In the classroom -- A novel approach
Danette Goulet
Rapt faces followed her movements as Brittany Cornelius paced the front
of the room.
Her fake Southern twang was made more believable when paired with the
overalls, checkered shirt, pigtails and bare feet.
She told her audience of the trials and tribulations of being a tomboy
and having her lawyer father defend a black man in the South.
Brittany’s rendition of “Scout” from Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”
earned her an “A” on her presentation in Terri Foster’s honors English
class at Ensign Intermediate School in Newport Beach.
The eighth-grade class is part of the Newport-Mesa school district’s
gifted and talented program.
“It is a pleasure to teach them,” Foster said. “They’re great kids.”
Standing and lecturing, Foster said, bores her. She figures that would
undoubtedly bore her students as well, so she puts a different spin on
her teaching.
Students are required to read a novel every two months, or 80 pages a
week, for “outside reading,” said Foster. In addition, they are required
to write a character analysis and come up with a presentation in which
they portray that character.
The class also studies novels and short stories and works on breaking
down plots and themes.
“We’re always working with speech skills. It improves character,” Foster
said.
Students use props and are encouraged to become involved with the book
and its characters.
Each student had three minutes to draw the audience into their chosen
book before delivering some variation of the cliffhanger: “If you want to
find out what happens, you’ll have to read ...”
Despite a few tense nerves, students appeared to enjoy their time in the
spotlight.
The perfect image of a young boy in private school with his white shirt
and uniform red tie askew, Patrick Riley enticed his fellow classmates to
read “Beyond the Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier.
“It was kind of nerve-racking, but once you get up there, it’s easy,”
Patrick said.
Greg Gausewitz became engrossed in his character as the spy in “Eye of
the Needle” as he swept around the room in his trench coat and fake
mustache, plunging a fake dagger into the unfortunate students in the
front row.
A Slice of Life ...
* WHO: The students in Terri Foster’s eighth-grade honors English class
at Ensign Intermediate.
* WHAT: Students made oral presentations on their “outside reading”
assignments.
* WHY: To gain a deeper understanding of literature.
* MATERIALS: Some of the novels being presented were: “Eye of the
Needle,” by Ken Follett; and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.