Note: Inspired by one of my favorite children’s books, “Fortunately” by Remy Charlip.
- Visuals created using Make Beliefs Comix
FORTUNATELY, we’re back to teaching at school every day – no distance learning!
UNFORTUNATELY, due to Covid, the students have missed out on many school activities, both academic and social /emotional ones, and have a lot of catching up to do this year.
FORTUNATELY, schools are intensively trying to make up for lost time – students are going on school trips and outings, experiencing workshops on topics ranging from health and safety to inclusion, and even doing volunteer work. Wonderful things! These experiences are certainly more meaningful for high school students than the additional reason their English lessons are canceled – taking exams in other subjects…
UNFORTUNATELY, I have discovered that Merriam-Webster’s definition of the musical term “staccato” is now applicable to my lessons:
“1a: cut short or apart in performing: DISCONNECTED staccato notes”
By the time we discussed the last stanza of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost during one of the lessons that did take place as scheduled, my Deaf and hard-of-hearing students needed a review of what we talked about at the beginning of the poem…
I needed an activity reviewing basic understanding of the poem.
FORTUNATELY, I had a review ready, one which I created in 2019. In this review, the speaker solicits advice from a friend about his dilemma and then explains why he rejects the advice. You can find that activity here:
DARING TO DIVE INTO THE DILEMMA – “THE ROAD NOT TAKEN”
UNFORTUNATELY, The review activity is written on flashcards, housed in a box in the classroom. This means that the activity can only be done in class…
There is so much ground to cover when the students are in class…
FORTUNATELY, I just created a digital version of the activity. I now have the speaker, stuck at the point where the two roads diverge, using his cell phone to solicit advice from friends. I posted it online using LiveWorkseets, a format which is convenient for the students to access and use, even on their phones, and is easy for me to work with.
I did not make the worksheet a self-check one. I wanted the students to type in the missing sentences, so at first glance, it would have made sense just to type in the answers and let them check themselves. However, my Deaf and hard-of-hearing students often type with spelling mistakes, and then LiveWorksheet would mark a correct answer as WRONG. I simply ask the students to send me pictures of the completed worksheets.
UNFORTUNATELY, the students ended up doing the review activity in class after all…
I may have completely wasted my time but perhaps I’ll be glad to have a digital copy in the future.
I’m sighing now but I shall not be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence – I will have forgotten about it by then!
Here is the link:
https://www.liveworksheets.com/et2648217sy
The Road Not Taken – The Dilemma, an interactive worksheet by naomima