Week of January 30

This week we’ll continue reading in Counting on Grace, begin learning the vocabulary words in chapter 4, and work on a short project in conjunction with the 6^th grade art curriculum.

We began last Friday to research about Australian Aboriginal peoples, their creation myths, and the way those myths are represented in contemporary Aboriginal art. Students will be working with William to create paintings depicting a creation myth; in English, we’ll be reading a number of myths this week and working to create a myth, both drawn and written, to inspire and accompany the paintings. (This won’t be a lengthy assignment, but it’s a welcome chance to do an interdisciplinary project.)

Finally, a 6^th grade project that isn’t really English-related: Kathy and I are working with 6^th graders on a knitting project. We are using planner time, opposite our typing program, and learning to knit. Ultimately, students will be knitting hats; right now we’re practicing our knitting technique and getting excited. I took a trip to the yarn store this weekend, but if any of you are knitters looking for a chance to reduce your stash, we’d be interested in any heavy worsted or bulky weight yarn you no longer need. I’ll include photos as we get deeper into this project.

Early January 2012

We spent time last week viewing clips from Ken Burns' "Prohibition" in preparation for his visit with 6th-8th graders last Friday. We looked in particular at how the events and issues surrounding Prohibition related to the Klan presence we read about in Witness. Ken gave an inspiring talk and students had time to ask questions about “Prohibition” in particular and Ken’s filmmaking in general.

We've started reading Elizabeth Winthrop's Counting on Grace, the story of a 12 year old girl working in a textile mill in 1910 Vermont. As with Witness, we’ll be looking at some of the social issues of the time, as well as looking at the way the story is told and how characters develop.

With the new year, we've returned to our vocabulary studies, and since our class will be meeting four days a week, I'm hoping we'll be able to move a little more quickly. (I've posted the chapter 3 words at right.)