Tag Archive for short story unit

Short Stories: Character Development Review

April 30, 2020 / / No comments

 

Goals for the Week:

  1. Follow along with the daily readings of short stories.
  2. Complete your Choice Board project
  3. Continue to collaborate with teachers and classmates

Today’s Checklist:

  1. Watch video about character development (and take a quiz later)
  2. Complete a Nearpod lesson
  3. Identify dynamic characters in literature and film

Today’s Lesson!

Standard:

  • ELAGSE9-10RL3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Learning Target: 

I can analyze complex characters in short stories by completing a Nearpod lesson so that I can find examples of dynamic characters from movies and television.

Activator: 

Here’s a slightly silly duo explaining character development. Check out their video:

Work Session: 

Your assignment for this unit!

You will have one major assignment for this unit, and you get to choose it! Visit the choice board and select one project to complete about one story. In other words,

Today’s Story: No story! Today we are reviewing character development 🙂

Today we are doing another lesson through NearPod! The lesson should show up right below this text. If you need to sign in, use your school Office365 sign in – message your teacher if you don’t know your sign in info 🙂

Closing Session:

Take this 8-question quiz about Different Types of Characters. How did you do?

Examples of dynamic characters in literature:

  1. Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter series
  2. Hamlet from Shakespeare’s titular play
  3. Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird
  4. Ponyboy from The Outsiders
  5. Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol

Can you think of other dynamic characters from literature? Write down as many as you can think of in thirty seconds. Share with a family member, a friend, or your teacher.

What about film? Here is an example of a dynamic character from a film. Can you think of any others? Share with someone you know!

Looking Ahead: NEXT UNIT!!!

This concludes our short stories unit! Remember, no new content on Friday. Please complete your Choice Board project and turn it in to your teacher by Friday, May 1, at 11:59pm 🙂

On Monday, we begin our FINAL UNIT of the semester: Greek Mythology!

Short Stories: “The Cask of Amontillado”

April 29, 2020 / / No comments

Goals for the Week:

  1. Follow along with the daily readings of short stories.
  2. Continue working on your Choice Board project
  3. Continue to collaborate with teachers and classmates

Today’s Checklist:

  1. Read “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe
  2. Complete a NearPod lesson on the story.
  3. Understand verbal and dramatic irony.

Today’s Lesson!

Standard:

  • ELAGSE9-10RL1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Learning Target: 

I can read “The Cask of Amontillado” and complete a NearPod lesson so that I am prepared to do more NearPod learning in our next unit 😉

Activator: 

Poe uses irony in his short story “The Cask of Amontillado.” Check out these videos about verbal and dramatic irony below.

Verbal irony:

Dramatic irony:

Work Session: 

Your assignment for this unit!

You will have one major assignment for this unit, and you get to choose it! Visit the choice board and select one project to complete about one story. In other words,

Today’s Story:  “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

Today we’re trying something a little different – a lesson through NearPod! The lesson should show up right below this text. If you need to sign in, use your school Office365 sign in – message your teacher if you don’t know your sign in info 🙂

Enjoy the lesson!

Closing Session:

Here are five examples from the story. Determine/identify which examples are verbal irony and which examples are dramatic irony? Discuss with your teacher, family, friends, etc.

  1. I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to Fortunato, bowed him through several suites of rooms to the archway that led into the vaults. I passed down a long and winding staircase, requesting him to be cautious as he followed.
  2. “For the love of God, Montresor!” “Yes,” I said, “for the love of God!”
  3. “Come,” I said, with decision, “we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible.
  4. “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day.
  5. We had passed through long walls of piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs.

Looking Ahead: Tomorrow’s Lesson

If you want to get ahead on things, here is what we’re doing tomorrow:

  1. Looking at a NearPod lesson on character development
  2. Finishing up the choice board projects!!

 

Short Stories: “Ordeal By Cheque”

April 28, 2020 / / No comments

Goals for the Week:

  1. Follow along with the daily readings of short stories.
  2. Continue working on your Choice Board project
  3. Continue to collaborate with teachers and classmates

Today’s Checklist:

  1. Read “Ordeal By Cheque” by Wuther Crue.
  2. Figure out what is happening in the story
  3. Consider how the story might be remade in 2020

Today’s Lesson!

Standard:

  • ELAGSE9-10RL1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Learning Target: 

I can read the nontraditional short story “Ordeal By Cheque” and interpret what happens in the story so that I can understand consider my own nontraditional story.

Activator: 

Have you ever written a check? I know I don’t have to write them very often! Check out this short video of the history of check writing and how to fill one out 🙂

Work Session: 

Your assignment for this unit!

You will have one major assignment for this unit, and you get to choose it! Visit the choice board and select one project to complete about one story. In other words,

Today’s Story:“Ordeal By Cheque” by Wuther Crue.

This story was written in 1932 and originally appeared in the magazine Vanity Fair. It’s a unique story, because instead of being told through words and sentences and paragraphs, the entire story is told through images of checks (or cheques, if you prefer).

As you read through the checks, be sure to look at every little detail. The dates, the handwriting, the “Pay to the order of”, the amounts, and the signatures are all important!!

Consider the following as you read:

  • WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE? (that’s the big one :D)
  • Who are the main characters? Who is the protagonist, if anyone?
  • What do you know about the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s? What was going on in America at that time?

As you put together the details of the story, think about how a similar story could be told today. That’s going to be our closing session 🙂

Closing Session:

To close today, consider how this story would look if it were written in 2020. Ordeal By Venmo? Ordeal By Cashapp? I don’t know, but how would it differ? How would it be the same? How much of the story would you NEED to change to translate it to 2020?

Consider rewriting part of the story as a modern “Ordeal by GooglePay”. If you do, show off to your teacher! I would love to feature you here on the blog!

Looking Ahead: Tomorrow’s Story

If you want to get ahead on things, here is the story we’re reading tomorrow:

 

Short Stories: “Olikoye”

April 27, 2020 / / No comments

Goals for the Week:

  1. Follow along with the daily readings of short stories.
  2. Continue working on your Choice Board project
  3. Continue to collaborate with teachers and classmates

Today’s Checklist:

  1. Read “Olikoye” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  2.  Understand how viruses infect the body and how vaccines prevent infection.
  3.  Consider how you feel about vaccines, particularly new and untested ones.

Today’s Lesson!

Standard:

  • ELAGSE9-10RI1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Learning Target: 

I can read and understand a short story about vaccination and apply that knowledge to articles about the coronavirus vaccine, so that I can discuss my feelings about vaccines with my family.

Activator: 

Today we’re learning about viruses and vaccines! To understand some of the science we’re talking about today, take a look at this episode of Ask The Storybots, Season 2 Episode 8, “How Do People Catch a Cold?”

The full episode is here on YouTube, or you can watch it on Netflix 🙂

Work Session: 

Your assignment for this unit!

You will have one major assignment for this unit, and you get to choose it! Visit the choice board and select one project to complete about one story. In other words,

Today’s Story: “Olikoye” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

“Olikoye” is a very short little story about a mother giving birth to her baby, telling her midwife how she picked the child’s name. The baby is named after a famous doctor who brought vaccination to Nigeria in the 1970s. Before this, as you will read in “Olikoye,” many, many babies died of vaccine-preventable diseases. The doctor referenced in the story, by the way? He was a real person! So while this story might be fiction, it is very much based on reality!

Let’s pause here for some important background reading! Check out this website explaining the science behind vaccines: PublicHealth.org: “Understanding How Vaccines Work”

Next up: You might have heard talk about another vaccine being developed right now – one for the coronavirus. Check out this article, “More Coronavirus Vaccines and Treatments Move Toward Human Trials” from the  New York Times. Read through it, and consider your thoughts:

  • Obviously, a vaccine for the coronavirus would be a welcome miracle. But what should we sacrifice in terms of safety testing to develop the vaccine faster?

For another perspective, read this article from National Geographic: “Why a Coronavirus Vaccine Could Take Way Longer Than a Year”. This one discusses some more complex science about how the vaccines currently under development work, and why they are different from the vaccines we currently use for other diseases.

  • Does this information change your perspective on how quickly scientists should push a vaccine through to the public?

Closing Session:

These are big heavy questions we’ve dealt with today, and I know they’re on everyone’s mind. For today’s closing session, I want you to discuss this with a family member or a friend (socially distantly, of course) your thoughts on the coronavirus vaccine. Will you be first in line to get it? Would you rather not get it at all? Consider these questions and your opinions, and discuss them with your friends and fam!

Looking Ahead: Tomorrow’s Story

If you want to get ahead on things, here is the story we’re reading tomorrow:

 

Short Stories: “The Monkey’s Paw”

April 20, 2020 / / No comments

Goals for the Week:

  1. Follow along with the daily readings of short stories.
  2. Continue working on your Choice Board project
  3. Continue to collaborate with teachers and classmates

Today’s Checklist:

  1. Read “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs
  2.  Analyze various interpretations of the story
  3. Play a virtual escape room!

Today’s Lesson!

Standard:

  • ELAGSE9-10RL1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text

Learning Target: 

I can read and analyze “The Monkey’s Paw” so that I can participate in a virtual escape room!

Activator: 

The story we’re reading today is so famous it was actually spoofed by The Simpsons! If you have Disney+, go check out The Simpsons Season 3 Episode 7, “Treehouse of Horror II.”

If you don’t have Disney+, you can watch a highly edited down version here on YouTube:

Work Session: 

Your assignment for this unit!

You will have one major assignment for this unit, and you get to choose it! Visit the choice board and select one project to complete about one story. In other words,

Today’s Story: “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs

Today we’re doing something a little different! After you finish reading the story, you get the chance to participate in a virtual escape room!! Read the story linked above, and then go see if you can solve the puzzle!

Escape the Wishes in “The Monkey’s Paw” Escape Room!

Closing Session:

Were you successful at the escape room? For your closing session today, your job is to message your teacher over Remind and tell them whether or not you were able to escape!

Please take two seconds to message your teacher – we are trying to get a count of who is following along and who is not. We would like to give you credit for the work you are doing!!

Looking Ahead: Tomorrow’s Story

If you want to get ahead on things, here is the story we’re reading on Monday:

 

 
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