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An Introduction to Illuminated Texts - A Screencast
This is the first in what I hope to be a long series of screencasts to help teachers and their students with the creation of Illuminated Texts. This video introduces the concepts of Illuminated Texts - shows and describes two of them - and gives an explanation of The Illuminated Text Learning Center. If you've ever wanted to know just what an Illuminated Text is - or if you want to hear a little history behind their inception, this would be a good video to watch. The presentation last about 10 minutes. Read more »
"i carry your heart" by e e cummings - An Illuminated Text in Flash
This is the second Illuminated Text that I have created using this poem. As my students transition from Power Point to Adobe Flash -- I wanted to go through the process and acquaint myself with what they were going through for myself. I chose this poem because I love it dearly- and, to me, it is an ideal candidate for a text-based animation -- the words are rich, beautiful, and multi-layered. When I was writing this Illuminated Text - it occurred to me how much these presentations are like essays or writing in general - you need to have some kind of overriding idea or thesis and each piece must support and play off of the other.
Macbeth Made Easy - Group Work
A lesson as tied to the idea of the "text centered classroom" as anything else you will find at this website. It also owes most of its ideas to Stephen Booth. This group work (designed for 4-5 students) tries to show students in three parts (one done in front of the other) -- exactly why it is not a good idea to paraphrase Shakespeare --and why the actual words (as opposed to the ideas, plots, or themes) of Shakespeare's works are paramount.
Each part of the lesson is designed to be done before the other. It helps if you have a color printer to print out the last part which shows the rich word textures present in Shakespeare (and absent from paraphrases). This lesson is also a good way to prepare students for some of the "text-centered" ideas that will come later in their unit on Literary Criticism. Read more »
Dreams often Lie: A Critical Thinking Webquest for Romeo and Juliet
This Web Quest has students putting together ideas from Romeo and Juliet such as Queen Mab, Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo (a documentary about two lovers from different faiths in civil war-torn Bosnia), and the origins of Shakespeare's play. I have always believed that Web Quests can be a valuable tool - however, they too often seem to be a technologically-enabled treasure hunt. I hope that this assignment pushes the genre to a level were a good deal of critical thinking can take place.
Hamlet - An animated film by Kerry Ferrantella
This animation of Act 1, Scene 1 of Hamlet is done with skill, wit, and creativity by Kerry Ferrantella and his classmates. Kerry used the free program Windows Movie Maker to animate the still drawings that he had created and then they created the voice overs. The overall effect is astonishing and original. Mr. Ferrantella's teacher is Ian McCarthy, also of Whitney Young High School -- and I am greatful to him and Kerry for allowing us to share this on the website. I can't wait to use the project with my own students. Be patient when you click on the link below -- it is a large file and may take a minute to load. Read more »
"Indian Camp" - Illuminated text by Jesus Alonso
This illuminated text on Hemingway's "Indian Camp" uses to text, to among other things, point out the journey from dark to light and back to light again. The words, in the presentation, move from darkness to light, echoing Nick's journey to the world that awaits him at the Indian Camp. It is moving and insightful. I also continue to show this Illuminated Text every year when we read the story - it never fails to impress me or my students.
Click Here to view the Flash Video Illuminated Text of "Indian Camp"
Click Here to view the Power Point Illuminated Text of "Indian Camp"
Eulogy for an Elegy: Thomas Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard Group Work
While this group work does engage the students in a close analytical reading of Gray's poem, it also asks them to consider some other issues "about" the very nature of the poem. The students are asked to look at the possibility that there is a patronizing attitude or tone in the poem towards the "simple" residents of the churchyard and comparisons are made with other literature whose authors looked at the "happy" lives of the people who lived their lives unnoticed. This poem plays an important part of the students' understanding of the "realistic" versus the "idealized" pastoral when they look at Wordsworth's "Michael."
Beowulf, Heroism, and 9/11 - A Presentation
This brief slide show begins with the moving, translated words of Beowulf where he states that he would not race ahead of his friend Brecca, because he had promised him he would stay by his side. The presentation next recounts some of the heroes of 9/11while subtly (I hope) comparing it ideas of heroism from Beowulf. It ends with the fiery funeral of Beowulf and the casket of the last 9/11 firefighter being carried away on his fire truck. This is used with a group work on the same subject.
