St. Michael's Scales

Practical English I is getting along pretty well. He are finishing chapter 5 in the book today and students will be completing their first work in the literature circles. We are finding the main character, Keegan, to be a very interesting individual. His resolve to kill himself on his birthday is enough cause for alarm but his reason seems to be an even more intriguing aspect of his character.
Students, keep up in your reading. We are going to begin with chapter 9 on Monday so trudge on through and work at it. If any of you know that reading two chapters over the weekend will be difficult, I will be holding a reading after school in my room on Thursday. I will read chapters 7 and 8 to anyone who wants to listen. Have a great weekend.

The Courage Essay

We have begun our work on the courage essay.
Since finishing the first part of To Kill a Mockingbird, English I has taken a deep look at Mrs. Dubose and how her actions might be interpreted as courageous. The purpose of this assignment is to encourage students to examine courage in their own lives. The assignment is due April 6th and should provide a few good writing examples. Have a great three-day week end everybody.

The English I class has begun reading To Kill a Mockingbird. This just so happens to be one of my very favorite books of all time. It is a story about a young girl growing up in southern Alabama at a time before civil rights issues are given any real value. Scout is about six years old in the beginning of the book. She describes the days as long and hot and the time spent playing with her brother and their friend, Dill, as adventuresome and risky. Their childish adventures are shadowed by the deep southern race lines that put a pitiful young black man in a civil fight for his life.

Harper Lee wrote this book in the late 50's and attributed much of her inspiration to her own hometown and her father, a lawyer who seems remarkably similar to the father in the novel.

We will be reading this novel for the next four weeks and discussing the issues, themes, and lessons of the story. Along with this, we will create The Maycomb Tribune, a fictional newspaper based on the many small town occurrences in the novel. We will write one essay addressing our own definitions of courage and culminate our learning with a comprehensive exam. This is a great story and I encourage all the students and any interested individual to read ahead and really get into the story.

The Research Project

From mid February to early March, the freshmen studied and researched historical and interesting people. What they found was put into a poster presentation. The posters were to show knowledge of at least 4 areas of the person's life, have at least two pictures, and include a works consulted page in MLA format. Below are a few of the excellent examples.

Elie Wiesel

Heath Ledger

The Beatles

J.K. Rowling

St. Michael's Scales

In Practical English I we have begun reading St. Michael's Scales. This story is about a young man named Keegan who has recently come to believe that his mother's hospitalization and his brother running away are all his fault. All the problems that his family has been faced with over the years are the result of his doings. Keegan was born with a twin brother, Michael, who did not survive the day after their birth. Keegan believes that it was Michael and not himself who should have lived. The pain that drives his mother into a psyche ward and pushes his entire family to the brink of complete destruction is met head on just fourteen days before his 16th birthday, the day he has decided to restore balance to the natural order of things and end his life.

Keegan's resolve to die is not enough. He believes that Michael calls to him from heaven and he must pay penance for the years he lived and Michael has not. In his remaining days on earth, Keegan has decided to pay this penance by standing in the light-weight spot on the high school wrestling team.

Keegan's struggle is one that brings new perspective on coping with loss, child parent relationships, and growing up. In our class, we will read this book, discuss some of the big issues involved with it, and hopefully learn a little about what it takes to make it through tuff times.

Welcome

This is the first post to the new blog for Mr. Day's English class. I hope that this blog gives you a good idea about the things going on in this class and some of the exciting new ideas that the students are coming up with.