Students displayed their hidden dramatic talent today with performances of "The Raven". Their focus was on creating mood by use of voice, body and gestures, and small musical instruments for effect. Tomorrow they will read another of Poe's eerie works, "The Tell-Tale Heart". They will identify characters, setting details, conflict, and mood, including the details that Poe uses to create the mood. Students will next work in pairs to imagine a movie version of this story, including setting/props, sound effects, lighting, and costumes. They will then view a film version, and next month will view both of Poe's works performed on stage when we venture to Symphony Hall.
To culminate our work with "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart", students will engage in a writing activity about the ways in which Poe creates mood. They will consider both setting details as well as Poe's language, such as word choices, sentence structure, literary elements, and punctuation. This will be a scaffolded writing activity in which students will write one paragraph, then add another, then add an introduction and finally a conclusion. They will move through the process of turning the prompt into a topic sentence, paraphrasing text evidence, and ending with a concluding sentence. As well, they will engage the writing process of organizing ideas, drafting, editing, and revising. Hence, in the end, they will produce a four-paragraph essay about the development of mood in Poe's work.
Homework: as needed, depending on what is accomplished in class:
Monday: finish noun packet if needed
Tuesday: finish class work if needed: Tell-Tale Heart organizer AND highlighting text for words/phrases that show MOOD
Thursday: finish paragraph organizer
Friday: finish paragraph draft (due Monday; no need to print yet)
"The Tell-Tale Heart" story
Reading organizer for "Tell-Tale Heart"
Movie design organizer for "Tell-Tale Heart"
Writing Activity Instructions/Checklist
