7th and 8th grade students have wrapped up their time with the FBI. After spending several weeks on the first case on Patrick Ness's novel A Monster Calls, students worked on two much shorter cases, also involving monsters.
The second case involved reading Rod Serling's teleplay for his Twilight Zone episode titled "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street." Students each chose a part, and we read the teleplay aloud as a reader's theater experience. After Act I, students paused to update their case files. Students used evidence from the text to write about who the characters in the play thought the monster was and why. Then they brainstormed their own ideas about who or what the monster might be. When students shared their ideas with the class, it was amazing to see how many different ideas people had--and all of them valid and supported with textual evidence! The next day, we read Act II aloud together and again updated our case files. It was fascinating to see how many students changed their minds regarding the monster in the case once they had more information!
The second case involved reading Rod Serling's teleplay for his Twilight Zone episode titled "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street." Students each chose a part, and we read the teleplay aloud as a reader's theater experience. After Act I, students paused to update their case files. Students used evidence from the text to write about who the characters in the play thought the monster was and why. Then they brainstormed their own ideas about who or what the monster might be. When students shared their ideas with the class, it was amazing to see how many different ideas people had--and all of them valid and supported with textual evidence! The next day, we read Act II aloud together and again updated our case files. It was fascinating to see how many students changed their minds regarding the monster in the case once they had more information!
Using this information about these concepts, students updated Director Skinner on their findings by filling out their Final Case Report. Because they had not updated previously, due to the short amount of time spent on this case, students used their 4-Way Thinking Skills to first summarize the case for Director Skinner and then they outlined and wrote an organized argument explaining who or what they thought the monster was in this case, connecting to at least one of the concepts we explored together.
Once Final Case Reports were completed, we moved on to our third case, which asked 7/8 students to read Maurice Ogden's poem "The Hangman." Students worked with their home base to read and understand the poem while searching for examples of imagery and jotting down their ideas, thoughts, and translations in the margins. After discussing each of the five sections, students took time to update their case files. In these files, students summarized each section and recorded evidence from the text to support their ideas about who or what the monster might be. It seemed pretty clear throughout that the Hangman was the monster--until the very end! Then students questioned if the narrator might be the monster. The Hangman killed innocent people, but the narrator allowed him to do so... so, which is worse? Is murder more monstrous than turning a blind eye to that horrific crime and therefore allowing it to continue?
Students wrapped up the case by writing their third and final Final Case Report. Again students answered the question "who or what is the monster in this case?" by planning and outlining an organized argument that included a clear claim, evidence from the text to support their claim, and reasoning.
It is a little sad to see this part of our Societal Monsters unit come to an end. It was such a pleasure for Miss G and Mr. Chadburn to witness the growth students made in their reading and writing skills throughout this part of the unit as students pretended to be FBI Agents. However, more great things are to come! Check back soon for an update on how this knowledge of monsters will help us understand one of the greatest human rights violations in all of history!