Serial in School - Episode 3

My diagram

The theories were fast and furious today - Mr. S. definitely threw a wrench into the mix. While listening, we stopped the episode many times to make comments and conjectures.

I physically demonstrated in the classroom the layout of the Leakin park burial site, to show how strange it was that Hae's body was on the stream side of the log. By the end of the episode, most students seemed to agree with Sarah Koenig that Mr. S. overheard about the location of the body and concocted his own story.

This episode is a brilliant part of the overarching narrative. I reminded my students that we must always consider that Koenig is telling a story. We do not know everything that she knows. What I like so much about this episode is the pacing. Koenig sets up this new character from left field who adds a new interest to the story. THEN, she waits until there are only six minutes left in the episode to spring the real kicker: he's a streaker! Talk about comic relief. Like I said - brilliant.

Students waffled again on their opinions of Adnan's guilt when I polled at the end of class. Their uncertainty is a testimony to Koenig's narrative.

To help my students keep track of everything, we visually mapped out their case logs today (I'll add pictures later when they are turned in). Students used the app PureFlow to map relationships. For each person of interest, they gave a keyword to help jog their memory, and then drew arrows to demonstrate connections. On these arrows, they wrote short phrases detailing those connections.

In addition, I had students write their first journal entry where they had to defend their poll vote. Why do they think Adnan is guilty or innocent? What evidence led to that decision?

Student Character Map