Just watched a powerful documentary about Terry Fox this weekend. He was a young man who lost his right leg to cancer but didn't let that beat him; instead, he decided to run across Canada on one leg raising both money and awareness. I had never forgotten him because of the role he played in my running career way back in 1981, so when I saw this documentary was available on Netflix courtesy of ESPN's 30 for 30, I quickly logged in. Yet as I was watching it, I was thinking about how we could use this video in our nonfiction unit this quarter (Every time I watch anything I'm always wondering if we can use it in class somewhere---ahhh...the life of a teacher). We will be going to the IMC on Tuesday. We will be looking for nonfiction books to read on our own outside of class. Between now and then, I'll be studying the standards and trying to see if there is a way to bring all of this together: documentaries, books and nonfiction.
I've been assessing the timed writings over the weekend. There were several impressive submissions from period one. Renee Yaseen's writing stands out as one strong example. In order to gain insight into who the men were, she went beyond just summarizing the book and the poem in the authors' words to characterizing the men based on what she knows about them through their writings and our discussions. Great results. These have been fun and interesting to read; however, they are taking longer than expected. Please be patient as I work my way through them.
We will be watching the end of the Animal Farm film tomorrow. You had a start last Thursday with Mr. Alfrey. Based on what he told me, you also had some decent discussions (period six especially) about how the film and book coincide and how the film also takes some liberties with the presentation. It's those liberties that we will be interested in once our viewing is done. I know you are all aware that we will be writing a paper on this topic. If you've taken good notes--and continue to take good notes--you should do well. You'll want to go beyond merely saying, "Look, that's different." Instead, you'll want to say, "Look, that's different and this is how it affects the story and this is why the director made the decision to change it." We'll talk more about it in class, but prepare yourself well.
Guess what. I won't be here Friday. I'm going to the National Association of Gifted Children (that's you) conference in Indianapolis. For three days (Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday) I'll be finding new ways to challenge and stimulate you with rigorous and standard based curriculum. Sound fascinating? I know I'm looking forward to it. Ask me about it next Monday.
See you soon.
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