Spider-Man Unmasked!

Here is a great creative writing prompt to get kids pushing their thoughts a bit.  You do not need to be a comic book fan to participate (although if you are, there is that much more interest in it).  All you need is the ability to think divergently.

Show students this cover:

Now, supposing that everything shown on the cover is true for the story inside, how could this happen and Peter Parker still keep his identity secret?  We have these characters on the cover:

• Dr. Octopus - his four extra mechanical arms are just as strong as Spider-Man and allows him to reach far away.
• Peter Parker - the true identity of Spider-Man.  He has the strength, speed, and agility of a spider and has a nifty spider-sense that warns him of danger (which didn't help as the cover shows).
• Four random police officers
• Betty Brant - she is a secretary for the newspaper The Daily Bugle and Peter Parker's girlfriend at the time of this comic.
• J. Jonah Jameson - a newspaper editor who hates Spider-Man with a passion.

Let students write out how Peter Parker is able to keep his identity secret even though seven people clearly see him unmasked.  Give prizes to the most creative and the closest to the original.

So what is the real story?

Peter Parker has a cold, so he has lost all his spider powers.  Doc Ock, however, wants revenge on Spider-Man.  He notices that the Daily Bugle seems to get all the press on Spider-Man, so he breaks into their building, tells the editor, J. Jonah Jameson, that he will print a challenge to Spider-Man to meet him at a certain location.  He then kidnaps Jameson's secretary to insure that it gets done.  Peter Parker, fearful for his girlfriend's safety, dons his Spidey suit and goes after Doc Ock, even though he doesn't have his powers anymore.  Doc Ock beats him easily and unmasks him.  When he sees it is a teenager, he exclaims that the real Spider-Man is too scared to fight him and sent this kid in his place.  Figuring that was why Spider-Man's punches were so weak and why he was so easily beaten, Doc Ock throws Peter to the ground and leaves.  Betty and Jameson both think that Peter is quite the hero, albeit rather stupid, and the police, after toying with what to charge Peter with, finally leave them alone.

Gotta Catch Them All (Emily Dickinson Poems, of Course!)

 

As we go toward the end of the year, we may find ourselves with some awkward pacing.  You can't always test on the last day (and that provides some headaches when students are absent and now have to wait until January to be tested on material they have forgotten) and you don't want to start something new just to have a two week interlude.

Here's a lesson that can be in about half a period.  It's fun and it is content relevant.

If I were teaching American Lit, I would just do this when I get to Emily Dickinson.  But as a British Lit teacher and an AP Lit teacher, we still talk about meter, iambic pentameter, and the effect these have on the poetry.  This especially works well after trying to teach a Shakespeare play if you focused any on how iambic pentameter works.

This presentation has students read three Emily Dickinson poems.  Feel free to go into whatever detail about Emily Dickinson's life you would like to add (she had a killer cake recipe and if done her way is coated with brandy and lasts quite a long time!).  Have the kids experience the poetry and get their thoughts.  They are short and different from what many kids are used to, so can be quite fun for discussions.

Then hit them with the common meter lesson.  This will seem boring until they get to the next slide - 

 I've taught this to standard and inclusion kids and they really perk up to this part.  Once you explain to them that all the above poems can be read to this song because of common meter, they are awed.  You are the cool teacher!

Want more cool points as a teacher?  Break out the karaoke machine and have the kids sing the poem into the microphone.

I provided slides to encourage the re-reading of the poems Pokemon-style.  Then we hit them with a few more songs they may be familiar with to wrap it up.  This can take you anywhere between 15 minutes to 30 minutes (maybe more) depending on how conversation goes.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lFyBrFx8ejMu3_1w4l8SvcPVZ91M8k5SsLpVHY8ENhI/edit#slide=id.p

Have fun with it!  

If you want something to help with your iambic pentameter lessons for Shakespeare, look here!

Shameless Plug: One Shots

As we head into the fourth quarter, you find yourself in need of a one-day lesson.  You can get a couple of them from the EET Teacher-Pay-Teachers Store:

Writing Formal Emails - walks your kids through how to format and write an email for when they need to sound professional.  Good for leaving with a substitute since the students can walk themselves through the presentation.

Title Punctuation and Capitalization - by high school, they should already know this, but most do not.

Practicing Inference Using Proverbs - Three one-day activities - students can work together or on their own to figure out the meaning behind these sayings.

Context Clues Practice - American Flag Edition - can they figure out the meaning of these words used in the Pledge of Allegiance and the "Star Spangled Banner"?  

Of course, here at Extreme English Teacher, we are not out to take all of your hard-earned paycheck, you can search the tag LESSON IDEAS and QUICK LESSONS get some freebies!

Reading a Play in Class? Try this Quick Sound FX Tip!

 When students get into the parts they read, reading plays in class can be super fun.  One way to do this is props.  Students love putting on the crowns and witch hats for Macbeth.  Another easy way to get students into it is to assign someone to be the Sound FX specialist.  The Sound FX part looks for places where noises should be made (think old radio dramas) and quite simply they should make those noises.  Did someone enter or exit the scene, have them make walking sounds with their feet and door sounds.  Did Lady Macbeth say she heard an owl?  Hooting should be coming from the Sound FX person.  

I've had some people get so into it, that they became legends in the class.  One girl would go home and search ahead in the play and have computer sound fxs ready to go.  One boy in particular was not a great reader (especially not aloud), but he could make sounds.  The sillier the person gets, the more fun for the class.

Got anymore in-class play tips?  Share them in the comments or shoot me an email!

Introducing Shakespeare to your students?  Try this resource from the Extreme English Teacher TPT store.

Macbeth Fun - Lady Macbeth's Sassy Gay Friend

 Another teacher shared this with me.  Not class appropriate, but fun for those of us who teach Macbeth.  I leave it here for your viewing.  Have a great Thanksgiving! 

Freebie: Macbeth Background Slides

When I teach Macbeth, I like to use as many things as possible to make it immersive.  We have crowns, witches' hats, and sashes for nobility.  For atmosphere, the fog machine comes out and we always add a Sound FX role to the parts list.  The Sound FX person just makes ambient sounds (people walking, owls hooting, thunder, etc.).  

I also have a background for each scene that I have displayed on the screen in the front of the room that I will share with you here.  None of these are my own artwork or photographs and when I made these long ago,  I had no intention of anyone seeing them but my students, so artwork attribution is absent.  

Be that as it may, you may find it useful and you may find other images that work better (if so, please send them my way!)

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1utcairdoqPiqPd7qmmuyX6htFUI7WCQc6eMYJ5NbGlY/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.p

If you have other things you do the make play reading fun, share it in the comments!

Shameless Plug - Curious Incident of the Dog Chapter-by-Chapter Breakdown and Unit Bundle Pack

Currently on the Extreme English Teacher Store!

There is no book that I have found that generates student interest than The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. You know the students I teach - seniors who have given up on the thought of enjoying a book, struggling with reading, generally ready to be done with school to start a life that will never ask you to find the symbolism in that chapter - yet, this book has them reading ahead on their own time, jumping into class discussion, and getting passionate in class.  If you don't know why you should be teaching this book, read this and come back.  I'll wait.

What I have done is to break down this book chapter-by-chapter.  This is not a book summary. This is a guide to how to teach it.  Each chapter has my what-to-look for moments, what to emphasize, a heads up on what may throw off a student, how long it takes to read it aloud, which chapters work best read aloud, and along the way, I throw in fourteen activities - some in class, some for students to do on their own.  The students will immerse themselves into the games that Christopher plays, find the constellation he looks at, make predictions, read parts, and learn a quite a bit about how to treat others who are different.

It is exactly how I have taught this book for years, tweaking and adding along the way.  If you teach high school kids, especially ones who do not believe reading can be an enjoyable experience, YOU NEED TO TEACH THIS BOOK!  And this guide will help you to do it.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/EET-Chapter-by-Chapter-Guide-for-Curious-Incident-of-the-Dog-in-the-Night-Time-7621144

And, in case you want the whole deal, you can get the Unit pack that includes:

• Chapter-by-Chapter Guide (with the 14 activities)
• Pre-Reading Activity
• Questions for every chapter
• Tests (both paper and online)

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/EET-Curious-Incident-of-the-Dog-in-the-Night-Time-Unit-Pack-7621196