The 20-1 class has been reading William Shakespeare's
Macbeth and to their surprise, they kind of enjoyed it! Prior to reading, the students placed themselves in groups and those groups were responsible for "getting to know" one of the major character(s) of the play. They were to keep track of that character's actions, quotes, feelings, thoughts, etc. and place that information on a poster to display their knowledge and share their findings with the class. They were given specific things to look for and place on their posters; adjectives that describe the character(s), their role in the play, place them on a "player or pawn" continuum, choose 3 symbols that represent the character(s), and choose an important quote from that character that would indicate the character's personality/characteristics, etc.
The posters have been completed and the information shared with the class! Not only was this a fun activity for the students to do, but it also gave them a sense of responsibility within the play; to keep their fellow peers informed on a major character. This assignment is great for their final
Macbeth assignment where they will have to really delve deep into the minds of the characters to represent them in a symbolic piece. The students can either create a mandala-type project where they must choose 4 characters to represent with symbols and colors, or they can create a mask which represents one character using colors and 5 symbols of representation. I'm more than excited to see their final products and I will definitely keep you posted and share their work when they're done!
The ELA 9 class has been working feverishly on their independent novel studies. Their assignment consists on 4 parts; vocabulary, reader response journals, a visual component, and an inference writing portion. The students each got to choose their own novel and only two decided to work on the same one, so there is quite the variety! When they are completed their assignment we will be having a "book talk" where students will share the synopsis of their novel, explain their project, and discuss the plot, characters, and major themes. They will then be placed in groups where they will have a similar vote-out style competition like they did for their KHS Reads; Short Story Edition (check out the other blog for more information - www.stacymoirkhs.edublogs.org). The winner will receive a prize and of course, the adoration of their peers. Not only will they get a big pat on the back, but the winning student will have their novel read by next year's ELA 9 class as part of their novel study. It's an exciting time in ELA right now! 
