by Jennifer Johnson
Published/Last Modified on Thursday, March 5, 2009 3:53 PM CST
What do the following novels have in common — "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, "Watership Down" by Richard Adams, and "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare?
Quick responses may not exist for such a question, and that's what juniors at Campbell-Tintah School are now discovering.
"After we're done reading, they compare the leadership and government styles, especially with dictatorship," said Connie Foster, English teacher. "We try to relate that to world war and Vietnam, stuff like that."
Later on, students will read "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee and watch the film adaptation of John Grisham's "A Time to Kill."
"The movie is in such a different time period, but there are so many similarities with the two," Foster said.
She also has her students create personal projects that follow the books they read, and some are more zealous than others. Four years ago, two students wrote a rap called "The Tom Robinson Song" after the character in Lee's book. But with the aid of technology, they can now create their own movies.
"They can finally express themselves other than on paper, and they really get into that," said Foster.
Vocabulary work is a big focus for students from seventh-grade to their junior year. Each month, they study 25 words by taking various quizzes.
"It's easy to memorize words, but to really know how to use them is different," said Foster.
They also write persuasive papers that have ranged in the past from the stigmata to the insanity defense.
"It just really amazes me what the kids are thinking nowadays," she said, adding with a laugh, "I learn a lot by reading their papers."
