Hi there!

Since yesterday was such a short day, we didn’t have time to do much other than review for vocabulary.

For Period 1:

We read some Junot Diaz and talked about the conflicts in Dominican and Dominican-American and American culture – I’m really enjoying talking about this with y’all. We also looked at Rue’s death scene in HG.

For Periods 3, 4, 6, and 7:

But today, in my opinion, was much more exciting! First we discussed our Google Trends word homework, and you guys shared your most interesting finds and analysis. I think my favorite discovery of the day was the usage of the word “war,” (I don’t remember who suggested that, but you are a smart cookie!) which we learned is actually used more frequently to refer to videogames than to actual wars. Another cool one was “fireworks,” which at first seemed perplexing – there was a big spike every July, which makes sense because of the Fourth of July, but then there’s another spike in November (not, as someone hypothesized, in January to celebrate the new year). Then we figured out it was because of Guy Fawkes Day in Great Britain (the “Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the Gunpowder treason and plot…” story that is in V for Vendetta). Good work, you guys! I hope that this was fun and that you learned something, and that you’ll use Google Trends from time to time.

We spent the majority of today discussing gender and The Hunger Games, though. We had fantastic discussions in every period. I don’t think we actually finished in any of the classes, but we’ll tie things up tomorrow – the paper that we’ve been talking about with the notes in the margins is going to be due as soon as we finish, for a completion/participation grade. Tomorrow, we’ll also compare the romantic relationships in The Hunger Games to those in Twilight, as they relate to gender roles.

I’m looking forward to talking with you tomorrow, my sweet students! You guys are awesome! 🙂