Aug 24 2013
1 Comment
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.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Aug 24 2013
Leave a comment
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

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Aug 23 2013
Leave a comment
English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Motivating Students, Pacing, Starting a New Semester, Teaching, Uncategorized

Staying Organized!

Teacher binder 1

Alas, summer has come to an end and it is time to start the new semester!

When I created my first “To Do” list, I realized much of it was paperwork I needed to do and keep in an organized fashion. This included student rosters, data, IEPs/504s, and class documents such as planning, powerpoints, student worksheets, and assessments.

For that reason, I created a cute organization tool (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Organization-Tool-Chevron-Teacher-Binder-with-Sub-Folder-Edit-in-Word-815564). This includes editable pages for you to use to make the binder your own. Better yet, if you want it a customized cover, send me an email and I will do it and send it back to you with the cute font I have.

For my use, I have a 3-inch teacher binder and a 3-prong substitute folder I keep in the back pocket for ease of use.
If you are going to create your own teacher binder, consider including a few of these:

INCLUDES:
1. Cover Pages: Front and Back
2. Outline: Includes suggestions for each section of the binder.
3. School Information
4. Security and Emergency Divider (include directions based on school/district policy)
5. Class Roster Divider
6. Seating Chart Divider
7. Class Procedures Divider ~ Includes editable “User’s Guide” for my class in case you are interested in using this valuable management strategy.
8. Behavior Notes Divider
9. Accommodations Divider
10. Lesson Plans Divider ~ For this, I track my lesson plans and print out my PPTs. You can add the file names to the footer of the file so you will never forget where to find a document again!
11. Standards and Objectives Divider ~ Here I have both Common Core and Tennessee State SPIs in a checklist form.
12. Curriculum Map Divider
13. Student Data Divider
14. Parent Contact Divider
15. Meeting Notes Divider
16. Calendar Divider
17. Pacing Guide Divider
18. Gradebook Divider
19. Evaluations Divider
20. Professional Development Divider

Next, I have a substitute folder ready to use in the event of a last minute absence. To create one for yourself, include:
1. Substitute Folder Cover Page
2. School Information Divider
3. Security and Emergency Divider (include directions based on school/district policy)
4. Class Information/At-a-Glance Daily Schedule Divider
5. Class Roster Divider
6. Seating Chart Divider
7. Class Procedures Divider ~ Include your classroom rules and any important schoolwide rules and policies
8. Behavior Notes Divider
9. Lesson Plan Divider
10. Completed Assignments Divider

Another item I have created but not yet finalized it the outline of the modules for English III American Literature. I plan to post this WORK IN PROGRESS for free in my TPT store at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stephanie-Kirk-11. I have not yet decided what I will do with my weekly lesson plans at this point because they are so details. I wish I could just post the file to my blog for the few readers I do have.
This new content is going to be a huge struggle for me as I am re-learning this material as I teach it. To be honest, I’m about a week ahead right now but I plan to spend my weekends really marking up the texts and making sure I am prepared to teach it. I promise to post my files and lesson plans as I get them together and implement them in the classroom. I say all of that to say I may do much of my updating over the weekend, but I promise to regularly post my implementation process through the semester.

It is a work in progress. Any ideas? I’m open to suggestions.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Aug 19 2013
Leave a comment
English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Motivating Students, Pacing, Starting a New Semester, Teaching

Setting Classroom Expectations and Teambuilding

First Day = Half Day Introductions!

balloon 2

I was in an interesting position this year as I was transitioned from English I to English III: I needed a creative icebreaker even though most students knew me. We started class with a “How well do you know Mrs. K?” quiz. It was actually fun to see what students thought about me and why they thought these things. Basically, it was a multiple choice quiz with questions like, “Where does Mrs. K come from?” “What kind of dog does she have?” “What does her husband do for a living?”

Next, we did a fun balloon activity with our expectations. See, I have one rule. RESPECT. And we discuss that in our room, it is given until otherwise re-evaluated because if we all felt like it had to be earned no one would get anywhere.
The free plan and PPT can be found here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Balloon-Study-Icebreaker-and-Expectation-Setting-Activity-837721
Here is the outline:
1. Students complete a half-sheet question sheet with four questions: A. What strengths do you bring to this course? B. What weaknesses do you bring to this course? C. What do you need your classmates to do to help you be successful? D. What do you need your teachers to do to help you be successful? Students were told NOT to put their names on the page and to answer as honestly as possible.
2. Answer sheets were folder up and tucked into a balloon. We then blew up the balloons. As a vital step, all students needed the exact same color or balloons to avoid identifying the author of the page. I used dark blue because it also meant if the students wrote in marker, the color was dark enough to mask it so no one could recognize handwriting or writing utensils.
3. Students spent two minutes NOT letting the balloons touch the floor. In hindsight this should have been less because it felt like forever watching them bang balloons around.
4. Every student grabs a balloon. Students divided into two teams, popped their balloons, and tracked the answers to the questions.
5. As a class, we reviewed strengths and weaknesses. Just as I hoped, some student weaknesses were doubled as strengths. Worked like a charm to promote teambuilding and asking classmates for help during activities.
6. As a class, we reviewed expectations of the teachers and I was able to 100% agree to their expectations of me.
7. As a class, we reviewed expectations of peers. These linked perfectly with the strengths and weaknesses as well as the expectations of the teacher.
This became then became Kirk’s Classroom Constitution. Now that we have written one and they saw the effort that went into it, maybe they will have a better understanding of the real deal when we come to it.

Ideas? Questions? Comments? Please! This is my first time doing this, and I’m do my very best to prepare my students for the EOC, PARCC, and the future.

Tagged
Jun 03 2013
2 Comments
English III, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Starting a New Semester, Teaching, Uncategorized

New Year = New Subject!

This year, English I saw unprecedented gains in the EOC scores. In the inner city setting of my classroom, all but one student passed the test at proficient or advanced. Seeing this kind of data makes me feel like all of the work I have done for them and they have done individually throughout the year has been worth it. One nice thing Tennessee does for teachers is give a likely percent of proficiency. In looking at that, I had students with less than 25% chance of passing do so. Seeing the value added is a nice touch to make a teacher feel worthwhile.

After five years, the English I PLC is considered a success. So, alas, I’m reassigned to another grade level, English III, The American Experience.

The original purpose of this blog was to track and share implementation of CC in the classroom, and I did well at first. With the untimely, unexpected, and violent death of my brother, I dropped the ball at a vital part of EOC prep for my followers and readers. I do apologize for letting you down. The pace of life changed, and I had to focus on my family and my students more than my blog. However, I have decided to renew the page and complete the original mission throughout next year even though the audience will change.

Some things to look forward to in June:
~ Updates from a trip through the original colonies to gather images and information for implementation in the course
~ Updates in terms of planning the outline of instruction in the English III course

Some things to look forward to in July:
~ Updates to the blog in TAP and Instructional Delivery Ideas
~ Updates to the blog in Common Core Implementation in Tennessee

Some things to look forward to in August:
~ Curricular change to English III, The American Experience for semester one. As this is a semester class, the blog will cover first implementation and tweaks for the second round of the same course.

As always, thanks for following my educational journey. I promise to do it better this year.

Tagged , , , ,
Apr 28 2013
Leave a comment
Assessments, Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Logic and Communication, Teaching

Back to the EOC Swing of Things

Well, it has been a hard month. I returned to work at the start of April, but keeping up with all of the changes and the blog fell to the wayside. As this is the EOC Swing, I wanted to get back to helping out others and posting as much as possible.
We get out for summer on May 22, and I will diligently work on uploading everything I have missed over the gap and adapting to the change in family arrangements and the loss of my brother.
For right now, I’m going to post a few files to help cover the gap.

What’s the best review pattern?
Well, I don’t have an answer to the best. I choose to use a very structured class schedule:
1. First, our bell ringer still follows the Caught Ya method, but I modify the sentences to meet specific needs of the students. Goal, 7-10 minutes. (Because this is changed based on the previous day’s instruction, there is no specific file to upload for you.)
2. Confused Vocab: This file includes five days of warm-up/bell ringer activities for use in English classrooms (10 minutes a day for five days). The plan comes with an outline, student handouts, a notes grid, and answer keys. You can find this file at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bell-Ringer-Warm-Up-EOCEOG-Prep-for-Commonly-Confused-Words
3. Foreign Words and Phrases: I have created a variety of supplies for this, but I am not yet ready to post them. I have videos for each of the terms with short review tasks to use at the start of the year, and then I have a set with five words a day in the fill-in-the-blank sets where students must use the correct word and justify their answers by identifying context clues which helped to identify the correct term. I will get this posted as soon as possible.
4. Skills Lesson and Strand Reviews – I basically review a specific term going SPI by SPI for key terms and vocab. I have posted the first one, Communication. Use this basic PPT and student handout to reteach Tennessee State English I Communication Standards with your students. This is a great way to put all of the information in the same spot right before the test date! Activity Description: T reviews the strand with definitions and examples on the PPT. Students track information on the included graphic organizers.
FREE Activity Posted: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/EOC-Swing-Communication-Review
5. EOC Item Sampler Think Aloud – I break the test into sections and review every question. These tests are available at http://www.tn.gov/education/assessment/sec_samplers.shtml.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any ideas, comments, or suggestions.EOC Swing Communication

Mar 24 2013
Leave a comment
Other, Teaching, Uncategorized

Taking a Break (Updated 4/21/2013)

For those of you who regularly read my posts, I am taking a break for a few days. I promise to continue the efforts of tracking CC in my classroom in the near future.
iflovecouldsaveyou

Headlines:
http://www.thedailytimes.com/Local_News/story/Tale-of-life-and-loss-Family-says-Marine-was-full-of-life-id-034494 – This is an incredibly well written article by the local paper.
http://www.wbir.com/news/article/260902/2/Maryville-marine-killed-in-shootout-with-police-in-Blount-County
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20130321/NEWS/303210017/Iraq-War-veteran-killed-in-police-shooting
http://www.local8now.com/crimetracker/headlines/Crimetracker-Maryville-man-killed-in-shootout-with-police-199381101.html
http://www.wate.com/story/21893423/former-marine-shot-by-police-after-having-flashback-is-laid-to-rest
http://www.wate.com/story/21779732/marine-shot-10-times-in-police-shootout-officers-involved-idd
http://maryville.wbir.com/news/news/52432-family-maryville-marine-blames-ptsd-not-police-his-death – This is the best story done by the most compassionate reporter I have ever met. Her name is Mary Scott, and Channel 10 gets my vote because of her.

So what happened? We met with the police. It started at 2:38 am when Rufus Watson drove by too closely. TJ responded by shooting his car three times, once in each star of the Tennessee State license plate.
Police came, and TJ shot another warning at the pavement. The bullet ricocheted to the undercarriage of the car.
At that point, TJ broke into the building. He cut his wrist pretty good apparently as he punched through the glass. While he was inside, the police established a perimeter. When the police called to him, he didn’t believe that it was them and he asked to talk to my friend DJ.
They got DJ on the phone, but TJ did not believe it was him. During the call, TJ saw an officer approach him using a tree for cover. He yelled to back the perimeter, but the officer did not. He said he was going to count from ten and give a warning shot into the tree. During his count down the officers were yelling about why they could not move him and how they feared the shot. TJ then shot into the tree as he said he would. At this point the phone call became hostile because TJ thought it was a trap.
He shot his phone and did not believe it was my friend officer on the phone. The police thought he shot himself because he was in the floor corner and they could not see him. They tried calling him, but obviously he could not answer. He exited the building with his gun at his head. They asked him not to and he was agitated, waving the gun around at various directions, and had erratic movement and motions. They didn’t want to let him escape the perimeter, and he got close to three officers.
He refused to drop his weapon. They were told shoot to remove the threat. The order was shoot to remove the threat. But Chief Crisp said that a Marine is too well trained. He took grazing to the trigger fingers and never lowered the gun. He was shot in the arm, upper and lower, and shoulder. He never lowered the gun or wavered at all. He was shot in the upper leg, I think ankle next, and still never wavered. It was the bleeding out that made him finally drop it, not the hits. He took one to the butt and one to the groin. The groin would have been the one to bleed most. In ten hits, he did not lower the gun. He fought to the death.
He didn’t believe it was DJ there to help him, and he didn’t ask for me. With the other flashbacks, he asked for me and I helped him come back. But he didn’t ask for me and the police were afraid one of us were the trigger. And we couldn’t make him come back.
Just to state it again, we know what the news reported. We know what the rumors said. We also know we verified on many occasions with Police Chief Tony Crisp of Maryville Police Dept that TJ never once shot at the police officers or any actual human being.

Memorial Video:
In remembrance of Lcpl. Theodore Jones IV, beloved son, brother, cousin, uncle, husband, father, and friend. TJ, as he was affectionately called, lost his battle with PTSD on 21 March 2013. Please help raises PTSD Awareness by sharing these videos.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Mar 19 2013
Leave a comment
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

Tagged , , , , ,
Mar 15 2013
Leave a comment
Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Motivating Students, Poetry, Teaching

Day 1: How do I read a poem?

Students really struggle with making meaning of poetry. With a lack of prior knowledge and limited analytical and critical thinking skills, poetry is a difficult concept. In keeping with the scaffolding of the gradual release model, I decided to break down the process and add one step with each chunk of the lesson.
1. Preview the text of the poem by looking at the title, picture, caption, or other text features. This is actually a school-wide strategy, but I really believe it has been helpful in reading prose, so why not give it a try?
2. Read the poem for literal language. Students will read the poem and then paraphrase every few lines to track the surface level meaning of the poem. Have students complete SOAPS on the text of the poem.
3. Read the poem for figurative meaning. Students reread the poem and look for possible figurative meaning including symbols, tone, and mood.
4. Annotate the poem while looking specifically for the figurative language. Try to list the example, provide the name of the specific device, and jot down the possible meaning of the vocabulary used.
5. Annotate the poem with a different color and look specifically at the sound devices. Try to list the example, provide the name of the specific device, and jot down the way it affects the poem.
6. Notice the form of the poem. What is it?
7. Review the title and your notes. What is likely to be the theme of the poem? How do you know?

Between each step, I will model and teach key vocabulary to help increase understanding. Also, by building on the steps of the lesson the students will be practicing each step regularly to help internalize the process.

So how did the first day go? With the first day, we were able to get through the preview of the text and both literal and figurative meanings of selected poems. This was done in more of a discussion manner with a few very general stems to get the students thinking. Without having to look for specific devices, students were able to get to a deeper meaning and justify their thoughts even if it was different from what I was looking for.

Next, we took notes over figurative language including simile, metaphor, paradox, apostrophe, personification, hyperbole, pun, and idiom. Not only did the students take notes of the definitions, we looked specifically at examples of each and tried to verbalize the function of the device and the impact it had on meaning. Assessing this on the exit ticket shows that students can find meaning and back it with other parts of the poem if they know what the device is. However, if given a line and asked to identify the figurative language, they look for “like” and “as” to mark simile and the very obvious elements, but they do not recognize more complex examples or examples which are not in direct proximity. We will have time to work on this.

For tomorrow, I’m going to reteach figurative language in the context of the poem and then move into sound devices. Right now, I’m looking to model with “Rose in Concrete” which I had them complete individually. This will be great to go over the figurative language but I can also use it to model finding sound devices and tracking the effect they have on the text as well.

Ideas? Love to hear them.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Mar 06 2013
Leave a comment
Instructional Delivery: Plan and Progress, Motivating Students, Poetry

Poetry: Teaching the Figurative Language

poetry trading 1Our goal here is to move from knowing to recognizing and identifying to analyzing. So I guess I have my work cut out for me.

What’s first?

Chunking the material is going to be vital to success, but I also need to figure out a way for students to memorize the vocabulary for the unit. For that, I will use the Poetry Trading Cards. Next, I want to divide the unit into teaching figurative language one day, sound devices another, and form on another. This will give time to focus on specific skills and, ideally, I will be able to use the same poems to link each set of vocabulary skills in order to reteach while adding in the new steps.

Making the material accessible is another problem. In teaching story elements, I realized students could identify plot elements when reading short stories by Walter D. Myers and Sharon Flake, but the skills were almost non-existent in looking at classical literature. I’m anticipating the same challenges in poetry, so I’m going to do it like I have before and use some of the edited versions of Billboard hits.

Room display is going to be the poetry word wall I created. After the introduction, I can have the students create posters for each of the elements.

So… off to pick poems and put together a new unit! Ideas? Suggestions? I’m waiting.

Files/Resources:
1. Poetry Word Wall can be found at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poetry-Informational-Posters-Basic-Skills-Fig-Lang-Form-Sound
2. Essential Vocabulary Trading Cards can be found at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Essential-Vocabulary-Trading-Cards-Activity-Bundle-Poetry-Edition

Tagged , , , ,
← Older posts
Newer posts →