Connections

ELA 11

Students in my 1st and 2nd read Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" today--it serves both as an extension of our dystopian unit and an introduction to the novel I'll read aloud over the next few weeks, Hunger Games.  First of all, we thought of  everything we'd do if we won the lottery--and I have plenty of dreamers!  But after reading this chilling short story ...  the joke's on all of us who, just a few minutes ago, wanted to be a lottery winner. Students went back to the story, re-read (it's only 4 pages), and highlighted any clues Jackson gave the reader that this particular lottery was an ominous one--and there are many.

~ Remember the vocabulary quiz on Monday ~

AP Language
 Lots of loose ends to wrap up. We used a reading strategy today called "interrupted reading" to analyze and discuss yesterday's homework reading "On Compassion". I read a passage from the essay; students wrote what they noted, followed by a short class discussion. Then we went on to the next passage and repeated the process. I also checked their understanding with a short 8-question reading quiz. Monday we'll have a vocab quiz; a typed draft of their research outline is also due.