What's New in ELA Class (week of 12/10)

We're heading into the final week before winter vacation, and our study of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is winding down.
This past week, we read from a stage adaptation of the story by Israel Horowitz, Scrooge and Marley.
We also made a connection to a "modern day" Ebeneezer Scrooge when we read a non-fiction article called "Rich Man, Poor Country" about the world's richest man, Carlos Slim.

Assignment: 12/4

Please read "episode 3" of the BBC radio version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol by Thursday, 12/6. Also, Please answer the following "take home quiz" questions in COMPLETE SENTENCES in your notebook (also please remember to date your work.)
1. Describe, in your own words, The Ghost of Christmas Past's appearance (what does it look like?)
2. At first, Scrooge is afraid to leave with the ghost. Explain why and tell why Scrooge finally agrees to go.
3. The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge an image of himself as a "solidarity child." Explain what this means and describe Scrooge's reaction to seeing his younger self.
4. Who is "Fan?" After talking about Fan with the Ghost, explain why Scrooge seems, "Uneasy in his mind."

Out With November

The last week of November is here and we'll kick off our study our Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.
To get some background on the setting of the story (Victorian England) we'll watch this clip from the BBC series Horrible Histories (this one too.)
Then we will dive into this version of A Christmas Carol (also from the BBC.)

A Different View of Thanksgiving

We ended our pre-Thanksgiving work by reading a discussing Thanksgiving: A Native American View by J. Keeler.
While most of us agreed that Thanksgiving is generally a happy time, we recognized that there is a different perspective to consider.
In other news, we've been keeping track of all the independent reading that the students are doing. So far, seventh graders have read 302 books (average of 5 books per student).

Thanksgiving Myths: A Different Perspective

The story of the first Thanksgiving is a familiar one, but does it accurately portray the celebration at that happened at Plimoth colony in 1621?
Today we watched a clip from an animated biography of William Bradford, which depicts the story as it is traditionally told.
Then we compared our prior knowledge to what we read about "Thanksgiving Myths" at the Oyate website. Oyate is a Native American organization that lists recommended children's books on Native American history and culture.

Thanksgiving Dinner: Two Toons

We started off the week by examining the message about Thanksgiving dinner as portrayed in two political cartoons.
Next up, some Thanksgiving truths and myths...

Election Time in ELA

We talked about the election today, specifically, whether or not the electoral college system is the best way to choose a president.
We played this game ("The Electoral Challenge") in class and it was almost at hotly contested as the real campaign.
This clip from the documentary "Electoral College 101" illustrates some of the problems with the way we elect the President.