Can We Read More Stories Like This?

This is the question I was asked today during 3rd period JR LA. We are in the middle of A Raisin in the Sun, and the students are loving it! I don't have to give instruction to take out their books or force students to read lines...they are all one step ahead of me by taking out their books when the bell rings, calling out the page number to each other for where we stopped reading the previous day, and volunteering (sometimes a little TOO insistently) to read lines for their favorite characters.

The language of the play is simple enough that I don't need to explain much to my ESOL students. They keep up with the dialogue, and there's actually been quite a bit of laughter during the exchanges between characters. Sometimes, I'm surprised that the students are paying close enough attention to get some of the more subtle comments, but they are!

A couple of days ago, I picked up the made-for-TV version of the play. I watched it a few years ago when it first aired on ABC, and it was a decent production. The women were strong and convincing, but P. Diddy did not pull off Walter's character, in my opinion. Anyhow, I asked the students: "Would you like to read Act I and watch the video of that part, then read Act II and watch it, or would you rather just read through the play and watch the movie afterward?" The decision was unanimous: "No, Miss, the movie will ruin it! Let's read it all first and then watch." I was floored....

I haven't done anything special to teach the book. We're reading it in conjunction with our study of Langston Hughes's poetry (with particular attention, of course, to "Dream Deferred"), but we're simply reading, answering some discussion questions, talking about the characters' motives and feelings, and taking a test in the end. The students will probably write a short essay to expand on the themes of the play, but other than those things, the characters and words are what make this piece so easy to teach. The students truly connect to it, and that is a wonderful event to witness.

As for my SOPH LA classes, we are completing our study of Inferno this week. The students say they have enjoyed reading this text and appreciate that Dante would have such vision and imagination to create such places in his literature. There are only a few Cantos in our textbook, and we only read Cantos I, III, and XXXIV; but I also gave the students a tour of the entire Inferno as I discussed in my previous post. As we read each Canto, I put up on the overhead projector "reading check," "literary analisis," "critical viewing," and "critical analysis" questions which I have taken from the margins of the textbooks. We'll read a section of the Canto, I'll summarize what has happened or what was said, and then we'll answer these overhead questions together. The students have not once complained about copying these questions and answers. In fact, they are asking questions, adding comments, correcting each other, making literary or historical references, and making jokes as we analyze the Canto.

After we finish reading the Canto and the discussion questions, the students answer certain "Review and Assess" questions from their texts. These they have to do on their own because they require deeper thought, and I want them to challenge themselves. We go over them together, though, and peer grade their work.

This Friday, the students will write chunk paragraphs about a topic related to Inferno. This will be part of their test on this unit. On Monday, they will take a 50-question multiple choice test to complete the assessment. After that, we'll get to work on a practice Gateway Exam (with a focus on medieval life). Then, the last few days before Spring Break, I think I'll reward the students with a viewing of What Dreams May Come, a film that uses some of the ideas of the afterlife and punishment from The Divine Comedy.

Quote of the Day:
"Mrs. Greene, it's hotter than the 8th circle of hell in here! Could we turn on the A.C. please?" Yay! Literary jokes! :) This student was one of my lowest performers last semester, but with Julius Caesar and Inferno this semester, he has been on top of his game and has a high B in my class now!