Smith Period 3 (November,15 2011)

     Hey Guys! I am so sorry that I was not able to post this yesterday since I have been sick with the stomach flu for the past 24 hours.  The homework for tonight is located at the bottom of this blog post.

     First off, we finished our scored discussion after we had answered some Inherit the Wind comprehension questions. Our scored discussion was in the form of an "aqaurium", a larger version of the "fish bowl" discussion system we used earlier this year for Fahrenheit 451. Everyone rearranged the desks into a circle and everyone had a voice in the discussion. This is our final test for the play Inherit the Wind. We discussed many topics; such as characters, main themes, and our own choices about faith in our lives. We also talked about social groups and how some people are forced to be in these groups. Overall we successfully analyzed Inherit the Wind and were able to take away a lot more about the book after the discussion than before the discussion. 

     Secondly, we started to read The Odyssey. The Odyssey is an epic poem by Homer written near the end of the 8th Century in Greece. The story focuses on Odysseus. We started reading Book 9 (The Odyssey is composed of 24 books) in the brown literature books that we have in Mrs. Smith's classroom, where Odysseus encounters a cyclops. This is in the form of a story told by Odysseus much later, when he is telling this to a king who has thrown a banquet for him. Over the next few weeks we will continue to read The Odyssey.

     Homework: SAT Exercises (due Friday) and This I Believe Podcast (due Wednesday).

     Have a good day!