A week off from class was a nice break, but it is also good to be back to our CHAT classes.
Before our Quick Write, I told the students about a opera performance in Berlin by Luciano Pavarotti. Following the performance, Pavarotti had a record 165 curtain calls and a 67 minute standing ovation. I asked the students to write about either a memorable concert experience or a singer/group they would like to hear in concert. While most students like concerts, a few were not as interested in attending any special performances.
Our Words of the Day:
philophaster -- a pseudo-philosopher (the suffix "aster" implies an incomplete resemblence or counterfeit)
autocrat -- from Greek, auto (self) and crat (rule/power) -- a ruler who has absolute power;
satrap -- a governor in ancient Persia
epizootic -- a disease spreading through an animal population
trilemna -- a difficult choice involving 3 options
We had a quick check in on our Essays. This writing assignment is probably the hardest one that they will do all year. In order to write about a theme or character from The Strange Adventures of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the students need to give the book a thorough reading and to analyze the book. They should use the charts they they filled out as they read the book to help gather supporting details.
We've reached the final chapters of our book and took time to discuss its ending. We read aloud the section that described the transformation of Hyde's body to Jekyll's. As a final activity, we made a list of really good, moral people and a list of immoral, unsavory people and pondered a modern version of the Jekyll/Hyde story.
Our next Literature unit is a book of O. Henry short stories. O. Henry was a prolific short story writer whose collections entertained Americans at the turn of the twentieth century. We will read two stories for next week. Students are to bring to class 3 discussion questions for each story. These discussion questions should be Why and How questions rather than Who, What, When or Where questions.
Finally, we forayed into a Grammar discussion that involved phrases. Today, our specific topic was infinitive phrases. These are verbal phrases that begin with "to" and include the simple form of the verb. For example, "to walk" and "to see" and "to love." These phrases can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. As we've discussed in class, sometimes one part of speech can be used in another. In the homework section, I have two videos that will help explain both Infinitive Phrases and Appositive Phrases. I would like the students to watch them before the next class.
Assignments for Next Week:
Themes/Character Rough Draft
Themes Worksheet
Character Worksheet
Vocabulary Worksheet
Read "The Gift of the Magi" and "After Twenty Years"
Write 3 Discussion questions for each story
Phrases, Part 2 Worksheet (front side only)
Links for This Week:
Class Notes
Have a great week!
Mrs. Prichard
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