Digging Thai...

So, it's been a little while since my last post...and next has actually already occurred.  After scouring books, seeking the wisdom of colleagues, and the internets...I found a short story for the boys and I to dig into after we finished Romeo and Juliet.

"One Good Turn" by Pensiri Kiengsiri looked at the dynamic of two men in Thailand who at first glance seem worlds apart due to economic status.  I thought this would be a great "bridging story" because we'd looked at issues of gender by juxtaposing female/male roles when we read "Girl," and now I could infuse a bit of racial/economic tension by focusing on male protagonists.  This unit was much shorter than the first (I think because I had a better sense of what I was doing) and the boys really responded well to the activities.

In an effort not to essentialize and tokenize the Thai perspective, we did a few activities that looked at history, tourism, and national identity.  While it would have been easier to just "read the story," these pre-reading activities, in my opinion, provided a way for us (myself and the boys) to confront any potential stereotypes/ignorance out of the way and perhaps truly engage with the story with a bit more awareness.  I found that the South Asian perspective was not one my boys had ever confronted...in their exploration of English lit or in History.  It was important for me to offer this perspective...

I think back to my first inclination do actually do this project.  I wanted to female authorship and perspective apart of the voices my boys and I interacted with as we learned the "stuff" of English literature and language.

Simultaneously we've been busily at work practicing grammar constructions...participial phrases, parallel constructions, and absolutes.  And wow!  I think I've finally figured out a way to truly make grammar learning fun, relevant, and tied to the actual review/writing of literature.  "One Good Turn" provided a seamless way to review semi-colons (the grammar element attached to "Girl") and evaluate the role of participial phrases in context.  One of the activities that the boys and I completed (as we constructed meaning from the story and our class discussions) were participial poems linked to a character, conflict or theme in "One Good Turn."

Again, I was taken aback by the nuances of masculinity the boys hinted at...how they assigned and perhaps resolved issues of racial/ethnic/economic insecurity between the characters and how the relate to their world at large.  It was a very brief exercise, but the boys (fusing their knowledge of this grammar element with literary analysis) truly produced quality work.  The cyclical nature of Rosenblatt's transactional theory was evident.  There were several times when I had to stop class, just to grab the recorder.  Activities that I hadn't planned on taping became rich of data...

It was awesome!

Beaming...