This all happened a long time ago, in your grandmother’s time, or in her grandfather’s. A long time ago. Back then, we all lived on the edge of the great forest. Hansel and Gretel, Neil Gaiman For the first time in two years, I feel like I am finally back to my authentic self as… Read More …the edge of the great forest
I’m about to do a dangerous thing: post a document long before it’s “ready.” It is not even close, and I think–that’s where it should be. A finished document would mean there is no room for growth or adaptation; it’s a sketch. Flipping my thinking around about the silo type of units, students would be… Read More Saving Summer: Rethinking Themes, Essays, and Media
Relevancy: how many students passively sit in class, waiting to be entertained? Engagement is key, but as the wise man said, “I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause /you’ll play against you.” In other words: sometimes you’re going to have to enjoy your own company and think/create… Read More Saving Summer: Why do I need this?
It is a balmy 71 degrees Fahrenheit, 22 Celcius, and there is nothing but blue skies and Palamino ponies as far as the eye can see. Admittedly, a bit difficult to get my head back to a dreary, dark December, and knocks on chamber doors, but if I don’t do this now, I might lose the… Read More Saving Summer: The Raven and Sunshine
Last year one of my students had one of those lightbulb moments, that eureka shake up, awesome anagnorisis, where she completely understood what I meant by the concept of the difference between topic and theme. This is a biggie. It’s important because it means I can do it. Because teaching theme…teaching it well that is..isn’t easy. So… Read More Thematic Thursday
As a follow-up to “How To Teach A Novel,” a treatise on theme. I contend that all the close reading strategies in the world only serve to engage us in the bigger conversation, the “grand conversation’ as my master’s mentor instructed us. (I thank you every day, Dr. Schulhauser.) One word: Patterns. Patterns in terms… Read More Stitching themes.
Cueva de Las Manos This is a exploration of early human connections and storytelling. Signing, Singing, Speaking: How Language Evolved Music and the Neanderthal’s Communication The Discovery of Fire: Two Million Years of Campfire Stories How Conversations Around Campfire Might Have Shaped Human Cognition And Culture Campfire Tales Serve as Human Social Media Campfire Stories… Read More Media Festival: Story Unit
Note: Working on curating a variety of media and text(s) for thematic units. Bear with me, this is the best place, this blog, where I can archive/collect these materials. I am crafting and revising a ‘fear’ unit–why do we fear, what is fear’s purpose, and how do we overcome it are the essential questions. Mean… Read More Media Festival: Fear Unit
Mrs. Kelly Love 
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