As mentioned in a previous blog, Poe is referenced numerous times in the novel I am reading aloud to the class (Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carmen). It references both his poem The Raven and his short story The Tell Tale Heart, among others.
I was originally going to just brush through these Poe pieces and use them simply as a matter of comparison to Skeleton Creek...but I have instead decided to linger awhile. They are just such fabulous works, beautiful crafted. They have influenced other writers for over a hundred years and they still resonate in today's culture. They are well worth lingering over!
Thus, we are going to read through both The Raven and The Tell Tale Heart, translating the 'old fashioned language' into our own modern day language and adding a picture to help us visualize the scene.
Then we are going to work on writing summaries of each, determining the main idea/theme of each, plus use each as a way to determine characteristics of narratives (all three areas are often referred to on CASI reading comprehension assessments...the next of which is administered in December).
Then we will take a look at media representations of each work. There are some clever youtube adaptations! (Not to mention that both the writers of The Simpson's and Spongebob were influenced by these works, enough to do their own cartoon adaptations!).
This ties into the media curriculum...interpreting media images (by comparing media to media and media to text).
We have also been looking at book cover design as a form of media/advertising. Students will get to choose either The Raven or The Tell Tale Heart and craft a book cover design. I hope to post these in the hallway and will include a picture here when I do so!
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