Category Archives: American Literature

Feb 23 2016
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American Literature, AP Lang, AP Lang and Comp, AP Language and Composition, Common Core, English III, Grammar, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Language Strand, Teaching, Uncategorized, Writing

Week 8 – Writing Workshop

One thing is for certain: Writing can always be improved.  This week, we are going to be making a short stop to focus on the rhetorical analysis writing in detail, one part of the paper a day.  The goal is to remind students of the elements of strong responses so they are prepared to build this into their essays as a whole. Ideas? As always, I’m open to your thoughts.

 

MONDAY

Bell Ringer (15 minutes): Through the study of Litte Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

  • Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)
  • Etymology (L11.4-6)
    • G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner
    • Share outs (based on pacing)

Multiple Choice Monday: Through the study of an AP MC reading selection (Prestwick The Scarlet Letter AP Test Questions 1-10), students will be able to correctly answer the question, including justification for the selected answer.

  • Student are given 13 minutes to read the text and answer the questions.
  • T will give correct answers and percentage of students who correctly answered the question. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions about what is unknown as needed.
  • Students will review answers and write corrections with argumentative stemFOR HOMEWORK if they desire earning back the missed points.
    • Frame: I chose ___ because ____. That is wrong because ____. The correct answer is ___ because ____. 

Writing Workshop: Through the review of the rhetoric précis, the student will be able to write a thorough introduction including a thesis with vocabulary from the prompt.

Note: Student essays are evaluating the rhetorical strategies that Paine employs to accomplish his purpose.

  • Students will review the outline completed over the weekend.
  • Students will review elements of an effective introduction by looking at seven examples from released AP exams and identifying strategies for an effective introduction.
  • Students will finalize the introduction paragraph using the sentences from their outline and critical attributes from class today.
  • Peer Review (Time Permitted): Students will review the introduction paragraph for grammar, usage, and mechanics.
  • Submitted paragraphs will be reviewed by the teacher and appropriate written feedback will be returned to students during class tomorrow.

HWK: Students will write two body paragraphs using information from their outlines.

 

TUESDAY

Bell Ringer (15 minutes): Through the study of Litte Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

  • Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)
  • Etymology (L11.4-6)
    • G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner
    • Share outs (based on pacing)

Thesis Statement Tuesday: Through the review of the three types of thesis statements, students will identify what their thesis statement is and use this to organize their paragraphs.

  1. Highlight your thesis statement. What type of statement is it? Are your main points clear? How could you improve it?
  2. Syntax Evaluation: How would you label the syntax of your thesis?

Writing Workshop: Through the review of TIQA and incorporating quotes, the student will be able to write body paragraphs for the analytical essay.

Writing Workshop:

  1. The class will sit in a circle and pass their first paragraph to the person on the left for peer review.
  2. Students will return their paragraphs and evaluate the quality of feedback before deciding what revisions should be made.

NOTE: Short share out for T is track common errors on the board.

  1. What is TIQA? Look at paragraph 1. Highlight AUTHOR’s words in green, direct quotes from PAINE in red, and paraphrases from PAINE in yellow. What color should be most common on your page? Why?
  2. For body paragraph 2, students will look for the errors discovered in part 1 and make those changes on their own. Additionally, students will evaluate TIQA in their own writing.

Reflection Closing: What errors do you commonly make? How can you work to correct these errors in the future? What TIQA-related changes did you make? How can this process help you writing the final body paragraph?

 

HWK: Finalize the body of your essay.

 

WEDNESDAY

Bell Ringer (15 minutes): Through the study of Litte Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

  • Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)
  • Etymology (L11.4-6)
    • G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner
    • Share outs (based on pacing)

Writing Wednesday: Through the study of The Art of Styling Sentences and the specific review of patterns 1-3, students will be able to write thorough and concise sentences.

  1. Students will identify the sentence parts of the given sentences.
  2. Students will label the pattern of the given sentence.
  3. Students will create an example for each of the sentence patterns in their paragraphs. (Ex, one pattern per paragraph.)

Cohesive Conclusions: Through the study of concluding paragraphs from actual AP essays, the students will be able to identify critical attributes of an effective conclusion and demonstrate mastery by writing an effective conclusion.

  1. Students will review and BAT a released AP writing prompt.
  2. Students will review sample released AP conclusion paragraphs for the prompt in order to identify critical attributes of the conclusion paragraph.
  3. Students will share the CA and evaluate them as a class to create guided questions.
  4. Students will write their conclusion paragraph.

Time Permitting, students will peer review the conclusion paragraph.

Closure: Finalize your essay to submit before class tomorrow.

 

THURSDAY

Bell Ringer (15 minutes): Through the study of Litte Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

  • Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)
  • Etymology (L11.4-6)
    • G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner
    • Share outs (based on pacing)

Tutoring Thursday: Through the study of AP Rhetoric, students will be able to correctly identify and explain the given device in the task cards. (Mastery 8/10)

I: Student are given 10 minutes to review the academic vocabulary associated with the excerpts on the task cards. This is designed to help reteach missed skills, and definitions of unknown words are encouraged for learning outside of class.

D/Ap: Students will rotate through stations to complete a minimum of ten task cards each for a grade. Mastery = 8 of 10.

Visual Rhetoric: Through the study of comics and visuals found on released AP exams, the student will be able to analyze the image to create a logical conclusion.

  1. T will model the process of see, infer, and conclude again for students.
  2. Class will discuss the depth of the responses.
  3. T will model taking the conclusion and creating a sentence using the designated pattern.
  4. Students will apply the model process to analyze the visual rhetoric and track conclusions in a variety of sentence patterns.

 

HWK: Take a break. If you did not submit your essay today, you BETTER have it tomorrow morning.

 

FRIDAY

Bell Ringer (15 minutes): Through the study of Litte Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

  • Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)
  • Etymology (L11.4-6)
    • G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner
    • Share outs (based on pacing)

Free Response Friday: Through the review of the student-created essay, students will finalize and submit the rhetorical analysis essay.

  • Students will type the finalized essay with Google Docs.

Sunday News, Monday Views: Through the study of current events, students will be able to rhetorically analyze a chosen article from the weekend news.

  • Students will pick an article and complete the analysis.
  • Monday: Ss will share to raise awareness of current events and build background knowledge to help prepare for the AP exam.

~Note: This assignment is weekend homework due at the start of EVERY Monday.

 

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Feb 21 2016
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American Literature, AP Lang, AP Lang and Comp, AP Language and Composition, Common Core, English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Reading Informational Texts, Teaching, Uncategorized, Writing

Week 7 – Here’s how it went…

Monday – President’s Day: No school for students.

Tuesday – I was out, but the students had an amazing Zaption lesson to complete.  Have you used Zaption? Seriously. Best. Ever.  There is a cost, but if you open a trial through my account you can get two FREE months of the professional version.  This is WAY better than the normal trial.  Join Zaption for FREE with your TWO MONTH account – even just to explore – by clicking this link http://zapt.io/ruem93kaf .

Students review the Zaption  video lesson and take notes on the rhetorical devices they have been missing in class, including a compare and contrast of the devices they are commonly confusing.

Activity: Assessment is built into the Zaption lesson, but students are to review the three devices labeled in “The Declaration of Independence” and increase the total number to 8.  However, they may NOT use diction (because it is modeled in the video) and they may not repeat any device.

Wednesday

Bell Ringer: Through the study of Litte Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

Quick Review: Through the review of Rhetorical Devices in the text, the student will be able to analyze specific examples of rhetorical devices.

Review:  I will set the timer for 10 minutes to review the devices found in the text. ONLY DEVICES MENTIONED BY STUDENTS WILL BE DISCUSSED. The purpose is to help where needed, not to give the answers.

Syntax: Through the study of Syntax 101, students will be able to identify and analyze the syntax of “The Declaration of Independence”

Syntax 101:

O: Ss will REVIEW syntax definitions in order to understand what is being evaluated with the term “syntax” is given.

D/App: Students will practice identification throughout the scaffolded lesson.

Model: Syntactic Analysis of “The Gettysburg Address”

You Do: Students will analyze the syntax of “The Declaration of Independence” by applying the guided questions from the lesson.

Closure: Think about your answers and T’s answers. What do you notice? What did you do well? What changes might you need to make?

 

Reflection Closure: Thinking about the week’s learning on syntax. How does the learning that results from Writing Wednesdays connect to syntax? How does this affect the audience?

 

Thursday

Bell Ringer: Through the study of Litte Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

Tutoring Thursday: Through the study of USA Test Prep’s personalized ACT review lesson, students will be able to show growth of 10% in a student-selected testing strand.

Note: This activity is mandated by the school for the 60 minute study block of Tutoring Thursday.

Cycle 3: Through the study of The Crisis, students will be able to identify and analyze rhetorical strategies in “The Crisis”.

  1. Students will have ten minutes to read and annotate the text.
  2. Students will use FIRST TURN, LAST TURN to discuss the text with the assigned group.

HWK: Students should identify and analyze 8 different rhetorical strategies within the text.

 

Friday

Bell Ringer: Through the study of Litte Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

Essay Review: Through the review of the elements of an essay, the student will be able to create an outline for a rhetorical analysis of the text.

Activity: Students will review the Zaption video to review components and complete the assessment over what goes in an essay and how to ensure sufficient, relevant, and thorough evidence.

  1. Students will complete a BAT review of the prompt and write a thesis statement.
  2. Students will review the rhetorical precis and create one for the essay.
  3. Students will review TIQA and create the outline for the body paragraphs that analyze specific rhetorical strategies of the text that help Paine reach his purpose.

HWK: Have a thorough, full-sentence outline at the start of class Monday.

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Feb 12 2016
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American Literature, AP Lang, AP Lang and Comp, English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Reading Informational Texts, Teaching, Uncategorized

Week 6

The weather is definitely against us.  Fortunately, I have great students who really want to learn, and our Kik conversation goes wild at the oddest of times.

Since I was late in posting Week 5, I wanted to wait to post Week 6 so I could see what was done in my absence and try to build that into the weekly plans.  Monday went well, but Tuesday was a snow day.  As such, I’m glad I waited because you get to see how I change my weekly structures to make up for lost instructional time. As you read this post, know that Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday are exactly as it went.

Now, before reading, my formatting was to take the weekly plan I have to submit to administration and paste it into the blog.  That became confusing to a reader who contacted me and suggested I change that up a bit to be more reading friendly.  Sure thing.  Hope this helps.

 

Monday:

Bell Ringer: Through the study of Little Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

  • Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)
  • Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Etymology and GUM Quiz: Students will take the assessment for the week’s vocabulary.

  • Etymology Quiz (20ish minutes)

 

Multiple Choice Monday: Through the study of an AP MC reading selection, students will be able to correctly answer the question, including justification for the selected answer.

  • Multiple Choice Monday: Released AP Exam 2008 MCQuestions

I: Student are given 15 minutes to read the text and answer the questions. (Ss may select one final answer or one of two for half credit.)

D/Ap: Students will review answers and write corrections with argumentative stem for homework in order to earn back some of the missing points.

  • Reflection Closure:

What do you notice about how you are beginning to answer questions in the MC testing? What will be a strength to help you? What will be an area to work on before the test?

 

HWK: Read and annotate “The Declaration of Independence”

Tuesday: No school.

Wednesday

Bell Ringer: Through the study of Little Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

  • Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)
  • Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

First Turn, Last Turn: Students will use the cooperative First Turn, Last Turn structure to read and discuss “The Declaration of Independence” to ensure student comprehension.

First Turn, Last Turn:

  1. Students will have read and annotated the text the previous night for homework.
  2. Students will create three questions from the text.
  3. Students will group based on the number on their handout to talk about the sentence that stands out the most in the text.
  4. The class will openly discuss three of the student questions that have been selected by the teacher.

Video Summary: Too Late to Apologize

  • Students will have 3 minutes for a quick response using the TIQA formatting: Is it too late?

 

Diction and Tone: Through the review of diction and tone, students will be able to identify and analyze tone of specific text examples.

What we’re learned review: Diction and Tone Analysis of “The Declaration of Independence”

~ Students will select the four examples from the text that stand out the most and identify elements of diction making this an effective statement. Students will then use short response to determine the tone of the text using these four examples for justification.

 

Rhetorical Appeals: Through the review of ethos, logos, and pathos, students will be able to identify and analyze appeals included in the text.

What we’re learned review: What is ethos, logos, and pathos? Review foundational knowledge from previous classes through Shmoop instructional video.

 

HWK: Identify a minimum of two of each of the appeals in “The Declaration of Independence”

 

Thursday

Bell Ringer: Through the study of Little Red Riding Hood, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

  • Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)
  • Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

Task Card Review: Through the study of the Declaration of Independence, the students will be able to justify the rhetorical appeal in a given text.

  • Students are given a random quote from the text.
  • T will model guided questions for labeling and justifying the rhetorical appeal.
  • Ss will apply guided questions on their own.  T will verify student respses.
  • Ss will be assigned a partner for the Sage and Scribe grouping technique.
  • Ss will submit both quotes and homework.

Rhetorical Devices Reteaching: Through the study of The Declaration of Independence, the students will be able to label and analyze the use of rhetorical devices and the audience impact.

  • Discussion: What are the devices? What do these words mean?
  • T models guided questions for identification and determining meaning.
  • Examples Quiz: Students were given examples to pair with the terms as though it were a timed quiz.
  • Ss find examples within the text.

HWK: Students to find 3 rhetorical devices in the text.

Friday: No school.

 

 

Feb 10 2016
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American Literature, AP Lang, AP Lang and Comp, English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Reading Informational Texts, Teaching, Uncategorized, Writing

Week 5 – And illness takes hold.

Week 5 came with a plan, but you know what they say about that.  The second semester always seems the hardest, given snow days and flu season. Generally, I do fairly well, but this week…

 

  Standards/Objectives Detailed Agenda
W5

M

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairytales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

Etymology and GUM Quiz: Students will take the assessment for the week’s vocabulary.

 

 

Multiple Choice Monday: Through the study of an AP MC reading selection, students will be able to correctly answer the question, including justification for the selected answer.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

Etymology Quiz (20ish minutes)

Multiple Choice Monday: Released AP Exam 2008 MCQuestions

I: Student are given 15 minutes to read the text and answer the questions.

(Ss may select one final answer or one of two for half credit.)

D/Ap: Students will review answers and write corrections with argumentative stem as homework to earn back half of the missing points. (15 minutes)

Reflection Closure:

1. What do you notice about the MC testing? What will be a strength to help you? What will be an area to work on before the test?

2. How does last semester’s learning seem to fit into what you now know about this course?

Discuss Euthanasia to prepare for the library lesson. (Share out from Sunday News, Monday Views handout activity.)
W5

T

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairytales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

 

Cycle 2: Class lesson on ethics by Mr. Goff in the library.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Ethics Overview: Class will meet in the library for Mr. Goff’s Ethic Overview Lesson.

HWK: Take your planning sheet from the debate activity and write an essay to explain your position.

 
W5

W

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairytales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Writing Wednesday: Through the study of The Art of Styling Sentences, students will be able to write thorough and concise sentences.

 

First Turn, Last Turn: Students will use the cooperative First Turn, Last Turn structure to read and discuss “The Crisis” to ensure student comprehension.

 

Diction and Tone: Through the review of diction and tone, students will be able to identify and analyze tone of specific text examples.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Writing Wednesday: Sentence Pattern 3

O: Ss learn sentence pattern one through short writing lecture.

D/Ap: Ss will create sentences using the pattern by arranging groups of words and when starting from scratch. Mastery 2/3 in each group.

 

First Turn, Last Turn:

1.     Students will read and annotate the text.

2.     Students will create three questions from the text.

3.     Students will group based on the number on their handout to talk about the sentence that stands out the most in the text.

4.     The class will openly discuss three of the student questions that have been selected by the teacher.

 

What we’re learned review:

Diction and Tone Analysis of “The Crisis”

HOMEWORK: SOAPSTone of “The Crisis”

Closure: Think about your answers and T’s answers.   What do you notice? What did you do well? What changes might you need to make?
W5

Th

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairytales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Tutoring Thursday: Through the study of AP Rhetoric, students will be able to correctly identify and explain the given device in the task cards. (Mastery 8/10)

 

Cycle 3: Through the study of The Crisis, students will be able to identify and analyze rhetoric in “The Crisis”.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Tutoring Thursday: AP Rhetoric Task Cards

I: Student are given 10 minutes to review the academic vocabulary associated with the excerpts on the task cards.   This is designed to help reteach missed skills, and definitions of unknown words are encouraged for learning outside of class.

D/Ap: Students will rotate through stations to complete a minimum of ten task cards each for a grade. Mastery = 8 of 10.

 

Rhetorical Analysis

1. Students are given the text of “The Crisis” to look for 8 rhetorical elements.

2. Students are to analyze how the included device affects the audience of the text.

 
W5

F

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairytales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

 

Free Response Friday: Through the study of The Crisis, the student will be able to write a short response to a given prompt.

 

Sunday News, Monday Views: Through the study of current events, students will be able to rhetorically analyze a chosen article from the weekend news.

~Note: This assignment is weekend homework due at the start of EVERY Monday.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Free Response Friday: Students will respond to an essay question as much as possible with a 15 minutes time frame.

1. Students will review the text and analyze the prompt.

2. Students will create a quick outline.

3. Students will begin writing their response.

 

Weekly Homework Assignment of Sunday News, Monday Views:

O: Ss will learn the assignment expectations.

D/App: Students will pick an article and complete the analysis.

E: Ss will share with a partner for feedback (5 minutes each) and make revisions before submission (6).

 

HWK: Students will use article from Mr. Goff to prepare for ethics overview.

 

 

So what really happened?

Monday and Tuesday went without a hitch.  We hit a stumbling block on Wednesday with the sentence patterns, and we needed a bit more practice.  Additionally, some of the students were still really into the debate from the previous lesson.

Rather than read “The Crisis” we moved to “The Declaration of Independence” because I found out this was not read during the U. S. History course of study.  This also would give time to review rhetorical appeals since it is so overwhelmingly present in the text.

However, I ended up being sent home sick on Wednesday, and couldn’t make it in Thursday or Friday. Those who know me know I will always go in and try because even on my worst day, I’m better than some teachers.  This time, I was so out of it the students had to complete the emergency lesson plans and I actually lost a few days.

My Emergency Lesson Plans are pretty generic because the idea is that in 8 years I have never actually had to use them.  Basically, there is an article for students to read from NewsELA.  These articles can be scaled for reading levels, and they come with questions and writing prompts if you enter it in the search field.  Need an emergency plan for yourself?  Students are trained to read and annotate for understanding and then answer the multiple choice questions.  We complete a SOAPSTone analysis for everything we read, so that gave good practice. I added completing an MLA citation on the bottom a few weeks back, so most students added that out of habit.

Have you tried NewsELA? You should. https://newsela.com/

 

 

Jan 17 2016
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American Literature, AP Lang, AP Lang and Comp, AP Language and Composition, Assessments, Data, English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Pacing, Starting a New Semester, Teaching, Uncategorized, Writing

Week 2: What REALLY Happened

Between absences, delayed schedules, extended pacing, and surprise assemblies, class plans seem to always go astray.  So, here’s the way Week 2 really worked:

Monday went on as planned. Multiple choice Monday appears to be a great idea.  I used questions 15-24 on the 2007 released practice test.  I gave the students 15 minutes, but I secretly paused the timer to give 20 minutes.  Each question was worth 5 points, and they had the option of selecting only one answer for a shot at the full 5 or giving two answers for a shot at 3 points.  Students then were to reflect on how they decided to answer the questions and what scores they gained.  This strategy worked well because students do not lose points for incorrect answers, and narrowing it to two means they have tried and increased their odds.  They were told to use the “Letter of the Day” strategy for the final two minutes, but I noticed students didn’t do that.  Next week we are going to readdress “Letter of the Day” and focus on doing a preview of the questions to help provide a purpose for reading and annotating the passage.

 

Tuesday went decently well.  We used BAT the prompt, and students seemed to understand that if I’m scoring it and I am telling you to do this, then maybe you should do what I suggest.  Thesis statements and identifying the correct response or even what to write about was a struggle, and I’m going to need to focus on that moving forward.

 

Wednesday it went astray. Big time. If you don’t know your subject and verb, a sentence pattern is nearly impossible to get.  I ended up having to complete an impromptu lesson on subjects and verbs, scaling back to focus only on the base of pattern 1.  This took much more time than anticipated, and when student frustration ran high, I swapped to a very short focus on diction  in Lincoln’s address.  Analysis of diction went over much better than sentence patterns. First, students read and annotated for understanding. Next, they were to look over their notes and identify words or groups of words that stood out.  From here, they identified the words/phrases as positive, negative, or neutral.  Finally, they have to identify the overall perspective based on the diction they identified.

 

Thursday during tutorials, I had students take a quiz to match the figurative language term to the examples. I knew they had not studied the vocabulary from last week, so I prepared task cards giving the definition of the term in a complex manner.  This will appear in the TPT store as a growing bundle soon. Hopefully this weekend, but I have two kids and my (eegads!) Christmas stuff MUST come down now.

 

During class, I decided to bring sentence patterns back.  I wanted to do it through some other skill we needed to work on, so I scrapped my plans and did something completely different.  Thursday because the less-than-alliterative Visual Rhetoric Sentence Pattern Practice.  I found a few cartoons and had students apply guided questions to analyze them.  The answers were written, and then a final response had to be written to one of the four sentence patterns.  We repeated this with a total of five, one for a model and then a we do before independent practice.  Students were told to mark the subject and verb, including vertical bars between the sentence parts.  Mastery was much higher this time around, and I created a plan for tomorrow to make sure they have it.  For the last bit of class, we revisited Lincoln’s speech and identified and justified overall tone from looking at the diction that was chosen. This created a perfect opportunity to look at a shift in the passage and how that might affect the audience.

 

For Friday, I noticed I didn’t update the objective on the weekly plan, but that was okay because our day went astray again.  It was one of those days where something happened and the students were really struggling, so I had to scale back and revise. For pattern practice, I gave the students five sentences and instructed them to mark the sentence parts and then identify the pattern.  Once they did this, they were to create their own sentence of the given pattern.  This worked very well, and mastery of the creation was much higher than before. In reviewing student work, however, this is because they used the same sentence and changed names or simple details. In my mind, this is cheating, but I didn’t give any kind of direction that they could not do this.  Who knew that would be the result?  Next we moved into a discussion of an article they will be using for a guest lecture next week.  The students were to read and annotate the article.  Next, they got with a partner to discuss the article. For homework, they were to create the Toulmin Model of the text, identify specific examples of diction and overall tone, and then respond to, “Is this right?”

 

Not sticking to the intended plan was rather unavoidable this week, but I hope next week will be better. It is a short week as a result of the holiday, they will have the diagnostic placement testing for the semester, and we have the guest professor lecture of an overview of ethics.  This should give me time to post some of my resources on TPT.

 

Any suggestions to help me push students toward a higher level of academic achievement? I welcome your feedback.

Jan 10 2016
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American Literature, Assessments, Common Core, English III, Grammar, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Pacing, Starting a New Semester, Uncategorized, Writing

AP Lang: Plans for Week 2

As should be expected, I had to make some modifications to the first week.  Alas, here’s the set for this week.  As you look at my plans, please keep in mind that this is the first time I’ve taught this course — the first time in 7 years it has been offered in my school — and I’m literally starting from scratch.

I welcome your feedback as I help prepare my students for success.

  Standards/Objectives Detailed Agenda
W2

M

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairy tales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

 

Multiple Choice Monday: Through the study of an AP MC reading selection, students will be able to correctly answer the question, including justification for the selected answer.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Multiple Choice Monday: Released AP Exam 2007 MCQuestions from Joyce Carol Oates passage

I: Student are given 15 minutes to read the text and answer the questions.

(Ss may select one final answer or one of two for half credit.)

D/Ap: Students will review answers and write corrections with argumentative stem. (15 minutes)

 

Reflection Closure:

1. What do you notice about the MC testing? What will be a strength to help you? What will be an area to work on before the test?

2. How does last semester’s learning seem to fit into what you now know about this course?

 
W2

T

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairy tales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

Thesis Statement Tuesday: Through the study of an AP MC reading selection, students will be able to correctly answer the question, including justification for the selected answer.

 

Diction and Tone: Through the overview of diction and tone, students will be able to identify and analyze denotation and connotation of specific text examples.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Thesis Statement Tuesday: Released AP Exam 2007 from Joyce Carol Oates passage

I: Students are given a writing prompt to analyze and describe the task in his/her own words.

2. Students will identify possible evidence for the prompt.

3. Students will write a thesis statement for the prompt.

 

Diction and Tone Overview (Practice 1/2)

O: Ss will REVIEW diction and tone as literary devices supporting effective rhetoric.

D/App: Students will practice identification throughout the scaffolded lesson.

Closure: Think about your answers and T’s answers.   What do you notice? What did you do well? What changes might you need to make?

 

 
W1

W

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairy tales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

Writing Wednesday: Through the study of The Art of Styling Sentences, students will be able to write thorough and concise sentences.

 

Diction and Tone: Through the overview of diction and tone, students will be able to identify and analyze tone of specific text examples.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Writing Wednesday: Sentence Pattern 1

O: Ss learn sentence pattern one through short writing lecture.

D/Ap: Ss will create sentences using the pattern by arranging groups of words and when starting from scratch. Mastery 2/3 in each group.

 

 

Diction and Tone Overview (Practice 3/4)

O: Ss will REVIEW diction and tone as literary devices supporting effective rhetoric.

D/App: Students will practice identification throughout the scaffolded lesson.

Closure: Think about your answers and T’s answers.   What do you notice? What did you do well? What changes might you need to make?

 
W1

Th

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairy tales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

Tutoring Thursday: Through the study of AP Rhetoric, students will be able to correctly identify and explain the given device in the task cards. (Mastery 8/10)

 

Cycle 3: Through the study of The Crisis, students will be able to rhetorically analyze a given AP article, including analysis of diction and tone.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Tutoring Tuesday: AP Figurative Language Task Cards

I: Students are given 10 minutes to review the academic vocabulary associated with the excerpts on the task cards.   This is designed to help reteach missed skills, and definitions of unknown words are encouraged for learning outside of class.

D/Ap: Students will rotate through stations to complete a minimum of ten task cards each for a grade. Mastery = 8 of 10.

 

Vocabulary Assessment: Students will take a multiple choice assessment matching examples to the figurative language terms.

 

Diction and Tone Analysis

1. Students are given the text of “The Crisis” to look for 4 examples of diction that support the tone.

2. Students are to write a response describing the tone and providing textual evidence.

 

 

 

 
W1

F

 Bell Ringer: Through the study of fairy tales, students will be able to monitor GUM and identify the meaning of unknown words.

Hidden Agenda: Building background for allusion

 

Free Response Friday: Through the study of The Art of Styling Sentences, students will be able to write thorough and concise sentences.

 

Sunday News, Monday Views: Through the study of current events, students will be able to rhetorically analyze a chosen article from the weekend news.

~Note: This assignment becomes weekend homework due EVERY Monday.

 

 Bell Ringer: 15 minutes

Caught ‘Ya (L11.1-3)

Etymology (L11.4-6)

~ G/AF: Sentence Corrections with guided questions with assigned weekly partner

~ Share outs (based on pacing)

 

Free Response Friday: Students will respond to an essay question as much as possible with a 15 minutes time frame.

1. Students will review the prompt and thesis from Thesis Tuesday.

2. Students will create a quick outline.

3. Students will begin writing their essay.

 

Sunday News, Monday Views:

O: Ss will learn the assignment expectations. (10 minutes)

D/App: Students will pick an article (5 minutes) and complete the analysis (15 minutes).

E: Ss will share with a partner for feedback (5 minutes each) and make revisions before submission (6).

 

HWK: Students will use the article from Mr. Goff to prepare for ethics overview.

 
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Jan 08 2016
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American Literature, Common Core, English III, Grammar, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Motivating Students, Pacing, Reading Informational Texts, Teaching, Uncategorized, Writing

End of the Week Update 1/7

Screen Shot 2016-01-08 at 12.05.43 AM

We actually did fairly well with pacing and made it through the plans as I had them set. Sort of. We had class meetings called, so I had to cut something. I decided to cut out the extra part of the class designed to fit the weekly structure.

The Caught ‘Ya bell ringer and etymology system is still working fantastically.  I love this system. As long as I teach, I will never, ever, ever use another system. The data speaks volumes.

We did, however, find time for a task card review of the definitions of the primary elements of figurative language that I want them to have mastered. I made them from scratch, and I promise I will put them in my TPT store and link them here this weekend.  Right now it is just the term and definition, but it will grow into identifying the examples and creating their own examples through the next few weeks. After all, you have to start somewhere.

For instruction, we did a SOAPSTone analysis of “Tribute to a Dog” as planned.  You can find this text at the website below.  We were able to read and annotate the text, move into a discussion about what he said, how he said it, and how it affected the audience.  Then, we completed a SOAPSTone analysis.  First, I had them complete the analysis individually. Next, they shared and compared with a partner.  Then, I had them write a paragraph to explain the differences in the student work and what changes they thought they might need to make to increase the quality of their analysis.  Then, I did what I think was the most powerful part: I showed them my answers and we discussed each of them in detail.  Why did this matter? Well, it allowed the students to see the expectations for college-level responses over the minimalist approach they normally take.

Text Resource: http://pne.browardschools.com/teachers/FOV1-00157D17/Tribute%20to%20the%20dog.pdf

In looking at student work, I needed them to focus on thesis statements and topic sentences, so I added the instruction of using the prompt as a sentence starter for the response into the lesson for tomorrow. And tomorrow we are going to watch a clip from The Colbert Report and do a SOAPSTone on that.  This will allow me to address satire, parody, and mockery in a quick blurb about a topic that is relevant to them.

Considering the learning regarding the depth of the SOAPSTone itself, I’m going to model it, but then I’m going to have students do it individually so I can collect that before I show them my answers.  For closure, they are going to complete a reflection on the quality of their work and how it has changed during the week. They will list differences in their work and my work in order to create a plan for achieving at a hirer level in the coming weeks.

Hopefully, this was as effective in the long terms as it appears to have been for the last few days.  If not, I’m sure they will get it. They are going to SOAPSTone the crap out of EVERY SINGLE TEXT WE READ. #sorrynotsorry #youllthankmeoneday

.

Sep 17 2013
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Accountable Talk, American Literature, Common Core, English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Reading Informational Texts, Teaching, Uncategorized

Transitioning to the American Revolution: Patrick Henry and Ben Franklin

As we move toward the close of the module, we find ourselves looking to the birth of the new nation. For this, we needed to set the stage of the historical settings, so we worked to make it fit.

1. Speech(es) to the (Virginia) Convention and a look at rhetoric.
To start this lesson, students were given a short historical hindsight lesson (notes) with a focus on rhetorical appeal. We reviewed them quickly and I realized students were able to define the appeals without fail but the recognition of them in text was something we would work on throughout the day. Additionally, I wanted them to start evaluating the rhetoric from both perspectives – those who would agree and those who would disagree – and make a call as to whether or not the rhetoric was effective overall.

I modeled this process with the first two sentences from each text.

For this task, the class was divided in to teams. One team focused on Henry’s Speech to the Convention while the other focused on Franklin’s Speech to the Virginia Convention. This worked well to make sure students were an expert on the first text. The neat thing was how the teams were decided…

First, we took a private notecard vote on whether to fight for independence or to try to just get along. Those who voted to get along were assigned to read Henry. Those who wanted to fight were assigned to Franklin.

Once the texts were assigned, the students were given their reading guide. (Find a free copy of the reading guide at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/HenryFranklin-Speech-to-the-ConventionVirginia-Convention-Reading-Guide-877412)

Students progressed through the reading guide at their own pace and then moved to partner with a person on the opposite text. In the end, student discussion was guided by an author comparison section of the handout right before completion of the writing prompt on comparing author ideas. This wasn’t intended to be a formal essay, but more of a constructed response as we are working hard on developing paragraphs with cited evidence from the text.

Alas, let me know your thoughts so I can work to improve this lesson before the next implementation. It felt a little slighted because there was so much I wanted to get into with the text (and limiting the teacher-talk on such an amazing series of texts was really challenging!).

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Sep 15 2013
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American Literature, Common Core, English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Reading Informational Texts, Teaching, Uncategorized

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Here’s the news flash – students just don’t care for Puritan Plain Style.

For today’s lesson, I started out with reading the text several times and thinking about what it is that makes his sermon effective. Once again, I wanted to reiterate the elements of breaking down complex sentences, but then I wanted to bring in the rhetoric used in the lesson. I decided to model it after my thinking and have students look at the complex sentences before thinking about the rhetoric which makes the sentence matter.

For modeling, my questions became:
1. What is he saying?
2. How is he saying it?
3. Is he effective in getting his message across?
4. What is it that makes it effective?

For skills, I wanted to look at rhetorical devices, but the first step was looking quickly at ethos, logos, and pathos. I was quite fortunate in that the majority of my students were able to look at a blank triangle and put in the terms. I asked to students to tell me what they remembered, and I didn’t have to go into the detailed lessons reteaching the basic appeals.

At this point, I followed the suggestion of the text and looked at specific rhetorical elements of metaphor, simile, imagery, appeal to fear, and antithesis.

Here, I moved directly through the reading of the text and had students complete the reading guide.

At the end of the lesson, I wanted students to be able to identify and evaluate rhetorical elements in a speech in terms of what the speaker is saying, what he means, and how he wants it to affect the audience. In the end, I’m not sure students were able to get antithesis and implied metaphor.

Fortunately, these skills can be revisited as we move on through the next few readings so the students will be ready for the module assessment in two weeks.

Also, I will post the reading guide and a link asap. It will probably be free and just the reading guide because I’m not ready to post the PPT as I feel it needs some revision. (Link: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sinners-in-the-Hands-of-an-Angry-God-Text-Dependent-Questions-Reading-Guide-875141)

Suggestions? Let me know.

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Sep 03 2013
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Accountable Talk, American Literature, Common Core, English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Poetry, Teaching

Huswifery – A Brain Break with a Poetic Discussion

So far we have spent a solid two days on everything we have read. There is no way we can legitimately cover all of the biggies from American Literature in one tiny little semester. Such a tragedy in trying to narrow through the texts to find the biggest bang for the bucks. As an added bonus, if we skip too much time we have to teach students about the historical gaps because they don’t have the background needed to really comprehend the literature and the affect of the literature without a idea of the historical standpoint. Of course, I’m not sure I would have had all I needed to know either at that point in my educational journey, but at least we had a year to get through the curriculum.

Alas, if a module is 4 1/2 weeks, we are only a week behind. That can be justified since we did a Common Core Workshop during the first week to really take time to introduce expectations to the students (materials are free at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/American-Literature-Common-Core-Workshop-Reading-Info-Text-and-Writing-Task-844323; the blog entry is found at http://kirkscorner4commoncore.com/2013/08/24/english-iii-hybrid-tn-eocccss-course-what-is-it-to-be-american/).

So, we decided the students needed a break with a short task which could be accomplished in one day’s lesson. As an added bonus, we needed another practice with Accountable Talk stems. Huswifery, as old as it may be, provided exactly what we needed. What, then, did I do to prepare and how did it go?

First, I read the text and made notes. In my notes I noticed I was paraphrasing each part, so that became the reading skill for the students. This lesson was based on Accountable Talk, so I only needed to provide a quick reading support to build content knowledge and then scaffold a discussion. Just in case the conversation lulled, I knew I needed to have some discussion questions. Since I also want students to build critical thinking and self-directed, high-level questioning, I wanted them to created questions as well.

At first, students read the poem and took notes on what it made them think of and what they thought it was about. Next, I had them watch a video with a few images and the text of the poem. Here lies one thing I would change: If I were to do it again, between the individual reading and the video I would have the students share out with a shoulder partner to build knowledge and confidence. But the imagery served the purpose just as well. (You can find the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIod7xpO7jc.) After reading, paraphrasing the first stanza was modeled. Then, students were asked to summarize the paraphrase to get the main idea of the text. As a “We Do” the class was guided through the paraphrase process through questioning before completing the stanza summary. Students independently paraphrased and summarized the final stanza. To verify their thinking, I had students share out their ideas and then synthesize the point of the poem as a whole. From here, each student was given a post-it to create a short answer question pertaining to the text.

I collected all post-its and secretly pulled out the weak ones and added in a few I prepared in advance. All students were then given a post-it to start the discussion. I put Accountable Talk Stems on the board and set a timer for thirty minutes. From there, we had a great conversation about the text. A few students were taking notes on the poem, and I need to find a way to make more students do that.

After our discussion, we reviewed the process of close reading and paraphrasing/summarizing stanzas only to lead into a short answer writing question pertaining to the poem: What does Huswifery tell you about life during the time period? Apply what you know from previous readings to this response.

Nice.

So how did the answers turn out? I think I need to do a short lesson on how to formulate a constructed response this week. Oh… And we are going to focus on support and elaboration for the writing aspect.

If you replicate this process, please let me know how it goes for you!

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