1. We started the class discussing an activity we began a few weeks ago where students were attempting to write three paragraphs about the same topic but using very different tones.  They have an assignment sheet they were given and this activity will now be due next Thursday, typed. An example was done on the board so students should be quite clear of what exactly is expected.
2. Next, we watched a dream sequence from the recent thriller movie The Number 23 staring Jim Carey. We discussed the existence of horror movies and how they originated from one man’s initial work, Edgar Allen Poe.
3. Students were given a copy of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, a short story written by Poe. We gathered around the laptop and watched and read along as Vincent Price, a very famous villainous actor, recited and acted the story by memory. He did a wonderful job!
4. We discussed when it was that the story was originally written and how, at the time, it would have been a new type of genre. These kids are used to horror and scary movies but we discussed how, ages ago, these ideas would  have been original and any type of horror movie, as laughable and unimpressive as it is now, would have been scary enough at the time.
5. We watched an animated version of “The Tell-Tale Heart” and then watched a stop animation video by Tim Burton about a little boy who reads Poe and then believes he Is Poe. It’s a great rhyming poem. See what you think?

   [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/tPWRqjPoQZ0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

This video is narrated by Vincent Price, an actor who is well known for his horror story parts.