7th Grade--5/17

Today we took our final reading comprehension quiz on A Raisin in the Sun. After that, we talked about the different literary themes we've learned this year. They are...

• The End of Childhood (The Outsiders)
• Utopia & Dystopia (The Giver)
• The Hero's Journey (Your book group novels)

Then, I introduced a new theme to the mix, as it applies to A Raisin in the Sun. That theme is...

• The American Dream

We began by communicating our existing knowledge about the American dream. Students provided me with words that they thought fit the idea of the American dream and I put them up on the board. Next, we read an essay on the American dream from the Library of Congress's education website. Each student received a copy of the essay and they were asked to cut the essay up and reword it into a found poem that expressed their perception of the American dream.

This is my sample found poem. All lines are taken from the essay at the Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/lessons/american-dream/students/thedream.html

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In 7A we were able to discuss how this theme applies to the characters in Hansberry's play, but we did not make it that far in 7B. We'll discuss that tomorrow before beginning our three day activity. But keep an eye out for this concept, as it just might reappear in one of your essay prompts...

Homework due tomorrow:
-none

Long term due dates:
5/26--Expository essay test for A Raisin in the Sun
5/31--Book Talk #1
6/1--May IR log due
6/3--Book Talk #2