September 29/30

English 1 -- In today's class, we began reading To Kill a Mockingbird! Students started the class by recording in our Writer's Notebooks about their family histories and family traditions -- this could be anything from "my grandparents came from England" to "my grandma makes some mean hot tamales and now I'm learning how to make them." Next, students answered some opinion questions that got them thinking about controversial topics that will be raised in the novel. After discussing student responses, I told the students a little bit about the author of the novel, Harper Lee. I explained how Lee said that authors should write about what they know, and how she practiced what she preached in her novel by using characters and events from her own childhood. If students are interested, I even have a book in my classroom library called I Am Scout, which is a biography of Harper Lee that outlines all the ways in which her real life is mirrored in Scout's life. In chapter one, which was read aloud in class, we met several characters, including Scout, Jem, Dill, Atticus, Calpurnia, Miss Stephanie Crawford, and the Radley family. Participation Question: What is Calpurnia's role in relation to the Finch family?

English 1 Homework
Read chapters 2-4 (up to page 42)
Be ready for a reading check quiz at the beginning of next class

English 2 -- In today's class, students turned in their maps and questions from "It Can't Be Helped," and we went over their answers to the questions. We then read another short story by Malcolm X, called "Hair". After students answered critical thinking questions over the story, they began idea-gathering for their upcoming personal narratives through a memory map. By drawing a stylized map of a place where they spent (or are spending) much of their childhood and adolescence, students are able to jog their memories about important events and situations that would make great subjects for their personal stories. Participation question: What did Malcolm do to his hair?

English 2 Homework
Finish memory maps
Make sure you come to class with an idea for your personal narrative