Pop Lit

Thursday, December 29, 2016

"Legend" project idea

June and Day come from such different lives, that I challenged students to really analyze their character, and investigate what would happen if roles were reversed.

What would happen if Day was in June's life? Would his character be different? Is he the product of his circumstances?

Ask the same questions of June - how would she be different if she were poor, struggling, and at the bottom of the social ladder? What elements of her personality and character would remain, and which did she develop simply because of her schooling and position in life? What would she be like if she weren't groomed for greatness?

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

"Legend"

This story is the first in another dystopian trilogy. I like that this story follows Day, a Robin Hood of sorts, and June, and switching narration back and forth.

Themes to investigate include classes in society and the morality of robbing from the rich to give to the poor.

Curriculum packet

Monday, December 26, 2016

"Please Ignore Vera Dietz" timeline

My students were really struggling with all of the flashbacks, so they kept track of events on a timeline. In the end, they were able to see the string of events as they happened. This also led to good discussion on A. S. King's stylistic choices, and what the advantages are of this method of storytelling.

Here is the beginning of our completed timeline:

before Vera	Ken’s dad left when he was 3; he started drinking at age 10.
0	Vera is born, Cindy is 17, and Ken is 18.
>5 months – 1 year	Cindy is stripping to pay the rent since Ken spends all of their money on booze.
5 months	Ken goes to AA after he is too drunk to remember to feed Vera.
4	Ken passes his CPA test.
7	Charlie and Vera find the Master Oak, created by the Great Hunter.
11	Charlie tries to get Vera to smoke a cigarette.
11	During the summer, Charlie & Vera meet John the pervert on the trail.
12	Cindy moves to Vegas with Marty, the podiatrist.
12	Vera starts volunteering at Zimmerman’s pet store during the summer.
13	Charlie & Vera kiss on New Year’s Eve for practice.
13	During the summer, Vera volunteers two days a week at Zimmerman’s.
13	Charlie builds the treehouse.
14	Charlie goes to a football game with Ken & Vera, and Ken says to ignore the abuse.
14	Charlie goes to the doctor because his mom thinks he is throwing his underwear away, but he is really selling them to John the pervert.

Saturday, December 24, 2016

"Please Ignore Vera Dietz"

Please Ignore Vera Dietz tells the story of two best friends, who end up growing apart and taking different paths in high school.

Issues and themes to discuss: drug addiction, abusive family members, inappropriate relationships with strangers, divorce, grit, determination, and survival.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

"Eleanor & Park" '80s research

As an alternate to providing students with lots of information from the '80s is to let them look it up. I assigned one class to research popular culture in the '80s and asked them to make PowerPoints to share their knowledge with the rest of the class. I combined all of their PowerPoints into one, so there was some duplication, but overall students received lots of information.

Here is an example of one slide from one of my students: