October 14, 2010

Have you checked the Home Access Center lately?

Homework:
Sections 5 and 6 should be sure to have the Choosing the Right Word for Unit 3.  I did not see those classes today.

Today:
We reviewed the answers to the Choosing the Right Word.
I finished up our discussion on author's purpose for "Thank You, M'am."

Next week we will start the narrative that will be due October 27th.  I want the students to think about a moment/person in their lives that they can point to as having an impact on their lives.  For example, as I had the students pretend in class, Roger could look back on his encounter with Mrs. Jones and say that the time he spent with her impacted his life.

Here are my thoughts on the author's purpose for "Thank You, M'am."

What will you take away from the story? What do you think Langston Hughes was trying to say to us through this story?

We are all trying to live our lives on this planet. Some of us have it better than others. What do we do when we encounter someone who is struggling, maybe even trying to survive? I believe Langston Hughes was trying to get us to think about how we treat others who are in need.

Maybe it’s because I am an adult, but I am most moved by the character of Mrs. Jones. I am not so sure the focus of the story is Roger. He is one person who comes in and out of Mrs. Jones’s life, one among many because she works at the hair salon where she sees people all day. The wisdom and life experience of Mrs. Jones is at the heart of the story. Roger is us, the recipient of that knowledge. For all we know, that evening had very little impact on Roger. Maybe it had a huge impact on him. The point of the story is that we should help others regardless of how it might turn out.

What would you do? I have met plenty of homeless people through my church in Elkton. Three years later, many of them are still homeless and need help with food and clothing. You might ask why they just don’t get a job. If we keep helping them, how will they every get out of their situation? I don’t know the answer. But that night, Roger needed food and love. Mrs. Jones gave that to him because she has been there. She even gave him the money for the shoes that we know he doesn’t need, but she knows that he needs to learn some lessons for himself. So she gave him the money. I believe Langston Hughes intentionally left the outcome unknown.  He did not say that as a result of the evening Roger changed his ways.  He didn't say anything at all about Roger's future.  That is the point.  Mrs. Jones helped Roger because it was the right thing to do, and sometimes we just do what is needed.