Class #51--10th Age Reading

Thursday, April 21, 2011, 10:25 A.M. 10th Age Reading Class. Class #51 on my “50 Classes or Bust!” expedition. After snack is over, the boys and girls file into the classroom of Mrs. Szczerbicki (Mrs. S for short!) and very quietly settle down for the first activity, which is to read a story from their New Practice Readers book and then answer the accompanying questions. After five minutes of silent individual work, the class begins discussing “Katie’s Trunk,” which is a Revolutionary War-era short story they recently finished. There is a healthy give and take about the appropriateness of armies’ actions during a war, such as seizing the possessions of civilians. The class takes a few minutes to jot down main ideas for a poem they will write about the story. Given that April is Poetry Month, Mrs. S is making sure her students have plenty of exposure to the genre. To that end, the students come to the front of the room in groups of three and four to recite (from memory) a poem about dogs by Ogden Nash, “An Introduction to Dogs.” Why a poem about dogs, you might ask? The students are reading Shiloh, a book about a beagle named…Shiloh. Next, in groups of two, the students log in to Glogster, which is essentially an online collage maker. The students will create their own “glogs” about Shiloh, incorporating key ideas and themes in their own personal style. This is teamwork and technology in action! I am very impressed with how much Mrs. S and her students have accomplished in one period!