"Can we do this more often?"
For the past month or so, we've been plowing through The Odyssey. It's been mostly fun, with lots of interactive activities and everything has been done in class, for the most part. Just before break, Mr. A gave me the task of covering the last three-to-four lessons on it, once Odysseus has finally made it home. I have never read/studied The Odyssey before, so you can imagine my "glee".
I plotted it out before winter break, but didn't bring the idea to fruition until yesterday: acting. I collected various props while I was home (Tommy's old wool cloak, mom's gray cloak, wooden shield, crowns from my New Year's party, wooden staff, etc), but that was the extent of my "work" over break. Instead, I stayed at school until six last night writing out the scripts and wasn't sure if they were funny to anyone but me.
Today was the big day and I think it was a hit. There were many students who were volunteering again and again for different roles, and were genuinely into it. We uncovered a natural actor in one student, whom Mr. A dogged after class to get him to try out for the school play. Another student, M, got so invested; this girl doesn't even like to read out loud in class, let alone participate in discussions, yet she wanted to be Athena in all three of the skits. It was... quite thrilling, actually, how much she enjoyed it.
At the end of the third scene, M said, "Can we do this more often? This was fun!" I commented to Mr. A after class that I never would have predicted M wanting to do anything in English, let alone thinking an activity was actually fun. Thus, it was a day well spent.
I plotted it out before winter break, but didn't bring the idea to fruition until yesterday: acting. I collected various props while I was home (Tommy's old wool cloak, mom's gray cloak, wooden shield, crowns from my New Year's party, wooden staff, etc), but that was the extent of my "work" over break. Instead, I stayed at school until six last night writing out the scripts and wasn't sure if they were funny to anyone but me.
Today was the big day and I think it was a hit. There were many students who were volunteering again and again for different roles, and were genuinely into it. We uncovered a natural actor in one student, whom Mr. A dogged after class to get him to try out for the school play. Another student, M, got so invested; this girl doesn't even like to read out loud in class, let alone participate in discussions, yet she wanted to be Athena in all three of the skits. It was... quite thrilling, actually, how much she enjoyed it.
At the end of the third scene, M said, "Can we do this more often? This was fun!" I commented to Mr. A after class that I never would have predicted M wanting to do anything in English, let alone thinking an activity was actually fun. Thus, it was a day well spent.