The Trial of Anne Hutchinson, Or, A Seventh Grade Adventure

Wow, you turn your back for one second, and a month goes by without a blog post. The seventh grade humanities students haven't been sleeping on the job, though. During that time they've been busy with this and that, especially with a comparison/contrast paper looking at the reality of Pocahontas and Disney's depiction of her as a movie character. Lately, though, we've been focusing on a big group project where a mix of my students and students from other humanities classes have been reenacting the trial of Anne Hutchinson. Hutchinson, an outspoken advocate of women's rights and independent thought, found herself at odds with the Puritan ministers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630's. After a dramatic trial in which she defended herself fiercely, Hutchinson was banished from the colony altogether.

The group has worked hard at exploring Hutchinson's beliefs, the conflict between the covenant of grace and the covenant of works, and the social and political attitudes of colonial America. They have memorized lines, struggled with costume decisions, battled with cameras and movie software, argued with each other, and overall, done a splendid job throughout. Here is a picture that gives a sense of what they've been up to (it's a bit blurry, but then, the whole project has gone by in a blur, so perhaps it's appropriate):

Webquest Blog Post Assignment - Due Monday, October 29th

Each 7th grade humanities class now has a set of web pages answering specific questions about the American Indian culture they studied. You will need to read/explore at least one web page from each class (one from Ms. Mannering's class and one from Ms. Jacobs' class). Post a response to the webpages on my blog, including information about the following:

1. Write three things you discovered about the cultures explained in the web pages.

2. Note at least one similarity or difference from the culture you studied.

3. Ask at least one question that you think should be answered about the cultures you read about.

4. Make one comment about the design and layout of the web page you visited. Be sure your comment is constructive/helpful. Be polite but truthful.

Optional Blog Posting

Below, I have posted an editorial cartoon from 1871, illustrated by Thomas Nast. The caption at the bottom reads:

""Move on!" Has the Native American no rights that the naturalized American is bound to respect?"

This is a tricky cartoon to get, as the characters at the polling station (where people would vote) are visual stereotypes of various ethnic groups who had recently come to America.

What do you think the artist wants his audience to think when they see this cartoon? Remember, the cartoon was published in 1871. Look at the image closely for clues as to the author's opinions and refer to those close as evidence for your own argument regarding what you think the cartoon is about.

First Blog Posting Assignment: Thinking Inside, Outside, and All Around the Box

(REMEMBER TO PUT YOUR FIRST NAME AND LAST INITIAL ON YOUR POST!!!) We have spent the past week and a half discussing questions surrounding identity. As part of those discussions, we you have read several stories, listened to music, performed poetry, written in journals, and created identity collages to express your own unique cultural identifiers. We have also discussed various examples of "the box," which is a metaphor for any obstacles or barriers that might isolate, frustrate, enclose, or sometimes protect someone from a larger world.

Think back over everything we have read so far for this unit ("Theme for English B," "High Yellow White Trash," "Black, White, and Jewish," "Those Who Don't," "Sylvia's Story" from National Public Radio, "Alone and All Together," and "Two Kinds"). your task now is to write and post a comment in this forum in which you describe a connection between TWO of these works, focusing on the role of "the box." Think about how different characters face similar or different challenges. Think about similarities or differences in the kinds of disguises characters wear. Do you think these characters will escape from their boxes?

When you have made a connection between two works, write a post describing that connection. Make sure to mention specific characters/narrators, and to be clear about how the "boxes" they experience are similar. Your post does not have to be long; three or four sentences is plenty. You should feel free to respond to your classmates' posts, as well as to ask your classmates questions.


*** Remember to use your first name and last initial when you sign your post. Also, if you choose to respond to what another classmate wrote, please do so in a respectful manner.

Human Knot Pictures

This past Friday, our advisory conquered an extremely difficult teamworking challenge--they untangled the Nekrosius Advisory Human Knot! With communication, cajoling, and a fair amount of both literal and interpersonal flexibility, the students went from a hopelessly tangled collection of hand-joined individuals to two interlocking rings of classmates. Tough to describe, really--I'll let the pictures tell the tale:


First, our Friday advisory breakfast:




Second, they all join hands and contemplate the task of unraveling themselves:



Chaos ensues:



At long last, they achieve their goal!

What A Neat Bunch Of Kids -- Plus, A Bonus Picture of a Giant Insect

Here is the first of what will eventually become several pictures of my 2007-08 advisory class. Note the entirely genuine expression of surprise on all of their faces. You can already tell it is going to be a fantastic year!





Also, here is a picture of a praying mantis that a student found ambling about on Kenwood Mall. Truly an impressive specimen. After some friendly hellos and a bit of arm-crawling, our emerald friend was released back into the wilds of Hyde Park.

2007-2008 Humanities - Welcome Back!

Well, summer has finally started to wind down, the nights have just a bit of crispness to them, and the school year is right around the corner (or, by the time most of you read this, it has already arrived). I'm writing to welcome all new students, parents, and friends to the 2007-2008 school year in the humanities. We have all sorts of interesting, challenging, engaging work ahead of us. For right now, though, the task at hand is to say hello and to introduce you to this blog, where I will occasionally ask you to post or respond to posts about classroom material. All voices are welcome--just be aware that this is an open forum, so what you post can be viewed not only by your classmates but by pretty much anybody. So put your best foot forward. Write thoughtfully, respond to your classmates with curiosity and respect, and always feel free to ask questions.

I will sometimes post interesting cartoons, pictures, or other miscellanea here as well, so do check in periodically to see what's new. For now, I will start the year off with a picture so that you can get a sense of how I spent my summer. I basically spent my whole summer traveling, camping, and reading as many books as I could. This is a picture of one place I visited--does this look familiar to anybody? I'm really excited about the upcoming year and can't wait to meet all of you--see you soon!

The Dangers of the Internet

Hopefully, by now you have all had some experience with good and not-so-good internet sources during your research. Just in case the hazards of point and click research haven't hit home, though, here's a reminder:

For all of you who love big words, here's one of my favorites. The cartoon isn't the funniest in the entire world, but on the other hand, I don't know that a big-word-spouting t-rex needs that great of a punchline.

It's also worth noting that there's an example of irony here--the cartoonist apparently knows how to use big words like "sesquipedalian," but not that "alright" is actually the improper form of the two separate words "all right."

Keep on integrating those vocab words into classroom conversation!

Pictures from Concord Bridge

No posts necessary--I just thought that for those of you who were interested, I'd post some pictures a friend of mine took while he and I were visiting the bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, where some of the first shots were fired in the Revolutionary War.

Tim O'Brien and Joseph Martin - Same Battle, Different Wars?

By now, you should have finished reading A Young Patriot, as well as the two Tim O'Brien pieces. The two works present very different perspectives on what war means; A Young Patriot tells the story of the American Revolution in broad strokes, while O'Brien tells a much more personal story. Spend a few minutes considering what the two different pieces have in common and where they differ in terms of what they say about war in general, and then post a comment sharing your thoughts with your classmates.

Some questions to help you get started: How do the two works give depth to one another? Or, in other words, what can you learn about one work by reading the other? After reading both, how has your understanding of war changed?

I'm a big believer in the power of cartoons to impart a quick change of perspective. Get Fuzzy, by Darby Conley, happens to be one of my favorites that I check daily. This Sunday strip should serve as a reminder for us to be careful how we phrase our questions--unless you are specific, you just might end having to listen to a teacher's long-winded, incredibly detailed answer that doesn't come near what you wanted to learn in the first place.

Hello and Welcome

Hello, everybody. And by everybody, I mean Mr. Nekrosius's seventh grade humanities students at the University of Chicago Lab School, and anybody else who happens to drop in.

By now you should be used to posting responses to questions assigned in class; we'll continue to have those kinds of assignments in this new forum, and I look forward to seeing the same depth of thought, intellectual curiosity, and mutual respect that you have displayed in all your other endeavors show up in these posts.

I will also periodically post brief questions, ideas, or information related to class here--you should all feel free to respond if you wish, or to propose independent postings of your own. This blog is a place for us to engage in a different kind of conversation than those we have in class. Let's make the most of it.

Mr. Nekrosius