Category Archives: Writing

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 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

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Aug 24 2013
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American Literature, Common Core, English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Reading Informational Texts, Teaching, Uncategorized, Writing

English III Hybrid TN EOC/CCSS Course: What is it to be American?

cc workshop 1

Ah. The hybrid year. Last year we piloted all that is Common Core while being assess by the TN EOC. Alas, this year we implement Common Core while being assessed by both the TN EOC (with a few supposedly dropped SPIs) and PARCC. Add in that the PARCC assessments are on a yearlong plan while our course is a semester and you have a world of differentiation and 80 hour work weeks. But me… I honestly did not get into teaching to get rich. I got into teaching so I could make a difference and do my part to make the world a better place. So I’ll take it: 80 hour work weeks, Common Core, EOCs, TRIPOD, TVAAS, and whatever else you throw at me. But I’m going to help my students get it even if there is no 15-16 year old of the inner city volunteering to read these texts.

So what’s the spin for buy in? Well, the essential question becomes “What does it mean to be an American?” Now, this isn’t so far fetched – we are American and they call out their freedoms on a regular basis. So I tied in a personal stake: I know a true American.

1. After the boring syllabus review and all that jazz, we watched a video to spark a conversation. (Find this video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Ku4RhZwC0&list=UUTCWtGoGyBSUHzI9dTw3Q1w) Students felt a connection because I’m not the only teacher at the school with a loved one who died in a very public service-related situation, and they saw those families. Then, we invited them to bring in the picture of anyone they knew who was willing to defend what it meant to be American. From there, a living bulletin board was created.

2. We built in a Common Core Workshop using Prothero’s “Introduction” from his text “The American Bible.” We actually used only an excerpt, but the idea worked very well to introduce students to the power of words. We spent a week with this text, thoroughly modeling the process of close reading, text-dependent questions, and the dreaded writing task. In all, the point was modeling the process, and I gave a tremendous amount of written feedback to each student for every single question. Amazingly the students thought they would get credit if they just wrote something in the answer slots. Amazing. Apparently some teachers do that so often the students expect it as the norm and were genuinely surprised by their grades and the feedback. They could not believe I read, scored, and responded to every single question for every single student. Once I realized they were not used to teachers carefully reading and grading, I intentionally went overboard in providing feedback. I plan to do this intensively for a bit here – as long as I can practically keep it up – until I have them well trained. I can understand having some completion grades, but these guys make it seem as if that was all they ever had for “practice” category work. Unreal.

You can find the PPT and student documents at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/American-Literature-Common-Core-Workshop-Reading-Info-Text-and-Writing-Task-844323

Interestingly, I found where someone has posted the Introduction for free on scribed. You may access that file at http://www.scribd.com/doc/95184410/American-Bible-Intro-Excerpt.

And with that, it was time to begin the textbook selections.

Welcome to Module 1: Early America to 1800.

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Aug 24 2013
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English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Motivating Students, Pacing, Teaching, Uncategorized, Writing

English III: Early American Origin Myths

Native myths 1

Our class text is Prentice Hall’s Literature: The American Experience edition. After having outdated texts for a rather long time, it is exciting to have texts which are actually designed with Common Core in mind. Unfortunately, there is just not enough time in the semester to read and discuss every text, so we have to sort of pick and choose the highlights of each period which make it into the 18 weeks.

{Now, if you are interested in the outline, you can find the outline of the course modules in my TPT store at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stephanie-Kirk-11}

Alas, the first experience our students had with the text was Native American Origin Myths. We spent a total of two days on this task, spending about 75 minutes a day. We are just coming out of an entire week on an informational text in which we painfully modeled every detail of close reading, answering text-dependent questions with evidence, and completion of a writing task, so I wanted to do something to make the lesson as engaging as possible.

Myths covered:
1. On Turtle’s Back
2. When Grizzlies Walked Upright
3. Navajo Origin Myth
4. Cherokee Origin of Fire (not in the textbook but included because this is used for modeling)

What do I want students to know and be able to do at the end of the lesson?
1. Explain the point of an origin myth.
2. Retell the origin myth.
3. Know what archetype is, identify it in text, and compare it across multiple texts.
4. Know what theme is, identify it in text, and compare it across multiple texts.

How will we get there?
We started out the lesson by reviewing common skills of archetypes, theme, and traits of origin myths. Fortunately I built the PPT in a way that if a student could tell me what it was I didn’t have to go in detail about it, but when they couldn’t remember archetypes I had that built in as well. Overplanning for anticipated difficulties is ALWAYS a good practice because it is better to have a plan for if something does not work than to allow instruction to fall apart because the students just didn’t have the knowledge you thought they should have coming into the lesson.
Anyway, I knew having the students all read every myth was going to be dreadful and boring, and there was no way to make sure that fit in the pacing. So I modified and divided the class in three groups to study an origin myth, draft it as a play, perform it, and discuss archetypes and themes across multiple texts. Students also were assigned homework to complete the reading guide and text-dependent questions, and students were held accountable for this with the included reading quiz for the second day.
Before reading I did a short story preview and vocabulary preview activity in which students reviewed the material and told me what they thought about the selection. This is such a change from when the teacher used to tell the students all about what they were going to read before reading it. By doing a story preview in this manner, curiosity increased and I think buy in and participation was enhanced.
While day one was mostly skills and notes to intro the period, we did have time for every student to complete his/her first reading of the text. The way I assigned the texts was in looking at the student lexile with some thought into the text lexile and the layers of complexity of the story. I printed the reading guides and wrote the students’ names on the page. Students were not given any sign of who their group might be until the second day. To round out the first part of the lesson, I had a canned closer of using a post-it note to create a Facebook status or Tweet based on the assigned story. To review the skill itself, I had students use an index card to write a note to an absent classmate to explain the skills reviewed/learned for the day. As I type this it occurs to me I should do that every day and post the best summary as a sort of learning wall in the room. I’ll get on that Monday.
Back to the lesson… students were to complete the next reading of the text and answer the text-dependent questions on the reading guide. To help them remember and hold them accountable I sent a Remind101 message to all parents and students in the class.
On day two, I reviewed what we had done and where we were going to go next. I created a model of exactly what I expected them to do using a new myth. Considering skills I had them tell me what the elements of drama were and what goes on a script. I showed them the myth and my script. Then I used students to help me act out the skit for the class. This was great because it allowed me to show my expectations and it allowed us to discuss the role of performer and observer in the room. I gave the students time and materials, and then they produced a script and acted out the plays. After each presentation, I used questioning to get the students to think through the patterns, characters, and symbols which repeated throughout multiple texts. As an exit ticket, I had the students use constructed response and text evidence from each myth to argue a theme in all texts.

All in all, this was a fun lesson with the students. It was hard letting go of control but the bottom line was that this lesson was probably the first time since I can’t remember when that I didn’t feel I was the hardest working person in the room. I built in character and team building, behavior expectations, and tiered accountability. If I had it to do over again, I would have revised pacing to include a more thorough discussion of theme of each myth and had some sort of reporting out format for the groups to engage the audience in talking about archetypes and themes rather than having to lead it myself. But, judging by the output, the students are good with being able to give a theme. Finding the evidence is something I need to build in future lessons for additional modeling and practice.

From American Literature Module 1: Beginnings to 1800 as featured in my English III course. The text referenced is Prentice Hall’s Literature: American Experience Edition.
If you are interested, these documents can be found at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Native-American-Myths-Prentice-Halls-Literature-American-Lit-EDITABLEKEYS-843374

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Mar 19 2013
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Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Language Strand, Writing

GRRRR! Grammar!

Growing up on a farm in the south one might think I had picked up the southern drawl of you’uns and y’alls. In reality, we girls were trained in the manner of Eliza Doolittle and, combined with my own personal disgust of tobacco spitting old ladies at church, people often assume I’m a transplanted northerner until the southern temper spikes its head. Anyway the point is I heard grammar correctly and had it drilled into my head so much that I honestly accidentally found myself correcting even my own mother. I’m not sure I even understood why certain elements were correct until Dr. Overholt drilled it into my head in the glorious days of Maryville College. I say all of that to say society owes it to our future to speak in a manner which is grammatically correct. In the urban setting, agreement and comma usage is the hardest thing to teach. It isn’t all the fault of the student because it is all they hear so them it doesn’t have the nails on the chalkboard effect.
This rant is brought to you by our testing data. We use Standards-Based Grading, so we have 5-6 questions per objective and track mastery in the manner the state does on the EOC. We tested parts of speech, agreement, and comma usage. Apparently, I suck at teaching these elements this year. But with every problem MUST come a solution.
For years, I have successfully used a mini-grammar lesson combined with the Caught ‘Ya system, but this year we were asked to use the textbook for instruction. In testing, these are the worst grammar results I have seen in at least five years. The problem with the textbook method is that if I know I’m in the comma chapter and the problem is a comma, I can probably get it right. But given a sentence with unknown problems, students tend to miss it. It is like looking at specific skills independently does not allow students to see how grammatical structures play together and function as one in sentences. And throw in the problems of text-message-ese and spoken dialect… So I’m looking for a new idea. Suggestions?
The grammar text book (which I have NEVER been a fan of) does not seem to be sticking long-term with our students, but the Caught ‘Ya model is going well. We are going to continue with CY, but we are going to add back the grammar instruction of a program called Daily Grammar Practice from DGP Publishing. In this model, students use the same sentence or passage and make different corrections each day. A good colleague (and excellent teacher) used this model in 8th grade and felt it was successful so we are going to try a few weeks with the 8th grade book to see about getting the money for the 9th grade books next year. I’m not opposed to purchasing it on my own if it works. In the midst of the start up, I created a few files which you are welcome to try if you are interested.

Files/Resources:
1. DGP Publishing Web Site: http://www.dgppublishing.com/reading.htm
2. FREE DGP Student Notes Handouts: I gave these out to students and them modeled going through each step of the sentence and consulting the page. My plan is to have them use this page on the test at first, but I will use the scaled noted system where next Monday students only have one page on which to write notes. Each week I will decrease the amount of space on which to write notes for use on the test until ultimately there are not notes. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Daily-Grammar-Practice-DGP-Notes
3. FREE DGP Student Notes Flashcards: Whatever it takes, right? I know some of the students will not use these, but for those who are interested they will be helpful.
Monday – http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Daily-Grammar-Practice-DGP-Monday-Notes-Key-Vocab-Flashcards
Tuesday – http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Daily-Grammar-Practice-DGP-Tuesday-Notes-Key-Vocab-Flashcards
Wednesday – http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Daily-Grammar-Practice-DGP-Wednesday-Notes-Key-Vocab-Flashcards

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Feb 02 2013
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Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Uncategorized, Writing

Writing Basics – Finally Finished!

Alas, we come to the close of yet another essay! I think all teachers of high school students grow tired of the writing process just in time to get a pile of papers to take home and read over the weekend.
When I was in school, we graded using the Harbrace. This time, I will be getting to use PARCC rubric just as soon as I can find a printer-friendly version. Anyway, so how did the essay end?
When I left off with my last post, we had just blown up an essay only to put it back together in looking at the order of sentences within a paragraph.
Our next step was to complete a peer review process. I have played around with a few different things, and I find students tend to think the essay is “fine” and make few corrections or suggestions. This time, I created a worksheet to guide the process in which the students had to find the key parts of each paragraph, rate them 1-5, and complete the frame of “One thing I really liked about this paragraph was…” and “One suggestion I have is…” I explained that N/A, IDK, and nothing were not options for the task, and I found the students actually did decent on this. The writing was so much better it was amazing!
Another idea to consider for the peer review is a group of 4-5 students. One student focuses on the thesis statement with a specific color ink, one on topic sentences, one on citations, one on whatever other element the student was expected to complete. They then sit in a group and literally pass the paper around with a timer to see that each essay has been reviewed by a group of peers, each with a very specific task.
When we finished the peer review yesterday, I told students it was time for a dose of accountability and reality. See, any teacher who has ever assigned an essay and tried to make parts of it homework knows there are kids who know the next day they cannot move forward without the previous part so they drag it out as long as possible. Not this time. I explained the dreaded BLUE BOOK we all saw in college. I had them raise hands to show me who was not going to have the revised draft completed by the start of class today so I knew how many to purchase. Then, I stuck to me guns. Students without the entire outline and essay were not allowed to get on the computer. Additionally, they had to sit separated to encourage focus and drive.
Then, I made a deal with our amazing librarian so that I could use a conference room attached to the library computer lab and set it up like a break room. Students who finished the final copy were admitted to take a break in the break room with some celebratory cupcakes and beverages. I also created and presented “SWAG” awards to the students to take home and show their parents. They were so excited it was worth all of the work.
In the end, I received all but three essays. Successful end to Writing Basics? I think so.

Files/Resources used during this lesson plan:
1. Expository Writing Pack is available at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-Core-Expository-Writing-Task-Teaching-Bundle-ADAPTABLE-to-ANY-text. This bundle includes adaptable .doc and .ppt files for use in working through an Expository Common Core Writing Task for mood in plot, but you could adapt it to any text you desire.
2. Peer Revision – I will post this as soon as possible. I have a few deadlines at work and several essays to read.
3. SWAG Awards – Students Working to Achieve Greatness. I posted the certificate at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/SWAG-Awards.

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