Short Stories by O. Henry

Hi guys!

On Monday we officially start our Analyzing Fiction unit, during which you'll have the opportunity to choose short stories to read and analyze. The genre of short stories is hard to define, but usually they focus on a set number of characters, typically take place in one location, and have one central conflict. Short stories utilize literary elements such as character development, plot, and theme, but to a much lesser extent than novels do. They can be any genre and any length, but most are under thirty pages or so.

See what I mean? Short stories are tough to define! 

Today in class, everyone read "A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry for our Analyzing Fiction pretest, but it will also serve as our mentor text for the next couple of weeks. I'm going to link to the story here in case you ever need it at home.

"A Retrieved Reformation"

O. Henry is considered by many to be the master of short stories - having written over 600 in his lifetime! Some people really enjoyed "A Retrieved Reformation", so I thought I'd also link some of O. Henry's other short stories. Here are some of his most famous ones:

"After Twenty Years"

"The Gift of the Magi" (One of my favorites!)

"The Ransom of Red Chief"

"Last Leaf"

And here is a link to a whole lot more! Feel free to use any of these to write your next reading response!

Week of 9-8-15

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I want to try to update the blog weekly to let you know what's going on in language arts. Better communication with parents is a huge goal of mine this year, and I want to make sure you're as in-the-know as possible when it comes to what your kids are doing.

We started using the flipped classroom model in language arts last week, and it was pretty successful. Below this post, you'll see four posts from Friday that show reflective conversations about how the kids think the flipped classroom is going, and they seem to love it so far. I do, too! It was a really great week, and I look forward to continuing with this model throughout the school year.

Here are a few thoughts from our first week:

• Many of the students chose to watch the videos at school instead of at home. This is fine, but each video takes between 30-45 minutes to watch, which means it takes up almost all of their language arts hour. If they have other obligations to fulfill during our LA time, they may need to start watching the videos at home, after school or during study hall time. If students use their time wisely, they should be able to watch the videos during class, but they shouldn't count on always having a free day to view them - especially if they wait until the last minute.

• The students had two mandatory videos last week and one optional video. I strongly suggest they watch the optional videos, but they are not required. The mandatory videos are taking place of the instruction I used to do during class time, so those definitely need to be viewed by every student. Next week, we will be starting note-taking during each video, and students will get a participation grade for taking notes as they watch.

• I like the pace of mini-lesson videos so far. Two mandatory videos a week seems pretty manageable. If I need to do more lessons, I will most likely just teach them in class as a group. Optional videos will continue to pop up, but may not be something you see every week. 

• After each video, I would like to include links to other resources. If you watch the video with your student and aren't sure they get the concept, or if you just see them struggling, feel free to use these extra resources to help. Parents regularly ask me how they can help at home, so I thought that might be a feature you would find useful.

As for this week, your kids took a Performance test today. Tomorrow is for makeups and talking about Performance results, and they also have a language packet (gen root words) due. We will have an analyzing fiction pretest Thursday and Friday. No videos for this week, but they will most likely have one to watch over the weekend! Keep a look out! As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to leave a comment on this post or email me at samantha.boehle@pekin.net. Have a great week!

Flipped Classroom Reflection

Alright, guys. We've been working under the flipped classroom model for a week now. What do you think about it so far? What are the pros and cons now that you're in it? Let's talk about it!

Flipped Classroom Reflection

Alright, guys. We've been working under the flipped classroom model for a week now. What do you think about it so far? What are the pros and cons now that you're in it? Let's talk about it!

Flipped Classroom Reflection

Alright, guys. We've been working under the flipped classroom model for a week now. What do you think about it so far? What are the pros and cons now that you're in it? Let's talk about it!

Flipped Classroom Reflection

Alright, guys. We've been working under the flipped classroom model for a week now. What do you think about it so far? What are the pros and cons now that you're in it? Let's talk about it!

OPTIONAL - Process for Writing a Reading Response

Hey guys, I thought it might be helpful for you to see the thinking process I use to write a reading response. Check out the video below if you'd like! Below you can see a picture of my completed response. Don't forget that we have Reading Response Organizers that will help you write a great response! See you tomorrow!

My finished response: