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Novel   Instruction

化 妝 舞 會

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校 園 公 佈 欄

Novel Instruction: Part II                                             
Flexibility Key to Multiple Tasks at Individual Levels   
                                                                                                                      Bilingual Department     Ms. Janice Rossing

      前一期實中園地已先刊登羅珍妮老師教授六年級小說Catherine, Called Birdy的教學理念及部分學生作品，羅老師針
      對學生不同的需求設計多樣化的作業及評量方式，此期續登學生所做的一些活動及作業，好讓讀者一窺全貌。 

             The novel covered a period of 13 months ending in the month of September. Imitating the style of master 
              writer  Karen  Cushman , students could extend the story and continue Catherine's diary through October. 
 Here are a few excerpts from one student's diary.                                                                             

Eileen Chow 6A                                                                                                                              lst Day of October           Today,  Mother  and I dressed the baby Eleanor in her christening robes. Though old Nan    baptized  her  while  in  my  mother's womb,  she  is a devoted Christian and insists Eleanor be     baptized before the priest and God.          We are all wearing our best kirdles, being  a  pure, soft white with gold embroidery on the     sleeves ,  neckline ,  and  hem .  It  is part of my dowry .  Mother and all the ladies are busying     sewing, hemming ,  and  embroidering my whole dowry, from pillows to dresses to clothes for     the  children  I  have  not  even  born  yet .  They  insist I join in, though my poor eyesight and    sewing skills prevent me from helping much.                                                                          2nd Day of October          Yesterday, on the way home from Eleanor's christening, I tripped and fell into a puddle of  mud. Morwenna scolded me, mother frowned and that beast of a father I have, cracked me over   the head. Had to spend the rest of the day washing it. God's thumbs.                                                                  4th Day of October          Finally ,  Morwenna  inspected  the gown and after  a long pause of poking and prodding,    announced  it  fi t .  Before  I  left ,  she  warned  me  direly not to soil any of the other clothes.    I  escaped  to Meg and Alf's cottage.        None of the chapters have titles. Based upon the content, students created their own titles.                                                       Chapter Titles for Each Month                                                                                                                                   Carol Lin 6B      September: The Beginning of My Book      October: Jews, Monks, and .Jealously........?      November : A Curse for Revenge      December: Another Suitor to Get Rid Of, and Christmas      January: The Curse---Worked?      February: Guilty Consciousness       March: Planning to Escape the Wedding Trap      April: George's New Wife      May: Set to Marry Shaggy Beard!      June: Off to Lincoln      July: Unwanted Betrothal Gifts      August: The Poor, Chained Bear      September: Delivered !         Often characters in the novel used proverbs to make a point. From a list students chose a          proverb and argued whether or not they agreed with it.                                                                                                                                   Julie Hsu 6B          I agree that "The life of a man is as spotted as a woodpecker's coat." A woodpecker's coat    is  very  spotted, and so is life. Life is not smooth; it is full of spots. Sometimes you are happy,     and  sometimes  you are not.  You cannot see life's spots, but you can feel them. You may feel     very  depressed  sometimes ,  like a big spot that you have met on the woodpeckers' coat. I am     not sure how other people would draw life, but I would draw it like the ocean. Life is deep and    meaningful ,  and  it is full of waves. Some waves will carry you high, making you happy. Yet,    there  are  always  those  waves  that  carry you so deep down, making you very depressed. For    Catherine , being  promised  to  Shaggy  Beard  would  be  one  of those waves that go so deep   down .  It  is these times that people must have courage. Catherine did, for she realized that she    was  herself ,  wherever  she was .  Even if Shaggy Beard had her body, she would never be far     from home. However, there are  always high waves of happiness rising from the low ones. For    Catherine,  not  having  to  marry Shaggy Beard would be one. I have had my experiences, too.    Low  ones  would  be  like leaving my best friend, seeing my grandma get sick, and so on. Yet,    there  were  always  the  happy  ones ,  too : meeting my uncle, making new friends, and many    others.   Each  low  wave teaches me to value those happy ones more and more. All of my own    experiences and what I have read tell me it is true that life is as speckled as a woodpecker's coat.               Catherine hated all the suitors her father chose and drove them away with various                shenanigans. Students could draw and describe a suitable suitor for Catherine.                                                                                                                                   Carol Lin 6B             This guy is the right beau for Catherine. His name is Tom. Tom is youthful, about 21 years    old . He  is  clean and in the pink.  This  long, lean face makes it obvious that    he  is  strong ,  slim ,  and  muscular ,  not fat, bulging, and limp like  Shaggy     Beard.  Tom  is  better looking than Master Lack-hit, being clean shaven, and    not  long  as  a  herring  with  a chin like a hatchet. His eyes hint of a sense of    humor and having many great adventures .  His skin tone is just right, not too    dark nor too pale. Tom's mouth shows no tooth decay. Having no wrinkles in    between his eyebrows,  Tom isn't cantankerous. I'll bet Catherine would like   Tom if he were her suitor.                 Catherine described herself as a plain gray goose. Students chose a bird as their                 symbol and wrote a short essay explaining in what ways the bird represents them.                                                                                                                                 Natalie Lin 6A          The bird is like me in many ways. The crest is like my bangs when I get up in the morning,    sticking straight up. My mouth isn't always open ,  but  I  hum  sometimes. Oh!But my    mouth  is  always  open  when  I  laugh,which is very often.The eyes show  happiness   but also show a  stubborn look.  I  laugh easily, but  if I disagree,  then that's   the end     of  that !  Blue  is  my  favorite color, and I think  it  looks  best  with  white  or   other     shades  of blue.  The  feet  are  kind of big, because  my  feet are the same size as  my    mom's. There  is  one major difference. This bird has a really long tail, but what about    me?(Nope! No tail at all)                                                                                                 Marlene Chow 6B            An owl represents my character and personality. An    owl is extremely observant  as I am. I like to stay awake late at night, so    does the owl .  Owls  are  intelligent  and quick as I hope I am. I usually    stay neutral in issues or arguments ,  just like the owl wears only neutral    colors~balck, gray, brown, or/and white. Both the owl and I enjoy quiet    and peace. We are not very social. As owls eat viciously and violently, I    don't dawdle with my food either .  Owls  preen often, and I clean often.    Owls  don't  build  nests; they use tree holes. That fits my philosophy of:   use  minimum  effort  to  achieve  maximum  results. Owls represent my personality and character because we are very alike.                          To show recognition and understanding of humor, students chose examples from                           the novel and explained how and why they are funny.                                                                                                                                                      Marc Tan 6A          (1) One of the most humorous things in Catherine's life was in the 3rd day of February. In this     day  Catherine  was about to be betrothed to the son of baron Fulk from Normandy. But that never     happened , since on that day when the young Fulk went in to the privy Catherine set it afire!          Imagine  being  burned  when  you're a bout to something private! How would you feel if that     happened? This also humorous since it was actually done by accident! Catherine never wanted the     privy  to  be  in  blazes. She actually wanted the young Fulk inside to feel uncomfortable by filling    the  privy  with  foul-smelling smoke. When Catherine set afire a mound of wet hay nearby so that     the  privy  would  be  full of foul-smelling smoke she did not know that she was too near the privy     and so the privy was into blazes.         (2) On  the  15th  day  of  May  Catherine described the Spanish physician's hat as"He is a little    man  in  a  black  cape and a flat black hat that looks very like a big burned pancake. This also left    me laughing hard when I read it. If Catherine was very accurate at this description, who would like    to wear a hat similar to a big burned pancake especially if the wearer was a physician !  ( If there is    special meaning to wear a hat similar to a"big burned pancake" if you are a physician at those times    then please forgive me for saying these.)         (3) On th 24th day of November Catherine asks Morwenna about spells it went like this:    "Today I asked Morwenna about spells. "What," I asked, "is a spell against warts? Against sickness    in sheep ?  Oh , ah," I asked, feigning innocence, "what would one use for a spell to come between     lovers if one has no dragon dung?"          Facing  the  lovers  by  moonlight,"she said, "throw dirt from a new-made grave and say 'Love     abate. Disintegrate. Turn love to hate,'and what are you up to now Little Bird?"...        Facing  the  lovers  by  moonlight  and throw dirt from a new-made grave and say "Love abate.     Disintegrate .  Turn  love  to  hate " could actually come between lovers? How could it do so? This     objective  not  only  made  me  laugh but it also made me think, how can one use spells if one does     not know anything about magic?

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