And then I stumbled upon something amazing: Whitman, Alabama. This was the inspiration I needed to demonstrate the importance of Walt Whitman’s poetry in American culture today.
Author Archives: Marilyn Yung
Switch Up Sketchnotes to Engage Distracted Students
I love sketchnotes. They’re engaging, colorful, and creative, and allow me to make illustrative connections while I listen to a book. But here’s the thing: I’m not a very good listener. I need to carefully concentrate on the words I’m hearing or my mind wanders to whatever’s going on in the hall, outside the window, or just inside my head. So even though I’m a huge fan of sketchnotes, sometimes I need a more passive kind of sketchnotes… sketchnotes that keep me engaged, but still able to focus on the text so I can create meaningful notes and doodles that will ultimately aid understanding and retention of the content.
Seven Articles to Pair with The Great Gatsby
During this quick (and my first!) attempt at teaching Gatsby, I’m feverishly collecting notes and jotting down ideas for my teaching of it next year. Here are three articles to check out for your next Gatsby unit.
The Great Gatsby 2013 Film Chapter Breakdown (updated 1/31/22)
While planning lessons a few days ago, I wanted to know exactly how Baz Luhrman’s Gatsby aligns with the novel. To find out, I watched the movie with novel in hand. Here’s the chapter breakdown.
Three Poems to Pair with The Great Gatsby
Have you ever wanted a few poems to pair with The Great Gatsby? Y’know, a few good, not-too-longish poems to work as bell-ringers, if needed, or add-on texts to supplement literary analysis essays?
Gulliver’s Travels & The New York Times’ Anatomy of a Scene
Using the New York Times Anatomy of a Scene collection as inspiration, high school students provide director’s commentary for a movie clip and thereby showing their understanding of satire.
Paradise Lost: My British Lit Students Translate Lines into Braille
My senior British Lit students recently tried their hands at embossing Braille code. Here’s how they did it.
The Dream of the Rood: A Dream of a Poem
Last fall, as I read and planned lessons for Beowulf, “The Wanderer,” and “The Seafarer,” I kept coming across “The Dream of the Rood.” It wasn’t included in our textbook, but since I kept reading about it (and it was included in my trusty Norton anthology, after all), I became more and more curious. Fast forward: my “Dream of the Rood” close reading activity is here!
A New Movie for Your Anglo-Saxon Poetry Unit
The 1-hour and 52-minute movie is captivating, and builds suspense and excitement around the very culture awash in The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Wife’s Lament, and Beowulf.
The Slice of Life Poem
Recently, it occurred to me that slice of life writing would work equally well in poetic form.