May 17

English 10.

                We explored the idea of ‘love’ versus ‘in love’ as well as ‘infatuation’. Pairs discussed what they thought was the difference between the terms and we discussed their understanding. Then they reported out their concepts of the meaning of ‘love’ and ‘in love’. We also talked about ‘infatuation’ and how it could be related to falling in love. Before we moved on the class was asked what challenges may confront lovers from different backgrounds.
                Class was introduced to the film “West Side Story” and that this unit would be studying Romeo and Juliet. After vaguely describing the plot to "West Side Story" students were aware of the similarities between the two stories. Finally, we watched the first 40 minutes of "West Side Story".

Humanities 8.

                Class started off with 20 minutes of students` choice for silent activity (reading or writing).
                This was a class dedicated to discussion. As a class, we talked about the background knowledge the students have regarding the holocaust. It covered how the Nazis persecuted many different groups including the Jews, the Romani, homosexuals, the mentally and physically 'disabled', as well as those who opposed the regime. We also recorded questions students were curious to learn about: How did Hitler die? Why did Hitler hate the Jews? Did Hitler belong to a religion? What might the Nazis have done differently to win the war?
                We plotted Germany, Poland, Denmark, Switzerland, as well as the two cities of Berlin and Krakow on a map (each a place referred to in the story of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) to understand where the story takes place.
                Students recounted books, films, TV shows, and video games which they have read or seen or played dealing with World War II and what they were about. Class also talked about how a person could treat another so awful and then go home and treat their family so lovingly.