9th Grade -
We continued to work on the sonnets for part of today - the goal was to have everyone have their sonnet to the point where it has 14 lines in the correct rhyme scheme, and is written in 10 syllables per line. We are still working on developing the correct meter.
New vocabulary words - blank verse, free verse/open form, enjambment
New Poet - e.e. cummings. We are beginning to shift into looking at more contemporary poets and poetic movements, and e.e. cummings is one of the major contributors to poetry in the 20th century. One of the main aspects of his writing to focus on is the aesthetic of the words on the page - this author often ignores or changes the rules of punctuation and grammar for visual effect, or can deliver a sentence out of order in a way that still has a logical sense.
10th Grade -
The lessons outside of the final this week are focused on proper punctuation use, because this was a common error found in the majority of student essays. We started by looking at some of the historical context for the development and usage of punctuation marks; as language developed from a pictographic system, where the meaning was clear from an image, to an phonetic system, punctuation, capitalization, and spacing became much more necessary for the writing to be comprehension.
We are going to focus on one punctuation symbol per day, with a general focus on the ones that I have seen students most commonly misuse.
Day 1 - commas. If you missed class, see me to get a copy of the notes that will explain the various ways to properly use commas.
I've been lenient with mechanics in student writing, but am letting all classes know that starting second semester, students will have to spend significantly more time polishing their writing before turning anything in to me.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Jan. 10th Daily Schedule
Sorry on the late posting time . . .
9th Grade -
We focused the majority of classtime on writing a sonnet, as it is a very specific form and can take significant time to get all the pieces to fit correctly. Students took five minutes to free-write on a pair of opposites to generate content possibilities, and then we reviewed the different types of rhyme and rhyme scheme.
The first step towards writing a sonnet is getting 14 lines down in the correct rhyme scheme, and then developing iambic pentameter afterwards. The goal today was to get 14 lines written in-class, and then we will work with meter the next class.
HOMEWORK - Finish 14 lines in correct rhyme scheme to develop meter tomorrow.
10th Grade -
We watched the film version of "Who Am I This Time," focused on looking at the changes that are made to make a story more palatable to a movie audience. Also, this film proves that Christopher Walken does not age.
9th Grade -
We focused the majority of classtime on writing a sonnet, as it is a very specific form and can take significant time to get all the pieces to fit correctly. Students took five minutes to free-write on a pair of opposites to generate content possibilities, and then we reviewed the different types of rhyme and rhyme scheme.
The first step towards writing a sonnet is getting 14 lines down in the correct rhyme scheme, and then developing iambic pentameter afterwards. The goal today was to get 14 lines written in-class, and then we will work with meter the next class.
HOMEWORK - Finish 14 lines in correct rhyme scheme to develop meter tomorrow.
10th Grade -
We watched the film version of "Who Am I This Time," focused on looking at the changes that are made to make a story more palatable to a movie audience. Also, this film proves that Christopher Walken does not age.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Jan. 7th Daily Plan
9th Grade -
Again, we covered a wide range of material relating to poetry, and continued working on laying the foundations to have students write a sonnet. We started the class with some free-word association, with the goal in mind of developing some background ideas for potential topics to write about later.
The definitions added to the poetry term list today are entirely related to rhyme scheme.
Rhyme - perfect rhyme, general rhyme (general rhyme includes slant rhyme, imperfect rhyme, syllabic rhyme, and half rhyme).
Students practiced developed multiple rhymes in each one of these definitions.
For the test on poetic terms - we will ONLY use terms and poets taught this week.
We analyzed a couple of sonnets to develop rhyme scheme, as well as looking at how content is used in a poem.
Specifically, we focused on Shakespeare's Sonnet #130 (easily found through Google) as an example of how to use the "volta," or contextual shift in a sonnet.
10th Grade -
Students had the day to finish the inferential comprehension B.O.E. exam. Those that finished had the day to read silently.
As a way to incorporate students' personal reading books, the final test for the semester will be based on the books students have been reading. Expect to be identifying and providing examples over some of the literary terms we have discussed this term in relation to whatever book you have been reading.
Have a good weekend - paz.
Again, we covered a wide range of material relating to poetry, and continued working on laying the foundations to have students write a sonnet. We started the class with some free-word association, with the goal in mind of developing some background ideas for potential topics to write about later.
The definitions added to the poetry term list today are entirely related to rhyme scheme.
Rhyme - perfect rhyme, general rhyme (general rhyme includes slant rhyme, imperfect rhyme, syllabic rhyme, and half rhyme).
Students practiced developed multiple rhymes in each one of these definitions.
For the test on poetic terms - we will ONLY use terms and poets taught this week.
We analyzed a couple of sonnets to develop rhyme scheme, as well as looking at how content is used in a poem.
Specifically, we focused on Shakespeare's Sonnet #130 (easily found through Google) as an example of how to use the "volta," or contextual shift in a sonnet.
10th Grade -
Students had the day to finish the inferential comprehension B.O.E. exam. Those that finished had the day to read silently.
As a way to incorporate students' personal reading books, the final test for the semester will be based on the books students have been reading. Expect to be identifying and providing examples over some of the literary terms we have discussed this term in relation to whatever book you have been reading.
Have a good weekend - paz.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Jan. 6th Daily Plan
9th Grade -
This day covered quite a bit of information in our poetry unit. We added several poetic terms to our list, covered another major author, did an activity focused on better understanding of meter, and learned another major poetic form, which we will practice more tomorrow. The outline of what was covered today is as follows -
Poetic Terms - caesura, convention, figurative language, simile, metaphor, sonnet
Cultural Literacy - Shakespeare. There is way more information on Shakespeare that we could hope to cover, and we will be discussing this author in much greater depth later in the semester when we read Romeo and Juliet. For the sake of what we are learning currently, we viewed Shakespeare for his role in developing the sonnet, as the Shakespearean (English) follows a unique structure.
Meter - a large proportion of classtime was dedicated to understanding meter. I provided a handout that works as a study guide over the different parts of speech, as well as how to identify the standard stress on each part of speech. These are not solid rules and have exceptions, but for the most part, all words fall into a pattern.
Sonnet - We looked at the major guidelines for the structure of two different types of Sonnet - Italian and English.
Italian - 14 lines in iambic pentameter, broken into two major sections
(an octavo [8 lines] and a sextet [six lines]
English - 14 lines in iambic pentameter, broken into two major sections
(3 quatrains [4 lines] and a couplet [2 lines]
Both look at an observation/analysis/idea in the first section, and a refutation/criticism/clarification in the last section.
10th Grade -
BOE exam over inferential comprehension. For those that did not finish today, we will have time tomorrow to complete. For those that did finish, BRING SSR BOOK.
This day covered quite a bit of information in our poetry unit. We added several poetic terms to our list, covered another major author, did an activity focused on better understanding of meter, and learned another major poetic form, which we will practice more tomorrow. The outline of what was covered today is as follows -
Poetic Terms - caesura, convention, figurative language, simile, metaphor, sonnet
Cultural Literacy - Shakespeare. There is way more information on Shakespeare that we could hope to cover, and we will be discussing this author in much greater depth later in the semester when we read Romeo and Juliet. For the sake of what we are learning currently, we viewed Shakespeare for his role in developing the sonnet, as the Shakespearean (English) follows a unique structure.
Meter - a large proportion of classtime was dedicated to understanding meter. I provided a handout that works as a study guide over the different parts of speech, as well as how to identify the standard stress on each part of speech. These are not solid rules and have exceptions, but for the most part, all words fall into a pattern.
Sonnet - We looked at the major guidelines for the structure of two different types of Sonnet - Italian and English.
Italian - 14 lines in iambic pentameter, broken into two major sections
(an octavo [8 lines] and a sextet [six lines]
English - 14 lines in iambic pentameter, broken into two major sections
(3 quatrains [4 lines] and a couplet [2 lines]
Both look at an observation/analysis/idea in the first section, and a refutation/criticism/clarification in the last section.
10th Grade -
BOE exam over inferential comprehension. For those that did not finish today, we will have time tomorrow to complete. For those that did finish, BRING SSR BOOK.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Jan. 5th Daily Plan
9th Grade -
We continued our unit on poetry by adding several more poetic terms, another famous poet, and then worked on writing Haiku's in class.
The class did a short worksheet to reinforce the idea of connotation that we worked on yesterday; focused on how some words have a secondary, associated meaning other than their literal definition (ex. the word "riot" and "demonstration" may refer to the same event, but the implied meaning is not the same)
Poetic Terms - denotation, imagery, metonymy, onomatopoeia, closed form
Cultural Literacy - Basho - Basho is the originator of the Haiku form. Previously, the Haiku was the "hokku," which served as the introductory lines of a longer, collaborative poem called the "renga."
Haiku - a poem in 17 mora, a Japanese part of speech similar to syllables. In English, the Haiku is written in three lines, with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. Generally there is an thematic element of nature, and the aim is to create a "snapshot" in time. The third line often serves as a "cut" or "shift" that doesn't necessarily break the flow of the poem, but concludes or changes the meaning.
Students wrote several Haiku's in their in-class journals, based on images presented in class.
10th Grade -
We continued studying the concept and application of inference using short stories and passages in class today. We finished the short story "High Horse's Courting," and reviewed the seven inferential questions in relation to this text.
In addition, we looked at several other questions of causal inference. These were divided into four categories.
Motivational - Why? (Fairly clear, what is the character's motivation in performing an action?)
Psychological - Why did . . . what happened when . . . (What causes a character's reaction in a story? How to events change the way a character acts?)
Physical - Why did . . . what happened when . . . (Similar question structure to psychological, but has a clear physical reaction. Ex. What happens when someone falls off a cliff? There is a clear, physical consequence that can be inferred).
Enabling - How did . . . (What are characters capable of? Ex. If you know a character is a surgeon, what skills do you infer s/he likely has?)
We practiced developing these inferences by reviewing short passages about various characters, followed by making assumptions about what the other aspects of their lives would be based on the limited information provided.
BOE EXAM ON INFERENCE TOMORROW!
We continued our unit on poetry by adding several more poetic terms, another famous poet, and then worked on writing Haiku's in class.
The class did a short worksheet to reinforce the idea of connotation that we worked on yesterday; focused on how some words have a secondary, associated meaning other than their literal definition (ex. the word "riot" and "demonstration" may refer to the same event, but the implied meaning is not the same)
Poetic Terms - denotation, imagery, metonymy, onomatopoeia, closed form
Cultural Literacy - Basho - Basho is the originator of the Haiku form. Previously, the Haiku was the "hokku," which served as the introductory lines of a longer, collaborative poem called the "renga."
Haiku - a poem in 17 mora, a Japanese part of speech similar to syllables. In English, the Haiku is written in three lines, with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. Generally there is an thematic element of nature, and the aim is to create a "snapshot" in time. The third line often serves as a "cut" or "shift" that doesn't necessarily break the flow of the poem, but concludes or changes the meaning.
Students wrote several Haiku's in their in-class journals, based on images presented in class.
10th Grade -
We continued studying the concept and application of inference using short stories and passages in class today. We finished the short story "High Horse's Courting," and reviewed the seven inferential questions in relation to this text.
In addition, we looked at several other questions of causal inference. These were divided into four categories.
Motivational - Why? (Fairly clear, what is the character's motivation in performing an action?)
Psychological - Why did . . . what happened when . . . (What causes a character's reaction in a story? How to events change the way a character acts?)
Physical - Why did . . . what happened when . . . (Similar question structure to psychological, but has a clear physical reaction. Ex. What happens when someone falls off a cliff? There is a clear, physical consequence that can be inferred).
Enabling - How did . . . (What are characters capable of? Ex. If you know a character is a surgeon, what skills do you infer s/he likely has?)
We practiced developing these inferences by reviewing short passages about various characters, followed by making assumptions about what the other aspects of their lives would be based on the limited information provided.
BOE EXAM ON INFERENCE TOMORROW!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Jan. 4th Daily Plan
9th Grade -
We continued on our introduction to Poetry unit. Today focused on providing a little Cultural Literacy context by giving the background information on a famous author (Robert Frost, author of the poem the class read yesterday), as well as working with several poetic terms.
The majority of the class today was focused on the idea of connotation in language, and how many words have a secondary associated meaning. Students took a short "connotation quiz" to evaluate which of three synonyms was positive, negative, and neutral.
The class also did an activity focused on the names of popular (and some unpopular) cars, and what connotation automobile names have to target an intended audience. We looked at the names of cars in the 1960s (Thunderbird, Charger, Mustang) and the 1970s (Rabbit, Pinto, Civic), and how the economic climate is reflected in the names of the vehicles.
The activity is on a hand-out provided in class, so if you missed this day, you can pick up a copy from me.
Poetic Terms Reviewed -
Connotation
Stanza
Couplet
Meter
Rhyme
10th Grade -
We continued working with the idea of inference, in anticipation of the B.O.E. exam focused on this skill.
To warm-up, students were presented another two images with which to develop a backstory by pulling details from the image to create the necessary information.
Students were also given the seven inferential question.
1) Background Information - (who, what, where)
2) Key Details (details necessary for understanding the plot)
3) Stated relationship (directly tells the reader how two characters interact)
4) Simple implied relationship (must infer the relationship between two characters through clear evidence)
5) Complex implied relationship (must infer the relationship between two or more characters through indirect evidence)
6) Author's Generalization - what message is the author trying to convey about the world through the story? What connections could you make between the text and the world around you?
7) Structural Generalization - what message (or lesson) could you take from the story based on the way the characters change from beginning to end?
We practiced developing this information with a story from the textbook - One Hundred Cows (pg 639).
We also started on another, slighly more complex story from the textbook - High Horse's Courting (pg 647).
We continued on our introduction to Poetry unit. Today focused on providing a little Cultural Literacy context by giving the background information on a famous author (Robert Frost, author of the poem the class read yesterday), as well as working with several poetic terms.
The majority of the class today was focused on the idea of connotation in language, and how many words have a secondary associated meaning. Students took a short "connotation quiz" to evaluate which of three synonyms was positive, negative, and neutral.
The class also did an activity focused on the names of popular (and some unpopular) cars, and what connotation automobile names have to target an intended audience. We looked at the names of cars in the 1960s (Thunderbird, Charger, Mustang) and the 1970s (Rabbit, Pinto, Civic), and how the economic climate is reflected in the names of the vehicles.
The activity is on a hand-out provided in class, so if you missed this day, you can pick up a copy from me.
Poetic Terms Reviewed -
Connotation
Stanza
Couplet
Meter
Rhyme
10th Grade -
We continued working with the idea of inference, in anticipation of the B.O.E. exam focused on this skill.
To warm-up, students were presented another two images with which to develop a backstory by pulling details from the image to create the necessary information.
Students were also given the seven inferential question.
1) Background Information - (who, what, where)
2) Key Details (details necessary for understanding the plot)
3) Stated relationship (directly tells the reader how two characters interact)
4) Simple implied relationship (must infer the relationship between two characters through clear evidence)
5) Complex implied relationship (must infer the relationship between two or more characters through indirect evidence)
6) Author's Generalization - what message is the author trying to convey about the world through the story? What connections could you make between the text and the world around you?
7) Structural Generalization - what message (or lesson) could you take from the story based on the way the characters change from beginning to end?
We practiced developing this information with a story from the textbook - One Hundred Cows (pg 639).
We also started on another, slighly more complex story from the textbook - High Horse's Courting (pg 647).
Monday, January 3, 2011
Jan. 3rd Daily Plan
Hope everyone had a solid Winter Break, and welcome to 2011.
9th Grade - First day of the new year, and we are starting another unit that will be the focus for January.
Freshmen classes are starting a unit on Poetry, and its connections to contemporary music. This first class of the year focused on gauging students' background knowledge on the subject, and providing a basic blueprint for the next several weeks.
In class, we completed an anticipation guide, asking for students' viewpoints on poetic form and content.
After discussing the results from this opening activity, we analyzed the first poem of the unit as a class - Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."
Over the next two week, we will focus on developing familiarity with a wide range of poetic form, terms, and several famous authors.
10th Grade - Another week, another unit. Sophomores have two major focus points before the end of the semester, with this week focused on the concept of inference in preparation for a B.O.E. examination later this week.
I gave students some background information over the concept of inference - basically, how it is an important skill and is used by all people on a daily basis, in many different forms.
The basic inferential process (extremely simplified version)
external, observerable data - data is filtered by the observer - meaning is added - assumptions are made based on meaning - conclusions are drawn from assumptions - beliefs are altered by the added data - process repeats/action taken.
We looked at the inference process by looking at several images, and describing what clues there are to provide the context for the image. Students then did an activity where they had to create captions to blank comics, inferring the meaning of the scene.
We will be applying these skills in more depth to text this week.
9th Grade - First day of the new year, and we are starting another unit that will be the focus for January.
Freshmen classes are starting a unit on Poetry, and its connections to contemporary music. This first class of the year focused on gauging students' background knowledge on the subject, and providing a basic blueprint for the next several weeks.
In class, we completed an anticipation guide, asking for students' viewpoints on poetic form and content.
After discussing the results from this opening activity, we analyzed the first poem of the unit as a class - Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."
Over the next two week, we will focus on developing familiarity with a wide range of poetic form, terms, and several famous authors.
10th Grade - Another week, another unit. Sophomores have two major focus points before the end of the semester, with this week focused on the concept of inference in preparation for a B.O.E. examination later this week.
I gave students some background information over the concept of inference - basically, how it is an important skill and is used by all people on a daily basis, in many different forms.
The basic inferential process (extremely simplified version)
external, observerable data - data is filtered by the observer - meaning is added - assumptions are made based on meaning - conclusions are drawn from assumptions - beliefs are altered by the added data - process repeats/action taken.
We looked at the inference process by looking at several images, and describing what clues there are to provide the context for the image. Students then did an activity where they had to create captions to blank comics, inferring the meaning of the scene.
We will be applying these skills in more depth to text this week.
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