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8TH GRADE READING

WEEK 2

BENCHMARK I-D

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Strand: READING FOR COMPREHENSION Benchmark 1-D: DEMONSTRATE COMPETENCE IN THE SKILLS AND

STRATEGIES OF THE READING PROCESS

Skill:

1. Analyze the purpose of the author or creator and the impact of that purpose by evaluating biases, messages, and underlying assumptions of a variety of texts and media

Authors write for three or four main purposes: to entertain, to inform, to describe or to persuade. Normally, fiction is written to entertain, non-fiction is written to inform and persuasive pieces try to convince us of something or persuade us to act in a certain way. For this benchmark, non-fiction is probably the genre used. Choice of language, setting, and information contribute to the author’s purpose. Students are asked to determine what specific reason the author had for writing the document by exploring any bias, apparent or hidden messages, emotional factors, or propaganda techniques and identifying and exploring the underlying assumptions of the author/creator http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skX6RnnIkuM&feature=related Video with song.

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STRATEGIES

STRATEGY 1

PAPA

Ask students to bring 2-3 magazine or newspaper advertisements each (full-page ads are better). Create a poster outlining P.A.P.A. strategy with definitions: o Purpose: The reason the author sat down to write the text o Argument: What the author is trying to convince the reader of o Persona: The personality the author has taken on in order to better convince the reader of the argument o Audience: The intended audience of the text

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Make sure that all students can easily see the poster with the P.A.P.A. strategy. • In whole-group discussion, give as many students as possible the opportunity to point out findings from their magazine advertisements. Differentiated Instruction • During Day 2 & 3 the teacher should work individually or in small group with specific students who continue to struggle with the activity by going back to the advertisements and reminding them of the procedures of rhetorical analysis. • Text may be read in a variety of ways depending on student needs and abilities: independently, paired, small group, read aloud or text on tape. 1. Teacher should begin the lesson by asking students to pull out the advertisements they brought to class. Each student should have a couple advertisements from magazines or newspapers. Remind students that advertisements with profanity or sexual content should remain in students' backpacks. Note: The opening activity will be very humorous and fun for students. To ensure that students are focused on the learning and not on the magazine advertisements, constantly remind students of the purpose of the activity. Also, elicit participation from as many students as possible, particularly in the opening activity using magazine advertisements. The magazine advertisement activity is much easier to do than the text activity, and students who are shy or have a harder time analyzing text will find more success with this activity. 2. Ask for a few volunteers to display their favorite advertisements. 3. With the first advertisement, ask students what its purpose is. Most likely, they will acknowledge that the purpose is to sell the product. If they have a hard time determining the purpose, guide them to that realization—that no matter what the advertisement may say, the advertiser wanted to sell the product. Do this with about 4-5 advertisements. Move on when most students are able to acknowledge that regardless of what the advertisement states, by virtue of the fact that it is an advertisement, its purpose is to sell something. 4. Taking the first advertisement, ask students what the advertisement is actually arguing. As an example for discussion in this lesson plan, consider one of the recent advertisements for a luxury car company. Recently, car companies have tried to market their luxury cars as sporty, as well. By doing this, the advertiser is arguing that the car is luxurious and sporty, even though in the past, those two automobile descriptors did not go together. The purpose is still to sell cars, but the argument is meant to sell the cars to more people than those in the typical luxury car market. Do this with students on a number of advertisements. It will make most sense to use advertisements at first that have very obvious arguments (e.g., a deodorant advertisement with one guy, who is using the product, surrounded by a bunch of girls, who evidently like the smell of the deodorant). But also go back to the first few advertisements used in the discussion. Have students identify in these advertisements the difference between the argument and the purpose. You will know that the students are ready to move on when as many students as possible have responded out loud about the differences between argument and purpose. With less time, after a

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number of whole-class examples, teacher can ask students to turn to their neighbors and do the activity with the advertisements they brought. 5.Have students identify the intended audiences of each of the advertisements. (Examples: the car advertisement audience would be adventurous people; the deodorant advertisement would be young men.) Help students understand that the advertisement will almost never identify the audience directly; rather, the content will be geared toward the audience. Also, when considering the argument, it might be easier to infer who the intended audience is. Like the argument introduction above, use many examples of advertisements with as many students as possible. 6. Students will learn about persona by identifying the principle strategy the advertiser uses to convey the argument to the particular audience. (Examples: the car advertisement persona would be a masculine one where speed and agility are important; the deodorant advertisement persona would be a guy attracting women with the good smell of his new deodorant.) This is a bit harder for students to understand, so provide careful guidance in helping students understand that the persona is the “mask” the advertiser puts on to portray the argument. 7. Have students identify specific advertiser strategies that lead us to understand the persona and argument of the advertisement. A good advertisement to have on hand is the typical weight loss vitamin advertisement that you might find in the back of a mainstream magazine. Usually, even though these are merely commercial advertisements, just like the deodorant or car advertisements, they often will contain visual elements to make the advertisement appear to be strongly medically related. Such examples might include backgrounds with graphs or a picture of a man or woman in a white lab coat. Have students identify these strategies on a variety of the advertisements. Most responses should be very simple answers. This part of the activity is a lot easier than teachers or students might imagine; therefore, remind students that even though it is easy to identify these things in the context of determining the argument and purpose of an ad, people are not always conscious of these things when they initially see an advertisement. 1. Teacher introduces short article, Sis! Boom! Bah! Humbug! by Rick Reilly. Teacher introduces it as “advertisement” of the author's beliefs about cheerleading. 2. Students read article. The article is engaging and fairly easy to comprehend, so it should not be a problem for most students to comprehend. Be prepared during the reading of this article for a lot of laughter. 3. Once students have finished reading the article, hold a whole-class discussion with students on the Purpose, Argument, Audience, and Persona of this article. Engage as many students in the conversation, and remind students of how they came to determine these answers with advertisements. Suggested answers: • Purpose: To convey belief that cheerleading promotes female subordinance to male athletes. • Argument: To consider cheerleading a sport is ridiculous. • Audience: Anyone who has any knowledge of or opinion about cheerleading as a sport. • Personas: Humorous, sarcastic, sardonic, commentator of cheerleading as silly activity.

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4. At this point, still in a whole group, help students identify the specific elements that make up the persona, argument, and purpose. A very partial listing of some of the suggested answers: Lead-up in introduction, making reader think that author is going to talk about football; paradox of cheerleaders being flipped into the air and football players wearing the helmets; sarcastic analogy to “porcupine juggling;” hilarious imagery of “a chorus line of tiny, purple Ethel Mermans…;” quick turn in tone half-way through essay from sarcastic about cheerleading to serious about the social dangers of cheerleading.

STRATEGY 2

Questions that help students explore author’s purpose:

• Based on the title, why do think the author wrote this selection? • Which words do you think best describe the main reason the author wrote this selection:

to provide readers with information? To describe a person, event, or issue? To express their own thoughts and feelings? To persuade readers to think about an issue in a certain way and to take action? Or to entertain the reader?

• Why did the author write the article from a particular point of view? • How did the author influence your response to the selection? • Was the author’s purpose specifically stated? • Do you think that the author achieved his/her intended purposes? Did the article

effectively give information? Entertain readers? Express the author’s thoughts and feelings? Persuade readers to think about an issue and/or take action?

• What examples from the text support your conclusions about author’s purpose?

STRATEGY 3

Bias Overview This lesson introduces students to the concept of bias or slant, in newspapers and in television newscasts. Students begin by comparing three newspaper articles about the same news event – each reported from a different perspective. They then explore the role the gatekeeper, or editor, in determining the slant of a story and analyze the titles of newspaper stories for slant or bias. Once students have looked at newspapers, they will use viewing logs to analyze television newscasts from two different television stations. These newscasts will be analyzed based on language usage, story selection and story order. Learning Outcomes Students will: · recognize how a single event could generate more than one news story · identify a point of view or bias, based on the language used · experience and understand the role of subjectivity and perception in the media · understand the role of the "gatekeeper" · critically analyze or deconstruct two newscasts for potential bias through comparison, focusing on language, story selection and story order.

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Preparation and Materials Photocopy class handout articles: · "Sir Sam steps down!" · "Hughes fired from cabinet" · "Humphrey discounts allegations" · News Judgment

· Following copyright guidelines, tape news broadcasts for The National on CBC at 10 p.m. and the CTV National News on CTV at 11 p.m. (Or, check out Cable in the Classroom at www.cableducation.ca for copyright-cleared news programming.)

Activity One · Divide your class into groups of three or four. · Using the Sir Sam Hughes story in this lesson, hand out "Sir Sam steps down!" to one side of the class and "Hughes fired from cabinet" to the other side. · Have students read their particular article and jot down a list of words that would describe Hughes, based on the information in front of them. · Ask for descriptive words from one side of the room only. A fairly uniform picture of Hughes will emerge. It will, however, be totally different from the picture which the students on the other side have formed. This class exercise illustrates how bias or slant operates, by presenting only one side of a story. Activity Two Hand out "Humphrey discounts allegations" and ask students to complete the assignment. This exercise allows you to introduce the following terms: · placement – where news stories are located in the paper, by section and page · gatekeeper – the person (editor, news producer etc.) who decides which news to print or broadcast and which stories to hold back In this exercise, each student is playing the role of the gatekeeper. Once students have completed their assignments, discuss their answers as a class. It's important to note that blatant bias may be hard to find and that each network has only so much time to present a picture of the world, so gatekeepers must make decisions that affect how we view current events. Sometimes what we perceive as bias may be far from intentional on the part of the news network or newspaper. · Distribute the student handout News Judgment and discuss these points with students. Activity Three The concepts of bias and gatekeeping can be explored by comparing how different newspapers treat similar stories. For example here are three headlines that appeared dealing with the same news item:

Globe and Mail: "Senate votes 80-1 to give up $6000"

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Toronto Star: "Repentant senators hand back $6000 hike"

Toronto Sun: "SENATE WAKES UP"

Ask your students how each title affects their perceptions of the issue. In class, ask students to compare the two pre-recorded newscasts, analyzing them for language usage, story selection and story order. The National, on CBC at 10 p.m. (a 15-minute newscast) and the CTV National News, on CTV at 11 p.m. (a half-hour newscast with commercial breaks) lend themselves well to comparison. · Divide the class into groups of four. · For both newscasts, ask students to list each story and note whether there was: · a live anchor-reporter interview · a taped report from a reporter · videotape footage with a commentary read by the anchor · straight news copy read by the anchor without accompanying visuals · Also ask students to note the running time for each item, as well as any interesting use of language or other elements which catch their attention. Their charts/logs might look something like this:

Number Running time

Story Time Story

Anchor Reporter Video

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2 Note: Screening the newscasts, filling in the charts and calculating the story lengths may require two periods. You may want to play them both on day one and repeat them on day two. Have students compare similar stories on both newscasts and answer the following questions: · Where did the story appear in each newscast? · How much time was it given? · Was there video, or just straight copy? · Was a reporter sent to cover the story? · Was it a CBC/CTV reporter, or one from another news organization? · Is one network missing a "big" story? Why? Students can compare top stories or "light" final newscast items; the flow of national and international stories; or the ratio of "hard" news or political news to "soft" news or human interest stories. Have each group put together a package consisting of a CBC log, a CTV log, and a conclusion.

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The conclusion can address questions such as those suggested above. In their conclusion, students might also try to determine which newscast appears to be more objective, more free of bias: On what do they base their conclusions? If they had been the gatekeepers, what choices would they have made? Note: You may find that giving the class a dry run, perhaps with one of the short hourly Newsworld newscasts, will focus the students and produce a better end product.  

Log 1 10 marks Log 2 10 marks

Conclusion 20 Marks

Total 40 Marks Sir Sam Steps Down! Toronto Times November 1916 SIR SAM STEPS DOWN! Sad news was announced in Ottawa today. Sir Sam Hughes is no longer the minister of Militia. The prime minister, bending to howls of criticism from Quebec, has dismissed this able, competent minister. Hughes has done more for the war effort than any other Canadian. He has recruited thousands of volunteers and raised thousands of dollars. Canada entered the war with only 3000 in the armed forces. By the end of 1915, thanks to Sir Sam's tireless energy and inspired leadership, more than 200,000 of our noble sons have taken their places on the battlefield. Without Sir Sam's efforts, how will Canada maintain its contribution to the war cause? Many English Canadians are angered by the reluctance of French Canadians to volunteer for overseas service. English Canadians are willing to defend the British Empire. The Empire that has done so much for Canada. Sir Sam Hughes, through the force of his personality, has persuaded reluctant industrialists to invest heavily in the production of much needed war materials. We should be thankful that, through the contracts negotiated by the minister, tons of vital munitions are making their way to our soldiers at the front. Student Handout # 2

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HUGHES FIRED FROM CABINET Montreal Matin November 1916 HUGHES FIRED FROM CABINET At long last, Prime Minister Borden has done the honourable thing! He has thrown Sir Sam Hughes, his incompetent minister of Militia, out of the Cabinet. Now, Hughes will be unable to 

do any more damage to Canadian unity. Hughes, more than any other person, has divided and torn this country apart with his policies. Hughes has managed to antagonize everyone in Quebec. Those French Canadians who have volunteered for the English war have been insulted. The recruitment posters, training and instruction manuals are in English only. More importantly, promotions have only been given to the English-speaking officers. How can Hughes and other Canadians expect French Canadians to join in the war effort when they are treated so poorly? As Minister of Militia, Hughes has disgraced the nation by rewarding his friends and cronies with munitions contracts. These shady deals have allowed his friends to make millions at the taxpayer's expense. Why should we spill one more drop of precious French-Canadian blood in Europe. Canada only wants Quebec in Confederation when we are willing to sacrifice for the British Empire. Britain started this war. Let Britain finish it! Student Handout #3 Humphrey Discounts Allegations You are a newspaper editor who supports the opposition to Conservative M.P. Humphrey Humphrey. Vocabulary Choices:

HUMPHREY DISCOUNTS ALLEGATIONS or

"DRUG TALK ALL LIES," SNARLS HUMPHREY

OTTAWA (UBI) Conservative M.P./warhorse and liquor baron/distillery executive Humphrey Humphrey denounced/denied today that reports/allegations implicating/involving him in undercover/subversive drug/dope retailing/peddling were true/had any basis in fact. Addressing a dinner/blowout for colleagues/hangerson at a swank/exclusive Ottawa restaurant, Humphrey angrily denied/calmly refuted swarms of rumours/numerous reports that he and a gang/group of cronies/acquaintances had

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sneaked/smuggled into the national's capital/Ottawa lethal doses/dangerous amounts of diluted/adulterated ambrosia under cover of dark/at night. "Such talk is all lies," snarled/said Humphrey, hunched over/seated with a tumbler of booze/an after-dinner cocktail. Rumour-mongers/sources around Parliament Hill suggest/hint tonight Humphrey's alleged crime/scrape is the subject of Cabinet investigation/talk. Meantime, Bay Street 

analysts/mandarins note/point to the fact that Humphrey stock has plummeted/fallen in the last two days/suddenly in the face of/as a result of a wave of panic/selling. Source: Jim Henderson, Mediascan (Toronto:pub, 1976), pp.40-41

Assignment · You have been given the article on Humphrey by one of your reporters. · You have the option of choosing from the vocabulary provided. · What choices in the vocabulary would you make? · How would you have the story placed in your paper? · Select the most appropriate headline. · Explain the reasons for each of your responses. (Remember that you oppose Humphrey.) · Once you have done this, imagine that you are now supportive of Mr. Humphrey. · What do you choose to do now? · What does this exercise tell us about media values Student Handout #4 News Judgement

Trying to define what constitutes news is a delicate business. Some of the key factors include: Impact: Is the only factory in town closing down? That has a bigger impact than two people being laid off, so it's bigger news. A disaster is big news because of its impact, leaving people hurt and homeless. Conflict: A demonstration for animal rights in which people peacefully march and chant slogans is not a major news story. But if a confrontation develops between the protesters and a fur coat merchant, and someone gets hurt, it becomes a major story because the level of conflict has increased. Prominence: Are celebrities or politicians involved in a story? If so, it's a bigger story. A failed marriage in the Royal Family is a big headline around the world, but the same problems, if they happened to your next –door neighbour, wouldn't even make the local paper.

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Proximity: If your newspaper is in Timmins, Ontario, and a homeless person freezes to death on Timmins' main street one winter night, that's big news. But if your newspaper is in Whitehorse, Yukon, you are not as interested in a death in Timmins, because it isn't close to your readers. Freshness: News has a short shelf life. If a development happened an hour before the paper's deadline, it's bigger news than if it's 24 hours old. Novelty: There's a saying that "if a dog bites a man it isn't news, but if a man bites a dog, that's news." Human interest: Related to novelty. Stories about the 96-year old who swims in the ocean every morning, winter and summer, or about the family with 20 foster children and how they cope, are of interest to readers. These factors are all a part of news judgment. Reprinted, with permission, from News is Not Just Black and White, a workbook produced by the Canadian Newspaper Association.

STRATEGY 4

Stakeholder Graphic Organizer Each STAKEHOLDER in a controversy has a particular point of view. Consulting as many stakeholders as possible, guarantees you a fresh, strong diversity of opinions and ideas with which to work.

Download Stakeholder graphic organizer

Compile a list of typical stakeholders for the historical event you are studying (this list is not exhaustive; add your own categories.):

* Individuals with something to win or lose (eye witnesses, soldiers, victims)

* Nonprofit organizations (e.g. community, NGO's, consumers associations)

* Workers (Labour, professional associations)

* Ethnic groups

* Educational institutions / academics (peer-reviewed publications)

* Governments

* For profit businesses industries (associations, employers)

* Media at the time of the event

Scan media sources at the time of the event. Do you think their NEWS reports were objective & unbiased? Check their editorials for opinions expressed.

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Newspapers

Posters

Radio

Television

Internet

Social Media

Instructions: In the centre of the circle write down the basic facts of a historical event (who, what, when, where, why). Fill each rectangle with quotes from various stakeholders which express their "truth" of the event. Discuss in class & do a group edit of the "facts" in the centre. Are any altered?

PRACTICIE

In this famous speech given on January 28, 1986, President Ronald Reagan addresses a nation that has just witnessed the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Read the introduction and the speech, and answer the questions that follow.

President Ronald Reagan Honors the Memory of the Seven Astronauts Killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion.

1 Officially, it was "Shuttle Mission 51-L," but every American knew it as "the flight with the teacher" because one of the crew members was a thirty-seven-year-old teacher named Christa McAuliffe. The first civilian to venture into space, McAuliffe had been chosen out of 11,000 volunteers to join six astronauts on the space shuttle Challenger. Promising "the ultimate field trip," NASA1 heavily promoted the launch, and tens of millions of Americans—many of them schoolchildren—tuned in to witness the historic event live on January 28, 1986. At 11:39 A.M., cheers erupted at Cape Canaveral and at McAuliffe's school back in Concord, New Hampshire, as the Challenger soared skyward into a picture-perfect, cloudless sky. And then suddenly, inconceivably, the shuttle disappeared into a massive fireball as the two booster rockets sailed on, leaving behind a billowy pitchfork of smoke. Shock immediately turned to grief as the realization sank in: The shuttle had exploded, killing everyone on board. President Reagan was scheduled

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to give the State of the Union address before Congress that evening, but instead focused solely on the seven crew members who lost their lives—the first American astronauts ever to die in flight.

2 Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the

Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

3 Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight. We've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, overcame them, and did their

jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik,

Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

4 To the families of the seven: We cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "Give me a challenge, and I'll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us. We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us, but for twenty- five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

5 And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

6 I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here. Our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them, "Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades, and we know of your anguish. We share it."

7 There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and an historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well today we can say of the Challenger crew, Their dedication was, like Drake's,

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complete. 8 The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they

lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."2

QUESTIONS:

1. Based on the introduction, what was the most likely reason that NASA described the shuttle mission as “the ultimate field trip”? A. To emphasize the fact that a teacher was part of the shuttle crew B. To publicize the fact that the mission included the first space walk. C. To encourage people to travel to Cape Canaveral to watch the launch. D. To indicate that the main purpose of the shuttle mission was education

2. In paragraph 7, what is the main reason President Reagan refers to Sir Francis Drake? A. To show that the past explorers are sometimes forgotten B. To show that a person must die to be considered a hero C. To show that the astronauts are as heroic as past explorers D. To show that the frontiers of human exploration have changed

Departure by Sherwood Anderson

1 Young George Willard got out of bed at four in the morning. It was April and the young tree leaves were just coming out of their buds. The trees along the residence streets in Winesburg are maple and the seeds are winged. When the wind blows they whirl crazily about, filling the air and making a carpet underfoot.

2 George came downstairs into the hotel office carrying a brown leather bag. His trunk was packed for departure. Since two o’clock he had been awake thinking of the journey he was about to take and wondering what he would find at the end of his journey. The boy who slept in the hotel office lay on a cot by the door. His mouth was open and he snored lustily. George crept past the cot and went out into the silent deserted main street. The east was pink with the dawn and long streaks of light climbed into the sky where a few stars still shone.

3 Beyond the last house on Trunion Pike in Winesburg, there is a great stretch of open fields. The fields are owned by farmers who live in town and drive homeward at evening along Trunion Pike in light creaking wagons. In the fields are planted berries and small fruits. In the late afternoon in the hot summers when the road and the fields are covered with dust, a smoky haze lies over the great flat basin of land. To look across it is like looking out across

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the sea. In the spring when the land is green the effect is somewhat different. The land becomes a wide green billiard table on which tiny human insects toil up and down.

4 All through his boyhood and young manhood, George Willard had been in the habit of walking on Trunion Pike. He had been in the midst of the great open place on winter nights when it was covered with snow and only the moon looked down at him; he had been there in the fall when bleak winds blew and on summer evenings when the air vibrated with the song of insects. On the April morning he wanted to go there again, to walk again in the silence. He did walk to where the road dipped down by a little stream two miles from town and then turned and walked silently back again. When he got to Main Street clerks were sweeping the sidewalks before the stores. “Hey, you George. How does it feel to be going away?” they asked.

5 The westbound train leaves Winesburg at seven forty-five in the morning. Tom Little is conductor. His train runs from Cleveland to where it connects with a great trunk line railroad with terminals in Chicago and New York. Tom has what in railroad circles is called an “easy run.” Every evening he returns to his family. In the fall and spring he spends his Sundays fishing in Lake Erie. He has a round red face and small blue eyes. He knows the people in the towns along his railroad better than a city man knows the people who live in his apartment building.

6 George came down the little incline from the New Willard House at seven o’clock. Tom Willard carried his bag. The son had become taller than the father.

7 On the station platform everyone shook the young man’s hand. More than a dozen people waited about. Then they talked of their own affairs. Even Will Henderson, who was lazy and often slept until nine, had got out of bed. George was embarrassed. Gertrude Wilmot, a tall thin woman of fifty who worked in the Winesburg post office, came along the station platform. She had never before paid any attention to George. Now she stopped and put out her hand. In two words she voiced what everyone felt. “Good luck,” she said sharply and then turning went on her way.

8 When the train came into the station George felt relieved. He scampered hurriedly aboard. Helen White came running along Main Street hoping to have a parting word with him, but he had found a seat and did not see her. When the train started Tom Little punched his ticket, grinned and, although he knew George well and knew on what adventure he was just setting out, made no comment. Tom had seen a thousand George Willards go out of their towns to the city. It was a commonplace enough incident with him. In the car there was a man who had just invited Tom to go on a fishing trip to Sandusky Bay. He wanted to accept the invitation and talk over details.

9 George glanced up and down the car to be sure no one was looking, then took out his pocketbook and counted his money. His mind was occupied with a desire not to appear green. Almost the last words his father had said to him concerned the matter of his behavior

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when he got to the city. “Be a sharp one,” Tom Willard had said. “Keep your eyes on your money. Be awake. That’s the ticket. Don’t let anyone think you’re a greenhorn.”

10 After George counted his money he looked out of the window and was surprised to see that the train was still in Winesburg.

11 The young man, going out of his town to meet the adventure of life, began to think but he did not think of anything very big or dramatic.

12 He thought of little things—Turk Smollet wheeling boards through the main street of his town in the morning, Butch Wheeler, the lamp lighter of Winesburg, hurrying through the streets on a summer evening and holding a torch in his hand, Helen White standing by a window in the Winesburg post office and putting a stamp on an envelope.

13 The young man’s mind was carried away by his growing passion for dreams. One looking at him would not have thought him particularly sharp. With the recollection of little things occupying his mind, he closed his eyes and leaned back in the car seat. He stayed that way for a long time and when he aroused himself and again looked out of the car window, the town of Winesburg had disappeared and his life there had become but a background on Instructions: In the centre of the circle write down the basic facts of a historical event (who, what, when, where, why). Fill each rectangle with quotes from various stakeholders which express their "truth" of the event. Discuss in class & do a group edit of the "facts" in the centre. Are any altered?

PRACTICIE

In this famous speech given on January 28, 1986, President Ronald Reagan addresses a nation that has just witnessed the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Read the introduction and the speech, and answer the questions that follow.

President Ronald Reagan Honors the Memory of the Seven Astronauts Killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion.

1 Officially, it was "Shuttle Mission 51-L," but every American knew it as "the flight with the teacher" because one of the crew members was a thirty-seven-year-old teacher named Christa McAuliffe. The first civilian to venture into space, McAuliffe had been chosen out of 11,000 volunteers to join six astronauts on the space shuttle Challenger. Promising "the ultimate field trip," NASA1 heavily promoted the launch, and tens of millions of Americans—many of them schoolchildren—tuned in to witness the historic event live on January 28, 1986. At 11:39 A.M., cheers erupted at Cape

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Canaveral and at McAuliffe's school back in Concord, New Hampshire, as the Challenger soared skyward into a picture-perfect, cloudless sky. And then suddenly, inconceivably, the shuttle disappeared into a massive fireball as the two booster rockets sailed on, leaving behind a billowy pitchfork of smoke. Shock immediately turned to grief as the realization sank in: The shuttle had exploded, killing everyone on board. President Reagan was scheduled to give the State of the Union address before Congress that evening, but instead focused solely on the seven crew members who lost their lives—the first American astronauts ever to die in flight.

2 Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the

Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

3 Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight. We've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, overcame them, and did their

jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik,

Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

4 To the families of the seven: We cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "Give me a challenge, and I'll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us. We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us, but for twenty- five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

5 And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

6 I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here. Our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or

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who worked on this mission and tell them, "Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades, and we know of your anguish. We share it."

7 There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and an historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well today we can say of the Challenger crew, Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

8 The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."2

QUESTIONS:

3. Based on the introduction, what was the most likely reason that NASA described the shuttle mission as “the ultimate field trip”? E. To emphasize the fact that a teacher was part of the shuttle crew F. To publicize the fact that the mission included the first space walk. G. To encourage people to travel to Cape Canaveral to watch the launch. H. To indicate that the main purpose of the shuttle mission was education

4. In paragraph 7, what is the main reason President Reagan refers to Sir Francis Drake? E. To show that the past explorers are sometimes forgotten F. To show that a person must die to be considered a hero G. To show that the astronauts are as heroic as past explorers H. To show that the frontiers of human exploration have changed

Departure by Sherwood Anderson

1 Young George Willard got out of bed at four in the morning. It was April and the young tree leaves were just coming out of their buds. The trees along the residence streets in Winesburg are maple and the seeds are winged. When the wind blows they whirl crazily about, filling the air and making a carpet underfoot.

2 George came downstairs into the hotel office carrying a brown leather bag. His trunk was packed for departure. Since two o’clock he had been awake thinking of the journey he was about to take and wondering what he would find at the end of his journey. The boy who slept in the hotel office lay on a cot by the door. His mouth was open and he snored lustily. George crept past the cot and went out into the silent deserted main street. The east was pink with the dawn and long streaks of light climbed into the sky where a few stars still shone.

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3 Beyond the last house on Trunion Pike in Winesburg, there is a great stretch of open fields. The fields are owned by farmers who live in town and drive homeward at evening along Trunion Pike in light creaking wagons. In the fields are planted berries and small fruits. In the late afternoon in the hot summers when the road and the fields are covered with dust, a smoky haze lies over the great flat basin of land. To look across it is like looking out across the sea. In the spring when the land is green the effect is somewhat different. The land becomes a wide green billiard table on which tiny human insects toil up and down.

4 All through his boyhood and young manhood, George Willard had been in the habit of walking on Trunion Pike. He had been in the midst of the great open place on winter nights when it was covered with snow and only the moon looked down at him; he had been there in the fall when bleak winds blew and on summer evenings when the air vibrated with the song of insects. On the April morning he wanted to go there again, to walk again in the silence. He did walk to where the road dipped down by a little stream two miles from town and then turned and walked silently back again. When he got to Main Street clerks were sweeping the sidewalks before the stores. “Hey, you George. How does it feel to be going away?” they asked.

5 The westbound train leaves Winesburg at seven forty-five in the morning. Tom Little is conductor. His train runs from Cleveland to where it connects with a great trunk line railroad with terminals in Chicago and New York. Tom has what in railroad circles is called an “easy run.” Every evening he returns to his family. In the fall and spring he spends his Sundays fishing in Lake Erie. He has a round red face and small blue eyes. He knows the people in the towns along his railroad better than a city man knows the people who live in his apartment building.

6 George came down the little incline from the New Willard House at seven o’clock. Tom Willard carried his bag. The son had become taller than the father.

7 On the station platform everyone shook the young man’s hand. More than a dozen people waited about. Then they talked of their own affairs. Even Will Henderson, who was lazy and often slept until nine, had got out of bed. George was embarrassed. Gertrude Wilmot, a tall thin woman of fifty who worked in the Winesburg post office, came along the station platform. She had never before paid any attention to George. Now she stopped and put out her hand. In two words she voiced what everyone felt. “Good luck,” she said sharply and then turning went on her way.

8 When the train came into the station George felt relieved. He scampered hurriedly aboard. Helen White came running along Main Street hoping to have a parting word with him, but he had found a seat and did not see her. When the train started Tom Little punched his ticket, grinned and, although he knew George well and knew on what adventure he was just setting out, made no comment. Tom had seen a thousand George Willards go out of their towns to the city. It was a commonplace enough incident with him. In the car there was a man who had just invited Tom to go on a fishing trip to Sandusky Bay. He wanted to accept the invitation and talk over details.

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9 George glanced up and down the car to be sure no one was looking, then took out his pocketbook and counted his money. His mind was occupied with a desire not to appear green. Almost the last words his father had said to him concerned the matter of his behavior when he got to the city. “Be a sharp one,” Tom Willard had said. “Keep your eyes on your money. Be awake. That’s the ticket. Don’t let anyone think you’re a greenhorn.”

10 After George counted his money he looked out of the window and was surprised to see that the train was still in Winesburg.

11 The young man, going out of his town to meet the adventure of life, began to think but he did not think of anything very big or dramatic.

12 He thought of little things—Turk Smollet wheeling boards through the main street of his town in the morning, Butch Wheeler, the lamp lighter of Winesburg, hurrying through the streets on a summer evening and holding a torch in his hand, Helen White standing by a window in the Winesburg post office and putting a stamp on an envelope.

13 The young man’s mind was carried away by his growing passion for dreams. One looking at him would not have thought him particularly sharp. With the recollection of little things occupying his mind, he closed his eyes and leaned back in the car seat. He stayed that way for a long time and when he aroused himself and again looked out of the car window, the town of Winesburg had disappeared and his life there had become but a background on which to paint the dreams of his manhood.

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Please Let It Be Whale Vomit, Not Just Sea Junk by Corey Kilgannon

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MONTAUK, N.Y. — In this season of strange presents from relatives, Dorothy Ferreira got a doozy the other day from her 82-year-old sister in Waterloo, Iowa. It was ugly. It weighed four pounds. There was no receipt in the box. Inside she found what looked like a gnarled, funky candle but could actually be a huge hunk of petrified whale vomit worth as much as $18,000.

3 “I called my sister and asked her, ‘What the heck did you send me?’” recalled Ms. Ferreira, 67, who has lived here on the eastern tip of Long Island since 1982. “She said: ‘I don’t know, but I found it on the beach in Montauk 50 years ago and just kept it around. You’re the one who lives by the ocean; ask someone out there what it is.’”

4 So Ms. Ferreira called the Town of East Hampton’s department of natural resources, which dispatched an old salt from Montauk named Walter Galcik.

5 Mr. Galcik, 80, concluded that the mysterious gift might be ambergris, the storied substance created in the intestines of a sperm whale and spewed into the ocean. Also called “whale’s pearl” or “floating gold,” ambergris is a rare and often valuable ingredient in fine perfumes.

6 “He told me, ‘Don’t let this out of your sight,’” Ms. Ferreira said.

7 She was soon summoned to show the thing at a town board meeting, after which

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a story in The Independent, a local newspaper, declared Ms. Ferreira the proud new owner of “heirloom whale barf.” Friends and neighbors flocked to her tchotchke-filled* cottage overlooking Fort Pond Bay, the very shores where her sister, Ruth Carpenter, said she found the object in the mid-1950s.

8 Childless and never married, Ms. Ferreira bounced from job to job, most recently as a short-order cook at a local deli, and now lives on her Social Security income.

9 “If it really does have value, I’m not silly, of course I’d want to sell it,” Ms. Ferreira said as she looked out past her lace curtains and picket fence at the whitecaps on the bay. “This could be my retirement.”

10 After researching ambergris on the Internet, Ms. Ferreira’s neighbor, Joe Luiksic, advised, “Put it on eBay.” But endangered species legislation has made buying or selling the stuff illegal since the 1970s; a couple who found a large lump of ambergris valued at almost $300,000 on an Australian beach in January has had legal problems selling it.

11 “If I get locked up, will you bail me out?” Ms. Ferreira asked her friends. 12 Ambergris begins as a waxlike substance secreted in the intestines of some sperm

whales, perhaps to protect the whale from the hard, indigestible “beaks” of giant squid it feeds upon. The whales expel the blobs, dark and foul-smelling, to float the ocean. After much seasoning by waves, wind, salt and sun, they may wash up as solid, fragrant chunks.

13 Because ambergris varies widely in color, shape and texture, identification falls to those who have handled it before, a group that in a post-whaling age is very small. Ms. Ferreira says she has yet to find an ambergris expert.

14 “A hundred years ago, you would have no problem finding someone who could identify this,” said James G. Mead, curator of marine mammals at the Smithsonian Institution, who said he hears of new ambergris surfacing somewhere in the world maybe once every five or six years. “More often, you have people who think they’ve found it and they can retire, only to find out it’s a big hunk of floor wax.”

15 Adrienne Beuse, an ambergris dealer in New Zealand, said in a telephone interview that good-quality ambergris can be sold for up to $10 per gram, adding that for the finest grades, “the sky’s the limit.”

* tchotchke — an inexpensive trinket

16 At $10 per gram, Ms. Ferreira’s chunk, according to a neighbor’s kitchen scale,

would have a value of $18,000. “The only way to positively identify ambergris is to have experience handling and smelling it, and very few people in the world have that,” Ms. Beuse said. “Certainly, if she has it, it’s like winning a mini- lottery.”

17 Larry Penny, 71, director of East Hampton’s natural resources department, said he had no way of making a definite determination, because “we don’t keep a certified whale-vomit expert on staff.”

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18 Mr. Penny, whose great-great-uncle was skipper of a whaling ship out of Sag Harbor, said he grew up searching the beach for ambergris.

19 “The older folks would always tell us, ‘Keep your eyes open for that whale vomit because it’ll pay your way through college,’” he recalled. “We used to bring home anything that we thought looked like it, but it never turned out to be ambergris. The average person today could trip over it on the beach and never know what it was.”

20 Ambergris has been a valued commodity for centuries, used in perfume because of its strangely alluring aroma as well as its ability to retain other fine-fragrance ingredients and “fix” a scent so it does not evaporate quickly. Its name is derived from the French “ambre gris,” or gray amber. During the Renaissance, ambergris was molded, dried, decorated and worn as jewelry. It has been an aphrodisiac, a restorative balm, and a spice for food and wine. Arabs used it as heart and brain medicine. The Chinese called it lung sien hiang, or “dragon’s spittle fragrance.” It has been the object of high-seas treachery and caused countries to enact maritime possession laws and laws banning whale hunting. Madame du Barry supposedly washed herself with it to make herself irresistible to Louis XV.

21 In “Paradise Regained,” Milton describes Satan tempting Christ with meat pastries steamed in ambergris. In “Moby-Dick,” Melville called it the “essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale.” Old newspapers show clippings every few years describing some whaling crew coming upon a hunk, or some vacationing family finding it on the beach and either cashing in — or discovering it was just ocean detritus.

22 “We always heard about it, but I don’t remember finding any,” recalled Encie Babcock, 95, of Sag Harbor, whose great-uncle Henry Babcock was captain of a whaling ship in the 1800s.

23 Mrs. Carpenter, Ms. Ferreira’s sister, said she was about 30 years old, beachcombing with her dog in front of the family house, when she spied the

object and “just liked the way it looked, so I kept it.” After moving with her husband to Iowa, Mrs. Carpenter kept the waxy hunk in a box in her bedroom closet.

24 “Anytime we had houseguests, I’d take it out and ask them if they knew what it was,” she said. “Of course they didn’t. This is Iowa.” She sent it to her sister, Mrs. Carpenter said, because “I’m not feeling too good, and I don’t have much time left.”

“Please Let It Be Whale Vomit, Not Just Sea Junk” by Corey Kilgannon, photograph by Gordon M. Grant, from The New York Times, December 18, 2006. Copyright © 2006 by the New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission of The New York Times.

QUESTIONS:

1. Why do you think the author wrote and published this story? 2. What is the purpose of paragraph 20?

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In A Dog Year, Jon Katz writes about the strong bond that develops between him and his two yellow Labrador retrievers, Julius and Stanley. Read the excerpt and answer the questions that follow.

1 We hardly had a bad moment, the three of us, so neatly did we fit together, interlocking pieces of the puzzle that is the varied partnership between humans and dogs.

2 Julius and Stanley embodied the noblest characteristics of their proud breed. They were handsome, loyal, utterly dependable, and affectionate. Julius came first. My daughter was young, and while there are different viewpoints about this, I personally don't believe there's a more rewarding moment for a parent than handing a happy, squirming, doe-eyed Lab puppy over to a small kid. I carry the look on her face in my memory, and while there are times when I can't remember what day of the week it is, I can always recall the wonder and joy in her eyes as if it had just happened.

3 Although I bought the dog with my daughter in mind, she was soon playing computer games and collecting garish-looking dolls, and I was out in the chill winter mornings cheering and exulting when a puzzled but earnest puppy took a dump outside.

4 Julius became mine, of course, the two of us bonding as if by Krazy Glue. 5 A year later, the breeder called and invited me to take a ride with my

daughter to see the new litter. I was just looking, I assured my muttering and incredulous wife, Paula, who'd dragged Julius's old plastic dog crate out of the basement, ready to house its new resident, before I'd left the driveway.

6 My daughter and I returned with tiny, heart-melting Stanley. Julius was initially dubious about this new pest he had to contend with, but within a couple of days the two Labs loved each other as much as I loved them both, and they loved me and my family and, well, everybody who passed by.

7 It was a happy relationship from the first, and it only grew better, more comfortable. Both dogs were housebroken within days, settling happily into hours of rawhide-chewing.

8 Our lifestyles, as they say, meshed perfectly. Neither dog had much interest in running around.

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9 Their great genius was doing nothing in particular with great style and dedication. Both disdained traditional canine tasks such as pursuing squirrels or rabbits, digging, or destroying property. Their chosen work was to reflect on the state of the world, lick neighborhood kids, and accompany me through midlife.

10 In the morning, neither dog moved a muscle until I did; then both slithered into bed for a family cuddle. After I was up and dressed, they sat quietly and attentively beneath the kitchen table, staring hypnotically at their food bowls, as if the power of their gazes would conjure up something tasty.

11 After breakfast, the early walk through our pleasant suburban neighborhood was leisurely, Julius and Stanley forensically sniffing along behind. Certain shrubs and rocks were always carefully inspected, each at a quite deliberate pace, the only area in which they would not compromise. Nothing could rush them; they'd go over every millimeter of a sapling's bark, undistractedly, until satisfied. A rabbit could hop right by–and sometimes did–without interrupting them.

12 For a half hour or so, the dogs proceeded at such stately paces and behaved so dependably that I was free to think about the coming day, what I wanted to write, how I wanted to write it. Our walks were tranquil, interrupted only by a stream of friends and admirers, from dog buddies to school-bus drivers.

13 Despite their historic roles as hunting dogs, however, they disdained rain and snow, and in inclement weather mastered a convenient hundred-yard dash to the nearest tree, then turned and hustled back inside.

14 Then it was time for work. I prepared a sandwich for each, taking two big rawhide chews and slathering a layer of peanut butter in between. Julius and Stanley carried the concoctions to the backyard and settled in for a deliberate gnaw, after which they were spent, and needed to refresh themselves with a long rest.

15 If the weather was fine, the dogs would spend much of the morning dozing in the yard. They might rouse themselves to bark at a passing dog. Mostly not.

16 On unpleasant days, they came into my study and offered themselves as footrests, both tucked underneath my desk, one on my left, one on my right.

17 I never had to provide much in the way of instruction. These guys knew how to relax. When the computer chimed as it booted up (I am an unswerving Macintosh man), the dogs dropped to the floor as if they'd been shot. They didn't move until they heard the monitor thunk off, at which point they'd rise (cautiously), ready for another stroll.

18 After a year or so, Julius and Stanley had achieved a Labrador state of grace, the ability to become an organic part of your life rather than an intrusion into it.

19 For a writer, having two such quiet and patient companions is a godsend. They warded off loneliness. They also kept me from a purely sedentary existence. After lunch, we'd rack up another mile or two at our usual unhurried pace.

20 Through the day, I supplied rawhide chews, pigs' ears, indeterminable and smelly dried bull parts, and a rain of treats and biscuits. It was ridiculously indulgent, of course, but I could not do enough for these boys, nor they for me. I tried to repay them for their love and unflagging loyalty, even though that was unnecessary and impossible.

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21 They had their idiosyncracies. Julius was so unconcerned about wildlife (the sort his brethren traditionally retrieved) that he'd been known to nap inches from a rabbit's nest in the garden. And when Stanley wanted to chase a ball–which was much of the time–he would nip me in the butt to get me moving.

22 Once in a great while somebody would strew the garbage around the house, in the centuries-old tradition of Labs in Newfoundland who worked with fishermen, loved the cold, wet outdoors, and had to forage for food; they got to be pretty flexible about what they'd put in their stomachs. If I left them alone in the house, they collected odd articles of clothing–my wife's fuzzy bedroom slippers were a favorite–and slept with them.

23 It had been years since either dog had been on a leash or given me reason, despite the technicalities of local leash laws, to use one. Every kid in the neighborhood knew them and waved at them from bikes and car windows, through soccer-field fences. For many, they provided the first introduction to dogs, and they set a high standard. Over the years, many people told me that Julius or Stanley had inspired them to go out and get a dog.

24 When night fell, so did the Labs, settling on their cedar beds for a final rawhide snack, and descending into a deep, unmoving sleep.

25 After some years–Stanley was seven and Julius eight–we moved almost like a school of fish, the three of us veering in one direction, then another. We turned corners at the same time, sat in various parks and yards sharing lunch.

26 All the one ever asked was to live, play, and work alongside me. All the other one wanted besides that was the chance to swim in ponds once in a while and chase a ball a few times a day. They got what they wanted. So did I.

From A DOG YEAR by Jon Katz, copyright © 2002, 2003 by Jon Katz. Used by permission of Villard Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Photograph by Eric Etheridge

QUESTIONS:

1. What do paragraphs 19 and 20 mainly describe? A. what a writer's life is like B. what the dogs ate for snacks C. how different the dogs' personalities were D. how the author benefited from the relationship

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Should students do the grading?

The Supreme Court says the practice doesn’t violate a student’s right to privacy, but is it right for students to grade one another?

The Supreme Court was absolutely correct to say it’s OK for students to grade one another’s homework, quizzes, and tests; in fact, it’s a great idea.

2 By grading one another’s papers and seeing the problems their peers encounter, as well as their own, students double their exposure to the troubles that they may meet on future exams and tests. The basic purpose of school is to learn not just what others have done right, but to learn from what they have done wrong. How better to teach this than to put it directly into the lives of students?

3 Teachers are underappreciated and underpaid for the number of hours they have to work to be able to really teach well. Grading all their students’ papers can take hours on end. Some of that time and energy can be saved by spending a few minutes in class, while providing an invaluable learning experience.

4 I understand that some individuals are sensitive to their classmates seeing their work or grades. School is a place where every mistake can be learned from, and self-esteem can be built. Any good teacher would make allowances for students who don’t want their classmates to grade their assignments.

5 Grading one another’s papers may be one of the best ways for students to reinforce within themselves the ways to respond to the most difficult parts of what they are learning. It simply can’t be denied that in-class grading of assignments is a great way to learn, and those with personal issues can resolve those issues if they just present their problems to their teachers. Allowing students to learn in the best way they are able should be the responsibility of society. If learning in school upsets some students and their parents, perhaps they don’t really realize what they are upset about.

QUESTIONS:

1. What are the author’s arguments in support of students grading other student’s work? 2. What is the author’s purpose in writing this article? 3. Is the author’s bias evident in this article? Which sentence expresses this? 4. Give examples of how the author backs up his stand on this issue. 5. Do you agree or disagree with this stand? Explain your answer.

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The Death of Lincoln  by William Cullen Bryant  

  

 Oh, slow to smite and swift to spare,  Gentle and merciful and just! 

 Who, in the fear of God, didst bear  The sword of power, a nation’s trust! 5 In sorrow by thy bier we stand,  Amid the awe that hushes all,  And speak the anguish of a land  That shook with horror at thy fall. 

 Thy task is done; the bound are free; 10 We bear thee to an honored grave,  Whose proudest monument shall be 

 The broken fetters of the slave.   Pure was thy life; its bloody close 

 Hath placed thee with the sons of light, 15 Among the noble host of those Who perished in the cause of Right. 

[Public Domain]   

QUESTIONS:

1. The main purpose of the poem is A. to critique Lincoln. B. to capture Lincoln’s personal experience. C. to honor Lincoln. D. to explain Lincoln’s achievements.

2. Which of these phrases from Frederick Douglass’s speech is slightly critical toward

Lincoln? A. “though the Union was more to him than our freedom or our future” B. “responding to the call of Abraham Lincoln” C. “making slavery forever impossible in the United States” D. “the outburst of joy and thanksgiving that rent the air”

3. Which of the following best describes the different attitudes expressed in “The Death

of Lincoln” and Frederick Douglass’s speech? A. The poem is a joyful celebration of Lincoln, while the tone of the speech is sad. B. The poem idealizes Lincoln, while the speech critically appraises his actions. C. The poem stresses the future, while the speech focuses on the present. D. The poem is personal, while the speech is abstract.

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Strand: READING FOR COMPREHENSION

Benchmark I-D: DEMONSTRATE COMPETENCE IN THE SKILLS AND STRATEGIES OF THE READING PROCESS

Skill:

6. Independently apply the reading process and strategies to a variety of literary and informational texts and use the defining features and structures of those works to understand main elements, perspective, and style.

Informational text is organized by topic and supporting details, whereas literary text is organized by the structure of a story, poem, or drama. Informational texts may have boldface headings, graphics, illustrations, and captions that signal importance in the text. However, some commonalities exist between literary and informational text and the skills and strategies required for reading each. Both require people to analyze the text, reflect on it, and draw conclusions.

Fiction texts typically have literary elements such as characters, setting, problem/ solution, and plot.

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activities 1. Identifying reading strategies in think-aloud response to a text. Select a short text—a poem or a section of a story or novel—and do a think-aloud activity with a partner, sharing your thoughts with the partner, who simply provides encouraging prompts. Then, reflect with your partner on the kinds of reading strategies that you employed in doing the think aloud, as well as the prior knowledge or schema you drew on in reading the text. Then, reverse roles and have your partner do a think-aloud and reflection on the strategies employed. Then, based on the strategies you and your partner employed, devise some activities for fostering students’ use of these strategies.

2. Identifying cues signaling the use of strategies. Read a poem, short essay, short story, and a one-act play. Then, identify the strategies you are employing in reading these different texts and how these strategies differ according to each of these different genres. Then, for these different strategies, identify those cues in a text specific to a certain genre that invite you to employ certain strategies, for example, the use of titles in a poem that invite you to infer the theme of a poem. Describe how these cues are designed to achieve audience identification with the position, cause, or idea being proposed. To what degree does the writer succeed in gaining audience identification?

3. Developing frontloading activities for teaching strategies. Select a text that you might teach in student teaching. As you are reading the text, identify the strategies you are employing in comprehending the text unique to the genre of that text. . Then, develop some frontloading activities for modeling or scaffolding the use of these strategies consistent with your students’ ZPD. Describe how you will model or scaffold the use of strategies, how you will then have students practice the use of these strategies, and how you will know that they have

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successfully learned to employ these strategies.

4. Selecting tools for teaching strategies. Select a poem that you would teach in your student teaching. Re-read the poem several times and reflect on those strategies you’re using in responding to the poem. Focus particularly on parts of the poem that may be particularly difficult for students. Then, for each strategy, identify some specific write, talk, art-work, or drama tools that you could use to help students employ these different strategies. For example, you could have students free write responses to specific parts of the poem to help them develop the meaning of figurative language. Or, to have them define intertextual connections, you could have them free write about another text the poem reminds them of and then create spider maps with key concepts from the poem and the other text as central circles and lines out from the circles representing specific meanings for these concepts. Then can then draw lines between the poem map and the other text map for use in determine similarities between the poem and the other text. They could then formulate their interpretation of the poem based on these connections. Once you’ve selected some tasks based on different tools, determine an appropriate order for the tasks, “first-things-first,” so that each task serves to prepare students for the next task. For example, the freewriting served to prepare students for the mapping. Consider also whether you’ll need to provide students with modeling for different tasks. Then, create an assignment based on your sequence of tasks.

5. Selecting and performing favorite poems or song/rap lyrics. Bring in a favorite poem or song/rap lyrics to share with the class. Discuss reasons why you like this poem or song/rap in terms of specific aspects of the poem and the genre features unique to each text.

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Then, perform this poem or song/rap lyric using techniques of oral interpretation: determine the meanings you want to convey, practice performing the text by emphasizing certain words or using pauses, and then share your performance with the class. (For examples of adolescents performing poem in poetry slam contests, see the video, Poetic License).

6. Create poetry anthologies or Web sites. Create poetry anthologies or Web sites based on similar topics, themes, issues, or genre features (image poems, etc.). You can find poems on various online poetry sites (see links) or published anthologies. You could also illustrate their anthologies with visual images or drawings associated with the topics, themes, issues, or genre features.

7. Analyzing the culture functions of myths or legends. Find some myths or legends specific to a certain culture or nationality, for example, Native American, Norse, African, Roman, Greek, Chinese, Eskimo, Inca’s, Mayan, etc. Describe how these myths or legends shared certain similar storylines, for example, creation myths explaining the creation of the world. Then, describe how these same myths or legends differ according to the how they functioned in these different cultures to explain certain phenomena unique to these cultures, for example, how Native American creation myths focused on ecological aspects of man/nature/animal relationships while Greek myths focus on male power relationships.

8. Analyzing the storylines in fantasy, science fiction, or adventure literature or films. Examine the use of certain storylines in contemporary fantasy, science fiction, or adventure literature or films popular with adolescents: the Harry Potter series, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, etc. Define how consistent narrative patterns in these storylines reflect certain cultural attitudes or beliefs operating in a culture or society. For example, in fantasy novels and films, the quest pattern (Frye, 1957) in which the hero engages on a journey to

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destroy evil and discover some truth about the world reflects a belief in the clear distinction between good versus evil and then need for people to engaged in a search for truths about their own lives. Or, the threats or challenges in science fiction novels or films reflect the fears or concerns facing certain generations—disease, fear of adversaries, nuclear bombs, ecological disasters, etc.

9. Making intertextual connections. In devising mythology, fantasy, or science-fiction units, you need to encourage students to learn to define their own connections between texts in an inductive, “bottom-up” manner. For example, in reading a series of fantasy or science-fiction stories based on the quest pattern, students could be asked to define the similarities between these stories in terms of the quest pattern. This requires that you initially work with them in a “top-down,” deductive manner, providing them with some concepts or schema about the quest pattern. Develop a mythology, fantasy, or science fiction unit in which you include both “top-down”/deductive and “bottom-up”/inductive activities for defining relationships between texts.

10. Helping students suspend disbelief. Reading fantasy and science fiction requires students to suspend their disbelief so that they can accept an alternative version of reality, something that may be difficult for “reality-bound” adolescents. For use in teaching a fantasy or science-fiction novel, devise some activities that would help students suspend their disbelief.

11. Addressing issues in science fiction. Much of contemporary science fiction addresses current social, political, technological or ecological problems. To help students understand these problems, it would be useful to collaborate with a social studies or science teacher about social studies or science issues portrayed in science fiction. In preparing to teach a science fiction novel, discuss some possible instructional techniques, topics, or themes with a

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social studies or science teacher. For example, visual representations of the technology imagined in a science fiction novel can be compared to present day technologies. Students can discuss what ideas, beliefs, or knowledge may have inspired the differences or similarities between the technologies.

12. Studying initiations. Students could study of examples of initiations in contemporary society, literature, and film. They could identify the larger purpose for the initiation as well as norms constituting success in achieving the initiation. For example, leaving home to travel or to attend college represents a form of initiation into new, different world (see Emra, Coming of Age, 2001, for stories related to “leaving home.”)

13. Studying heroes and anti-heroes. Students could study the topic of heroes and anti-heroes, examining characteristics of what contributes to being a hero in different historical periods and cultures, as well as what prevents contemporary characters from achieving heroic stature. They could also examine why the system often works against the hero’s attempts to change the system.

14. Issues of subjectivity and objectivity in essays. Read some essays associated with “New Journalism” by writers such as Thomas Wolfe, Hunter Thompson, or Joan Didion. Describe the ways in which the writers’ subjective perspectives shape their analysis of their subject or topic. Discuss the issue of objectivity in journalism—the extent to which writers can achieve an “objective” perspective on their subject or topic.

15. Create essay anthologies. Create some essay anthologies using short essays about similar topics, themes, issues, or phenomena. Compare and contrast the authors’ perspectives and attitudes related to the same topic, theme, issue, or phenomenon. Write a preface for the anthology defining these differences and similarities in writers’ treatment of these

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topics, themes, issues, or phenomena.

16. Creating parodies of genre texts. Collect some examples of parodies or satires of genre texts, for example, parodies of romantic poems, song lyrics, self-help essays, etc. Then, discuss how the parody or satire is used to ridicule the use of genre conventions through mimicry of language or exaggeration of genre features. For example, Mary Shelley’s (1977) novel, Frankenstein, mimics the use of “science talk” set against talk of political power, romance, and religion.

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