Treasure Chest of Thoughts

Today, my own version of a sci-fi world continued as I created this cartoon strip for my World of Hollywood using ToonDoo:

Very easy to use, this cartoon strip took me just minutes to create (once I learned how to navigate the system).  ToonDoo provides many images and backdrops and literally with just a few clicks, I had this one created.

As you may recall, I created Hollywood last year using HeroMachine 2.5 for the Pre-Ap English 10’s multi-genre sci-fi project.  Just to review, Hollywood’s goal to save those innocent little fifth grade girls from the advances of the want-to-be-fifth-grade-boyfriends.  (I am probably having too much fun with this storyline!)

This, the creation of the cartoon,  is an excellent way to review punctuation of dialogue.

This year, instead of each student creating a new world, each lit circle group is creating one new sci-fi world…and, oh, the dialogue that occurs as they debate, discuss, and, sometimes, agree to disagree!  Good project for working on group dynamics!

The groups will present their final projects using Glogster, which has recently released a version for the education world.  Thank you, Glogster!  Yes, more updates on that to follow!

You are cordially invited to peruse my students’ blogs and read their latest poetic creations in honor of National Poetry Month and our current thematic units.  (Poems should be posted by Friday!)

• English 11:  Click here to go to a list of this class’s blogs.  Their latest poetic posting is a haiku commemorating the Holocaust and what they have learned thus far in our Courage to Be Responsible thematic unit.  By the way, Holocaust Remembrance Day is today April 21.  Tomorrow, this class will learn about fate of the butterflies each has created in memory of a child who was a part of the Terezin Concentration Camp…(will post tomorrow about this…with pictures of fluttering creations).  Each student’s butterfly is based on a poem taken from I Never Saw Another Butterfly. These butterflies will now migrate to the Holocaust Museum in Houston, TX, where they are attempting to collect 1,500,000 butterfliesto commemorate the children killed in the Holocaust.
• Again…thanks to Dr. Pezz for inspiring this project through a blog post of his.
• Pre-AP English 10:  Click here to access this class’s blogs.  Today we discussed William Carlos Williams’ poem “The Little Red Wheelbarrow” and how this poem aptly fits into our Utopia vs. Dystopia unit.  Then, to my delight, I assigned each to write a poem using this one as a model.  (Please click here if interested in reading this poem and checking out my PowerPoint I used with this discussion.)  Such a powerful poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

It’s beginning to look a lot like a kindergarten class…at least, in room 16!

I have to confess:  I am a project-based learning teacher at heart.  Not a master of this method, by no means, but a definite wanna-be.

Pictured here is the work (in progress) of my English classes.  Journey with me, please, as we peruse this recent work by my students.

On the left bulletin board are the masks created by each student upon completion of our initial discussion of the terms utopia vs. dystopia, a reading of Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s “I Wear the Mask,” and the writing of an essay which revealed to the reader why each student is who he/she is…digging into the “why” behind each selected personal characteristic.  The mask displays to the world (our class, of course!) the colors that best represents each student…no words or symbols were allowed! 

They loved this assignment!  “We want to color more!”

This assignment was the prelude to our reading Anthemby Ayn Rand and writing and submitting an essay for the contest on this novel.  Now, that after Spring Break, we will continue the discussion of our thematic unit Utopia vs. Dystopia with the reading of Animal Farm.

The bulletin board on the right is a display of Wordles of the students’ initial thoughts on the Holocaust in a multi-genre unit entitled The Courage to Be Responsible.  Again, they appreciated the creativity and, of course, the use of technology.  Following this activity, each student selected a sub-topic on the Holocaust on which to write an essay requiring one primary and two secondary sources.  In essence, the class as a whole is writing a research paper; each student is just in charge of one component (or one Roman numeral).  Before reading Night, each will present his/her topic to the rest of the class, using PowerPoint with embedded links (and maybe video).

Next time?  Pictures of the butterflies created to commemorate the children in the Terezin Concentration Camp.  Have seen two of them so far (they are due tomorrow)…wonderful (and colorful) tributes to such a horrific time.

They loved this assignment!  “This is so much better than taking the End-of-Level Exam!”

Yes, there is definitely time for creativity.

What methods do you use to encourage students to analyze an author’s sentence/writing style?

Here’s one way I am using our class blog to study Jack London’s style.

How might I utilize this method even more?

A time to reflect…that is what I will give my Pre-AP English 10 students as I ask them to study this Wordle of President Barak Obama’s speech and then to read his speech and gather evidence of the following persuasive techniques:

1. Claim: State your argument.
2. Big Names: Important people or experts can make your argument seem more convincing. 
3. Appeal to Logos: Facts, numbers, and information can be very convincing.
4. Appeal to Pathos: Getting people to feel happy, sad, or angry can help your argument.
5. Appeal to Ethos: If people believe and trust in you, you are more likely to persuade them.
6. Kairos: Try to convince your audience that this issue is so important they must act now.
7. Research: Using reliable research can help your argument seem convincing. Yes, Antigone would be considered research in this essay.

Just wish I had thought to create this assignment for Martin Luther King’s speech as a prelude to Obama’s speech.  Another example of hindsight being 20/20!  Will have this lesson ready in four years, though!

Partial credit for the Wordle also goes to the following two blogs:

1. Daniel H. Pink, author of a A Whole New Mind
2. Mrs. Huff’s English Classes, English teacher from Georgia and author of A Question of Honor

Thanks!

In a recent post, I discussed the Ladder of Questioning method.  Since then, I have presented a PowerPoint and short story “Marigolds” explaining this to my Pre-AP English 10 students.

Today during Writer’s Notebook time, each student developed sample questions for each level of questioning using John Keat’s poem “A Song About Myself” as a the source.

Now for the fun!  Within each lit circle group, I appointed a discussion director to whom I extended an invitation through Google Docs to share and collaborate on a graphic organizer these three levels of questions.

Not a single moan and groan!

The heavy is now on the discussion director (who had to obtain each club member’s gmail) to quickly invite the other clubbers so that the whole group can go to work.  The discussion director may either invite/share with me or email me this document when the group’s work is completed.

The assignment?  Each club member is to add two questions to each level…and, of course, no question may be repeated.  As soon as the student hits the “save” button, all the other club members will be able to view his/her question selections.  Instantaneous interaction!

Yes, we now have online lit circles…at the convenience of each club member, just as long as each student inputs his/her questions by Monday morning!

I really, really (yes, to be redundant!) like this tool!  Very much, I like this technology!

Diggin’ deeper?  Thinkin’ more critically?  Climbin’ the ladder?

Let’s dig, let’s think, let’s climb to a greater understanding of the texts we are about to read.

First, let’s give credit where credit is due.  The source for this concept is The AP Vertical Teams Guide for English.  For the past two summers, I have attended Pre-AP English training, first a two-day workshop and then a five-day workshop this past summer on the campus of ASU, at which this book served as our mentor text.

How will we utilize this within the classroom?  First,  we will develop questions for each step on the below three-rung ladder about a text that we will read together entitled “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier. 

Three-Rung Ladder of Questioning

1. Literal Level
   * Factual
   * Address key elements
   Answers found directly in text.
2. Interpretive Level
   * Inferential
   * Motive of author or a character
   * Answers found by following patterns and seeing relationships amongst parts of the text.
3. Experienced-Based Level
   * Connecting
   * Link text to prior knowledge, other texts, or experiences
   * Answers found by testing the ideas of a text against readers’ schema.

Next, we will analyze John Keats’ poem “A Song about Myself.”  You may also find a copy of this poem on our class wiki at Mrs G Info.  Using this poem as our mentor text, your lit circle group will meet online via Google Docs as you share collaboration on a form that I will email the discussion director within your group.

Why are we studying this poem?  Yes, to continue our study of our thematic unit Who Am I?

Then what?  As we read Julius Caesar, each of you will be required to develop questions for each level for each act of the play.  Why?  The development of these skills are not intended to just fill sheets of paper and “kill another tree.”  The reality is this:  these skills will greatly enhance your success in your AP courses, your score on your AP exams, which ultimately will result in your being a step-up on the college ladder of success!

This post may also be found at Writing Right, my Pre-AP English 10 class blog.

Another new adventure for me…reading a novel with one lit circle group within each of my English 11 classes.

First, to the group that assigned 175 pages for the first reading…let’s just say this is a good reminder of what being assigned homework is like…and what it feels like as I wait too long to begin the next assignment!  Don’t worry!  I’ll make it!

Right now, both of these classes are reading historical fiction, a genre I have not read in some time.   My in-class library needs some help here also…not enough choice and not near enough novels on our reading levels!

Here’s a list of what we are reading for our “A Pioneer Never Quits Unit”:

• Indian Captive
• The Sacrafice
• Fever 1793
• Caddie Woodlawn:  I’m in that group!
• Black Storm Comin’
• The Glory Field:  This is the group that assigned me 175 pages for the first assignment!  Good book, though!

Yesterday, we met for our first club meeting.  Reinforced  the fact that lit circles should assist in retention of content and a much deeper reading.  I am a sticky-note user (saves writing in my class books and my annotating choice of the day), so I showed the class my novel…one quickly sprouting pink wings (Caddie Woodlawn)!  Today’s group (The Glory Field) will see how I am using sticky notes to divide the book as the author has done…by segments of time.

Next time?  We adopt our roles and report accordingly.  Each person assumes a different role for each club meeting (of course, no two may have the same role on the same day).  Uh, oh…what role was I assigned? 

1. Discussion Director
2. Illustrator
3. Wordsmith
4. Summarizer
5. Travel Tracker
6. Vocabulary Enricher
7. Connector
8. Conflict Connector

The assigment includes having their role ready to discuss, then taking notes on the other roles as each club member discusses his/her findings.

Yes, reading deeper!  Need to find that extra package of sticky notes!

Research is the name of one of the games being played in English 1o.  Who are the players?  What are the rules?  What does the winner receive?  Let’s preview the game! (more…)