An Update on "Letters about Literature"

LAL Contest Update from LAL Central! As a participant in this year’s Letters About Literature competition, we’re sending you this February update. LAL received 54,000 letters this year from your readers across the country. Of these, our team eliminated 49,000 in the first two rounds of assessment. What happens next? Round 3 – state level judging is now underway. Each state center for the book has its own panel of judges and will select their state winners on or before March 6.

Meanwhile, please visit our website www.lettersaboutliterature.org for

some fun quotes from this year’s letters,
terrific tips from teachers on how they use LAL in the classroom, plus
information on reader response and reflective writing
contact information for your state competition

Malcolm X/MLK, Jr. Reflection Questions

Students, as a whole I am very impressed with your analytical responses to our discussion on "good" leadership. If you are struggling with spelling, don't be ashamed -- but choose to take initiative in editing! One great way to solve this problem is to type your responses in a Word Document, use spell-check, and then copy/paste it to your blog (or mine -- wherever you are posting). Please be anal about grammar and spelling -- articulate writers and speakers change history! :)

On that note, these are the reflection questions on Malcolm X that we didn't quite finish during class on Thursday:
1) What two types of African-American slaves does Malcolm X describe in his speech?

2) What is the TONE (emotion) that he uses to get his ideas across to his audience?

3) What can you infer his feelings are about solving problems "peacefully"? Consider the way that he says this word, and the context of this part of his speech.

4) What does Malcolm X mean when he talks about the dentist? Do you feel that this is a good analogy? Why or why not?

Also to consider about MLK, Jr.:

1) What are some specific differences in style that you noticed between MLK, Jr. and Malcolm X?

2) What was one phrase/image that really caught your interest as you read/listened to his speech? Why was this striking to you?

3) Which of these two individuals do you consider to be a better leader? Why? (Remember, "better" is a word that compares levels of "good." Please use your thoughts on "good leadership" to influence your answer to this question.)

Feel free to post to any/all of these questions. You are required to answer the first four (4) in your journal -- but it would behoove you to answer all seven (7) in your journal. Not only will this help you to remember MLK, Jr. better for the purpose of discussions, but it will also positively influence your quiz/test scores.

"Good" Leadership

Oh my goodness -- it's been far too long since we've used this blog! :) Great discussion about "good" leadership in class today. Please post your responses below -- and remember to make sure they are in your journals as "Entry #2" as well. You may write about whatever really struck you or interested you -- and feel free to respond to your class-mates ideas as well. These are the requirements: your response must be a solid paragraph -- 7-10 sentences, a topic sentence, a concluding sentence, 2-3 good points with evidence to back them up. Remember the question: what makes a "good" leader? What are the differences between EFFECTIVE leadership and ETHICAL leadership? What are characteristics used to describe each, and who serve as good examples of each of the two categories? Be willing to take risks and be open-minded! I would love to hear more ideas regarding "What is morality?" in "ethical" leadership. Go to it, Thinkers!

Tank Man!

Hello, class!
I attached the Dateline video strip for the Tank man video here. We only watched Section 1: "The Prologue" during class today. Enjoy watching the other sections. Pay special attention to section 6, because that is the video clip where researchers specifically focus on censorship as we discussed in class. Please post your comments and responses here. Focus specifically on the question: Is censorship justifiable? When and why?

How was class today?

Hi, class! I'm here in Spokane . . . thinking of you as I learn how to make our time together EVEN MORE MEANINGFUL! I have so many great ideas that I'm excited to share with you! How did things go today? I wish I was there with you! I'll see you next Wednesday! I'm loving your posts on Yellow Journalism. What are your thoughts on "Thank you, m'am"? Particularly in light of conversations on mariginilized people groups . . . (P.S.: gold star for the first person to define "marginilized." The last gold star was given to Jacob Kowalsky.)

The Justice of Primative Animals

Kaelyn said...

Social injustice is something primative animals don't notice don't care, they live they help each other, if we have the bigger brains why can't we make better desicions?

November 4, 2008 8:44 PM

Hmmm . . . a good question from Kaelyn. Thoughts, anyone?

I'm interested to see what you all come up with for yellow journalism. Seek hard! Do what you can to look up information about the Tank Man from Tienanmen Square as well. Enjoy class tomorrow!

Who cares?

Anna asked a great question on her blog -- why do some people care about issues of social justice, environment, poverty, etc. -- and other people just DON'T?

This is free -- a follow up question for any takers:

What inspires people to "care"? Why do some people care, and some people just . . . don't? What do you think inspires people to build value systems and prioritize certain things over others?

I frustrates me when people say, "I don't care," because not caring has cost so many people their futures . . . their dreams . . . their lives. What are examples of this?