Pytash: Jago Ch. 6

Lesson Design for Classical Literature

I felt like a student in Ms. Jago's classroom, trying to digest The Odyssey for the first time. I have never read this novel before and had to stop many times throughout chapter six to try to recollect what was happening. When Jago was talking about the lesson studies in Japan, she talked about them having a national curriculum. This is something that I wish the United States had because then I wouldn't have to feel like I was still in middle school trying to figure out what she is talking about throughout this whole chapter. On page 112 she talked about how she expected that student's had some experience with the Greek gods, but they don't always. I am her nightmare student. We talked about Greek gods my sophomore year, but never after that and truly I don't remember a thing I was taught. Lessons vary on the region and school district you go to. It's so frustrating to me because people talk about books like everyone in the whole world has read them and I haven't even heard of them. Perhaps if we had a national curriculum, then I wouldn't feel so much in the dark. 

Jago talked about the Writing Project and how "[her] writing group helped [her] see that with attention to detail [her] errors could be easily corrected" (99). This is something that could be incorporated in schools. Teachers expect different things out of students each year and when they don't have what he/she expects they go home thinking they're a failure. Why couldn't the school have the mentality that the Writing Project had and show the students that they can easily fix their mistakes and will be set to go? 

I took the lesson design for The Odyssey step by step. If we were going to study The Odyssey then I would have jotted down a lot more notes, but a lot of the things I wrote down was to remind myself the gender of a god or what happened previously, so I can apply it to the next paragraph. The character chart she suggested to students was a great idea. There are so many people to try to remember that it's best to write them down, so you can see who is who and how they are related to the other characters. Also, the map would help me personally because I'm a visual learner and I can't read something and understand it or try to keep it all in my brain. 

This story is an epic and I enjoyed the epithets and epic simile section because that is not something I had learned before. Allowing students to create their own versions of these will make them feel connected to the text. There is only so much you can do with the text itself, but I think it leaves a barrier between the child and the text. If the child can use what they learned in the text and apply it to something else, then that is true understanding. 

As always, I questioned her section on homework. She said, "Some teachers try to solve this problem by carving out class time for reading, but even one day a week or fifteen minutes a day will decrease the time you have for discussion and interaction by 20 percent" (Jago 130). Last semester we just learned the importance of silent reading and how it is rarely done in classes and students need to continually read to benefit from it. I think it's important to allow students a little bit of time in the classroom. If not, then they will think it's just read the book at home and then drill me in the classroom. What if the students are having trouble with a specific section, are you just going to say "we don't have time for that because we need to have a discussion?" I would hope not. Instead I would hope you would guide the student through the section and then offer them to read it over again and then have the discussion. Reading at home is essential, but not allowing time in class for the students is like saying silent reading is not as important as our discussions and I don't think Jago would agree with that because without reading you can have no discussion.

I believe the expert group assignment is what we will be doing with The Great Gatsby. Students can gain confidence through mastering just one chapter of a text. That chapter might be difficult and might place the student above their Zone of Minimal Effort, but with the help of their peers they should see that they are capable of what they previously thought was impossible. Combining multiple minds, offers many viewpoints and ideas to lead a discussion.