Theatrical Thursday 2013

This was a very popular blog post last year so I thought I would give y'all a try in the roll of director. I have some very definite ideas myself so read  below and let's see how you would do.

This may be our last opportunity to talk about The Giver on the blog. There are a few possible endings. I guess it depends if you are an optimist or a realist. We will definitely discuss the ending possibilities in class. I think some of you will be shocked at the ending as described by many of the realists in the group.

If you research Lois Lowry's website, you can read some of her answers to questions posed by students about the ending. She is very evasive, indeed. Feel free to check it out. Here's the link.

http://www.loislowry.com/ Retype if it does not post as a link. :(

Now it's time to get down to work for today. I have a very interesting reason why I decided to post this page on Theatrical Thursday. Imagine....you are the director of the new movie, The Giver. How would you cast the characters? Here are some possibilities as I see them:



Paul Newman as THE GIVER   Reese Witherspoon as Rosemary Chord Overstreet as Jonas Isla Fisher as Fiona Brian Jones as Asher
and introducing Jeremy James as baby Gabriel




So what do you think of my cast of characters so far? Now it's your turn. Explain who you would choose to play the most important cast of characters in the movie version of The Giver. If you would like to cast the entire movie with characters played by your peers or others from the Brackman School, go right ahead. I am curious to see how you do as a director.
For some extra credit print pictures of your cast of characters and create a movie poster to show the class. Have fun!

Wordy Wednesday

The last Wednesday in February.......

I hope you all have been checking the blog even if you have not been contributing.  Science Fiction Friday had to do with The Giver, as I am sure you have figured out by now. Please go back and look at the pictures again to see if you can make a connection to the text yet. Some will still be a mystery until we reach that section in the text. Now that you have more information, though, you can make educated guesses and/or predictions for the novel. Have fun trying to figure them out.

Now, let's get to the task at hand---Vocabulary. There are many interesting vocabulary words that you will encounter as we read The Giver. You have already worked with a few. I am going to post some pictures that may help you define some of the new words on our list. This will be a challenge to get just the right picture to show the meaning, since I don't have the capability of sketching exactly what I want. Let's give it a try.


What vocabulary word from The Giver is shown in the picture below? 




Exuberant or Excruciating














Anguish or Conspicuous

Meticulous or Transgression

Buoyancy or Crescendo

Interdependent or Independent

Easy, right? Let me know what you think of the exercise. Please create a post using some of the words in context too. I'd be interested in seeing how they fit together in a paragraph. Feel free to find some pictures on the Internet for the words that were not represented in illustration above. Print and bring in for extra points. Have fun with words.

Science Fictional Friday

Note:  I know it's only Thursday, but I may not be able to post tomorrow from Texas.  Enjoy this challenge, and, of course, be respectful of your substitute.  I will see you Tuesday. Reminder:  Parent letters are due back on Tuesday.

Fictional Friday is back. I hope you are all ready to once again be creative.    I realize that for your free reading you will be concentrating on nonfiction and planning your "talk show" interviews for the end of the marking period. That does not mean you should completely forget about fiction and creativity. We will be starting a very bizarre novel shortly and I want to ease you into it.

Our new novel will have a touch of science fiction so be ready for anything and everything, as they say. To get you started and thinking along the lines of the weird and the seemingly impossible, I am posting some pictures that may or may not have something to do with our new novel. I would like you to preview the pictures and see if you can develop your own story line fitting each picture somewhere into the plot. You have my permission to be as weird as you like. Remember, this book will be science fiction.

Spoiler alert>>> Anyone who has already read our new book or has been told anything about the plot from an older sister/brother make sure you do not ruin the surprise or shock value of the novel for the rest of the classes. Thanks

Okay, enjoy the pictures and let your imaginations fly.....

Time Travel Tuesday

It's time to take ourselves back to the 60's in honor of The Outsiders. Check the illustrations below and tell me what you think. Describe what you think it would have been like to live in the 1960's. Check the styles and the activities. I will look for some musical groups, movies, and favorite TV shows of teens so you can get a real feel for the time period and what our characters in The Outsiders were experiencing.

Guys in Madras...


The London influence for girls...


Peace...

Hippies.....

and



A 1969 crossing...



In the movies...


TV...











The Greasers...


and The Socs...



Was it harder to be a teen in the 60's or is it more difficult now? Explain.

Think about your own personality, likes, and dislikes. Would you have fit in during this time period? Why or why not?

BTW...This is my favorite blog post yet. I could go on and on with pictures. Have fun with it.

Fictional Friday

Fictional Friday is back.  Our lessons are deep into fiction with your free reading novels and your original short stories.  It's time to get back to the blog and post some of your favorite fictional books.  Write a short review of a book you think others will enjoy reading.  If you think one of your nonfiction selections was noteworthy from last marking period, by all means, write a review so others will know. 

If you have questions on your literary analysis, you can post them here.  Other students may also give an alternate perspective on your issue.  Let's help each other and let's talk about books.  I was happy to see that some students challenged themselves with classic writers such as H.G. Wells, Agatha Christie, Louisa May Alcott, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Jack London, Jules Verne, and J.R.R. Tolkien.  Contempory writers like Gary Paulsen,  Lois Lowry, Robert Cormier, S. E. Hinton, Walter Dean Myers, Jerry Spinelli, and  J. K. Rowling continue to be middle school favorites. The newest author to entice middle school students such as yourselves is Suzanne Collins.  I look forward to reading all the literery analysis papers, especially those written on The Hunger Games.  I know Suzanne Collins' books are rich on thematic ideas.