The time has come to say goodbye. After nine years of curating teaching materials and almost as many of writing weekly newsletters, I have decided to retire from WebEnglish.
Thank you for all the nice comments and cups of tea I have received so far.
Keep up the good work engaging your students and finding authentic materials and books that your students are interested in.
I will leave the site online but not update any of the links. When it is no longer helpful to anybody, I will delete it from the net.
NB! If a video doesn’t show in your browser, click on the link below to go to YouTube. Background information: You can learn a lot about Native Americans here
After learning about any new words, you are advised to find them in the chapter to see how they were used. . If you are reading online, you can always search for the word in the text.
Look at Junior’s first drawing of himself. Check his
ten extra teeth pulled out
lopsided eyes and glasses
enormous skull
pencil body
huge hands and feet
stutter and lisp
Watch First Aid in Seizures in case you’ll ever see anybody having a seizure.
Listen to what the people in the video below say about the word ‘reservation‘ or “rez”, as Junior calls it.
All questions can be either discussed in class or written about as an assignment:
What were you thinking about the book after the very first paragraph? How did your thinking change towards the end of the chapter?
Read the last sentence of the chapter again. Junior uses a lot of figures of speech in his story. What do you think he means with the “dams and floods” and why does he call his cartoons “lifeboats”?
There are many more figures of speech in the first chapter and throughout the book. You could start writing the best or funniest ones down.
Take a look at some teepees, and watch the video below to learn about a Powwow.
You can also have a look at a shovel and male Indian braids, and find out what hydro- means.
Why do you think Junior and Rowdy are inseparable?
As Long As We Dance – YouTube (3:52) “The drum is the heartbeat of the Indian people. You can feel it in your feet and it moves through your body and you can just feel it in your soul.”
What you can learn about Junior’s sister, by looking closely at her picture.
In the last paragraph and the picture below, Junior tells a story without the exact words. Make sure you understand what’s happening before starting the next chapter.
Chapter 5
In this chapter, Rowdy’s name is used in a sentence: “When I first started teaching here, that’s what we did to the rowdy ones, you know? We beat them.”
Kill the Indian, save the man – YouTube (2:24) …to help raise awareness to the history that’s not taught in schools, to honor the ancestors that survived and ones that crossed over during this period of Indian history.
Chapters 6-7
See the maps of Washington State and Spokane Reservation. Hunters lies northwest, Springdale northeast, and Reardan southeast of the reservation.
Look at the map of Spokane Reservation again and explain this: “I felt like a magician slicing myself in half, with Junior living on the north side of the Spokane River and Arnold living on the south”
What are the “fistfight rules” in your culture?
Why do you think Reardan School has deleted the mascot from their website?
If you read carefully the information about Grandmother around the picture of her, you’ll learn that she makes beaded keychains to sell on eBay. She calls them “Highly SacredAboriginal Transportation Charms.” Learn about the American Indian beading tradition in the video below.
Questions to think, talk, and write about:
What do you think would have happened if Junior had just walked away from the bully?
Was Grandmother right?
How would you have handled the situation with the bully?
Roger called the motorbike ‘vintage‘. Discuss the different values Roger and Junior might have had for the Dad’s friend’s old motorbike.
Why does Penelope pretend not to recognize Junior?
Native American Beadwork – YouTube (2:20) After beads were first introduced to the Native Americans by the Europeans in the 16th century, they became a staple of Native American art.
Remember that after learning about any new words, you are advised to find them in the chapter to see how they were used. If you are reading online, you can always search for the word in the text.
Trading posts are like Indian shops.
Many Indian reservations have casinos. You can learn more about them in the video below.
Find the Flathead Indian Reservation and St. Ignatius on the map.
Questions to think, talk, and write about:
Chapter 12 is the longest one so far. It could easily be divided into three parts. Where would you divide it and what would you call each part?
Look at the title of chapter 12: ‘Slouching Toward Thanksgiving’. Why do you think the author made this into a long chapter?
Think about the pros and cons of running a casino on an Indian reservation.
In this chapter, the author reveals the name of the book. Can you explain it now?
Look at the comic strip with five ways to answer if you are poor. Think about something sensitive that someone might ask you. How would you answer?
The chapter is called ‘Dance, dance, dance’. After the first dance is over, what are the other two (or more) ‘dances’ that Arnold gets this night? (Think metaphorically.)
Chapter 18
Check the meaning of being repressed,
What were the three different words used for somebody’s backside?
Check what these words mean: a preditor, starvation, and to banish
Remember that after learning about any new words, you are advised to find them in the chapter to see how they were used. If you are reading online, you can always search for the word in the text.
Questions to think, talk, and write about:
Explain why some Indians called Junior ‘an apple’.
What was Gordy trying to say that Arnold did not understand?
Can you decipher the name of the virus in the blue picture? Why is it spelt like that?
Discuss what Lombardi’s quote below would mean in your life: “The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavour.”
Chapter 21
The Christmas song with a ‘Partridge in a Pear Tree’ is actually called ‘12 days of Christmas‘.
Watch this video about the common view of alcoholism among the Indians:
Do you know somebody who is really tolerant? Describe that person.
OR What does tolerance mean to you?
Chapter 23
Learn what a wake is.
Have a look at some Powwow dance outfits.
Listen to an Indian Mourning / Memorial Song below; the kind that Mary probably would be singing on the day of the funeral.
Learn about the Indian scouts who led the U.S. Cavalry against other Indians in the video below
If you are into basketball, you can listen to this news report (5:24) discussing the Red Lake Warriors, an all-Native American basketball team, 1998.
If you don’t know the story of David and Goliath, you can learn about it here (2:11).
Questions to think, talk, and write about:
Why did Junior/Arnold feel like an Indian scout?
How did Arnold feel after the game and why?
How did Junior feel after the game and why?
Fort Verde: The Indian Scouts – YouTube (3:25/9:51) The U.S. military used Native American Scouts in its southwestern operations. This video introduces the history of Indian Scouts and their relationship to Fort Verde State Historic Park, in Camp Verde, Arizona.
Chapter 26
Beware of the American meaning of the word faggot.
Questions to think, talk, and write about:
What’s the contradiction between the title and the chapter?
How could you interpret the title still to be true?
How was the very last sentence meaningful? “We didn’t keep score.”
After Reading
If you google “an absolutely true diary of a part time indian trailer“, you get several examples of book trailer videos made by other students. These may inspire you to make your own, either by yourself or with some friends.
About the Author
Meet Sherman Alexie- YouTube (2:54) “When you find a book about abuse or any topic of pain that you so identify with, I mean, it becomes the most reliable friend you can have because a book is always going to be there,” muses Sherman Alexie.
Sherman Alexie – Backstage – YouTube (5:55) Sherman Alexie is a poet, short story writer, novelist, and performer who has won a PEN/Hemingway Citation for Best First Fiction, and the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.
Since retiring from teaching, I have gradually felt increasingly reluctant to continue producing WebEnglish. I will continue with the weekly Newsletters until the end of May, but I plan to cut down and only produce the Monthly Newsletters starting from August 2023 onwards. Time will tell when I will close the whole page, but I promise to give you a warning well ahead.
Every year, WebEnglish suggests Chinese New Year be mentioned in English classes. Does this seem odd? Let me explain.
A big part of English studies is to present cultural phenomena in English-speaking countries. In all major cities in Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand there is a large population with a Chinese background. Chinese culture is alive and clearly visible both in and out of the Chinatowns of these cities. In a suburb of Sydney, I recently learned that 80 % of the population is of Chinese origin. No wonder Sydney is known to have the most magnificent Chinese New Year celebration outside China.
Also, you may have students in your class who have Chinese cultural background. Bringing up the topic of their greatest annual celebration will boost their self-esteem and curb potential racism against them.
I have a third, personal reason for this. I actually used to live in China, working as an English teacher for future businessmen and women. Those two years gave me an understanding and respect for this ancient culture and the people who are really loving and friendly – once you get to know them.
I love Calendars! At the beginning of every term, I used to love filling in the new calendar. It felt like Christmas to see all those days line up like presents in front of me. Somehow, they predicted my imminent future with secret promises for every day.
Every so often I would start the lesson by telling my students of this special day and letting them listen to parts of Garrison Keillor’s program Writer’s Almanac (See below: Radio – Garrison Keillor). WebEnglish Calendar gives you ideas and lesson materials for many holidays, but to cover every day of the whole year, here is a list of other calendars to brighten up the beginning of your class.
Lesson Ideas with Daily Calendars
Lesson Starter: read / listen and discuss what happened on that day/week in history.
Reading / Listening: Let students write/tell in their own words what they caught up in the text/audio.
Student Project: Let students choose a date, either in the near future (eg. a month) or their birthday that they explore in the various calendars, choose what they like, and tell their classmates about it, preferably on the actual day.
Sub Plan: Let the substitute teacher have students explore the day at hand, choose what they like, and make presentations for you to see when you are back. It could be called “The Day My Teacher Was Out”.
Looking for boredom busters? Grab this list of over 100 unique holidays and find something fun to celebrate as a family! Wacky & weird holidays every month!
If you are still on holiday, disregard this post and look it up a day or two before your first class.
A typical way to start a new term after a holiday is to ask the students what they did during the holidays. Some students dread these questions, as they didn’t do anything that they find worth telling, or perhaps there is nothing good to tell. That is why I have used these cards and started by telling my students that I know what they did!
I give the cards to student groups of 4-5. They either choose their own or deal them out surreptitiously within each group. Now they can come up with an imaginative story and tell it to the others first in groups and then one from each group tells their story to the whole class.
Lesson starters can also be used for the first lesson. Why not continue throughout the year?
WebEnglish recommends leaving the planning for the Spring term to the second lesson and letting the first lesson be all about relationships and a welcoming atmosphere. Remember to have fun!
Should you be starting with a new class, there are various getting-to-know activities for Year 1-6 and Year 7-9.
Keep enjoying your holiday, knowing that WebEnglish will publish all updated term planning pages on Sunday, Jan 4th. Do not open them until a day or two before your first class.
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