An Author's Motive?

Last Friday, we had our 3rd Socratic Seminar of the year, using these questions as a guide. As always, it was VERY hard for me to bite my tongue as I heard fascinating and intriguing connections and ideas from you all--some of you were flipping pages in your novels so fast to try and prove your points. And I love that there were so many powerful articulations of what occurred in the novel and how it relates to our lives.

Remember: English is all about finding out what you really think and believe (and sometimes changing that in the face of a powerful story or approach), supporting your ideas, and then connecting them to life to make a difference. 

Today, we continued reading Mockingbird in class as we prepare for Kathy Erskine's visit on April 4th. We also did a Quick Write and handed in our Nothing but the Truth novels.

Our word of the day today was SUBSIDE,. which means to lessen or decrease; to grow smaller. An example of the word in a sentence is: when I got that huge split lip as a kid, it took two weeks before the swelling subsided. Another example is: I hope your love of reading and writing never subsides.

For tonight, share a few sentences in response to this question: why do you think an author writes a novel?  What do you think drives and sustains the author to complete the book and see it through until publication?

Preparing for Socrates!

Today, we talked about your synthesis essays and you received them back with loads of blue notes on them from me! Blue! We love blue!

We also began reading aloud from Kathryn Erskine's National Book Award winning novel Mockingbird as we look forward to welcoming Kathy to our school for a visit on April 4th!

We will begin preparing for our Socratic Seminar by working on this preparation sheet tomorrow in class.  On Friday, we will then hold our THIRD SOCRATIC SEMINAR of the year, about which I am thrilled.

Our word of the day today is APLOMB, which is a noun that means quiet self-confidence; poise. And yesterday's word was DISDAIN, which is a verb OR a noun that means to look down on someone (verb) or the feeling that someone else is unworthy.

Peace!

Mr. R

Socratic Seminar!

Today, we held our first Socratic Seminar. It was wonderful to hear you all talk, debate, and reflect on four key questions that relate to themes from our novel, THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF MIKE.

Here is a picture of our four questions that we explored:

As I took notes on all of the comments and ideas you shared, I was deeply inspired and I learned a lot from you all. Here are a few ideas--quotes--that came out of your Socratic Seminar today:

"There is no such thing as success--it's not a real thing. But you can have various achievements, and those can make you feel proud."

"Success is reaching your own personal goals."

"There are multiple ways to be intelligent--and those ways can't always be measured by traditional schools."

"Ben Franklin is an interesting example of success: he never really had much schooling, and yet he was a creative genius and invented so much!"

"Success is so often shaped by other people's standards; people are pressured to achieve in certain ways."

"People who have a lot of empathy can often become despondent on behalf of others." 

"You can still have fun and grow a lot without being the best at something."

"Often discouragement ties into failure; what can help is finding a hobby you like--something you believe in that brings you joy and relaxation."

"Society too often values things like beauty and talent, instead of much more important things like honesty."

"Wealth is the most important hing in our society, because it allow people to get good educations."

"More people would rather (deep down) be less popular and have good friends."

"There are a lot of successful people who never went to college."

"Popularity goes too far: consider the book Wonder."

"Success is totally subjective, but society crafts a majority definition."

"People who grow old too often forget what mattered to them in their childhoods."

"Most of us judge by money and intelligence, but that isn't always good."

"I think success is self-pride."

"What can help people who are despondent--like Poppy--is having friends and social connections."

"People who have lived through a lot of bad situations see the world differently."

"Happiness matters the most; happiness is the key to success."

"Past is homeless, but he's happy."

"Failure is an important part of success."

[in response to above comment]: "But failure isn't always good; like, what if you fail at disarming a bomb?"

"Success is doing something that makes you feel more like the person you really want to be."

"Sometimes, success is unintentional."

"Success is about working at something again and again, over a long period of time."

Our word of the day is: OUTLIER, which means: a value far away from the average (think: a person who does something very differently than others, a school or place that is very different than the norm, etc).

For homework tonight, be sure to read Chapters 22 and 23 in THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF MIKE.

Peace!

Mr. R

The Socratic Seminar!

Wow.

Wow!

Wow! I had so much fun today listening in to you all in our Socratic Seminar. You each shared some powerful ideas, many times using support from the text, connections to your own lives, and also by imagining the possibilities. You used Avi's Nothing but the Truth as a springboard and you also explored key ideas about effective education, forgiveness, thinking outside the box, and the media.

I loved being able to watch you all take initiative, and it was so hard to bite my tongue so much, as your insightful ideas made me want to chime in, too!

For tomorrow, be sure to review our five fabulous words from the week: SOLILOQUY, SOLIPSISM, DORMANT, SOCRATES,  and DIVERSITY.

Thanks for a fabulous time today!