Characters Going Crazy Everywhere! (Students Write the Darndest Things Link-up)

One aspect of being a teacher is having to change your plans on a minute's notice. This is either due to students not doing as well as you want (or much, much better), weather causing delays, or curriculum adjustments.

That is what is happening to me. I have to adjust my pacing and my scope and sequence for my 7th graders in both their Language Arts class and Literature class. It is very, super stressful and I feel under-prepared to do so, especially because this includes today and the rest of the week!

But, enough about that. 

It's time for another link-up of:

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<a href="http://www.morrellfairytale.com/search/label/student%20writings" title="Students Write the Darndest Things"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHe-kTIcPR8Rs8PHpCHydZJfw6II7-s0CkEmXi_xS09SsgLdeVA6FdNYv3GqvgsXVe37O0DAQ8cJnd9N2IrdIGM1DvdzYrQRX6oiFy0nc9EoE1kzGaU-65chYS8BiQ8XK6r_h2E1Qca4y/s1600/kids+say+the+darndest+things.jpg" alt="Students Write the Darndest Things" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

(7th grade) Question on the final test for The Pearl by John Steinbeck: What is the moral of The Pearl? How does that make it a parable?

 "Greed takes you nowhere because if you have greed, you want more than you have. Alma (book of Mormon) was greedy and it took him nowhere, but to listen to Abinadi"

Reference here: Mosiah chapter 17 in the Book of Mormon

(7th grade) Describing the character and personality of Kino, in The Pearl.
"Kino is just like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. He went insane"
(points for comparison to Lord of the Rings, but...sadly, it was incorrect as the character didn't go insane...)

(8th grade) Describing the Macbeth feast scene in which he sees Banquo's ghost:

"The lords act like: what's going on?"

"Lady Macbeth says it's ok everyone, he's been seeing things forever. Macbeth flipped out."

"Macbeth is basically hyperventilating and freaking out."

This student loves to add these half-smilies to all her papers!

You can tell what's on this student's mind.

 This picture is about two weeks old. My 8th graders were able to gloss this much info on characterization, symbols, and themes in Macbeth after only reading 1 out of 5 acts! Yaay them!

 My 7th graders learned about the Sea of Cortez pearls as they read The Pearl. They learned how it was a symbol, so they wrote about how it evolved and changed what it represented throughout the book, and drew the pearl with something it reflected into the hearts and minds of the villagers.

My students are pretty much awesome and have wonderful brains! I love teaching them, even if I have absolutely no free time to myself and cry alot due to stress... =)

What are your students saying, writing, or drawing? Link up here!

Students Write the Darndest Things Link up!

Junior high students have some wonderful ideas, albeit sometimes not transmitted well into the written word. This makes it really funny to read their writings and is probably my favorite part of grading (aka the only part that makes it bearable!)

Like, there was this one time I had them write on responsibilities and rights of citizens of the U.S.
Or the time they wrote time travel diaries about events in the Old West.
As well as other funny, random writings.

Well, now that school has been going for a month and I finally feel like my head is above the water, I started searching for these gold gems again. And I've started to find them. But, I know that numerous of you are teachers as well and find a wonderful trove of hilarity and deepness. So, that is why I am introduced this new linkup:

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<a href="http://www.morrellfairytale.com/search/label/student%20writings" title="Students Write the Darndest Things"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHe-kTIcPR8Rs8PHpCHydZJfw6II7-s0CkEmXi_xS09SsgLdeVA6FdNYv3GqvgsXVe37O0DAQ8cJnd9N2IrdIGM1DvdzYrQRX6oiFy0nc9EoE1kzGaU-65chYS8BiQ8XK6r_h2E1Qca4y/s1600/kids+say+the+darndest+things.jpg" alt="Students Write the Darndest Things" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

The rules:
Mention your name and your blog. What subject and age/grade you teach. What assignment these "quotes" are from.
Write down funny, silly, "no-duh", wonderful, inspiring, deep things your students say. Don't use any student names. It doesn't have to be long at all. There can be any number of quotes!

Link up is every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. If you are interested in co-hosting, let me know!

Here are some of my students' writings!

First of all, one day last week, we practiced writing paragraphs that compared and contrasted. Our prompt was given to us by my class of six 9th graders. We were to compare and contrast Plankton and Mr. Krabs (from Spongebob Squarepants). These paragraphs were hilarious, but they got the idea!

My 7th graders are reading The Pearl by John Steinbeck. Kino is part of an indigenous tribe in Baja California. This tribe has a special musical culture. Everything is described as a song (The Song of Family=his baby cooing and his wife making breakfast. The Song of Evil=scorpion about to poison his baby.) So, we talked about how music influences us.  Here are some examples:

~Most music can affect people in more ways than one, and they can symbolize more than one thing. Like my Song of Evil would be things that can hurt me, like homework.
~ I listen to dub-step. It tells me stories in the rhythm and melody. It could either be a crazy party or a morning sunrise.
~ Music is important to me because when I'm sad or angry in playing videogames and I need a little music to turn on to inspire me to kill more zombies in Black Ops or something. (one of my female students wrote this! shocked me and made me laugh and do a fist-pump that I'm not the only female gamer)
~ Courtney inspires us to go camping and go to school.

Dub-step as a morning sunrise? That's a bit of a stretch for my imagination...but hey, who knows, it may be that inspiring to my student!
I also asked them what they would do if they had the Pearl:

~ If I had the pearl I would tie one end of a string to the pearl and the other to my hand then I would thrown the pearl at people and it would come back to me.
~ If I had the pearl, I would pay for my mission then college then tithing and then I'd rub it in my brothers' faces.

Some of them have high aspirations, huh?

The Pearl

First of all, I am in the middle of a contest this week. I also write articles for femiology.com, a website written by women for women all about woman-ly stuff, like housekeeping, cooking, health, fashion, makeup, fitness, etc. This week, we are doing a contest--the article that gets the most views in a day wins some vouchers for Sizzler. We love Sizzler. I will be posting often this week and sharing the link with y'all, so please help me win!

Today's article is on my recipe for Hawaiian Haystack Casserole! Check it out!

This is the very short tale (90 pages easy reading) of an indigenous man named Kino and his wife, Juana, and baby in Latin America. They are poor, but love each other and their family dearly. But, one day, their baby, Coyotito gets stung by a scorpion. The poison has affected him. Juana quickly sucks out most of the poison, but they head to the small town to ask help of the white doctor. He refuses to see them because they can't pay him properly--they only have pitiful, small, worthless pearls. So, Kino goes Pearl diving and finds a large, perfectly spherical, cloudy pearl, which he calls, "The Pearl of the World." The whole town (white and indigenous) find out and all vie for it. Numerous attempts are made to steal it, cheat it from Kino, and even an attempt on his life. During one of these, Kino accidentally kills a man, so he, Juana, and Coyotito leave the town. They are followed. As Kino tries to protect his family, Coyotito is shot and dies. Kino and Juana return to the town, and throw the pearl back into the sea.

What I really like about this book is the motif of songs. In Kino's view of life, everything has a song. There is the most important song: the Song of Family. Then, there is the enemy of that song: The Song of Evil. In the beginning, it was the scorpion that had that song. The Pearl at the beginning had a song of hope, but as the story progresses, it becomes the Song of Evil. The whole time, the Song of Family and the Song of Evil are competing.

A theme I really like is the importance of family. You could tell according to Kino's attention to the Song of Family how much he cared about and loved his family. He would do (and did do) anything and everything for them.

Another I like is the competition between, attempt at merging the ancient indigenous way of life and the modern Christian life. Juana knows of spirits and evil and wards them off. But, Kino and her want to get married in the Christian church. They are poor and live in a hut, but Kino wants a gun and wants Coyotito to be able to go to school to learn to read and write.

Steinbeck really allows us to know both Kino and Juana very well--we are able to see their thought process, to be able to feel their emotions, know them on a deeper level, all in 90 pages. He writes simplistically, reflecting the simplicity of their indigenous way of life, but so in a sophisticated way!

I definitely would recommend this novel if you have an extra 2-3 hours. I give it a 4.5 out of 5.