Batesville Middle School seventh-grade students spent approximately two weeks reading,
analyzing, and “performing” an adaptation of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. The version
shared with the students came from our literature series (Savvas Realize). The adaptation was
entitled A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley by playwright Israel Horovitz. While working on
this piece, students learned new vocabulary words, made inferences based on dialogue and stage
directions, and learned various drama terms. For many years, the culminating experience has been
a trip to the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) in Indianapolis to see the piece come to life on stage.
This is followed up by a informative piece of writing (compare/contrast).
This year, for a variety of reasons, we were unable to attend the production in Indianapolis.
For a reduced rate, the IRT provided a link with a videotaped performance of the piece.
Approximately half of the students attended the production in the morning while the other half
attended a viewing in the afternoon. Students followed this up on Tuesday with a discussion of the
similarities and differences in the piece. We also discussed live theater vs. a taped performance.
Matthew Graham, Indiana's Poet Laureate, visited the AP Literature class on Monday, April 11. Graham read some poems from his most recent book, The Geography of Home. He talked about inspiration for writing poetry -- capturing moments, feelings, and images. He also told the students that poetry was "about getting as much out of language as possible.
At Batesville Primary School, Don Edwards is considered the “Pottery Legend.” He has been creating pottery with our students for over 30 years. Each student in the 2nd grade created their own piece of pottery with Mr. Edwards this week (April 11th-13th)! He will also be creating pottery with third grade students next week since they missed this experience last year due to covid restrictions. This special experience is one to remember for a lifetime and the students have a blast creating their own special piece of pottery!
