Most of us Americans have no idea of what exactly England looks like. Be sure to have photos of the areas. My 8th graders were shocked at how scary the moors were.
Dickens' works were published serially. Look to see if you can find the actual chapters in newspapers of the time - English or American.
I teach American Lit. 1 and 2, and to be perfectly honest, there's not much great literature DURING the war. Instead, I use the time to show the concepts of patriotism, jingoism, propaganda. English websites have WONDERFUL materials for WWI and WW2.
You can link Jane Austen to the Napoleonic Wars - it's a background for her works, and why the young girls were obsessed with soldiers.
I've done this with Shakespeare's Hamlet - I found several different versions of the same act, set up various televisions and computer screens, and we did a comparison-contrast. This works wonderfully well with the ghost scene and with the grave-diggers scene. The students thought they'd hate the B&W Olivier version, but he came in 2nd (he'd have been 1st if it had been in American English).
Our seniors have to study British literary history; it's the assigned curriculum for that grade. Our required "reading" is Macbeth (although I never force them to read it cold...local university has several versions on video. Shakespeare has to be experienced in performance!)
On 9/24/13, Don't you have curriculum requirements? wrote: > When I taught Brit Lit, we had limited chioce about what > literature to assign. I had difficult 11th graders, and taught > Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, Animal Farme and MacBeth, and some > poetry. I would suggest, if you have the option, skip over the > slower parts of Beowulf and emphasize the action sequences, > choose just a few Canterbury tales that are least difficult, show > video clips whenever possible. > > > > > On 9/02/13, Modern Everyman wrote: >> I've taught ENG 12 for 3 years now. The first year I did >> English Lit because that was what the other teacher did, but >> each year I make it more my own and I basically ditched English >> Lit in order to "grab" the difficult seniors. Those are my >> thoughts, but here's what I did that first year: Beowulf, >> Pygmalion, Othello (did that for 3 years...the "easy" version >> though...Othello is good), Alice in Wonderland. >> >> >> On 9/01/13, Deanne wrote: >>> Hey, everyone! >>> >>> I'm new to teaching literature, but am super excited about >>> it and am looking to learn all I can. I have been assigned >>> English 12 - British Literature. >>> >>> What are some of your favorite pieces, ideas for activities >>> and discussions, etc. >>> >>> I appreciate all input. Thank you!
> On 11/03/13, We're required to post the day's objectives on the > board wrote: >> On 11/03/13, Elizabeth wrote: >>> Do you post learning targets on the board? Do you find them >>> effective? Or do they kill the discovery aspect and love of >>> learning? >>
Students are writing research papers for a science topic to present to the class. How long a paper is a reasonable expectation for 8th grade? How long should research papers be- 8th grade?
On 11/04/13...See MoreI have worked with accelerated sixth grade students who could easily write a multiple page paper, and I have worked with behind-grade-level high school students who would need a lot of support to even write a one-page, five-paragraph essay. Does you district's curriculum guide give you any guidance on what your school expects?
On 11/04/13, Jim wrote: > Students are writing research papers for a science topic to > present to the class. How long a paper is a reasonable > expectation for 8th grade? How long should research papers > be- 8th grade?
What are people teaching novel-wise in light of the more complex text requirements of the common core state standards? I'm curious about all high school grades but most specifically 11th grade.
I teach The Crucible and tie it into informational text with the witch trials and McCarthy. I also teach Othello and require The Last Lecture for summer reading. In lit. circles I use The Glass Castle, The Kite Runner, My Sister's Keeper, Me Before You, Mitch Albom anything, The Hot Zone (true Biological virus), The woman who hear color (new), and many more
Crosspol is a new academic journal for BOTH high school English and college writing teachers.
The goal of this journal is to think about the transition between high school English classrooms and college writing classrooms.
Our very first call for papers (CFP) is available on our website: [link removed].
We want to invite all English teachers to take a look at it and consider submitting their essays to us. A good editorial staff is an OVERWHELMED editorial staff.
Also, please consider sharing this information with the other English teachers in your schools and districts.
On 11/29/13, Steve wrote: > On 11/23/13, Modern Everyman wrote: >> Good morning! I'm teaching the SAT prep course for the first >> time at my high school and I definitely need some ideas. >> Each class is 3 hours once a week for 6 weeks, so I'm trying >> to figure out what the heck to do. I want to make it >> valuable...don't want them to feel they could've just bought >> a review book and done it at home. How do any of you folks >> "approach" the SAT prep course? Thanks so much! > > Tell them you're there to help them beat the test. Be > sympathetic. They cannot get sympathy and personal > encouragement from a website. If they thought they could get > what they need from a website, they would have gone that > route. > > Start with basics like - I'm sure this test makes you nervous. > Let's try not to be. You will all get into college!! > (Literally some kids believe they will not get into college) > > Tell them this test is thought to be important but don't let > the fear of the test rule you. That does not help you or your > scores. > > So our first lesson here today is to look at the first page of > an SAT to familiarize yourselves - to reduce the "unknown > factor" of the test and to save you some time on test day. > Kids who haven't taken the class will be going "uh, where do I > put my name" and you guys will have already written yours." > > Take them over the first page and then tell them all the > subsections and tell them we're going to look at them one at > a time. Then Pick the easiest subsection to teach first. > > Give easier not harder examples. Build confidence. Not > cockiness but confidence. Don't give them a sense that the > test might be horribly difficult - that won't improve > anyone's scores. > > In six weeks you cannot do much more than introduce them to > the subsections and give them sample questions from each. > > Give them the basic strategies - when to guess and when not to > guess. > > You're the difference between them thinking they should have > just signed up online and being happy they took the class. > ... Give guidance, be positive, have the class be upbeat > filed with positive energy. No website can do that. > > And in answer to your unspoken question of well, doesn't any > SAT instructor do that? No, they don't. Some treat the test > as sacrosanct and the students as unworthy candidates for it. > Some emphasize the difficulty of the test to protect > themselves if the kids get low scores as in "well, I warned > you". > > And here's a tip the kids Love to hear- tell them the test is > under increasing scrutiny and studies consistently show there > is NO correlation between test scores and student's grades in > college. Tell them there is a lengthening list at > [link removed].
Modern EverymanThanks for your long response. I agree with your recommendation to stay positive. I'm looking forward to teaching to a very specific goal, even though I only have 6 weeks.
What is the maximum prep for a secondary English teacher? Can you be assigned 5 different classes/subjects in a 7 period day? Where can I find policy on this? With all these: Eng 1 and 2, Reading, Academic Lit, and Writing courses, are you aloud 2 planning periods per day?
MeThis is 7th grade, one hour periods except Per.7, which is 40 minutes. Period 1: Advanced Math Period 2: Social Studies Period 3,4,5: Language Arts Period 6: Lunch Period 7: Remedial Math (not certified in math) I miss the days where I only taught Language Arts oriented classes.
On 3/22/14, Me wrote: > This is 7th grade, one hour periods except Per.7, which is 40 minutes. > Period 1: Advanced Math > Period 2: Social Studies > Period 3,4,5: Language > Arts > Period 6: Lunch > Period 7: Remedial Math > > (not certified in math) > > I miss the days where I only taught Language Arts oriented classes. > >