We've had a great start to this class. This is one of my favorite classes to teach; I love British literature, and I love discussing it with students.
After introductions, I had the students take some time to write about their favorite books, including their ideas about what made those books such quality. We made a good list of those qualities that we'll be looking at as we read these classics of British literature.
Our first book is the ancient Beowulf, an Old English poem set in Scandinavia. One of the key parts of this class is our group discussions about the literature that we're reading. My favorite aspect of these discussions is that students will bring discussion questions to class. Rather than answer questions from a study guide that I provide, they are to read the material and come up with their own questions that they feel would be good to "mull over" in a discussion. While we will talk about the specific details of the plot and characters, these questions should aimed at more critical thinking and analysis topics. In other words, "how" and "why" questions.
For those new to my classes, I send out weekly Class Notes to let parents know what we did in class and to remind students about the assignments, along with any attachments for that week. I also put the Class Notes and the content for any handouts on a blog for this class. Finally, I have a Dropbox folder that also has copies of the handouts.
This week's links:
Class Notes
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Read "History of English LIterature" (parts I & II)
-- Read p. 1 - 30 of Beowulf
-- Write 2 discussion questions
Have a great week!
Mrs. Prichard
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