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Steve Booton's Discussions
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Sorry,
After going back and checking on my website - I noticed that for some reason I had not published my Paradise Lost lessons - but they are up there now, so I appreciate the heads up.
Jon, thank you for taking time out for me from your busy schedule. I haven't read The Lamb and The Tyger for some time, so it will be interesting investigating your suggestion(s). Kind Regards, Steve
Going with your idea of the differences between good and evil, I'm reminded of the Romantic poems by William Blake: The Lamb and The Tyger. I taught both a few years ago as part of an entry unit on poetry and imagery, but I think both poems do a goo…
Mark,
You are kind to have taken time replying to my plea for help. Thank you. Good stuff. I have also received some good information from another NING user J.D. Wilson. See attached. Too, I came across Terrance Lindall reciting the text while show…
J.D.
Excellent! I too think it very helpful for students to view images of difficult, complex text. As a matter of fact I have downloaded many of the same images you have posted on your worksheet to use during my instruction. Your information, howe…
I do a thing I call illustrated poetry. I do not know how in depth it goes but I give students the text of the poem and some illustrations of the poems and the students have to find the lines the pictures could illustrate (they do not need to be the…
Hi Steve,
I'm still stuck on the 3 days, but anyway. . .
Perhaps you could focus on Milton's language? The physicality of his metaphors ("darkness visible" "the mind is it's own place") and the rhetorical figures ("Out of our evil seek to bring fo…
Mark,
Thank you for replying. Yes, three days, Book 1 The Fall of Satan lines 1-270.
Kind Regards,
Steve
Hmmm, 3 days on a single section from Paradise Lost? Which section are you referring to specifically? Are the students reading the rest of the poem with your cooperating teacher?
It's an astonishing work but in my experience takes closer to 3 month…
Joseph,
Thank you for your quick reply. I have a degree in Theater so your suggestion intrigues me. I'll go directly to your site. Again, thank you.
Kind Regards,
Steve
Steve,
I have the kids do a couple of exercises - one has them summarizing the action that is in their textbook and the next one has them acting out scenes using actual lines and a narrator - you'll have to register and post some comments to downlo…
I could use some ideas on presenting The Fall of Satan from Paradise Lost by John Milton. My instinct tells me that I may want to propose, "What is evil?" or "What is good?" as an essential question, however, words such as escape, rebel, trapped, lo…
Profile Information
- Where do you work?
- Blair, NE
- Choose all that apply to your job
- Student Teacher
- What is your Delicious or Diigo ID?
- steven.booton
- What are you reading?
- Jim Burke's English Companion
- How do you define your role/work?
- Career change to teaching at present
Comment Wall (1 comment)
- At 5:52pm on November 8, 2009,
Jim Burke said…
- Steve, it was great to see you yesterday in Omaha. Good luck with all the work ahead. We are here for you on the EC Ning!
Jim
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Latest Activity
Michael writes:
Most often it's [constructivism in practice] not that extreme, but usually it tends to share in the general progressive antipathy to "mere" knowledge and hostility to the "sage on a stage" or any sage anywhere.
This is mere caricat…
It seems like a lot of kids don't care for details. Spelling, anyone? I have had the same problem especially with the transfer. You would think that after teaching students how to use parenthetical citation and then correcting their mistakes on thei…
I believe comedy is underrepresented. My students often complain about the depressing works we read (12 grade, but they also say that about previous English courses). We added Much Ado About Nothing a dozen years ago as something of a balance to Ham…
Hi Pat, I have never done these myself, but there are some great examples at VocabAhead Vocab Videos which also contains links to digital resources to help students create their videos. While most of the videos are done professionally, there is at l…
Hi Pat, I have never done these myself, but there are some great examples at VocabAhead Vocab Videos which also contains links to digital resources to help students create their videos. While most of the videos are done professionally, there is at l…
Thanks for your reply -- it was very helpful. I think I understand what you are saying -- kids do try to craft a dazzling sentence, rather than one with insight. And something simple can be insightful. But my concern is really the thinking behind th…
I would say comedy is underrepresented. My students have nicknamed my class "AP Sex & Death" as we tend to go to the dark side. I do try to use some comedy in preparation for a Q3 comedy prompt. We do use A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Color Purple…
Your "rambling" is fantastic. So much good advice. You know, I'm actually looking forward to writing now. I feel like I've got a handle on it.
Thanks for all of your comments.
I really like "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse. It is short and I think very accessible for struggling students. It won the Newberry Medal. Not only did it help me understand what the big deal was about the duststorms of the time, I thought it told…
And what about the fact that often writers don't know what their thesis is until they begin reflecting in writing about a subject or occurrence? Happens to me all the time.
Thank you so much everyone! I definitely have a better feel for how essential questions work. I've been able to brainstorm a few and included a few here. Feel free to tell me if I am way off base.
What does it mean to be an “Outsider”?
What makes…
Judith--
One opportunity is Teen Ink (http://www.teenink.com). This is a publication for teens only, ages 13-19, to submit and publish their work. The one draw back I found is that once accepted, Teen Ink keeps all rights to the work. This means ki…
Bill,
You have it wrong. I didn't say the theory has not had wide influence. I never said anything like that. I agree that it has had wide influence. What I said was I've never heard of teachers labeling themselves as constructivists or nonconstruct…
The Ugly Truth is that my number one goal for my students right now has to be to raise their 2010 standardized test scores.
I find it disturbing, off-base, heart-wrenching, and almost something shameful to admit. However, NCLB has my entire school'…
I am in search of a novel set during the Great Depression/Dust Bowl era. It will be used in a 10th grade history class; most of the students are struggling readers. The teacher would like to stay away from the "big name classics." He wants something…
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