Today the students of Noble House were excited to meet with Ellen Nichols, who helped us to record our Lower East Side Poetry on Podcasts. Stay tuned! They will be posted on the blog after Thanksgiving.
After exploring the Tenement Museum, the students of Noble House were ready to discover signs of modern day immigration on the Lower East Side. We photographed signs written in different languages, gathered printed material such as newspapers and business cards, sampled various types of foods from a variety of countries and discovered that the Lower East Side is a place we would like to return to again and again. In fact, we all agreed that we would like to visit the Lower East Side EVERY Tuesday!
After taking a close look at the boxes of artist Joseph Cornell, the students of Noble House began thinking about and planning their own E. B. White Theme Boxes. Some of the students decided to focus on the writing of White while others chose themes such as friendship, life and death, being small but mighty, and change. Others decided to explore White’s use of lists.
Our creative juices were flowing this week as the work got underway.
Last week we began to read Helen Frost’s story about a 5th grade class entitled, Spinning Through the Universe. The story is comprised of a series of poems that tell a story about the students of Room 214. Each poem is written in a different form including: Terza Rimas, Tankas, Acrostics, Pantoums, Villanelles, Tercelles, Sonnets and even a Crown of Sonnets. Each morning during house we will read and discuss one poem.
In addition, the students of Noble House recently began to write their own poetry. Many focused on the question, “What is Poetry” but others wrote about such varied topics as Halloween and hurricanes! Stay tuned for their published pieces.
Last week Noble House boarded the ferry at Battery Park and embarked on our Ellis Island adventure. Thank you to all of the wonderful parents that joined us. You helped make this trip a resounding success!
In addition, the students of Noble House recently began sharing their annotations of Charlotte’s Web with each other. Presentations continue this week and at the end, each student will possess their own annotated copy of E. B. White’s beloved story.
The students of Noble House have been busily preparing for their Oral History interviews. First, they read author blurbs about E. B. White and were later paired together in order to practice the interview process as well as get to know another class member. Their interesting interviews are on display in the window of the classroom. Next, we brainstormed a list of interview questions and organized them into an outline of four categories: I. Old Country, II. Journey, III. Arrival and IV. New Country. At the same time, students were thinking about a possible immigrant of their acquaintance to interview. After that, the class viewed a short film about the entire process of the Oral History Project, created by our own Mr. Andre and Ms. Gordon. Ms. Noble and Mr. Andre modeled how to ask follow up questions in case answers are brief. We all had a good laugh when Mr. Andre refused to give more than one word answers. Finally, students were given various forms to have their interviewee fill out and a clear plastic folder in which to put it all. They are all ready to become historians themselves!
In conjunction with the Oral History project, Noble House has been learning how to do a “close reading” of Charlotte’s Web. Ms. Noble and Ms. Stokien modeled annotating chapter 1. We found themes such as life and death, change and friendship. Who knew that so much information is just below the surface of page one alone! Afterwards, students selected their own chapters to annotate and will be presenting their findings to the class during the next two weeks.
