Wednesday, April 30

We finished reading "How to Tell a True War Story," discussed the chapter, and brainstormed the many definitions of a "true war story" provided by O'Brien. Next, we watched a TED Talk about soldiers in the Iraq War and discussed the video.

Purpose: Analyze O'Brien's definition of a true war story.

Essential Questions: 1) What's a true war story, according to O'Brien?
2) Why is it difficult to talk about war?

Tuesday, April 29

We started reading the chapter "How to Tell a True War Story," discussed key passages in the chapter, and completed Daily Assignment 4.6. Additionally, we added three words (comrade, rectitude, and credibility) to our vocabulary list, Notebook Assignment 4.3.

Purpose: Analyze "How to Tell a True War Story."

Essential Questions: 1) What does O'Brien say about true war stories?
2) Which definition of a true war story do you prefer?

Monday, April 28

We again began class with about 10 minutes of independent reading. Next, we wrote in our notebooks for Notebook Assignment 4.7. Finally, we read the chapters "Enemies" and "Friends" and discussed their significance.

Purpose: 1) Make a personal connection to the text.

2) Discuss key passages of the book in small groups.

Essential Questions: 1) What's the main point of the chapters "Enemies" and "Friends"? 

Friday, April 25

We began class with 10 minutes of independent reading as we will do for the remainder of the year. Next, we listened to the rest of the chapter "On the Rainy River" and discussed some key passages. For the last ten minutes of class, students worked on Daily Assignment #5, which can be picked up from the shelf at the front of class. 

Thursday, April 24

Today each student selected a memoir from a choice of 20-25 books. We independently read for the rest of the class. For the remainder of the year, we will begin class with 10-15 minutes of independent reading of a memoir of your choice.

Purpose: Select a memoir that you want to read.

Essential Question: What kind of memoir do you want to read?

Wednesday, April 23

Today we discussed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) today and in the book. We looked at the story of Pat Tillman, an NFL player who joined the Army Rangers and served in Afghanistan. Yesterday, was the tenth anniversary of Tillman's death. The details of his death remained a mystery for some time. For several years, the Army stated Tillman was killed by militants, but later admitted he had been killed by friendly-fire. Steven Elliot, a fellow Army Ranger, recently came public, stating that he believes he may have fired the shot which killed Tillman. 

Additionally, we covered some vocabulary for the chapter "On the Rainy River." This is Daily Assignment #4. There is a worksheet to help you through.

Purpose: 1) Learn about PTSD today and in the book.
2) Make a text-to-self connection.

Essential Questions: 1) How do individuals/characters in the book deal with PTSD?
2) If you were in Tim's situation and got drafted, what would you do?

Tuesday, April 22

Back from Spring Break and into the "home stretch." Stay strong and persevere.

We read and discussed the chapter "Spin" and began the chapter, "On the Rainy River." Refer to Sparknotes to get caught up if you missed.

We added a character to our character charts (Notebook 4.4) and also had Notebook Assignment 4.6. 

Sunday, April 13

Mr. Liedl got married.

Friday, April 11

Spring Break is finally upon us! Rejoice!

Today we watched a couple videos on the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement:
1) How the Vietnam War Changed America
2) Anti-Vietnam War Movement Documentary
Watch these videos and write some commentary. This is Notebook Assignment 4.5.

Thursday, April 10

Today we finished the first chapter, "The Things They Carried," as well as the second chapter, "Love." We also worked on Daily Assignment #3, The Things You Carry. Refer to the Daily Assignments page for details. 

Wednesday, April 9

As we continued the first chapter, students made a character chart table for Notebook 4.4 assignment. There was also an exit slip, which is Daily Work assignment #2.

Purpose: Analyze and make inferences about the characters.
Examine the writing style of chapter one.

Essential Questions: How are the characters introduced and developed?
What do you notice about O'Brien's writing style?

As I mentioned yesterday, if you're behind in the book, refer to Sparknotes to get caught up.

Tuesday, April 8

Today we started reading The Things They Carried. Before that we went over some vocabulary featured in Chapter 1. This is Notebook Assignment 4.3.

Purpose: Learn vocabulary from the first chapter.
Analyze and discuss chapter one.

Essential Questions: How are the characters introduced and developed?
How is the action in the first chapter ordered?

If you missed class, refer to Sparknotes to get caught up. 

Monday, April 7

Our main objective of the day was Notebook Assignment 4.2 parts A and B. I detailed my own personal plot map before we worked on author Tim O'Brien's plot map. 

Thus far we've discussed The Things They Carried as a memoir but it cannot be put into a single genre (style, category). The opening of Tim O'Brien's novel identifies The Things They Carried as a work of fiction. In libraries and bookstores, you will find it with other novels. More often than not, however, readers who complete O'Brien's novel feel that they have read a true story, or nonfiction. How can this be the case? Though it might seem confusing, we should read O'Brien's novel through a variety of lenses. At various points, it may read as historical fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir or meta-fiction. O'Brien writes in a unique voice with varying styles, using the following genres:

1) Historical Fiction

2) Memoir

3) Creative Non-fiction

4) Meta-fiction

Friday, April 4

Everyone wrote a five sentence paragraph describing what happened in yesterday's class. Several students shared their version of yesterday's events and I did as well. Next, we voted on whose story was the "most true" and "least true." In hour 2, the class decided that Deron's story was the "most true." Kody's story was determined to be the "most true" for hour 4. For some reason, my version of events was declared "least true" in each hour. The point of this exercise was to show that although we all shared a similar experience in class yesterday, we had different version, different interpretations, of what truly took place.

Refer to Daily Assignment #1 for the day's exit slip.

Purpose: Identify stylistic elements of the memoir genre.

Essential Questions: 1) Can "truth" be interpreted differently?

2) If so, how does one determine which truth is the most true?

Thursday, April 3

We will be reading the amazing and powerful memoir, "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. I LOVE this book and I think you will too. Quite simply, it's an incredible piece of writing. It's especially fascinating to me because I lived in Vietnam for two years. Of course, the war ended long ago and Vietnam is a much different place today. However, the "American War," as it's known in Vietnam, still casts a long shadow, both in Southeast Asia and here in the United States (This short video breaks down the war into simple terms.).

Today we delved into some history about the Vietnam War. We viewed this Prezi and I shared some photos from my time in Vietnam. We also watched this incredible time lapse of traffic in Ho Chi Minh City and I talked a little bit about what the country is like today (Here is one more video of the crazy traffic!)


Purpose: Analyze the memoir's setting.

Essential Questions: What do we know about the setting?
How can we describe the setting?

Wednesday, April 2

Mr. Liedl is out today. Essays are due by midnight. You can leave them in the basket or better yet, email them to me at ncliedl@gmail.com

Today in class you are doing a close reading with the substitute.

Purpose: 1) Perform a close reading, annotating the text.
2) Write a one paragraph response to the reading.

Essential Question: Is it ethical for an author to publish a work as non-fiction if it includes fictional elements? Why or why not?

Tuesday, April 1

Today is the final in-class work day for your essays. If you turned in your essay last week or Monday, I will return it to you with some feedback of what I liked and what you can improve. Email your essays to me by midnight on Wednesday at ncliedl@gmail.com

Everyone should focus on their third body paragraph, which focuses on their issue and Their Eyes Were Watching God, and make sure they have included the following:

Women's/guns/marriage rights are supported/violated in Their Eyes Were Watching God because...

AND

The issues with women's/guns/marriage rights in the book are the same as/different than the issues with women's/guns/marriage rights today.