Mercy!

Let me just say...I am TIRED! I forgot what it's like to teach six classes in a row (three one period)! It wears you out!

BUT....it was so GOOD!

So here's how it went -- The teachers introduced why the class was in the library and how I was going to connect their prior day's learning to what we did today. Then I took over and asked the kids to define "e pluribus unum" and then gave some examples. I told them that during the American Revolution, there were certain jobs and ideas that were kept from women, but that Mercy Otis Warren was not typical of her time.

I read the story (referenced in my earlier post) aloud while the students looked at photographs of the pages on the large screen. When I was done, the teacher reminded them of another topic they had discussed: the appeals of persuasion logos, ethos, and pathos. I explained that I had just learned these as well and asked the students to define them for me. We made some connections about the persuasive nature of war and political writings and then broke the students into groups to read excerpts from Mercy's writings (taken from the book).

Taken from Page 11 of Write On, Mercy! by Gretchen Woelfle

Each group had three minutes to read the quote, discuss and decide which persuasive appeal was used, and write down any vocabulary that helped them draw their conclusions. We explained that they might not understand the quotes as a whole because of the "proper English" of the time, but that they could use the vocabulary they DID know to work through the writings. After several rotations through the quotes, we returned to our large group setting and discussed aloud which appeals went with which quote. In most cases, the students were able to defend their choice of logos, ethos, and pathos even though the class as a whole might not have chosen the same appeal.

When we were finished, the teachers took the students back to the room to read and work with other types of American Revolutionary text before the students begin their persuasive papers later in the six week period. We reiterated that the students would be reading more texts like the ones Mercy wrote and to remember how we deciphered her appeals in the library.

The kids were engaged and seems to enjoy my reading to them! It's been awhile since my elementary library days of reading aloud over and over again. I'm going to have to get my sea legs back and practice my reading voice!

I've got five more classes tomorrow! Wish me luck! :)