Currently students are working in groups of four on this mystery project. This collage consists of a team created mystery essay, pictures of the suspects, pictures (or actual item) of the clues, short bios on each suspect, and any other important pictures or information for their mystery. The project is broken up so that each student is responsible for a portion of the plot as well as the other parts of collage. I have distributed a 5'x3' sheet of paper for them to display their information. For bonus points, students are also allowed to bring in any food item to share with the with the class that is associated with their mystery. Tomorrow they will present their collages, and I can't wait to see how these turn out!
Every year, around Halloween, we dive into the wonderful and gory short stories by Edgar Allen Poe. This year we focused on "The Tell-Tale Heart" about a crazy care taker of an older man who decides to murder him because he fears his deformed eye. Throughout the story, he denies that he is crazy as he gives details of his murderous plan. He also takes the readers through the act of murder, and the cover-up of the corpse. He believes his hatred for the eye is over but once the police arrive to investigate a neighbor's concern, he soon learns that his fears and disillusions are not gone.
Once we read and discuss the plot of the story, we end with a newspaper/drawing activity. Students are asked to pretend they are part of a news team reporting on the story. They are to draw their favorite scene from the story and to provide a short paragraph describing the scene as well as a direct quote. |
AuthorThis is my 6th year teaching Language Arts at OJHS. Before coming here, I taught Language Arts for 6 years at Rossville-Alvin Junior High School. Archives
August 2017
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