The 2nd MP grades are done.

If there are questions or concerns, feel free to contact me.

Tomorrow is the last day to take an AR test for the 2nd MP

I updated HAC a little bit.  I added the Achieve score from this week and the grade from the Flowers for Algernon test.

Over the weekend I will get in the make-up work and enter the AR scores.  By Tuesday, the 2nd MP grade will be done.

We took the test on Flowers for Algernon today.

I should have the scores in soon. 

All AR is due Friday. 

That is all.

:)

Today we wrote a summary of Flowers for Algernon

Tomorrow we take a comprehension test on Flowers for Algernon.

Write a summary of Flowers for Algernon

    It should be about 150 -250 words.

Sample Summary of Ransom of Red Chief

        Bill and Sam decide that the best way to finance their upcoming land swindle is to kidnap the child of a wealthy citizen and hold him for ransom.  The boy they choose, instead of being the docile, frightened child one would expect, is a terror who abuses Bill in every way he can think of, all in the name of fun.  The response to their ransom note is not what they would have wished: instead of paying $1500 to get Johnny back, the father demands $250 to take the boy off their hands.  In desperation, they agree, and end the story poorer than they began. (105)

Summary outline

1. FFA is a story about (Main Char.)

2. The story is set in ______ (place, time)

3. Describe the main character so we get a feel for him.

4. What other characters are part of story?

     What is their relation to main?

5. Break story into 4 or 5 main movements

6. What is the conflict/tension that keeps you reading?

7. Climax and Resolution

     How did the characters change/ learn about life?

8. In the end…

9. What is the theme (lesson) of the story?

Grades this week...

Grades this week
Section 1 must have taken three AR tests by Friday.
Sections 3 and 4 must have taken two AR tests by Friday.

There will be a Flowers for Algernon comprehension test on Tuesday.  Students may use the book and their packets.  This will be the last test grade for the second marking period.

I will collect the packets by the end of this week or early next week.  The packet should be completed to the best of their ability.  The completion of the packet will be the first grade of the third marking period.

Achieve Grade
You will notice on HAC that I have entered am Achieve grade.  The grade is the result of student effort, not student achievement.  The student must write a reply e-mail and answer a thought question.  Both are graded on completion. The student must answer comprehension questions.  The grade is curved to reflect completion.  (Trust me!  19% is 7/10.)  If you have questions, please ask me.

I will be using the same schedule for this week as I used last week.  It worked very well.  Friday's open mic time was fun, and I look forward to students sharing more of their creativity in the weeks to come.

Just another day

Homework: Students should be reading for their AR tests.

We watched a five minute video from a documentary on lobotomies.  It was a little disturbing to think that these things were actually done in the late 1940's and early 1950's.  The push to understand the brain and help people with problems has had some dark times. 

The video fit right into our reading.  The story Flowers for Algernon is about a man who had an operation to make him three times smarter.  As we finish up the story and see the tragic outcome of the surgery, we will begin to discuss if we should even search for a way to alter the brain so drastically.  Just because science can do something, should it?

Schedule for this week

My goal for this week is to stick to the schedule.  I want to finish reading the story by Friday and begin to get into studying the overall story in more depth.  Right now we are reading the story together, stopping frequently to practice the skill of inferencing.  We are like detectives.  We are looking for the clues to determine if Charlie is getting smarter.

The only homework the students have is to take their AR tests.  Remember, sections 3 and 4 must have taken two tests.  Section 1 must take three.

Monday

·      Warm-up

·      Read and study Flowers for Algernon|

·      (We will be slowly completing the packet.)

·      Achieve

·      Homework: READ FOR AR TESTS DUE JANUARY 18

Tuesday

·      Warm-up

·      Read and study Flowers for Algernon

·      (We will be slowly completing the packet.)

·      SSR- Be sure to have a book to read

·      Homework: READ FOR AR TESTS DUE JANUARY 18

Wednesday

·      Warm-up

·      Read and study Flowers for Algernon

·      (We will be slowly completing the packet.)

·      Achieve

·      Homework: READ FOR AR TESTS DUE JANUARY 18

Thursday

·      Warm-up

·      Read and study Flowers for Algernon

·      (We will be slowly completing the packet.)

·      SSR- Be sure to have a book to read

·      Homework: READ FOR AR TESTS DUE JANUARY 18

Friday

·      Read and study Flowers for Algernon

·      (We will be slowly completing the packet.)

·      Open Mic or Grammar Friday

I entered the scores for the poems.

I had a very enjoyable time reading through the work my students did before the break.  We are not all poets.  Some students, though, clearly are! 

IQ

Homework:
Students should be exploring the vocabulary on pages 2 and 3 of the packet. 
Students should also be reading their AR books.

Today:
We discussed some basic ideas of IQ and psychological testing.  The students need to understand that Charlie's IQ of 68 is going to be tripled.  They will have to recognize the changes.  I am taking time to establish Charlie now so they can watch his intellect grow.  I am sure they will have a better understanding of the concepts when we finish the story because they will have seen how he writes change dramatically!

School is back in session, and I am ready!

Homework:
Students could work on pages 2 and 3 of their packet.  They need to learn some vocabulary.  See below.

AR
Check out the new weekly schedule that I am going to follow.  Looking at the AR scores, I see that most of my students really need time in class to read.  I thought my lessons were too important, so I skipped the time.  Now the students need to do their "reading push-ups!"

Grammar Friday and Open Mic
I also scheduled time for sharing and grammar.  How much we do of each is up to them.  Either way, they benefit.

Literature
We started studying the story Flowers for Algernon.  I have organized a packet for the students so they know exactly what is required of them over the next three weeks or so.  Each day we will have some work time and discussion time, but the students have pages they must complete.  This will allow students to work at their own pace. 

Vocabulary
I know I need to get back to the vocab book, but there is plenty of vocabulary in this story.  Please see the packet.  We will get back to the book sometime. 

Today we looked at examples of Rorschach inkblots.  The students had a lot of fun with this.  It was neat to hear how we see things differently.  I don't know if all their views of the shapes reflected their inner selves or if they were trying to come up with the craziest interpretations! The picture below was a dragon, Bigfoot, a man riding a motorcycle, and a bear.

Happy Holidays!

All of the poetry recordings are posted! Check them out!

Just go to this page, click, and listen!  If you want a copy, right-click and save-as.

I think we really bonded as a class as we cheered each other on and listened to the poems WE wrote.

We are done our work until after break. 

The poems are due tomorrow.

Here is the rubric for section 1:

Rubric for your Poems

100 points

(20) ____  Sound devices:

           Rhyme, Assonance, Rhythm, Repetition, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia

           I suggest you write a little something on a separate sheet to prove it.

(20) ____ Figurative language: 

          Include similes, metaphors, and/or personification

          I suggest you write a little something on a separate sheet to prove it.

(10) ____ How would you illustrate this? 

         Make it look pretty!

(30) ____ Yours must have 200 total syllables:

         Put number after EACH line and total at end

         300 syllables is 100% in this section.

(20) ____ You will read your ballad to the class Wednesday:

         Put number after EACH line and total at end

The poems are due Wednesday!

Having trouble finding rhymes?  Try this site.

Section 1 owes me syllables.
I have set a 100% at 300 syllables; 200 is a 95%.  They are allowed to write in any format, but I am asking that they incorporate the ideas we have been discussing: form, sound, imagery, figurative language, and voice. 


Here is the rubric for Section 3 and 4.  Section 1 will look similar.

Rubric for your Ballad

100 points

(10) ____ Length: I would suggest 8 stanzas.         

        Topics:

Ballad about you

Pick an event that should be memorialized

Honor a person

(10) ____ Syllables per line:  (form) 

          9 

(10) ____ Rhyme scheme: (sound)

         ABAB  or   AABB  or    ABCB

(10) ____ Figurative language: 

          Include a simile or a metaphor (personification)

(10) ____ How would you illustrate this? 

         Make it look pretty!

(20) ____ Yours must have 200 total syllables:

         Put number after EACH line and total at end

(30) ____ You will read your ballad to the class Wednesday:

         Put number after EACH line and total at end

Interims are due today

Please check your child's HAC.

The AR was due today.  I will enter the score into HAC soon. 

That is all.  :)

Poetry study and writing

Hwk: Sections 3 and 4 should finish the worksheet we started in class so we can discuss the ballad.  Section 1 students should be working on their poems.  AR is also due tomorrow.

Section 1 studied "The Charge of the Light Brigade" today.  We examined how the form and sound helped convey the theme.  Then I gave them time to work on their poems.  Section has some slightly different writing options than sections 3 and 4.

Sections 3 and 4 studied "The Ballad of William Sycamore."  I have a worksheet with lots of questions to analyze the poem.  These two sections will be writing ballads.  The ballad must have over 200 syllables.  Over the next week, we will be studying examples and how to get started.  Today we started with diving their lives into eight stanzas.  If you look at the poem below, you will see how his life is laid out in 19 stanzas.  We will finish studying the ballad tomorrow.

This ballad has similes, a metaphor, onomatopoeia, alliteration, personification, and color imagery.  The syllable count is consistent, and there is a regular rhyme scheme.  It is a great example for the students to imitate! 

THE BALLAD OF WILLIAM SYCAMORE
by: Stephen Vincent Benét

Y FATHER, he was a mountaineer,

His fist was a knotty hammer;

He was quick on his feet as a running deer,

And he spoke with a Yankee stammer.

 

My mother, she was merry and brave,

And so she came to her labor,

With a tall green fir for her doctor grave

And a stream for her comforting neighbor.

 

And some are wrapped in the linen fine,

And some like a godling's scion;

But I was cradled on twigs of pine

In the skin of a mountain lion.

 

And some remember a white, starched lap

And a ewer with silver handles;

But I remember a coonskin cap

And the smell of bayberry candles.

 

The cabin logs, with the bark still rough,

And my mother who laughed at trifles,

And the tall, lank visitors, brown as snuff,

With their long, straight squirrel-rifles.

 

I can hear them dance, like a foggy song,

Through the deepest one of my slumbers,

The fiddle squeaking the boots along

And my father calling the numbers.

 

The quick feet shaking the puncheon-floor,

And the fiddle squealing and squealing,

Till the dried herbs rattled above the door

And the dust went up to the ceiling.

 

There are children lucky from dawn till dusk,

But never a child so lucky!

For I cut my teeth on "Money Musk"

In the Bloody Ground of Kentucky!

 

When I grew as tall as the Indian corn,

My father had little to lend me,

But he gave me his great, old powder-horn

And his woodsman's skill to befriend me.

 

With a leather shirt to cover my back,

And a redskin nose to unravel

Each forest sign, I carried my pack

As far as a scout could travel.

 

Till I lost my boyhood and found my wife,

A girl like a Salem clipper!

A woman straight as a hunting-knife

With eyes as bright as the Dipper!

 

We cleared our camp where the buffalo feed,

Unheard-of streams were our flagons;

And I sowed my sons like the apple-seed

On the trail of the Western wagons.

 

They were right, tight boys, never sulky or slow,

A fruitful, a goodly muster.

The eldest died at the Alamo.

The youngest fell with Custer.

 

The letter that told it burned my hand.

Yet we smiled and said, "So be it!"

But I could not live when they fenced the land,

For it broke my heart to see it.

 

I saddled a red, unbroken colt

And rode him into the day there;

And he threw me down like a thunderbolt

And rolled on my as I lay there.

 

The hunter's whistle hummed in my ear

As the city-men tried to move me,

And I died in my boots like a pioneer

With the whole wide sky above me.

 

Now I lie in the heart of the fat, black soil,

Like the seed of the prairie-thistle;

It has washed my bones with honey and oil

And picked them clean as a whistle.

 

And my youth returns, like the rains of Spring,

And my sons, like the wild-geese flying;

And I lie and hear the meadow-lark sing

And have much content in my dying.

 

Go play with the towns you have built of blocks,

The towns where you would have bound me!

I sleep in my earth like a tired fox,

And my buffalo have found me.

'The Ballad of William Sycamore' was originally published by Stephen Vincent Benét in 1922.

We are starting ballads

I am NOT doing vocab until after the break.  We will need the time to write our ballads.

Wednesday, December 12: The first AR test for the MP must be done.
Wednesday, December 19: Ballad is due- typed, illustrated, looking good.
Wednesday, December 19: Read ballad to the class

We will be studying ballads and narrative poems in the days to come.  The students will learn what is expected of them over the next few days.

We will be looking at these and other examples:
     "The Charge of the Light Brigade"
     "Ballad of Birmingham"
     "The Nightmare Before Christmas"

      and some others as needed

As of now, the requirements for the ballad look like this:

    Long enough
    Tells a story
    Consistent rhyme scheme
    Neat and illustrated
    Read your ballad to the class with energy

I am going to have the students shoot for 200 syllables.  Depending on their line length, they should try to divide their story into 8 stanzas of four lines each.  The poem below is one we will read.  It has approximately 234 syllables.  I am having the students use a syllable counting site to make it easy, but they must put their syllable count at the end of each line.

Model piece for this assignment

“Ballad of Birmingham”

(On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)

"Mother dear, may I go downtown                     (8)
Instead of out to play,                                         (6)
And march the streets of Birmingham               (8)
In a Freedom March today?"                             (7)

"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren't good for a little child."

"But, mother, I won't be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free."

"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children's choir."

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.

The mother smiled to know that her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.

For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.

She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
"O, here's the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?"

Written by Dudley Randall (1914-2000)

The poetry readings have begun!

Sample of poetry project.

Here is a great example of what a poetry reading should sound like!

I will post more as I have time.

I collected the poetry projects today.  (Not everyone had them, though. They are now late.)

1st Accelerated Reader test of MP 2 is due in one week!

I just looked at the test scores from this marking period.  There are none... well, a few.  Most students have not taken a test this marking period.  There is no excuse for this.  The date has been on the board, and students have had plenty of access to computers to take the tests.

Section 1 must take three tests per marking period.  Sections 3 and 4 must take two.  These are not small grades.

Please encourage your child to get reading.

The Red Chief essays are graded (section 3 very soon)

We are performing the poems tomorrow! 
The students also owe me something that looks like one of these.

The Red Chief essays are graded

I had to get the Red Chief pieces graded, so I gave them a quick grade.  I read them without making any marks or comments.  Trust me, it is not how I like to grade!  I know students want feedback, but I am pressed for time.  I am also teaching grammar each day now, so I did not scour the essays for errors. 

As I read, I asked myself these questions:

Was it long enough with enough details?

Was it organized with an intro, different paragraphs, and a conclusion?

Did the grammar interfere or distract me from the understanding the piece?

Then I gave it a score based on the model I had in my head of what the paper should have looked like.