For those of you who are wonder when this blog became a teaching blog, I apologize. It's an easy way for me to keep track of ideas that work. In an ideal world, others would see and be inspired. But on a practical level, it's an easy way for me to remember and be inspired.
In my English 101 class yesterday, I knew that I wanted them to do the Build Your Own Gothic/Spooky story worksheet that I created for an Edgar Allen Poe module in the spring, which I described in this blog post. I thought I needed a bit more, so I had the previews for the new Frankenstein movie ready to go.
As I was walking to class, I thought about Mary Shelley's journal, and I knew I had copies of the pages where she talks about dreaming of her dead baby and bringing it back to life. I rushed back to the copy machine to make a few more copies, and a successful teaching day was born.
I handed out the pages of Mary Shelley's journal, the one page handout that captures several entries where she is grieving the baby and where she records the dream. I had them read it and see if any spooky stories were suggested.
Then I showed the two previews: one that gives us the creature's voice and one that gives us Victor Frankenstein's voice. We talked a bit about the novel, about the film versions, about the ways it has inspired so many of us in so many ways.
Then I had them fill in the worksheet. They settled in and seemed truly engaged with their ideas; this class is amazing in that way.
Today, I'll add this story from the CBS Sunday news show. It's both an interview with Guillermo del Toro, the director, and lots of interesting information and visuals.
I'll need to come up with a bit more for them to do, since they did the worksheet on Tuesday. Happily, I have a few hours to figure it out.
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