There are two things due on Wednesday

I would like the students to make the visual pictured here for their poetry reading on Wednesday. The visual should include the song/poem the student is reading.  It should have some illustration to make it look nice.  The students also need to explain how their song/poem is poetic and meets all of the requirements as discussed in the blog post yesterday. They must discuss the form, sound, imagery, figurative language, and the voice of the poem.  I am not looking for a huge essay.  I just want to see that the students understand how the writer uses these things to convey the meaning of the poem.

Have a nice weekend.

Quiz on unit 7 words tomorrow.

Homework:
Quiz on unit 7 tomorrow.  Study.
Here is a link for some practice.

Today:
My main goal was to explain how to find the voice in a poem.  What clues you into how the poem should be said, and does the tone of the delivery affect the reception of the theme?

We also studied the song "Firework" by Katy Perry.  I have given students the option of reading a song to us as a poem.  HOWEVER, the song must be appropriate AND pass the test below; the song must be poetic.  We will discuss this more Friday.

Form	Sound	Imagery	Figurative Language	Speaker
- Lines - Stanzas - Free Verse	- Rhyme (Internal/ End) - Assonance - Rhythm - Beat - Meter - Repetition - Alliteration - Onomatopoeia	- Words and phrases that appeal to the senses and create a picture in the mind.	- Personification - Simile - Metaphor - Hyperbole (exaggeration)	- Voice
Explain:	Must have two	Describe and how created	Must have one. More better.	Who? How do you know?

How does a poet use these to convey the theme of the poem?

We are starting a month-long poetry study

Homework:
Be done through page 77 in the vocab book.  There will be a quiz on Friday.

Due Dates:
   Quiz Friday
   Dec. 5- Read someone's poem to the class.
   Dec. 12- First AR due for the 2nd MP
   Dec. 14- Quiz 8
   Dec. 17- Interims
   Dec. 19- Read the poem you wrote to the class.

Today:
 We read poems by Marc Doty in class:  Fish R Us (see below) in sections 3 and 4, and At the Gym in section 1.  At the Gym was pretty deep.  My goal was to challenge them to find a theme in the poem, or at least the poet's observation about life.

Form	Sound	Imagery	Figurative Language	Speaker
Lines Stanzas Free Verse	Rhyme Internal End Rhythm Beat Meter Repetition Alliteration Onomatopoeia	Words and phrases that appeal to the senses. Create a picture in the mind.	Personification Simile Metaphor	Voice

How does a poet use form, sound, imagery, figurative language, and voice to convey the theme of the poem?

Fish R Us
by Marc Doty

Clear sac
of coppery eyebrows
suspended in amnion,
not one moving–

A Mars,
composed entirely
of single lips,
each of them gleaming–

this bag of fish
(have they actually
traveled here like this?)
bulges while they

acclimate, presumably,
to the new terms
of the big tank
at Fish R Us. Soon

they’ll swim out
into separate waters,
but for now they’re
shoulder to shoulder

in this clear and
burnished orb, each fry
about the size of this line,
too many lines for any

bronzy antique epic,
a million of them,
a billion incipient citizens
of a goldfish Beijing,

a Sao Paulo,
a Mexico City.
They seem to have sense
not to move but hang

fire, suspended, held
at just a bit of distance
(a bit is all there is), all
facing outward, eyes

(they can’t even blink)
turned toward the skin
of the sac they’re in,
this swollen polyethylene.

And though nothing’s
actually rippling but their gill,
it’s still like looking up
into falling snow,

if all the flakes
were a dull, breathing gold,
as if they were streaming
toward–not us, exactly,

but what they’ll be . . .
Perhaps they’re small enough
–live sparks, for sale
at a nickel apiece–

that one can actually
see them transpiring:
they want to swim
forward, want to

eat, want to take place.
Who’s going to know
or number or even see them all?

They pulse in their golden ball.

I added a grade on HAC that I wanted to explain.

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am using the cooking time to get a little work done.

I added a grade to the HAC.  It is a short answer and grammar grade using Achieve.  When the students log on to Achieve, they are asked to respond to a poll question.  I have asked that they write at least three sentences as a reply.  Those sentences should be grammatically perfect.  That will score them a B.  If they write more sentences, which are still grammatically perfect, they can earn an A.  Seems easy enough.

The results after four rounds of grading show me that students are not being as thorough as I expect.  I am using the results of these weekly grades to guide some grammar lessons.  I also want the grades to show the students their progress.  Are they asking for help?  Are they getting consistently low scores?

Students must learn that they must use the tools available to help them type with perfect grammar. One of those tools is Microsoft Word.  Another tool is the person next to them.  The best tool, however, is to ask me.  I would love to sit down with them and point out their errors.

That said, the grade you see on HAC is NOT 100 points.  I weighted it as .25, which means it counts like 25 points.  I just want the full 100% score to show exactly how they are doing.

Here is the rubric I am using:

2	D	Too many errors, Two or more grammar errors: Spelling, i, dont, their/there, were/where,its/it’s,	Or too short with errors
3	C	One error, three sentences One error is not fine, but you should have caught them using Word	Or long with two errors that should have been caught
4	B	No errors. Must be three sentences long and make sense. Statement, support, support	Or long with one error
5	A	Over three sentences and well supported. You showed me that you really thought about your choice. Brought in things that you know about the topic.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We begin a new unit on Monday!  The Red Chief essays should have been turned in by now in sections 1 and 4.  Section 3 had computer problems.  They can give them to me on Tuesday.  (I will be out on Monday.  My daughter has nasal surgery. Ugh.)  I hope the students come back ready to perform!  We start poetry.  The first task will be to practice the sound of poetry... with them reading a poem to the class!  They love it!  (Sarcasm)

You are done for the week when you have completed the following:

You are done for the week when you have completed the following:

1.     Completed at your Achieve requirements for Monday

a.     E-mail with perfect grammar

b.     Answer questions with over 75%

c.     Write a few sentences for the thought question

d.     SCORE WILL SHOW ON HAC

2.     Submitted your final draft of your Red Chief essay

a.     Outlines: www.mrboz.com

b.     I will post the submission link tomorrow

c.     You should have someone help you proofread

d.     Section 1: 600-800 words

e.     Sections 3 & 4: 500 – 600+ words

f.      Multiple paragraphs

3.     Pages 66, 67, and 68 in the vocab book

a.     68 on responder Tuesday

4.     Checked HAC and turned in all your make-up work

5.     Have a plan for completing your AR requirements for 2^nd MP

a.     First test due by December 14

I have added Achieve scores to the HAC as an FYI

I am new to using Achieve this year.  I am not an expert, but I am getting better. 

I have been looking over the scores from their exercises. Many students are doing well on the activity questions, but not all are.  I am going to be putting the scores from the activities into a HAC category called "Performance."  Scores in that category will show up in the HAC, but they do NOT affect the grade at all.  This way students, parents, and I can assess if a student is struggling. 

The score you see is the second chance score.  The students get two chances to answer questions about the article they just read.  This gives them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.  Students should be getting 75% or above.

If students are not scoring well, they should be doing something different.  They should be summarizing after each paragraph.  There are tools in the program to help them do this.

I admit that I need to get better at using Achieve.  First of all, I need time.  Secondly, I need some more training.  Either way, I will continue to get better so I can help students do better with their informative text analysis.

-MrBoZ

There is an essay due tomorrow!

Students should choose one of the following.  They have already written a rough draft of the first one.  I added two options for those who might find one of them easier than the first.

Students will submit the essay in class Tuesday.  They can also come in with it done.  Like last MP, the essay will count as a large grade.  I score them like they are a test of all that I have been teaching them, like a essay question on a test.

We will start a new unit after the break.

Writing options for Ransom of Red Chief:

1.     Write the response to literature like I taught you this MP.

a.     Summarize the story to give context for your commentary

                                               i.     Main characters and their motivations

                                             ii.     Main conflict

                                            iii.     The basic plot as it leads to a resolution

b.     Critique the writer’s craft

                                               i.     Author’s use of irony for humor

                                             ii.     Author’s use of characters

                                            iii.     Author’s use of vocabulary

c.     Explain your reactions to the piece

                                               i.     Text-text

                                             ii.     Text-self

                                            iii.     Text-world

2.     Evaluate both video productions of the original story giving your opinions about how well each presented the written story visually.

a.     Be sure to discuss the features of the original written story:

                                               i.     Author’s use of irony for humor

                                             ii.     Author’s use of characters

                                            iii.     Author’s use of vocabulary

b.     Compare how the movies created humor as compared to how the written version created humor.

                                               i.     Physical/slapstick

                                             ii.     Play on words

                                            iii.     Visual

                                            iv.     Other

3.     If you could only keep one version of the story for the future, which version would you keep?

a.     What is good about the original written form?

b.     What is good about the video versions?

c.     Be sure to think about audience.

d.     Be sure to discuss the features of the original written story compared to the video story:

                                               i.     Author’s use of irony for humor

                                             ii.     Author’s use of characters

                                            iii.     Author’s use of vocabulary

The movies are finished. It is time to write.

We finished the two movies.  The students really enjoyed the 1998 version, mostly because it is so ridiculous!  The 1998 movie strays so far from the original that it is laughable.  I look forward to the essays the students write next week. 

I am organizing my essay as well.  I am going to state that I think the original story is the best version.  While I did like the 1952 movie, I felt that it could have been a little better.  It brought in some silliness for laughs.  However, I did like the character of Red Chief in that version.  He was vicious.  There was little charm in him. 

Both of the movies are on YouTube if you look for the different parts. 

Here is the chart I had the students work with today.  I wanted them to focus on some of the main changes between the movie and the story.

Does the change matter?	Differences: Do they add to or take away from your enjoyment of the original?	Written Story	1952 B/W	1998 Color
	How we are introduced to Red Chief before the kidnapping.
	How the kidnapping takes place
	The role of Red Chief's parents in the story.
	The role of the narrator (Perspective)
	The amount of ransom money
	Who is "smart" and who is dumb?
	The use of extra characters
	The character of Red Chief: amount of dialogue, personality, ?
	The level of vocabulary used
	Type of humor: word play, intellectual, physical,irony
	Which characters are dynamic (change)?
	How does the story end?
	What is the theme of the story?