June 11, 2012

Wrapping up our discussions/reading of Mississippi Trial, 1955
Chapter 4-8
   Hiram goes back to Greenwood.  His grandpa is not well.  He meets Emmett (Bobo) Till.  Meets up with RC again.  RC has continued to get worse-meaner, dropped out of school.  Bullies the Remington brothers.  Emmett and Hiram meet up at the river.  RC takes offense that Emmett wants Hiram's left over lunch.  Beats him up/threatens him and then pushes fish guts in his mouth.

   Chapter 9
Hiram tells grandpa about what happened at the river.  Grandpa basically says that "that boy" should have known his place-he got what he deserved.  
RC tells Hiram that he has been asked to help Bryant and Milam go "talk" to an uppity black boy who was disrespectful to a white woman.  Hiram calls the sheriff and tells him what RC told him.  The sheriff thinks that RC won't really do anything terrible. 

Emmett turns up missing.  Hiram is worried that RC is involved with something worse than talking.

Emmett's body turns up in the river.  Hiram is subpoenaed to attend the trial.  The two white men are acquitted despite evidence that points to them being involved in the kidnapping and death of Emmett.

Read Chapter 16.
    RC shows up one night.  Says that he has been out of town working.  Tonight he will leave again-he just had a huge fight with his father-beat him up when his father started being abusive.  RC tells Hiram that he had nothing to do with Emmett's death. 

   Grandpa sells his truck and Hiram doesn't understand why.  Then he runs into

June 08, 2012

Lots of students missing from class.

Congratulations to the few students who turned in their essays!!

Reflection:
How can we make this a better/stronger/more successfl class next year?

What do you need to do to be successful in high school?
  show up
  grow up
 
 
Why was this class not as productive as you could have been?
    procrastination
    time management
    didn't think it mattered anymore
    too confident/cocky

Challenge:
Spend some time over the summer thinking and planning about what you will do differently next year.
What do you think is most important for you to be successful in high school?

Statistics and data shows us that if you finish 10th grade, it is probable that you will finish high school.  If you finish high school you have more options and choices for your future and being successful.  So this would mean that the next two years are critical to you future success.
   

June 6, 2012 JE #30

JE # 30
What's the craziest dream you've ever had? 
      Explain in 1 paragraph.

Class Activities:
Reminder about due dates.
Literature Circle groups-continue working/reading.

June 5, 2012 JE #29

JE #29

How does Providence respond to injustice and violence?
   As a city?  As individuual communities?  Individual citizens?  Families?
     Explain


Class Activities:

Review due dates and materials:
Wed., June 6~journals due
                       Literature Circles will put their materials together
                       Mr. G will model a Literature Circle
Thurs., June 7~groups will practice their Literature Circles
Fri., June 8~essay due-based on May 29 journal entry
                    Literature Circles present for class

June 04, 2012 JE #28

JE # 28 
How can society overcome hatred?


Journal's Due on Wed., June 06
Essay due on Fri., June 08 Essay is based on May 29th's journal entry.
       the essay is based on this prompt:  
                                                      JE #24      Remember a time when you really wanted something and when you got it, it
                                                       turned out to be nothing like you thought it would be. 

Today:   We began Literature Circle Work
   Pieces of a Literature Circle:
              Summary
              Connection
              Vocabulary
              Illustration

Group 1 reads pages 33-84
Group 2 reads pages 85-144
Group 3 reads pages 145-214

Each group will read for about 1/2 hour.

No group will read chapter 3.  Big event in ch 3:  grandma dies.

Here is a short video about the death and trial of Emmett Till.

June 01, 2012 JE #27

JE #27
What qualities do you look for in friends?  
                       Explain in 1 paragraph.
                                          why are these qualities important?    do all your friends share the same qualities?
                                           if someone does not have one of these qualities, are they automatically
                                                          disqualified as a friend?

Class Activities:

Share Out of Journal Writing
Way to go:  A, A, M, J, Mr. G, J, D, E, M, E, T, J, N!!


To fill in background info about Emmett Till we will watch a video about him.

Emmett Till travels to Money, Mississippi for summer vacation.
Emmett's mom  described him as a happy child
Cousins went south together during vacation.
Emmett ran ahead.  Mom made him come back to give her a kiss goodbye.
She said, "How do I know I will ever see you again?" 

Emmett was taken from a family member's home at night after whistling at a white women.
3 days later his badly beaten body is found in the river bound in barbed wire and weighted down.
The sheriff tried to bury the body immediately.
Mayor Daly stops the burial but when the body was sent North the funeral director was told not to open the coffin.
Momma demanded the coffin to be open.
She discovers that he was mutilated.
Momma let others see what had been done to Emmett.
Many people came to the funeral and viewed the body.

The Trial
Many groups/organizations called for a fair and public trial of the two men arrested for Emmett's death.
There were threats made against Emmett's mom, grandmother, family as the trial moved forward.
Sherrif claimed that there would be a fair and impartial trial.
Collection jars were around