"Harrison Bergeron" Finale - Review of Logic - "Chronological Order" - Student Lists of Texas History Events

Analysis of Pictures from Video Versions of "Harrison Bergeron"

• Students wrote and analyzed their responses to 3 different pictorial representations of Harrison.
• See ppt. here. & student analysis here.
• Students began writing a paragraph analyzing what they learned from "Harrison Bergeron." They are to post it on their blog, along with a picture representing what they learned.

Review of Grade 6 Logic

• Students discussed their concept of "logic," based on what they learned last year.
• As I was trying to get an understanding of this, I took notes, which can be accessed here.
• "chronological order" - Students discussed this important historical concept. Their insights are in the notes.

Overview of Texas History

Students wrote down every event, development, person, etc., they could remember from Texas history.

Assignment - Due Wednesday, 9/3

Complete the blog post analyzing what you learned from "Harrison Bergeron."

Include an appropriate picture illustrating what you learned.

"Harrison Bergeron" - Discussion - Scenarios - VideoNot.es

Class Discussion - "Harrison Bergeron"

• We began with some student questions:
• Wingboy:: Did everyone have a handicap bag and a mask?
• 12345: Why would the government stop people like George from taking unfair advantage of his brain?
• One student had taken the initiative to copy and paste pictures illustrating HB and provoked interesting analysis relating to the story.

Timeline of Possible HB Scenarios

• Students collaborated on a GooDoc tracing possible scenarios that moved U.S. society from the inequality of 1961 to the completely equal society of 2081. 
• One student cleverly took it beyond 2081.

VideoNot.es on Trailer to 2081 - Instructions:

1. Set up another gmail account.
2. Go to VideoNot.es. - Log in with Google account. Grant the permissions.
3. VideoNot.es lets you take notes while watching a video.
4. It saves your notes and video in your Google Drive.
5. Copy and paste the URL to the trailer to the 2081 movie trailer into VideoNote.es. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE_nr2t6fKQ
6. Watch the video and demonstrate your knowledge of the story in the Notes section. Pause to point out connections between the Vonnegut story and what we see in the 2081 trailer.

One student's VideoNot.es on the trailer can be viewed here.

Assignment - For tomorrow:

Finish up the VideoNot.es and any preparation needed to continue the discussion of "Harrison Bergeron."
Add to the 1961-2081+ scenario you worked on in class.
12345 - You need to make up for the time missed in class!!

Pre-Reading Prep for "Harrison Bergeron"

Pre-Reading Discussion Related to Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron"

• HB deals with a futuristic society in which the government enforces equality. (Students were not specifically told this before beginning what follows.)
• Students dealt with the issue of equality step-by-step as follows.

1. Wrote on a GooDoc everything that comes to mind when they think of the word "equality."
2. Discussed and commented on one another's ideas.
3. Began reading HB.
4. Learned how to use the online app Scrible to highlight and color code web pages.
5. Began reading HB.
6. Raised questions about the story as they read. Most of the questions were fact-based, and students were directed to the web to find answers.

Assignment: By tomorrow:

1. Read "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut.
2. Write in complete sentences at least 5 good open-ended questions, one per page. Your questions should be about

• Anything you didn't quite understand or
• Something you found interesting and would like to discuss with your classmates.

If you haven't caught up with all previous assignments, do so by tomorrow. I am going to assign grades based on what you have completed so far.