Morning, all. Ready or not, Monday’s here. Gonna be a busy week in 219.
- Complex Sentence Practice: distinguishing between independent and dependent clauses.
- Night Discussions: segments 1- 3 today, segments 4 – 6 on Friday.
- Essay of the Week: Last week we watched a video of a powerful speech delivered by a young lady at Lewis and Clark High School during their Diversity assembly. The young lady shared her experience as a Muslim-American. The kids will respond to the comments by some on YouTube that she embellished her speech.
- Preface for Injustice Speech: Finally, kids are putting pen to paper–well, fingers to keys–for the first major step in preparing their speeches. Most have created a simulated situation in which they have assumed a particular persona and assigned us a specific role as an audience, so context is necessary. For example, one young lady is addressing the wrong, the “injustice,” of photo-shopped images that are so prevalent in advertising, especially ads targeting girls and women. She is assuming the persona of a former magazine editor who was fired for acting on her conscience and blowing the whistle, exposing the publication’s practice. As the audience, we will be a group of young women to whom she is apologizing and calling upon to help stem the madness of this harmful societal trend. The preface will help her set the stage before she delivers her speech. This will take up the bulk of our time this week.
My favorite but most challenging part will be working with the kids on their prefaces. Having ideas is one thing; effectively bringing those ideas to life is an entirely different thing. But it’s a challenge I love. We will work hard; we will be frustrated; we will grow, we will achieve. Love it. Can’t believe they’re actually paying me for this.
