7th grade Homeschooling:The Pit and the Pendulum (Week 14)

Just when we were getting back into our groove post  Christmas/New years, next week is our Chinese New Year holiday, and a much longer break. So she will finish her Mandarin book, continue on her online algerbra course and Science, and review Spanish and History. Finally, she'll read another Poe short story.

Math: Algebraic Expressions Lessons 4 -7, Test

Science: Chapter 8, Lesson 3: Middle and Recent Earth History

(pdf pg.109, Quizlet, Extra Reading: Science Daily, Khan PPT)

History Review: A Young Person’s History Chapter 5, “Revolution”

(handout)

Spanish Review:  COLORES, ¿CÓMO ESTÁS? , COSAS DEL COLEGIO,

Numeros 1-12 , LAS FRUTAS  To Be/To Have, Numeros 13-20, Food,

Colores, Las Frutas,

 

Reading: The Pit and the Pendulum (Poe) Genre: Dark Romanticism, Gothic Horror

Pre  Reading: The Spanish Inquisition, Vocabulary, study guide

“The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story of horror that uses

detailed sensory imagery in order to instill fear and horror in the reader. The story

delves into the very basic human fear of torture, and because of the time period in

which it takes place (the Spanish Inquisition), it is also a fear of torture due to

religious intolerance.

Poe uses the classic characteristics of his usual Gothic genre flair, including a bleak location, an impending threat of violence, a character in physical and psychological torment, and a seemingly otherworldly element in charge of the plot. These elements combined with the characters’ realization of his impending doom by either a razor-sharp pendulum or a cavernous abyss create yet another Poe-ian world of despair, fear, and a yearn for redemption. Poe explores various themes along the way, including fear, intolerance and injustice, and the power of despair.

Review Plot Structure, plot diagram

1. What is the theme of the story?
2. What are 3 literary conflicts? Man vs.____, Man vs.____, and Man vs____
3. Why is the Spanish Inquisition a good time setting for this short story?
4. How does the narrator react to his sentencing?
5. Is the narrator reliable? Why?
6. How does the dungeon setting change over the course of the story?
7. Why do you think the author chose to manipulate the dungeon?
8. What are the symbolic meanings of the following:

•  The cell
• The pit
• rats
• Pendulum (scythe)
• the angelic forms of the Inquisitorial tribune

Winter Week: Debates, Tapping and Catching Up

My 8th grade ESL classes will continue following their books. A class is on schedule to finish Unit 4 before the CNY holiday.

My 9th grade Social Studies classes are a little bit more varied in pace. The faster classes (301) already finished their Mental Health readings on Self- Harm and Bullying, as well as the Group Role Playing Activity. The other classes will catch up for winter week, so we can all begin the next semester on the same page.

For those faster classes, we can try a class debate. The last time I facilitated a proper debate was with my first 9th grade social studies class 3 years ago and many of my materials are no longer available. First, I need to introduce the concept of debate basics, have the class choose a topic and then break up into teams. As a prep exercise, we can break into teams of two, one student the affirmative, the other the negative and see how they can debate in twos. Then the following class, I will follow the Lincoln-Douglas format.

 Several debate topics to choose from:

• Electroshock Treatment (ECT) for kids: Therapy or Abuse?

"The treatment is controversial, and in the early years of the therapy (1930's), patients were not given anesthesia, and high levels of electricity were used.

Today, the therapy is safer, because patients receive anesthesia and electricity doses are much more controlled, according to the Mayo Clinic. Still, the treatment can impair short-term memory and, in rare cases, cause heart problems.

Because of these potential side effects, ECT should never be used as a first-line therapy. But, for people who have tried other treatments and have seen no improvement in their symptoms, the treatment can be very effective: 75 to 85 percent of patients who receive ECT recover from their symptoms, experts say.

ECT is used to treat patients who are severely depressed and at risk for suicide, and in some cases, it is used to treat schizophrenia and severe mania." (See Live Science)

• Marijuana Legalization in Taiwan
• Death Penalty
• 4 Day Work-Week
• Gay Marriage

They will use this mindmap to prep their ideas. Unfortunately, Scribd removed my debate ppt, that made it easy for Chinese speakers to follow the Lincoln Douglas format. Luckily, the internet is full of such resources, so I am looking for one I might use and tweek.



If there is still time, or maybe not enough time for a debate, I will have the class try "Tapping" as an exercise/life skill to calm down anxiety.

RESOURCES:
Teacher's Debate Guide
Everything You Need For First Class Debate

7th Grade Homeschooling Week 13:

She is continuing her Mandarin, geography at her own pace, and will be finishing her writing, math and Mandarin by the Lunar New Year. As for Math, we are experimenting with an English online class and this week it's trying their Pre-Algebra Review. If she likes the format we will give the first Algebra Unit a try and pay for the class after CNY.

I.Science:Focus on Life Science Chapter 8 lesson 2, Early Earth’s History (Quizlet)

Videos: Cyanobacteria, Stromatolites (start at 2:50)

II. History: A Young Person’s History Chapters 1-5 Review and Catching Up

III. Spanish: Meat in Spanish, Dairy in Spanish. Bakery in Spanish (Quizlet)
Simple Future Tense: "Voy a comer" (I am going to eat...) and Verb IR (to go)

Spanish Review Games: COLORES, ¿CÓMO ESTÁS? , COSAS DEL COLEGIO, Numeros 1-12 , LAS FRUTAS

IV. Reading: “The Gold Bug” by Edgar Allan Poe

Vocabulary: Write each in a sentence

Post-Reading Review/test (Quizlet)

V. Math:Pre-Algebra Review + Khan Academy  

7th Grade Homeschooling: Week 12

This week she is playing catch up as we lost some days over the holiday weekend, having a guest and going out of town ourselves. She is finishing up her math, Mandarin at the same time as her peers in the local public school and will be needing news books after the CNY. This week's science is light, but Spanish has some more meat than usual. She will be also finishing, "A Christmas Carol".

Science: Focus on Life Science Chapter 8 lesson 1, Geologic Time and Mass Extinctions

(Quizlet) Videos: 5 Mass Extinctions,
From the Cambrian Explosion to the Great Dying,

History: A Young Person’s History Chapter 6, “The Women of Early
America” (handout + Quizlet)
Videos: Anne Hutchinson and Anne Bradstreet,

Sojourner Truth, Crash Course #16, #31

Learning Questions:

1. If America was founded on religious freedom, then how to explain the treatment of Anne Hutchinson and Mary Dyer?
2. How are the Abolitionist Movement and Women’s Rights Movement related?
3. Explain how the unequal treatment of black women means women do not have equal rights.

Project: Choose one important woman from Early America and write a report about her.

Spanish: Part 1:  VERBS: Comer/ Desayunar + Story: ¡La Cena! [take notes]

Estar + Verb Gerund form = Present Continuous

Part 2: Meals + Utensils (Quizlet +Video)
Part 3: Fruit + Vegetables (Quizlet + Video)

Reading: A Christmas Carol: The End of  it (Quizlet)

Post book follow-up discussion questions:

1. What do the three ghostly experiences have in common? 
2. Why did Dickens choose this similarity?
3. If there were a fourth ghost, what might it look like? What might it represent?
4. How do the vision scenes demonstrate that Scrooge is actually quite complex?

After you read: Project: Create a collage of the themes in The Christmas Carol.