SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT #1

Special Assignment #1 from the Captain

Chapters 1-4: From the beginning of your investigation to when the article about Samuel Westing’s body being found, please construct a timeline of IMPORTANT events. Please include specific dates when possible. Please use your “on the scene” photographs (pictures drawn or found on internet) to represent your points on the timeline. Symbols work too (i.e. Fireworks to represent the first point. . .hmmmm) Provide a brief caption. 

Reflecting on Westing Game Classes

Dear students,

As your teacher, I try to model successful practices as often as possible. You've seen this mostly through writing samples, or the way in which I think through concepts.Today I'd like to model something completely different: being reflective.












So, while I'm not trashing the game plan (far from it!), I'm introducing a variable that I initially had intense reservations about: letting you take home the books.

 Giving you time to read the book on your own opens the door to temptation, and it's possible that instead of engaging in a close, collaborative study of the mystery, you only gain a cheap thrill. And then there are a few of you that will, unfortunately, choose not to read.

So please honor the contracts. It's the only way I see

Goal for today's session- The Westing Game

The goal is to complete "Investigation #1" by the end of tomorrow's class

 The "Special Assignment" will require pictures, either hand drawn or found on the internet. Using pictures from the web will require some at home preparation. Work as a team to get as much as you can get done today.

Please note the model I completed of Sam Westing on the Character Attribute Web.

DURING THE LAST FIVE MINUTES OF CLASS, BE SURE TO UPDATE CHARACTER LOGS.

Again, all groups should be moving toward "Investigation 2" toward the end of tomorrow's class.

Welcome Detectives

Hello detectives! Today's session will be devoted to learning this particular homicide department's routines.

First order of business: We'll need several dutiful office clerks. Two clerks will be responsible for gathering supplies for your fellow detectives (stored in wood paneled cupboard), and then 3 minutes before class ends, returning those supplies to the cupboard in a neat and orderly manner. We will also need a clerk responsible for collecting the investigation files (The Westing Game).

I, the captain of this department, will also require a personal assistant to gather my supplies and coffee, and to play soft jazz on a saxophone in the corner of the room.                             (Kidding!)


Today you will be given 15 minutes to give your detective folders a personal touch. Please include: Detective *Last Name* in the middle of the folder.

We'll then discuss the contents of your folder case envelopes. I will briefly outline our routines and what's to be expected from you, and how you will be evaluated during this unit.

In all seriousness, I hope the focus is strong during our time in class and that we have some fun as well!

The Westing Game

Read up to chapter 4 with your partner. (take turns reading, read independently, whatever works for you)

You and your partner are responsible for preparing information for a meeting with the Westingtown Homicide Captain.

Please take note of the setting. . .(time and place)

Mystery genre, Day 1

Essential question: Essential Question: How are the elements of a mystery story/novel different or the same as elements of a fictional story/novel?

Possible PSA resource And formatting

Ad council. Click the link to the left to find a multitude of PSA examples.

Please be sure to use the following format:

MLA heading
12 pt font
Times New Roman
Double-spaced

Writing a PSA radio script for "The Lottery"

Task: Write a Radio Public Service Announcement for the villagers in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." Your purpose? To persuade them that the lottery should be stopped.

Be sure to refer to your notes on PSA characteristics and techniques. Here are some other stray bits of advice:

-feel free to develop a fictional organization that produces or is sponsoring the message (much like I did in my "reverse" PSA--"Solid As A Rock Foundation")

-Your PSA must go beyond the simple fact that the lottery is wrong or unjust.While that's certainly true, the assignment is designed to apply your subtextual interpretation skills. For example, SPECIFICALLY interpret what dangers or injustices are represented by the town's unwavering commitment to the lottery. Because this is a small town, you might be able to pull off referencing specific characters, or perhaps past victims of the lottery (out of the box thinking)

-Speaking of "out of the box thinking," do it! I encourage it wherever possible!

-The tone of my PSA is humorous because the ideas I suggest are intentionally absurd; it's a satire. The tone of your PSA probably requires a different tone. . .hmmm

- Consider your audience. These people won't be easy to persuade. Remember the reasons why they continue the lottery when drafting your PSA.

Understanding "irony" (another breadcrumb!)

Essential question: If the lottery is such a horrific thing, why does author Shirley Jackson create a tranquil atmosphere?


We already know how to deconstruct a text and get to the subtext. So let's enlist some of those strategies today!



Irony: A contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually happens (appearance versus reality)

Using your homework, what appearances or impression are you given about the lottery, the townspeople, etc.



What is the reality?



Let's look at a topic the text deals with Contrast and Contradictions strategy

Ticket to Ride (outside of the door)
If we read the "The Lottery" as a horror story, what is it warning about? (Think of a general topic that appropriately fits with the details of the text)

1. Foreshadowing
2. Look at title
3. Look at ending
4. Again and Again
5. Contrasts and Contradictions
6. Mood

Practicing Short Response--Grading 4th graders

4th grade Sample

Finishing The Lottery, Foreshadowing, and Weekend Homework (wow, long title)

Agenda:
1. Any poems on getting lost in nature or making the familiar, strange...
2. Finishing "The Lottery" (you will have a project on this due next Friday, so I would pay close attention today)
3.  Foreshadowing
4. Going over how to complete HW


Literary Term:
Foreshadowing--a warning. hint, or clue of what is to come

Major theme: Appearance versus reality


Note how the mood is relatively lighthearted throughout the story. Isn't this a bit strange considering the horror at end of story. Think: Why does the author do this?

Homework  sample: Finding examples in the text that provide the lighthearted tone. Please provide a quote and brief explanation.

"Mr. Summers was very good at this; in his clean white shirt and blue jeans, with one hand resting carelessly on the black box, he seemed very proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the Martins" ( Jackson 468)

This passage contributes to the overall "down-home," casual atmosphere of the story as it creates a scene of everyday folks chatting in a very routine way, What's even more is how the official of this ceremony is described as being laid back  in his mannerisms (resting carelessly) and dress (jeans and a white shirt).