Whale Talk - Day 5

Despite the fact that there is laundry fold, a dog to bathe, and grading to do, I'm sitting here writing a post on Whale Talk progress. There isn't a ton to report, but I started this, and I plan on finishing it.

One of my great regrets with this unit - which is only half way over at this point - is that I haven't given myself enough time. With all of the standard grade 9 curriculum elements, the previous teachers assigned a novel as outside reading. They chose The Count of Monte Cristo. While I'm certain this book is probably good, it's not WT. WT needs to be taught explicitly, and there isn't enough time to do everything I want to. I've had to make sacrifices, but it's still going well.

On Friday, we started out with a reading check quiz. 5 questions to make sure they read their 60 pages for the week. They did. All of them. 15 out of 15 read. Not bad for a novel - especially when the honors sophomores in my homeroom tell me they blow off entire novels; well, A Tale of Two Cities. But, I digress. All the kids did well on their reading check. On the back, they had to respond to this:
Please write a few paragraphs explaining your reactions to the novel so far. What do you like? Dislike? Are there things confusing you?

I got more mixed reviews than in previous days, but no one hates it. The kids who said they didn't like it also said they were confused. Crutcher uses flashback a lot to elaborate on characters' lives when the information is necessary. We talked about that in class. One student asked why he didn't just give us all the info in the exposition (I was excited she remembered that term). Well, B, it's a need-to-know thing. If we got all the info at the start, there would be nothing driving the plot. Each character has secrets and unexpected elements to their life. If we knew that from the beginning, it wouldn't be as effective when things all come together - and, oh boy, do they.

Anyhoo ... kids that love it. I took pictures. Here's what a few said:






These were most definitely some of the BEST chapters. We spent almost an hour engaged in conversation. They asked questions, I answered. They discussed characters and events. It was just so great to sit in class and talk about LITERATURE. This, after all, is why I became and English teacher.

Whale Talk - Day 4

Well, I'm still stoked about teaching this book, and I'm still excited to be writing about it on my blog. I like writing about it because it gets me writing. It's something for other people to read, or for me to look back on - as I suspect I might be the only person interested at all in these posts.

Our lesson today wasn't totally Whale Talk centered. The kids have until Friday to read chapters 4, 5, and 6. This was an in-between day. BUT, it was productive, and it was about the novel. I assigned their project. It's a project I did in British Literature at BHS with Mrs. Manhart. We did it in conjunction with Lord of the Flies, but with a little tweaking Megan (the fabulous new English teacher at OTHS) and I made it work. I'm kind of excited. Here's what it is:

I think the kids were a little bit intimidated, but I have confidence that they'll pull it off. It's a really great project because - and I know this from experience - it makes you analyze without really knowing that you're doing that. I loved this project so much that I still have mine. It was on Piggy.

Anyway, we also looked at the basic principles of Taoism today. It wasn't stellar, and if I had researched more ahead of time it could have been. I gave a small handout, read it, and then we listed the basic ideas in the board. The biggest one that I wanted them to get was that nothing can exist without its opposite - good needs evil; light needs dark; male needs female, and so on. They're writing journals about how Taoism relates to the plot/characters. I'm hoping they'll see the opposites thing in the characters.

The best part of today's class was when Riley looked at me, with wide blue eyes, and said, "I've already done all the reading for Friday. This book is AWESOME!"

Whale Talk - Characters

It occurred to me, as I wrote the previous post, that if you don't know the characters of this book, you won't get the blogs. While I'm not sure anyone even reads this, I would be remiss if I didn't share the background I wrote up for 14 of the book's characters (for that HOOK activity that was so epic).

TJ Jones, you...
- Are a natural athlete, but dislike organized school sports and what they stand for
- Are loyal. Your friends are protected by you, sometimes at a personal cost
- Have trouble staying in control when you’re angry
- See wrongness/evil in the world and want to fight it
- Are virtuous and honorable to a fault

Chris Coughlin, you ...
- Have a serious mental disability. It prohibits you from fully understanding social situations
- Are afraid of people you do not know
- Are gentle and caring
- Want to find a place where you fit in
- Spend a lot of time alone

Andy Mott, you ...
- Hate everyone and everything
- Are angry, and take out on whomever you can
- Are incredibly smart, but do just enough to pass (classes and life)
- Don’t have many friends
- Have only one leg
- Will protect those who can’t protect themselves, but don’t want credit for it
- Defy authority in anyway you can

Dan Hole, you ...
- Are a genius, and you talk like it. You’re a math whiz and your vocabulary is out of control
- Are socially awkward because you spend more time with books than with people
- Enjoy having a sense of purpose

Jackie Craig, you ...
- Are an outsider
- Insecure and have low self-esteem
- Almost never speak
- Seem invisible to yourself and others
- Observant and caring

Tay-Roy Kibble, you ...
- Are stacked
- Are confident, but not overly
- Have few friends, but are very friendly
- Are disciplined and dedicated
- Willing to stand up for the people you care about

Simon Delong, you ...
- Are massive in size
- Are looking for quality friends
- Are reserved and shy at first
- Are willing to lie to get a girl

Mike Barbour, you ...
- Are a follower and bully
- Are a jock, and a good one at that
- A person willing to learn from his mistakes
- Believe that you are entitled to the best
- Stick to traditions and have high standards

Simmet, you ...
- Are a caring and giving person
- Will bend rules to fit your needs
- Want what’s best for the people you care about
- Are diplomatic and pragmatic

Georgia, you ...
- Are great with kids, especially troubled ones
- Offer words of wisdom when they are needed most

Alicia, you ...
- Are scared and are unsure of the future
- Have low self-esteem
- Don’t always do what’s best for your family, but want to more than anything
- Need support from strong people in order to do what is right

Oliver "Icko" Van Zandt, you ...
- Give more than you truly can to those you love
- Word very hard
- Are respected by those who know you best

Rich Marshall, you ...
- Are abusive
- Are a pillar in the community and hold power
- Scare people
- Are racist and bigoted

Heidi, you ...
- Are scared
- Need to be able to trust people to take care of you
- Are forgiving, but not naïve

John Jones (Dad), you ...
- Try to make up for the sins of your past
- Are a caretaker and protector for those who can’t do that for themselves
- Have a strong moral compass, and trust it implicitly
- Intimidating, but not on purpose

Abby Jones (Mom), you ...
- Are protective of those you love and those who cannot protect themselves
- Ready to fight injustice

Carly, you ...
- Able to take care of yourself, and do not want a caretaker
- Are athletic and attractive
- Could be a snob, but are not
- Are objective and straight forward

Benson/Roundtree, you ...
- Value athletes above others
- Don't always use your position at school for the betterment of students

Whale Talk - Day 3

I'm tired. Exhausted really, but if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it all the way. That means writing a post when all I really want is to crawl into my bed.

My honors class had been assigned Chapter 3 for reading over the weekend. A small task in the grand scheme of things, but pretty big for this book. We met some new characters, and had a GREAT conversation.

This chapter, among other things, introduces Oliver Van Zandt, a homeless Dad working two jobs to put his kid through college. It was interesting to hear the kids talk about the stereotypes of the homeless versus their reactions to Oliver. They were aware of the negative stigma, and tried to avoid it. I'm not sure we accomplished a TON with this topic, but the next one hit home.

Last class one of the girls mentioned that she wasn't sure TJ is a believable character because he sticks up for Chris. She wasn't convinced that a real teenage boy would put himself out there like that. In the reading for today, TJ went one further, throwing himself over a fawn that eventually gets shot by Rich Marshall. It was interesting to hear the following when I brought it up:

"I don't get it."
"That was totally random."
"Rich is a - pardon my language - a douche."

This particular event is one of the most powerful in the novel. It's followed up with a passage that explains how easy it would have been for TJ to end up as damaged as Chris. He explains that he has a gut level reaction to that kind of hurt, and doesn't have a choice but to do something. I looked around the room to some blank stares. Then I explained where I thought TJ was coming from. It was something like this:

We've all experienced pain. Not the same kind, but some kind. Like, for me, when I was in high school my mother got sick in October and died New Year's Eve. That was hard. Since then, I've had several students who have been through similar things, and even if we have nothing else in common there is a connection there. It's powerful to know that someone else has been where you have. I feel, now, like I have a responsibility to DO something for people who are feeling that pain. Like, there were people there for me, and I need to pass that on.

The interesting thing is that this speech made it's point. They got it. One kid in class lost his mom in the fall, and I couldn't look at him while I said this. Partly because I'm not sure I did everything for him I could. But, at the end of this, when I asked if it was believable that TJ would be that righteous and "good" they said yes. Even the girl who said no the first day. I can't really explain why, but this was such a powerful moment.

This section of the book, I think, really drives home that people need to be there for each other. We're all connected somehow - sometimes superficially, and sometimes on a DNA-can't-help-it level.

Each student is going to start tracking one of 7 characters for the rest of the book for a character analysis project - I'm so excited for them to see how ALL people, good and bad, impact one another in small and big ways.

I. Love. This. Book.

Whale Talk - Sunday night

I've spent the better part of my Sunday evening trying to plan for this Whale Talk unit, and I feel a little defeated. I miss the days of college when I had a month to plan a unit - without the pressure of having to teach the lessons tomorrow.

This book is so amazing that I feel like I need to do it justice. I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself to make this fabulous, and I'm feeling it. I need to get through the text before we can do much with it, but I don't want to overload the kids. I just tried to plan out reading assignments, and I feel like they're manageable, but I'm not sure. With block schedule, the kids will get 2-4 night to do the reading, and I don't think 50-60 pages is too much to ask. Especially since they all wanted to read ahead anyway.

I just don't know. I should have started this sooner. I need to get it done, but I hate to do anything less than amazing because this book deserves a-mazing.

Sigh ... I think I'm too enthusiastic about this. Is that even possible?

Whale Talk - Day 2

Ok, so after the hook activity I was afraid of an anticlimactic second day with Whale Talk. I was wrong.

We spent the first half of class on poetry terms, and I hated it. I like poetry, but wanted to jump right into WT stuff. I didn't. I got them through the terms, but then we talked.

Some of the kids were confused - which I expected because the exposition of WT is a little jumpy, but totally necessary. They asked questions; we answered them together. I asked the 14 students how many had actually done the reading assignment, and only 2 had not. They admitted it, and even told me that they were bummed. They had forgotten, not blown it off because of disliking the novel.

One of the boys in class pointed out that he really loved how realistic this book was. He said that he admires the TJ (the main character) is a good guy (who stands up for the brain-damaged Chris Coughlin).

One girl admitted that, while she wants to believe the best in people, she was skeptical that a real person would do what TJ did.

They all hated Mike (the jock who bullies Chris in ch 1).

I was ecstatic at how many of the social issues they picked up on, and was super excited to read their journals - so excited that I gave up my Saturday afternoon to do so. Here's what I learned from the journals:

All 14 kids like the book so far. 3 even LOVE it. This is because: it's about real-life things, the characters talk like real teens (as in swear. a lot), the issues are ones they encounter everyday, and they like the narrator/main character
They are already making predictions about what will happen - and some of them are correct.
They like TJ, feel bad for Chris, and hate Mike.
Nearly all of them are EXCITED to read more!

Thank you, Chris Crutcher for writing books that get kids to read. And for writing books that I could read everyday and still enjoy.

Whale Talk Begins

I decided today, while reading journals from my honors class, that I want to document our unit on my very favorite book Whale Talk by, Chris Crutcher. I didn't have this idea until after we had already started, so I'm creating two posts today. We'll start with the HOOK.
________________________________________________

To open a unit on this book, I needed something EPIC. The book deals with real-life issues, that students face each and every day. The characters are rich, real, and just so absolutely funny/heartbreaking. They are also vastly different from one another. The characters, who attend the fictional Cutter High, reflect students in actual high schools - including the tendency of teenagers to separate themselves into cliques. So, with the help of the OTHS literacy coach - Melanie - I developed an activity that forced my students to put the characters from WT into social groups.

They came into class on Tuesday afternoon, and were split into the Red team and the Green team. I created the groups purposely - making sure that best friends were not together; I had hoped to create some natural tension, but they all worked really well together.

After all of the kids were seated, I handed them this:

They also got a series of 14 cards that looked like this:
I spent almost a week creating those cards. I chose the characters to use, and filled out the interests/activities and about me sections with information from the novel. The other sections Mel helped me with - we fleshed out these characters based on what we knew from the novel. I spent an insane amount of time looking for quotations that would reflect the characters on a deeper level. The kids will "get" the quotes later - when we finish reading. Right now, they are just random quotations. Anyway ...

I gave them 30 minutes to use the information on the cards to create three believable groupings. I couldn't stop smiling the entire time because of HOW they approached the task. Both groups, though not talking to each other, created very similar groups. They generally put the characters in the same places, but are so far off in some cases that I actually laugh looking at the posters.

As the worked:



The Red Team's Groups:


And, the Green Team's Groups:


When the half hour was up, I asked the kids to do this:
I didn't give them a lot of time, because - as honors kids - they would have over analyzed. So, that was it. I told them that they had been working with the characters. I told them that they had some things "right" and some of their groups were WAY off. Then, we started reading.

I read almost the entire first chapter out loud, and they ate. it. up. It was amazing to watch them laugh, actually laugh, at a book. I watched them get into it in the first 30 pages. For homework, they read chapter 2, and I asked them to write a journal about what they think so far.

I'll let you know!