Romeo and Juliet

I think that next time I do Romeo and Juliet with the Grade 10s, I will show parts of the Leonardo DiCaprio/Baz Lurhmann version throughout instead of all at the end.  The way the scenes are framed and the action of the play is so dynamic that even my most hard core Anti-Shakespearians are enthralled. 

I might also include a contrasts between other more traditional versions of Romeo and Juliet like the Zeffirelli version.  Although, what would be best is to see it done live somewhere like Bard on the Beach or Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, although that kind of field trip is hard to line up. 

Sometimes it's hard to know that those types of resources exist but I can't access them because we live too far north (or west in the case of Saskatoon), but it is nice to know they exist at all. 

The Writing Life

I've been having my 8/9 English Class do some essay writing and I found some useful links to help them add detail and to understand what an anecdote is and how to write anecdotes. 

7 tips for adding detail is a really useful list of beginning ways to add detail when students tell you they are finished.

Adding Anecdotes is helpful even though it's mostly about writing college application essays. 

I used John Grogan's original Philadelphia Inquirer column "Saying Goodbye to a Faithful Pal" as an example of a good short narrative essay full of the sensory detail.  It's been useful.

Last week we worked on process/sequence essays. I had them start writing before I gave too much instruction on what a process essay was (just the basic outline) and then on the second day we looked at "How to Catch River Crabs" and used the questions attached to that essay (after the vocab question) to analyze their own first drafts.  We analyzed both "How to Catch River Crabs" and "How to Build a Sandcastle" so that they understood what was good in those two essays and what could be improved in order to help them edit and revise their own process essays.

So far this essay writing unit is going well.  Next week we are finishing it off with a short persuasive essay.  I'm looking for good examples.