Photo Lessons: Setting in Mysteries

Hi all you mystery writers!  Today in class we talked about the importance of settings in mysteries.  Here are some facts you might need a reminder of while thinking of starting the draft of your mystery:

• Setting: The time and place of the story.
• Carefully chosen details by the writer enrich everything in the story.
• The setting can help or hurt the investigation
• In Agatha Christie's murder on the Orient Express, all the characters are stuck on a train, and no one can get off or on!
• The setting can even be an accessory to the crime!
• Nevada Barr's mysteries all take place in National Parks where some "spooky" legends and stories surround the beauty and expanse of the land.
• Sometimes the setting drives the story and enables the characters in the story to have specialized characteristics 
• Example: Janet Evanovich's mysteries all take place in New Jersey!  Her bounty hunter/detective can meet lots of strange and eccentric people in Jersey!
• Remember that whatever setting you choose, you may have to think about doing some additional research to finding out what kinds of things one might encounter in the setting or what type of characters one might find.  You might have to see what the local customs entail, as well, which means finding out what people do for employment, jobs, etc.
• With that in mind, it's often easiest for a young writer to start off with a place they have been, seen, or are familiar with.

The following pictures might help you to start thinking about a setting for your mystery...  Choose one of these, or choose your own.  Tell me what you're thinking in the comments section below!  Be ready to start writing on Monday!

The wilderness...

Those geysers add some spookiness to a mysterious setting, don't they?

What could be hiding in those painted hills?

A park or national attraction:

Think of all the people who visit Mount Rushmore or Disneyland every day!

A farm:

A lot of junk can accumulate on a farm... that could cause a lot of "accidents," right?

Nothing but beans and corn for miles around!

A construction site:

A tropical island:

Looks like paradise... or is it?

The old west:

These two both look guilty.

A rodeo or stadium game:

A small town, where everyone knows everyone?  A big city?  A suburb?  You decide!

Post your comments below... let me know where you're thinking of setting your mystery and why in the comments section.  Use complete sentences and be mindful of mechanics.  Have fun!

Photo Lesson Plans

I'm most excited about using this blog for these types of assignments.  This isn't just one "lesson plan."  I've been using Gerda Weissmann Klein's Academy Award Winning documentary short film for several years, which is sent out free of charge to teachers from Teaching Tolerance.  With the video comes a packet of "Primary Documents" which are reproduced pictures, patches, and posters and two books full of reproducible lesson extensions and teaching ideas with no copywright.  Because the primary documents are so small-  I haven't been able to use them in the past.  With between 30 to 40 kids in a class and 5 classes a day, I knew I'd be bound to lose one... or that I'd simply "lose" my class as they waited for the artifacts to make it around to their desks!

I took pictures of the artifacts I most wanted to share and either created, modified or used the lessons that came with the Teaching Tolerance "One Survivor Remembers" unit, and because of the blog, all the students will be able to get a closer glimpse into Gerda Weissmann Klein's life.

The first step in using these posts would be that as a class, we would watch "One Survivor Remembers."  Then, as we progress, I would assign these blog posts to the students for homework, or for work during class in the computer lab.   Right now, I only have 2 pages, one for my honors class and one for my general class.  As the school year gets closer and I find out my teaching assignments and hours, I plan on making a blog page for each hour I teach, which will make it easier for me to keep records of and score who has posted a comment.  I obviously wouldn't assign them all at once, but perhaps a few at a time for extensions that allow the students to make meaning and connections with the material they are learning about the Holocaust.

Some of the blog posts allow for students to complete the assignment by making a comment in the comment section.  Others allow the option of writing and turning in a "private" reflection. The following posts and assignments are the extensions and the primary documents I plan to use after viewing the movie.

One Survivor Remembers: A Note to Students

Students-
In class this week, we read an excerpt of "All But My Life" and watched the heart-breaking and inspiring video "One Survivor Remembers." In the memoir and award-winning video, Gerda Weissmann Klein recounts her harrowing experience as a Jewish girl separated from her family and forced into slave labor in a Nazi work camp.  She also speaks of the loss of her close friends on a death march, and of her ultimate survival and liberation.

There are several "primary documents" that will enrich your understanding of Mrs. Klein's story, and of the Holocaust.  PRIMARY DOCUMENTS are personal items which have been reproduced with Klein's permission and which were selected from her home with her guidance.  Because of their small size, this blog will be a better place for you to view and respond to these documents.  

You will also find maps which may aid in your understanding of Klein's amazing survival of a Death March  and of the enormity of the Nazi death camp operations, and examples of Nazi propaganda.  

Please view each document carefully and respond to the prompts using the comment section.  (You may click on the image to make it larger).  Use only your first name and last initial when commenting.  Use correct punctuation and spelling.  Please proofread before posting.   

*Photo and lesson plan credits: Teaching Tolerance (teachingtolerance.org), One Survivor Remembers, and the Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation

One Survivor Remembers Image #1: Map of Europe

Please view this map of Europe.  The red dots indicate major Nazi camps.  The areas in green indicate land conquered by German forces in 1939.  The items in gold indicate land conquered by German forces in 1941.

Europe 1937-1941
Red dots: Major Nazi Camps
Green areas: Land conquered by German forces, 1939
Gold areas: Land conquered by German forces, 1941
*Map courtesy of Teaching Tolerance, One Survivor Remembers


In the comments section, please write down your reactions to your interpretations of this map.  What kinds of things does it show you that you didn't know or understand before viewing it?

Your response must be in several complete sentences.  Please be mindful of using correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.  Use only your first name and last initial.  Make sure you are responding on your class's page.

One Survivor Remembers Image #2: Nazi Propaganda

This is the cover of a children's book whose title translates to "Trust No Fox in the Green Meadow and No Jew on his Oath).  This book is used by Teaching Tolerance with permission from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Remember, we talked about Antisemitism on day one of our Holocaust unit, and that it is a term which describes the hostility toward Jews as an ethnic or religious group, and is often accompanied by social, economic and political discrimination.

You also studied propaganda in your Holocaust web quests, and know that it is the deliberate spreading of ideas or information, true or untrue, with the purpose of manipulating public opinion to gain support for one's cause or to discourage support for another.

Some other terms of which you may need to be reminded are:
Discrimination: action based on prejudice or biased beliefs that results in unfair treatment of individuals or groups; unjust conditions in areas such as employment, housing and education.

Racism:  A set of beliefs based on perceived "racial" superiority and inferiority

Stereotype: A simplistic, firmly held belief, often negative, about individual characteristics generalized to all people within that group.  (Think back to our talks of stereotypes during our Outsiders unit...)

In the comments section, please answer the following questions:
1.  What messages does this book cover send?
2.  Why do you think it targets children?
3.  This book was published in 1936.  How does this timing coincide with the Holocaust?  Why is that important?

*Photograph, definitions and questions taken from Teaching Tolerance, One Survivor Remembers Teacher's Guide.

One Survivor Remembers Image #3: Nazi Propaganda

Kurt Klein, Gerda's future husband and the American soldier who liberated her from the abandoned warehouse, was sent to the U.S. by his parents as a result of the increasing discrimination of Jews in Europe.
This is a postcard his aunt in Buffalo, NY received in 1936. 

*Image from Gerda Weissmann Klein's personal collection courtesy of Teaching Tolerance and the Kurt and Gerda Klein foundation.


Think about what you learned on your webquest about Germany in the 1920's and 30's, and why some of its people were receptive to a leader like Adolf Hitler.  Who is in the image?  What are they doing?  What is it an image of?  What is it trying to show?  Post your comments below.  Use complete sentences and proper mechanics.   

In the comments section, please write about this image and how it is a form of propaganda.  You may want to answer a few or all of the questions above in your answer.

One Survivor Remembers Images #4, #5 and #6: Twenty Pounds

20 pounds...

A Writing Assignment

A photo, taken circa 1937, of Gerda's father, Julius Weissmann, which Gerda kept in her ski boot during her years in Nazi slave-labor camps.  Remember, Julius helped save Gerda's life by insisting that she wear her ski boots when the Nazis took her away.  She had boots on the forced death march while others were barefoot or wearing sandals in the snow.  

A photo, taken circa 1939, of Gerda's mother, Helene Weissmann, which Gerda kept in her  ski boot during her years in Nazi slave-labor camps.

A photo, taken circa 1937, of Gerda's brother, Artur Weissmann, which Gerda kept in her boot with the other photos.  Artur was the first in Gerda's immediate family to be taken away by the Nazis.  Sixty-seven of Gerda's relatives, including her mother, father, and brother, died in the Holocaust.  Only Gerda and her Uncle Leo, who had moved to Turkey, survived.  

In the film, One Survivor Remembers, Gerda Weissmann recalls being told her family had to leave their home with no more than 20 pounds of belongings, a plight shared by many Jews.

Imagine you are forced to leave your home.  You are allowed only 20 pounds of your most precious possessions.  What would you take?  What would you be forced to leave behind?  How would this make you feel?  On what would you base your choices?  Would monetary value (how much something cost) mean less or more than emotional/personal value?  Why? 

If you'd like, you may write your short response in the comment section.  If this assignment is too personal for you to publish on the blog, feel free to word process your "20 pounds" response and either attach it in an email, or print it and hand it in tomorrow morning. 

*Lesson plan courtesy of Teaching Tolerance, One Survivor Remembers teacher's guide, pg 21.

One Survivor Remembers Images #7 and #8: Death Marches

Gerda Weissmann was held in several slave-labor camps, including this one, where she worked the looms in a factory setting.  She and the others lived in the building on the left; newly arriving prisoners were housed in the building on the right.  She and the other girls and young women were transferred to two other camps after this one before beginning the death march.  * Courtesy of Teaching Tolerance

The map below shows the routes of the death marches and evacuations carried out by the Nazis on prisoners in ghettos, concentration and extermination camps.  

The key in the top right-hand corner shows the measurement of 50 miles.  Gerda survived a 350-mile death march in the bitter cold of winter.

Using the internet, find somewhere approximately 350 miles away from our school.  How does this help you further understand the importance of Gerda Weissmann Klein's story of survival?    Respond to what you have found in the comments section.  Make sure you note the destination 350 miles away from HOMS.

*Map courtesy of Teaching Tolerance.  Lesson idea based on One Survivor Remembers Teacher's Guide, page 24.

One Survivor Remembers Images #9, #10: Faith in Humanity

Gerda Weissmann, age 16, in a Nazi identification photograph.  When she was liberated, Gerda weighed only 68 pounds, had not bathed in three years, and her hair had turned white.

Kurt Klein, an American soldier who came upon the abandoned women in Volary, gave this photo to Gerda.  The two were married in 1946, and had three children and eight grandchildren.

*Photos and information courtesy of Teaching Tolerance, One Survivor Remembers


"Why?  Why did we walk like meek sheep to the slaughterhouse?  Why did we not fight back?  What had we to lose?  Nothing but our lives.  Why did we not run away and hide?  We might have had a chance to survive.  Why did we walk deliberately and obediently into their clutches?  I know why.  Because we had faith in humanity.  Because we did not really think that human beings were capable of committing such crimes."  -- From All But My Life, by Gerda Weissmann Klein


In class today, we talked about what "faith in humanity" means. We talked about those in Gerda's life, who, in the midst of the Nazi persecution, showed compassion.  (Frau Kugler, Merin, and of course, Kurt Klein).

In the comments section, please write one example of something that gives you "faith in humanity" today.  (It might be something you see here at school, in the media, in the community, etc.)  Write about one step YOU can take to illustrate or encourage "faith in humanity."  How can you put "faith in humanity" into action and make this school, town, and world a better place?  Use complete sentences and be mindful of writing rules.  

*Lesson plan courtesy of Teaching Tolerance One Survivor Remembers Teacher's Guide, pages 42-43.

Edublogger... uffda!

I must say, I surely spent enough hours poring over the blogs on edublogger.  Now if only I could make mine  even half as exceptional as some of those!  I spent the most time looking at the middle/high school blogs, and I'll now highlight the five I liked best and hash out some pros and cons of each.

"Blog, blog blog blog, blog some more"
msvrburton.edublogs.org
Thumbs up: Ms. B loves technology.  That's evident.  The first assignment I saw posted was to have her students go to voki.com and create a voki avatar who would speak a sentence using one of the vocabulary words assigned.  This is so intriguing to me, because I could see myself using this exact assignment!  The vocabulary program we use also has an online component, as hers seems to, so posting the lessons on my blog seems like a natural use!  Ms. B is able to utilize a drop box of sorts to check her students' work, which would seem like a necessity as I feel my inbox would be inundated with the assignments of all 165 of my students at any time.  How does she do it?  


Thumbs down: The page seemed a little bit hard to navigate, and I'm sure she has to teach her students how to use the blog, although there are a few tutorials there to help them along.  I was actually never quite sure where I was on the blog...

"A Bump on a Blog"
simsbumponablog.blogspot.com
Thumbs up: I found this to be the easiest of all the blogs to navigate, but I think that's probably because it is from blogspot... which is obviously with what I'm familiar.  This blog also opened my eyes to the fact that not everything I post on my blog has to be educational... it can be fun, too.  This teacher loves elephants, and posted cute videos of baby elephants from the Houston zoo every once in a while just to give his students something to enjoy!  I can see myself doing that!  There are loads of videos here on lots of language arts topics- I even emailed myself one of the videos so I can use it with my students next year.  (Lots of things from teacher tube.com.  Cool!)  How did he get the cute background and side widgets?  I didn't find anything of the sort on blogger...!  Jealous.  

Thumbs down:  It would have been interesting if the teacher would have used the comments section for his students to respond to certain videos or lessons. He didn't.  

"Mrs. Love's Blog-0-Rama"
blog0rama.edublogs.org
Thumbs up:  I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mrs. Love's musings about the teaching profession, although this blog is not for posting assignments or even interacting with her students... although some of the comments on posts were from students.  It seems her audience is adults- other teachers.  Her commentary on teaching is awesome and insightful.  She notes in one post that she hadn't updated the blog for a while because she was worried about the teaching blog harming her career, as it has to other teachers who have made the news.  There is a video of Neil Gaiman on her sidebar which I think is a cool idea.  She uses "tags" in her posts, too, which I'm going to try.  One thing I LOVED on the blog was that Mrs. Love put her Shelfari book shelf as a widget.  I just started my Shelfari, and I have a GoodReads account, which I need to look into putting somehow on my blog. 


Thumbs down:  I can't see myself writing for an audience other than my students, and I really have no interest in doing that.  The pages on her blog, which seemed to be for the students, were titled "Drama0Rama," "Media0Rama," "Read0Rama," etc.  On those pages there were simply links, which were not annotated, which I can imagine makes it time consuming to go through to find the link appropriate or useful for the students.  These pages had no visual interest, and to be honest, the blog didn't have a lot of interesting things to look at or click on.

"Rumford Writers"
rumfordwriters.edublogs.org
Thumbs Up: This blog is interesting because the teacher, who is teaching in Qatar (!), posts the writing assignments on her blog, and her students write on their own blogs.  On some of her posts, she linked/tagged particular students' blogs to point out things they'd done that she liked or to encourage her students to read one another's work.  She had them doing really interesting assignments, too.  I love the idea that the students are writing for an audience- a global audience!  Some exemplar student work was posted on her blog, as well.      


Thumbs down: How does she maintain all her students' blogs?  Does she have them linked somehow to her own blog?  I couldn't find that information.  I was left with some questions and couldn't find the answers on the blog itself...

"Write Out Loud"
writeoutloud.edublogs.org
Thumbs up: I love the "tags" down the left-hand side which brought me to particular students' writings.  The posts by the teacher were mostly assignments.  She was sometimes "front-loading" them with information before starting a book or a poem, asking them to do some background research on the poet by bringing them to other sites.  Some of the posts were formative assessments, as the teacher posted a writing assignment and the students would then post their answers in the "comment" section.  The teacher would then thread her responses to their writings.  The instructor also has a "mission statement" of sorts about the blog, which I really liked.  It wasn't about her... it was about her class!  It said "We are a group of students... We like... We care about ..."  I love that!  This teacher also had some videos which were "private" which I'm assuming she gave only her students permission to view, which can be important in student confidentiality issues.
Thumbs down: I didn't like how the "tags" were formatted, as they were jumbled together in no particular order and were all different sizes.  I could see that it might be hard to find certain assignments as a student.  I would much prefer them to be alphabetized or in monthly order or something.  It also appeared that the blog had not been updated in some areas, which made some assignments and information a bit confusing.

I enjoyed this assignment, and can't wait to go back and visit some more of these sites to get more teaching and blogging ideas!  
  

"My Personal Interests" or "How I Waste More Time Than I Care to Admit"

Spending time doing things I enjoy, especially during the school year, is a rare occurrence.  With the birth of my second daughter in January of this year, and running my eight-year-old daughter to swim team, dance, gymnastics, school, and playdates, I actually feel guilty spending time doing things other than doting on them, if it's not correcting papers.  I do allow myself a few guilty pleasures, however, and in the summer, I do find time to indulge a bit in things other than 8th graders and changing diapers!

One of the things I have just recently discovered is digital scrapbooking.  When I had my first daughter, Sadie, eight years ago, I spent hundreds of dollars on paper, embellishments, and developing... and didn't ever finish her first baby book.  My friend and coworker, Emily, invited me to a digital scrapbooking tutorial at her home one evening, and I was hooked.  That weekend, Emily launched her own site, and I do check it frequently, to see her photo shoots, as well as get inspiration for my own digital layouts.  I also use her "links" page to view other digital scrapbooking sites and to purchase materials or classes.  Since using Photoshop was completely new to me, I have also viewed her tutorials several times to remind myself about certain concepts in using PSE.  With that as my springboard, I have also taken some online classes at Jessica Sprague's website to help grow my love of digital scrapbooking.  Of course, I need pictures to digitally lay out, so I have my best friend, Kelley Reiter, a teacher and photographer, to take gorgeous pictures of my family and my girls to do that work for me!    

I also enjoy going to movies and watching TV.  In fact, I think my parents were surprised when I told them I was going into teaching rather than moving to Hollywood to pursue my dream of becoming a famous actress.  A site that I can waste hours on is IMDB.  I love that I can see an actor who may look vaguely familiar to me on an episode of whatever it is I'm watching, and at my fingertips, I can find out who he or she is and how I recognize him or her.  It's addictive!

Lastly, I enjoy cooking for my family, and this blog, Six Sisters' Stuff, is one of my favorite places to find easy, delicious recipes.  The crockpot recipes here are some of my favorites, and there are also great ideas for parties and crafts that I've used.  I actually found this blog on Pinterest, and have followed it religiously since then.  

Of course, I check my Facebook page multiple times a day, too!  

My Life... A Portfolio

The biggest and most rewarding project my 8th grade students complete is their "My Life" writing portfolios. This is a project I created myself based on an assignment my husband completed when he was in junior high.  Fifteen years after 9th grade, he still has his writing assignments and loves to look back at it.  I know my kids will, too, and receive so many compliments and letters/emails of thanks from parents and students who have proudly completed the project.

The project has definitely evolved over the last six years, as I've collaborated with my teaching partner, taken advice from parents and students, and tweaked the assignments and procedures a bit.  There are 30 assignments total in the portfolio, and the students begin working on them almost immediately as they enter my classroom.  Each writing assignment fulfills a state standard in writing, or fits in with the 8th grade curriculum.  Some are poems, some are diaries, some are letters, some are essays, some are speeches, and some are pictures or artifacts from their time at Hidden Oaks Middle School.  The assignments all revolve around each student's life in middle school, his or her memories of the past, and hopes, dreams, and plans for the future.  Most students "beautify" their portfolios by adding some decorative elements, and some actually use scrapbooks to display their work! 

    
The project is divided up into 6 "checkpoints" throughout the year, at which point each student must have five assignments completed to be on track for the final "turn-in date."  This year, the My Life portfolios were due May 2nd, and the students were lined up at my door waiting to drop them off.  Then the anticipation begins as they wait for me to assess them!  

Olivia used duct tape to make her portfolio stand out!

Someone in this picture stayed up very late putting the finishing touches on his portfolio!

Pierce and Marshall were waiting at the door to turn in their portfolios.
 Can you feel their excitement?

  
















I then spend the month of May and a few weeks in June reading 165 portfolios (give or take a few) in order to hand them back on the last day of school.  It is hard work, for both the students and me, but it is well worth the hours we both spend outside of school working on it, as it is something they will enjoy for years.

  

How's It Been Goin'?

So far, I've enjoyed putting this blog together.  This assignment of adding gadgets took me a while.  I literally didn't know such a thing existed, so I spent a long time browsing through the myriad of options.  I actually don't necessarily like the way some of them look, and I think I'll probably remove a few eventually.  I like a more clean and precise look, and I would rather not confuse my students with too much "stuff."  The widget I'm really excited to use, however, is the "poll" at the bottom of the page.  I can see myself changing the questions frequently... and using a variety of questions from content-based to silly stuff!  I also added the "about this blog" widget, which I like as a little background information to the blog.

After I added the gadgets, I went back and changed my template and fonts again.  I swear, I can spend hours (I actually did) changing the fonts and trying out new ones!  I do it on my PowerPoints when I'm creating lessons, and now I'm doing it here, too!  (My daughter even got in on helping me choose the fonts tonight!)

I do like the way it looks, now, and I'm anxious to try it out with my students next year!

So Many Ways To Show You're Smart...

I always end the year with my favorite short story, Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes.  Because this fictional story deals with increasing the intelligence of an adult, Charly Gordon, who has a mental disability, I do a lot of "front-loading" with my students about their ideas and perceptions of intelligence.  We learn about IQ, standardized testing, personality testing, and what they think "normal" exactly is.  Because Charly is given several tests before, during, and after his operation, I give my students some of the tests that Charly is administered just for fun, and to get them involved in the story.

I found a fake Rorschach test ("Raw-shock"as Charly calls it), and give it to the students in one period.  There are 11 ink blots of various shapes and sizes and when I project them on the screen, the students all silently write about what they see in the blots.  After I administer the test, they love to talk with one another about what they've seen and then we talk about how a professional might interpret the test results, as well as talking about how Charly struggles with the test and only sees spilled ink.

The last test I give the students is a multiple intelligence test, based on Howard Gardner's theory that we are all smart, just in different ways!  This test is very interesting to the students, and after they have completed the inventory, they create a chart of their intelligences to find out where their intelligences lie.  Around the room, I tape up signs with the 9 intelligences the test identifies (interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, verbal linguistic, spatial, logical/mathematical, existential) and allow the students to go and stand under the sign which identifies their highest intelligence,  They love to see who has the same affinities, and they all tell each other, "You're smart!" as they check out where others are around the room.  And the unit can't end without the YouTube sensation "The Multiple Intelligence Song" to remind the students of the intelligences before the final test.  It's so cheesy, my 8th graders actually love it, and are all singing the chorus by the end.  Everyone is smart, yes you are!  Enjoy!

My First Blog Entry

My name is Megan McDermott.  I've been teaching secondary English for 14 years.  My first six years of teaching took place in rural districts in outstate Minnesota.  I began teaching high school, and quickly learned that middle school was the place I wanted to be.  It was a great place to learn about my craft and get my feet wet.  For the last eight years, I've been teaching 8th grade at a middle school in the Prior Lake-Savage School district, which is a Southern suburb of the Twin Cities Metro Area.  I absolutely love my job, and have had many opportunities to learn and grow as a teacher.  

I've actually used blogging in the past for personal use- to chronicle my daughter's life for friends and family who were far away.  When Facebook became popular and life became busier, my blog use tapered off... actually, it stopped in 2008.  But I am interested in starting to write again, as Facebook certainly doesn't afford me the same space or format in which to write about, well, life! 

I'm very interested in integrating technology into my classes.  Our Minnesota State Standards were updated last year to include many media standards, including teaching students to comment in an online format, and to create a safe and effective online community.  I think blogging is a good start.  As for using it in my class, I'd like to post pictures of things going on in my classroom, like "students of the month", perhaps a homework calendar, and maybe even eventually lessons or extensions of lessons I've taught, including links or Web quests.  I'm excited to see what blogging can offer, and it seems like Blogger has changed since I last checked in several years ago, so it will be nice to have some guidance!

Megan McDermott