison/Contrast Essays. I will have them ready for revising at our next class (December 4).
We've finished our novel by Mark Twain, but we are continuing to read selected passages by this wonderful American author. As we made our way through a collection of quotes by Twain, we had a wonderful discussion about humor. While explaining why a joke is funny can at times remove all funniness from the joke, unpacking various types of humor can increase our appreciation for the cleverness and wit of those who are truly funny.
I gave them a copy of a story, called a "Christmas Story" even though it has very little to do with Christmas. The first page of the handout has 2 assignments that they are to do for the next week. The first assignment is to be, as Twain was, an "enormous noticer" of details. The second is to read the story and make special note of Twain's humor. For an Extra Credit assignment they can bring in some written information about "slapstick" humor.
I had told the class that we were not going to have a Words of the Day test. We will, however, have a Quiz. I will send out the complete list of our weekly words this weekend. It will have a combination of multiple choice, matching, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank questions. They should read through the list and re-familiarize themselves with the words. Increasing our vocabularies is meant to be fun, so I don't want anyone to lose sleep over this quiz.
Assignments for Week 14 (December 4)
-- Assignments 1 & 2 on the "Analysis of Twain's Humor" handout
-- Review Words of the Day for the Quiz
-- Extra Credit -- bring information about slapstick humor
This week's Class Notes post
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Mrs. Prichard
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