May 24, 2007

Homework:
Be ready for the Buzzword quiz on words from 5/7 - 5/23
The students can get the missing words from the archive.

Today:
I handed out grade slips. They do not have to be signed.

We had quite the discussion today. I don't know how much your child talks about what we do in my class, but today we discussed the results of the voting for the best TV ad. The background to the story is that a student in one of the classes is Asian and very serious. As you well know, students can be cruel, and they pick on him. In his TV ad, his group was advertising the lights for a party scene. I asked him to dance a little to make the video more lively. As you can guess, the kids thought this was a scream. I did not fully comprehend the impact this recording was having on the student until he won the vote for the best TV ad. He was so embarrassed.

It was when I heard students joking about this in the hall that I realized this had gone too far. The students did not vote for him because his ad was good. It wasn't. That was obvious to the kids. What the students did by voting him as the winner was ridicule him. I explained that they had the power with their votes to recognize a group for their hard word in producing a good ad. Instead, the students wasted their vote by making this student the winner. They thought that since it was so stupid and made them laugh that that was a good thing. So they voted for him.

This reminded me of William Hung from American Idol. We read paragraphs from his entry at Wikipedia. We explored why William Hung became so famous. It was because people could make fun of him. But it wasn't just that he was a bad singer. William Hung is Chinese, and if you read the entry on him, what bothers commentators about the phenomenon is that people laughed at him because he embodied the qualities of the stereotypical Chinese person. People used him as the fool and made money.

After reading about William Hung, I asked the students again why they thought the student's video was so funny. In general, they got the point. Not every student voted for this child, and I am sure there were plenty of students who thought laughing at him was wrong. However, in the class he was in, we did have a friendly laugh. It was funny because, in that class, we care about each other and appreciate each other. It's like watching family be silly. But what I saw happening over the course of the day was not fun. I saw children being mean to a fellow classmate, and we needed to discuss it.

I did not include this student in the re-vote. I only included videos that were worthy. "With great power comes great responsibility." The students did not act responsibly. They acted like kids. Therefore, I thought it was time to teach them how they should be acting.

May 23, 2007

Homework:
Choosing the right word unit 14

Today:
Buzzword
Reviewed vocab homework
Voted on the best TV ad from all classes

FYI: I will be handing out a grade slip Thursday.

May 22, 2007

Homework:
Pictionaries 11-20 and Synonyms unit 14

Today:
We began scoring their TV ads.
We will begin watching all the ads from the other classes so we can vote on the best ad from all classes.

May 21, 2007

Homework:
Pictionaries 1-10 unit 14

Today:
Buzzword
Listened to words 1-10 unit 14
Finished up recording any remaining commercials.
Reviewed the upcoming calendar.

**This is interesting. My hard drive is dying on my laptop, which is my life in this class! So, I cannot guarantee that the website will be as up to date as I would like. I can still do grades and this blog, though. And I will be showing the students the TV ads they made so they can vote on which ad is best out of all the classes. Oh well. These things happen. Remember: back up your information! I always do, so this is no more than a delay while the new drive is put in.

Tuesday May 15, 2007

All sections:

Homework: Finish script, plan/props for commercial

Today:
Students began filming the commercials that the have written for the string of lights. They are demonstrating their use and knowledge of the 21 advertising techniques that we have learned in this unit.

The classes found that the more prepared they were before they went up to tape, the more successful their tapings were. Having lines memorized, how people stand pre-planned, and knowing where the cuts are all help make a commercial run more smoothly.

I was very impressed with some of the commercials that were taped at home. I think a lot of the groups did a nice job and were really effective.

Monday May 14, 2007

Today: All Sections

Homework: Unit 13 completing the sentence

Today:

We worked on the storyboard for our commercials. Students are asked to adapt their scripts so that they can see where the cuts will take place when we tape the final product.

Friday May 11, 2007

Today:

Homework:
Come to class ready to continue with commercials and making the soundboards.

Today in Class:
The students viewed examples of 30 second commercials. We talked about how we can cut the scripts into small segmented scenes to make them more short and concise. We want to final product to look a lot like a real commercial and not so much like a skit or play that is one long scene. Students worked on planning and writing their script. They recieved credit for class participation today and completing work on their script. On Monday they will be working on storyboard and mapping out each scene of their commercial.

Thursday May 10, 2007

Today (Section 1)

Hw
None

Today
We continued with the Media literacy presentations. Tomorrow we will finish these presentations once and for all and begin our commercial making project.


Today: ( sections 3,5,6,7)

We began our commercial making project. Students are required to work in small groups to create a commercial that demonstrates 3 advertising techniques. The commercial is for a string of decorative lights. The students must use the technique of diversion within their commercial and are required to pick two other techniques from which they have learned.

Students got to pick their small groups today. My hope is that this will allow them to develop more creative projects and have more fun working; if they are allowed to work with their friends.

The project's guidelines have been established and students received a guideline handout with the project's rules and the contest rules.

Wednesday May 9, 2007

All Sections

Homework:
choosing the right word Unit 13

Today:
We finished the presentations today in sections 3,6, and 7. We will continue to finish in sections 1 and 2 tomorrow. Tomorrow we will start the next in class project that involves applying the advertising techniques. Students will work in small groups to create a commercial that demonstrates 3 advertising techniques.

Tuesday May 8, 2007

All Sections:

Homework:
Pictionaries 11-20 for vocab unit 13
and Syns. for Unit 13


Today:
The students continued with presentations. I was really happy to see improvement with the presentations today. The students made a concious effort to achieve a better grade by including the second part of the presentation, developing an organizational flow, and making posters. Keep up the good work! Tomorrow we will hopefully finish these up and then begin working on our next Project.

Monday May 7, 2007

Monday

All Sections:

HW: pictionaries 1-10 for vocab Unit 13
Today:
We started with our media literacy presentations today. Students were given a rubric last week with specfic guidelines to follow. Because most of the work was already accomplished over the past 3 weeks that we have been studying, I was expecting exceptional presentations. Unfortunately, only a few students seemed to meet that standard. Many students in every period left out a portion of their presentation failing to comment about a specific ad for their target audience. They also forgot to explain why the technique in this ad is the most effective for that audience and show other ads to support their claim. I hope that by seeing some presentations today and having more time to prepare, the presentations tomorrow will be a success.

Thursday May 3, 2007

Miss Bastnagel (sections 3,6,7)

Homework:
(section 3)
Presentation Preparation
Yellow stickies on the 20 techniques in magazine
Powerful/ powerless chart in packet

(section 6&7)
Prepare for presentation


Today:
Students took the vocabulary Unit 12 quiz and the open notebook buzzword quiz. At completion of the quizzes, students reviewed any concerns about their presentation. We discussed the importance to each topic and the relevence of the whole presentation to what we have been studying in class. The students were encoraged to make a visual poster for their presentation, to help with their performance. Grade slips were passed out and work was submitted. Students will begin presenting on Monday. As each student presents, the other students will listen and collect data from the presentation on chart provided for them.

Wednesday May 2, 2007

Miss Bastnagel (sections 6 and 7)

Homework:
students need to work on
-20 stickies
-chart in their packet on techniques
-prepare for their presentations
-powerful/powerless sheet
-vocab flashcards

Unit 12 vocabulary quiz
Buzzword quiz


Today:
Students had a chance to complete all the assignments listed above. They talked about the advertising techniques found in their advertisements in preparation for tomorrow's presentation. Students were given a checklist today to help them organize what needs to be completed. Presentations will begin tomorrow after the quizzes and will continue next week. Students are encouraged to make a visual presentation for their oral report for extra points. I also believe these visuals can help aide in speeches.

May 1, 2007

MrBoZ (Sections 1 and 2)

Homework: Finish all of these for tomorrow
1. First 20 ads survey
2. Define Audience of Magazine
3. Audience Sheet
4. Powerful/Powerless chart
5. Finish unit 12 vocab

Today:
I gave work time. I also assigned the presentation. I handed out a sheet that explains the requirements. I gave a lot of homework, but I want all the research wrapped up so we can move on to the magazine presentation.

Miss Bastnagel ( sections 3,6,7)
- 20 stickies in magazine for each technique
- the technique chart
-powerful/powerless chart
-prepare for presentation
-vocabulary flashcards
-Unit 12 vocabulary quiz and buzzword quiz on Thursday

Today:
Students had the opportunity to begin their powerful/powerless page within their packets. They are also preparing for their oral presenation. The presentation will serve as a summuary for all the work they have been researching since the beginning of the media literacy unit. The students will have time Wednesday to work on all these assignments during class. Things will be checked Thursday for credit.

April 30, 2007

MrBoZ (Sections 1 and 2)

Homework:
Completing the sentence unit 12

Today:
We discussed the idea of powerful/powerless. In ads, we either see who we are or who we want to be. Likewise, sometimes we read magazines for the fantasy life they can provide. I want the students to examine the qualities of the people they are looking at in the magazines.

If you want, you can see the qualities of powerful/powerless listed in the media literacy packet which can be found on the media literacy assignment page.

Our goal this week is to finish the research and begin oral presentations.

Miss Bastnagel Sections (6,7, and 3)

Homework:
Choosing the right word Unit 12 vocab

Today:
The students looked at examples of powerful, neutral, and powerless advertisements. Their first task was to find examples of each and define them. Next the students ranked their advertisements in an order from most powerful to powerless. It was interesting to hear why students ranked the way they did. Tomorrow we will continue with this study and start filling out the worksheet in their packets on powerful/ powerless.

April 27, 2007

MrBoZ (sections 1 and 2)
Homework:
They should be finishing the stickies and the first 20 ads sheet in the packet.

Today:
Since so many students were absent yesterday, we sort of reviewed what we did yesterday. We also watched two TV ads and identified the techniques used. I want them to try to find many types of techniques in each ad.

Next week the students will be presenting the results of their magazine study. Miss Bastnagel will be providing them with a rubric on Monday.


Miss Bastnagel ( sections 3,6,7)
Homework:
bring magazine and packet

Today :
Students finished up studying the advertising techniques. We looked at Rhetorical question, scientific evidence, testimonials, and symbol. The students then had time to look at examples in their own magazines. Their goal should be to get as many examples of the 21 ad techniques that we have studied, for their presentations next week. On Monday I will be explaining the rubric and guidelines for the informal presentations.

April 26, 2007

MrBoZ (Sections 1 and 2)

Homework:
Finish the 20 yellow stickies
Work on the first 20 ads chart
(They are due soon)

Today:
We analyzed three ads showing how you have to examine an ad thoroughly to determine all of the techniques used. I gave the classes some work time to work with their magazines.

Miss Bastnagel ( sections 3,6,7)

Homework
bring magazine and packet

Today :
Students finished up studying the advertising techniques. We looked at Rhetorical question, scientific evidence, testimonials, and symbol. The students then had time to look at examples in their own magazines. Their goal should be to get as many examples of the 21 ad techniques that we have studied, for their presentations next week. On Monday I will be explaining the rubric and guidelines for the informal presentations.

April 25, 2007

Miss Bastnagel

Homework:
Choosing the right word- vocab Unit 12

Today:
Sections 1 and 2
In these sections we completed our buzzword and then drew our pictionaries for Unit 12 vocabulary. The students often come up with very creative drawings to remember their vocab words. After this activity, the students were given time to complete finding the ad techniques within their magazines. After studying the techniques, they are supposed to mark examples that they find in their own magazines. Students also were given the opportunity to turn in any late or missing assignments for credit.



Sections 3,6, and 7.
After the buzzword and pictionary vocab activity, students explored the ad techniques of name calling, repetition, nostagia, plain folk, and rhetorical question. We looked at examples of these techniques and discussed advertisements that demonstrate them. Then the students found representations of all the techniques that they have learned so far in their magazines.

Once we have learned all the techniques, my hope is that students will become so familiar with them, that they can indentify the qualities of techniques in any ad that I show.

April 24, 2007

MrBoZ (Sections 1 and 2)
Homework:
1. Get gradeslip signed
2. 11-20 pictionaries and synonyms

Today:
We discussed the next 10 vocab words. We also discussed the forth column of the ad techniques for the remaining techniques. By the end of class tomorrow, the students should have found one example of each technique in their own magazine. By the end of the week, I want them to be familiar with how to spot these fallacies by practicing analyzing ads.

The end project of this study will be an oral report on their magazine where they present their findings to the class. The class will fill in a chart so they can compare the magazines to each other. In years past, I would do this unit closer to my other persuasive writing units. This year, the requirements for GoMyAccess did not allow me to fit them together. However, the unit is used to teach critical thinking.

Miss Bastnagel ( sections 3,6,7)

Homework:
pict.11-20 and syns
get grade slip signed

Today:
We went over the next 10 vocab words. We also continued our discussion on the next group of ad techniques. Students are trying to find examples of these techniques in their own magazines.

April 23, 2007

Miss Bastnagel (sections 3, 6, 7)

Homework:
vocab unit 12: pictionary 1-10
bring magazine and packet

Today:
Monday we began learning about the different techniques advertisers use when selling their products. Students got to see examples of some of the tactics that they use. We reviewed techniques such as bandwagon, card- stacking, bribery, diversion, denial, and fear of the enemy. After students become familiar with the techniques, their task will be to find examples of the ads in their own magazines. They will mark the ads with stickies. Tomorrow we will continue to explore the techniques and look at other examples.

MrBoZ (sections 1 and 2)
Homework:
Pictionaries 1-10 unit 12

Today:
Although we discussed the first half of the techniques on Friday, I spent time reviewing them again. This time, however, we discussed the questions in the forth column of the chart. These questions reveal the fallacies of the persuasive techniques. In other words, the advertisers don't use logical reasons to persuade us to buy their products. They sort of trick us.

Let's look at the technique of group dynamic. That technique uses the idea that if you buy the product you will be part of a similar group of people who also use the product. Do you really believe or have proof that if you buy the product you will be part of that group you see in the magazine ad? Be real!

You can look at the chart for yourself. It is a link on the media literacy assignment.

April 20, 2007

MrBoZ- (sections 1 and 2)
Homework:
None

Today:
We began our discussion of ad techniques. We discussed the idea that the arguments to buy the product should be reasonable based on factual information, like we focused on during the ant debates. However, ads are usually not straight forward in how they persuade us to buy their products. I have called the techniques "artificial persuasion." They attempt to persuade you, but the methods are deceitful or tricky.

As we progress through this unit, you should start to see you child pointing out these fallacies in arguments. This may become annoying, but once they see how they are being manipulated, they will see these tricks everywhere!



Miss Bastnagel- (sections 3,6, and 7)
Homework:
Bring magazine and packet to class Monday

Today:
Friday we began to explore the question: How to advertisements effect us? Students looked at whether the age of people in advertisements make the ads more appealing, less appealing, or have no impact at all . In order the answer this we began to collect some data. Students were shown two advertisements for the same acne product. One had people and the other didn't. They learned to "dissect" an ad and answer questions about what they found appealing or unappealing within each .
We will look back at the results after we finish learning the techniques, to see if their opinions change after learning a little bit more about advertising.

I am really excited to see how students view themselves as consumers after they learn some of the sneaky ways advertisers try to persuade you to buy their products!

April 19, 2007

Homework:
I asked the students to define the audience of their magazines. They need to determine the age, gender, race, and spending ability of the readers. We discussed that we either see who we are or who we want to be in ads. To determine the audience students should look at the people in the ads, people in the pictures for articles, and examine the content of the articles. Who would these articles appeal to most?

Today:
Buzzword
Quiz on unit 11
Miss Bastnagle taught sections 6 and 7. She discussed what the students found most appealing in two different ads. Did they like the ad with people or the one without people. She is gathering data which she will compare to data taken later in the unit.

In sections 1,2, and 3, I continued my discussion about where I should spend my $100,000 to place an ad in a magazine for my Piglet bowling pin. We decided on a magazine called Bowling This Month. The audience is not 3.2 million like SI; however, its 12,000 readers will appreciate the product more. Plus, a 1 page ad in SI is $300,000, but a full page ad in BTM is only $1,275! I could buy plenty of ads at that price. We also found that ESPN magazine was $55,000 for a full page ad. We might buy one ad in ESPN since it will be seen by 1 million readers.

April 18, 2007

Homework:
Flashcards sections 3,6,7
Quiz on unit 11 tomorrow

Today:
The topic was the same, but each class kind of studied the topic differently. Today we looked at how advertisers choose a magazine to place their ads in. I created a fictional product and gave the students a target audience of who buys the product most: male, 25, interested in sports, with a household income of $40,000. I wanted to spend $100,000 on ads.

We then looked at media kits from Girl's Life and Game Informer. I also gave them other kits from various magazines. The goal was to understand that each magazine has a specific audience and circulation. The more eyes that see the magazine, the more they can charge for ad space.

Since the product was a Piglet bowling pin, and the target was men, Girl's Life was not a good match. The ad money would be wasted! Game Informer is not so good either, even though the audience for the magazine is men who are 25. Tomorrow, we will see which, if any, of the other magazines might be a good use of my money.

By the way, a full page ad in Sports Illustrated is $302,000. A full page ad in Girl's life is $19,000. And a full page ad in Game Informer is $119,000. Even though SI might be a better fit for my product, I can not afford an ad.

April 17, 2007

Homework:
Finish unit 11 vocab
Be prepared for the quiz on Thursday

Today:
We continued our discussion about the audience of magazines and ads. I discussed the idea that in ads aimed towards us as an audience, we either see who we are or who we want to be. For example, if a teenage girl is looking at an ad with a beautiful older model in it, she would be thinking that she would like to be that young woman in the ad. As she looks at the ad, she is picturing herself using the product and being that woman. Likewise, if the girl in the ad is ordinary, the teenage girl looking at the ad will see herself in the ad. She would see what she would look like if she were using the product.

Tomorrow, we will continue our discussion of audience. Students will be looking through media kits for some magazines. These kits are given to advertisers to show the readership of their magazine. This way, advertisers can determine if the audience of the magazine is a good fit for their advertising dollars. They don't want ads where the people who would buy the product won't see them!

FYI, I do discuss how gender and race are qualities of audiences. In some classes, we discussed the fact that Ebony magazine has a black audience. There is not enough time to fully explain all this, but the short explanation is many magazines have very specific audiences. Magazines can even have niche audiences. This provides a very narrow target for advertisers. However, magazines like Sports Illustrated have a broader audience. Knowing the audience of a magazine is important for viewing the techniques ads use to persuade readers to buy their products.

April 16, 2007

Homework:
Completing the sentence Unit 11
Finish the audience sheets discussed in class today

Today:
Buzzword- We will have a quiz on the buzzwords for April 16- May 1 on May 3
I handed out a grade slip so they know how they are doing.
I gave them a list of all the upcoming projects for the media unit. They can check them off as we do them to keep themselves on track. You can see them here.

We discussed audience today. We began exploring how each magazine has a specific audience. You can determine this from the people in the magazine, the ads and the people in them, and the articles. For example, when I pick up a Seventeen Magazine, I know I am not the audience of that magazine. I do not see myself in any of the people in the magazine or the ads. The articles are not what I am interested in. The ads are not for products I would want to buy.

Each day, we will have a discussion and then have work time to apply the lesson and research their magazines.

April 13, 2007

Homework:
None

Today:
Here is the packet I gave the students.

Buzzword
Reviewed choosing the right word
Finished counting ads and determined the percentage of ads and text
Began discussing audience

I am posting the packet the students are using on my website.

I will have a small grade update next week for the fourth marking period. I have a few grades.

There will be a quiz on unit 11 Thursday.

I am thinking about grading class participation again. Some students are becoming lax about coming to class prepared. It is very frustrating, but not totally unexpected. However, it needs to stop.

April 12, 2007

Homework:
Choosing the right word Unit 11

Today:
Buzzword
Reviewed Synonyms
Continued to count ads in the the magazines. Students were required to have a magazine today. I wanted them to study a magazine they are interested in. I counted having a magazine as a small class grade.

April 11, 2007

Homework:
pictionaries 11-20 and synonyms unit 11
You must have a magazine tomorrow

Today:
We reviewed words 11-20 in unit 11.
We began the magazine study. We are first going to determine the percentage of the magazine that is ads.

I will post a copy of the packet on my website tomorrow so you can see what we will be working from.

April 10, 2007

Homework:
Pictionaries 1-10 Unit 11
Bring in a magazine for class

Today:
It was tough getting up this morning. Breaks can be so relaxing. I am not saying mine was, though. It was jam packed with stuff! However, it was good to be back.

Now that the bully letter is done and handed in, Miss Bastnagel and I are beginning a new unit. This unit will be on magazine and TV advertising. Over the next five weeks or so, we will be doing activities that discuss the persuasive aspects of ads and the values they contain. These activities address the media literacy requirements of the Red Clay curriculum.

If your child said he/she needed a magazine, that is correct. We want the students to study something they already read. I can give them a magazine if they need one. However, I am making bringing in a magazine a small grade because I see no reason why a child can not get a magazine from somewhere. If you have any questions, please e-mail me.

I will be posting the new assignment on the main web page sometime this week. I will post the packet I gave them so you can review some of the activities. This unit is always eye-opening. Pretty soon you child will be pointing out things you might never have noticed before. Let's hope so!

March 30, 2007

Homework:
None! Enjoy your break!

Today:
We were in the writing lab. The students finished typing their essays. They submitted them and handed in a copy. I will take the GoMyAccess score for 100 points, and Miss Bastnagel and I will grade them for another 100 points.

After break we will begin a unit on media literacy. We will study magazines, TV ads, NASCAR sponsorship, and marketing strategies. I will be asking students to bring in a magazine so we can study it in depth.

March 29, 2007

Homework:
The bully essay will be collected at the end of class tomorrow. Students who have been absent during the writing lab time are still responsible for writing an essay. Miss Bastnagel and I will be scoring the essays as well.

Today:
Miss Bastnagel and I both did lessons for students on improving sentence structure in their essays. We also discussed ideas for improving organization by adding transitions. Finally, we looked at the model essay provided by GoMyAccess. We analyzed it to see why it scored so well.

March 28, 2007

Homework:
Sections 1 and 2 should have finished the worksheet we began Tuesday.

Today:
We were in the writing lab. Many students spent their time trying to slowly improve their scores. Tomorrow, Miss Bastnagel and I will teach lessons to help them improve their letters.

The final essay will be due when they leave class on Friday. It will be scored by Miss Bastnagel and me. Judging by the model essays provided by GoMyAccess, she and I will be scoring the essay more thoroughly than the computer does. We will stress the importance of NO grammar errors.

March 27, 2007

Homework:
Sections 1 and 2 should finish the packet we started in class today for Thursday.

Today:
In sections 1 and 2 I talked about how to improve the readability level of an essay. We looked at the readability statistics that Microsoft Word can display when doing a spelling and grammar check. I taught them that the higher readability comes from the words to syllables ratio. Fewer words with more syllables will result in a higher readability. I reminded them about the word bank in GoMyAccess. They should pick words that are one level above their current level. If they write using 25 cent words now, they should not use $50 words! They should use $1 words. Otherwise, the huge words will sound silly... if they even know what they mean!

Sections 3, 6, and 7 reviewed comma usage. Miss Bastnagel taught sections 6 and 7.

March 26, 2007

Homework:
None

Today:
We were in the writing lab. We began typing in the bullying essay. Tomorrow we will work on lessons to improve their sentences. We will be back in the lab on Wednesday. That's it, really. Not much to say.

March 23, 2007

TGIF!

Homework:
Ideally, I would like a letter writen for Monday. This way, when the students get on the computers on Monday, they will be able to use GoMyAccess for revision and not just a word processor. However, if the letter is not done, that is fine, too.

Today:
I handed out the pen prizes to sections 1,2, and 3. We finished the movie for those classes. We discussed what should be included in the letter to the bullied friend.

March 22, 2007

Homework:
Continue working on the letter to the friend who is being bullied.

Today:
I only saw sections 6 and 7, and both of those classes were 35 minutes long. We finished watching the movie. The kids are pretty fried after testing anyway!

March 21, 2007

Homework:
Students should be working on the letter to their friend who is being bullied. Unfortunately, I don't think many students are working on it now. The essay is due Monday, though.

Today:
Ms. Bastnagel taught the lesson today. This was here first day teaching, and she did an excellent job. Since she has been teaching second graders for 9 weeks before this, she had more than enough experience to handle the more mature? seventh graders. :)

Using a lesson she created, Ms. Bastnagel reviewed the characters from the movie and how each coped with Joe, the bully in the movie. After discussing the different reactions to a bully, she asked the students to put themselves in the same situation and decide how they would handle it. She had four different choices for the students to elaborate on. The students chose a paper that symbolized their choice and wrote out how they would handle being bullied. Some students read their papers to the class.

March 19, 2007

Homework:
Work on the bully letter (new assignment page on MrBoZ.com)

Today:
We read over the suggestions on this page. Then we watched more of the movie How to Eat Fried Worms. Today we focused on the bystanders and the role they play in allowing the bullying to continue. Later, we will see how they can affect change.


FYI:
I sent home grade e-mails today. They should be the grade they receive for the 3rd marking period. This week is testing, so there will not be any new grades. Then the marking period is over. There are a few things that can be made up.

March 15, 2007

Homework:
None

Today:
I saw the rest of the classes today. We are starting a new essay on bullying. We watched 10 minute from the beginning of the movie "How to Eat Fried Worms." We discussed how three characters in the movie deal with being bullied. One ignores it. Another gives into it and is miserable. And the main character thinks he will stand up to the bully and be strong. He takes a bet that would humiliate the bully if he wins, but the bet will humiliate him in the process. He has to eat ten worms! We will watch some other parts of the movie, but we are mainly going to be focusing on reading an article that has suggestions about what to do if you are being bullied.

FYI:
I have a student teacher who will be with me until the end of May. Here is a letter she sent home with your child. (Some classes do not get it yet.)

Dear Parent(s) /Guardian(s)/ Families of Seventh grade team:
My name is Elizabeth Bastnagel and I will be student teaching in your child’s seventh grade English class for the next eight weeks. I am a student at the University of Delaware working to receive my degree in Elementary Education.

I have had several field experiences through the University, including three other placements in the Red Clay School District at Heritage Elementary School, Richardson Park Elementary School, and at H.B. Dupont Middle School. I have also worked for the Western Family YMCA of Delaware in the before- and after-care school program. These experiences have made me confident that I can succeed in working with your child.

I’m thoroughly excited about the opportunity to work with Mr. Bosler and his seventh graders. I look forward to getting to know your child during the next eight weeks. If at any time during my placement you need to reach me please call the school at (302) 239-3420.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Bastnagel

March 14, 2007

Homework:
None

Today:
Sorry about not blogging yesterday. We were in the lab yesterday, and they were to enter the Richard Petty essay for a score. I took the score from GoMyAccess as a grade. Students who were absent are excused. You may have heard that it was hard to get a six on the speech. That is true. I also wanted to say that many students were lax about getting drafts done on time. This speech has been like pulling teeth. Their effort will be reflected in their grade slip which I should have for Friday of this week.

Today, I saw sections 7,1,and 2. Tomorrow I will see sections 3 and 6. We are starting our next writing topic. I handed out the prompt today. I will make a web page for the assignment soon.

March 12, 2007

Homework:
Revise the Richard Petty essay so we can enter it into GoMYAccess tomorrow.

Today:
Buzzword
We read examples of essays that scored 3,4, and 5 for the Richard Petty speech. These were scored by GoMyAccess. I wanted the students to see what the difference is between their essays and the essays we read. All the students have the same details to include, but how is it that they can't all get a five? They must be doing something wrong. My job is to help them find out what that might be.

We used a checklist to see if the 5 had all the details possible in it. It had most of them. Honestly, I don't see what is missing to get the six in the essay we read. I thought it sounded pretty good. But that is the challenge of GoMyAccess. We should keep reading the samples and trying to get our essays to be scored at least a four. The computer is consistent.

We will be in the writing lab tomorrow.

March 9, 2007

I had a substitute. The Richard Petty speech is due on Monday.

March 7, 2007

Homework:
Study for unit 10 quiz
Flashcards (sections 3,6,7, but I explained them to all my classes)
Finish a draft of the Richard Petty speech

Today:
1. Buzzword

2. Reviewed Vocab focusing on parts of speech and preparing for the quiz

3. I talked about being Richard Petty the way an actor has to be in character when he acts. We discussed the many bits of information about Richard Petty that the article contained. We also discussed how he would have a purpose. Some suggested something like following your dreams. His humility might also be a topic. He might stress that even though what he did was great, being a good person is more important. He would not be coming in to gloat about his wins. He would use his accomplishments to inspire the students.

I think there are other purposes he would have. I am excited to see what they come up with. I am trying to get a cowboy hat and sunglasses organized so the students can pretend they are Richard Petty and read their speeches. That would be fun to video tape! (Hum.... )

March 6, 2007

Homework:
Finish Unit 10

Today:
We did a buzzword and reviewed the vocab homework. Then I started taking them through the next text-based writing piece we are working on. I made the assignment page. You can check that out if you want to.

I wanted them to focus on imagining the character who is giving the speech. Since she is in the news, I used Brittany Spears as an example. When I asked them what she would talk to them about if she came into our school, they guessed it would be something on trying to live your live right. (I also told them to image that this was years later, and she had her act together!) The exercise was not to be about gossip. I wanted them to see that if they knew enough about someone, they should be able to think like him/her. That is what I want them to do for the essay. The hard part is figuring out the character of Richard Petty from the article.

I also posted their oral readings. You can listen to them here.

I sent grades by e-mail today. I will give them to the students tomorrow.

March 5, 2007

Homework:
Completing the sentence Unit 10

Today:
We started a new prompt. When I have time, I will put up the assignment page. Basically, they read some information on Richard Petty, the NASCAR driver, and write the speech he would give to students in our school. As I see it, they have to take two things out of the text. They must figure out how to write like Richard Petty. Then they have to include the highlights from his life that are listed in the article. It is an interesting challenge. I think I will be focusing on voice and audience.

I am working on posting the recordings from the in class readings. I have made them into music files. Now I have to make the web page with the links.

January 28, 2007

Homework:
Choosing the Right Word unit 10

Today:
Buzzword
Checked pictionaries and synonyms
Put pictionaries on the board and tried to guess them.
Continued to record.

Sections 3, 6 and 7 are almost done with the recordings.
Sections 1 and 2 have a while to go!

January 27, 2007

Homework:
Pictionaries 11-20 and synonyms unit 10

Today:
We checked the pictionaries and listened to the rest of the vocab words. FYI: I download the words from Oxford Sadlier and play them through my iTunes in class. I think listening to the words is yet another way the students can become familiar with the words. It could also be a different way to review the words. They could use it for spelling by having the words read to them. I always tell them that the cool kids put this on their iPods and listen to vocab instead of pop songs. (I don't think they believe me, though!)

We continued recording the presentations today.

Grades:
I sent home a grade update today and gave a copy to the students in class. These grades will be the ones I use for the interims.

January 26, 2007

Homwork:
Pictionaries 1-10 unit 10
Practice for your oral reading

Today:
I read my piece to section 3. Just to let you know that I am not perfect, I scored a 96% on my reading. I had a few tiny pauses, but I had a huge stumble where I had to actually figure out what I had written. In a later class, I rerecorded that paragraph so it will sound better. I want to have my family listen to the recording, and I can't have that huge mistake in the final version.

I have been giving some thought to the GoMyAccess scoring of the "Monsters" essay. Even though I complained in the last blog entry that the computer scored a nothing piece of writing as a 5, the same scoring applies to all students. So the students who got a six did SOMETHING that earned them a six. Was what they did sound writing? I don't have time to score the essays. In general, the scores should only vary by one score lower if I were to grade them myself. The scores are not perfect, but they can give useful information about a student's writing abilities. The final verdict: the scores aren't perfect, but they are scores. I will use them.

February 23, 2007

Homework:
Practice for reading aloud

Today:
We reviewed the answers to the vocab book work. I did not check any vocab this week for a homework grade. I will get more homework grades this coming week.

We took the quiz on units 7-9. I will have that graded early next week. Interims are due by Wednesday.

We continued our readings. Next week, I will try to get all the readings done. It is fun to listen to the different stories. There are some really good readers in my classes. They make their stories interesting to listen to by adding inflection to their words and sentences.

Troubling:
I did find out something about the essays on "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street." I made a submission using three writing prompts, just some random document that I found on my computer. The submission was not even and essay. It was just one page of questions and titles, things you would find on the top of my writing assignment web pages. When I submitted the paper for a score to GoMyAccess, I got a 5 out of 6. I was shocked. How frustrating is it to know that any old stuff scored a 5. We had spent a lot of time trying to improve our scores.

Now, maybe it was my writing style, vocabulary, and good grammar that earned the high score. However, shouldn't the words on the page be somewhat related to the story in order to get a good score? Shouldn't there be an intro and a conclusion that resemble each other as they do in an essay? Shouldn't the writer, the name of the piece, characters in the story, or ideas from the story be present somewhere in the piece in order to get a 5? You would think.

At this point, I am not sure what I will do with the scores from these essays. I doubt their validity, and I do NOT have time to read them. We did have good discussions about the essay and how to improve them, but I feel like the students we robbed of their hard work. Maybe the score is a result of the prompt being a pilot essay, unlike the detailed scores students can receive on a standard prompt from GoMyAccess. I will be letting someone important know about this anomaly.

February 22, 2007

Homework:
Study for quiz on units 7-9
Practice for the reading in class

Today:
We began reading the pieces to the class today. I am using a microphone and speakers to amplify their voice. I am also recording them using Garageband. As I did earlier this year, I will make the recordings available on the Internet... eventually. (I have a lot of essays to score.)

These are the categories they are scored on.
Stumbling (10 points). Each stumble (max 3) one point off.
Loudness (10)
Eye Contact (10)
Inflection (20)

I am looking for the perfect reading.
I reviewed the criteria well after each person who went today.
From now on, they should know what I expect.

If I have time, I would like to put up the perfect reading I had in section 1 today by Rachel F.

February 21, 2007

Homework:
Continue working on the review units between units 9 and 10.
If you can, get the essay up to a 6.
Be prepared to read your essay to the class tomorrow.

Today:
We were in the writing lab for one final day. We were making the push to get the essays up to a six. There were some who did, but many continued to get five's. Oh well. That is a 92% for this assignment. I'll take it.

When I looked at the fives, I could see what was missing, but it is hard to just say one fast answer of what to add. Most times, though, the main problem was the lack of details. They simply were not explaining the points they were making. That is always a problem for students. In their minds, it is clear. They made the statement. They know what they mean. What more needs to be said?

If you look at the last paragraph, I explained the one statement with more details. Students don't always get that idea. It is developmental. The students will get better as they continue through their education.

February 20, 2007

Homework:
Begin the review units between units 9 and 10.
If you can, work on your "Monsters" essay.
Practice for the reading on Thursday.

Today we read over three essays. The first two were "Monsters" essays that scored six according to GoMyAccess. The last one was an essay that scored a five. The girl who wrote the five essay wanted to know why she could not get a six. I agreed with her. I wanted to know as well. I think this is a common problem with students when they are trying to improve their scores on GoMyAccess. They think that their spelling errors are what is holding them down. What we found was the essay had a bigger problem.

The prompt stated that the essay needed to explain Figure One's statement and give an opinion on the technique. The first two essays took the time to thoroughly explain what Figure One meant. They explained the technique and gave examples from the story. Then, both essays gave an opinion on the efficacy of the technique. One girl thought the technique was terrible and could not see it working for real. The main problem with the five essay was organization. She did not have the three main parts that I suggested in the outline.

The suggestions we finally came up with, I hope, should improve the five essay. I look forward to seeing the improvement. I also look forward to the rest of the classes. Now that they have something to shoot for, I think many will improve their scores. We will be able to get one more day in the writing lab since I missed last week during the storm.

February 16, 2007

Homework:
The students should be practicing for their oral reading.
If they have a computer with Internet, they should try to improve the "Monsters" essay

Today we were in the writing lab. I hope I can squeeze them in for one more day. I saw that many students could use it.

Have a nice weekend. What a week!

February 15, 2007

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!

There is no homework. We will be in the writing lab Friday. It is unfortunate that we missed our time in the lab yesterday. I don't get time that often. I will try to get them in the lab somehow next week so they have time to make the necessary revisions. I want to use the scores as a grade for an essay. This will be hard if they did not get enough time to finish. Oh well. We will do the best we can.

Today we looked at five different introductions for the "Maple Street" essay. We discussed what a proper introduction should have. We also covered what the essay should discuss. I look forward to reading some of their essays. I do think the topic is a little advanced for an essay, but the piece itself is great for discussion with seventh graders.

We also chose essays from the three essays they wrote. On their folder, they were to write down which essay they wanted me to score and which essay they think would be good to read to the class. I also asked them to tell me which essay they needed a copy of so they can practice at home. The reading of the essay should be perfect. That requires some preparation. We will begin reading the essays aloud next week.

February 13, 2007

Homework:
None

What good is snow if you don't get a day off? Maybe we will have better luck Wednesday. If not, oh well. I don't want the students to miss their time in the writing lab anyway.

Today we listened to the reading of the story "The Night the Bed Fell," by James Thurber. The man reading the story enunciated well. I was showing the students what I expect to hear when they do their oral readings of their pieces. I will have a formal rubric soon. Basically, after listening to the piece today, they will have heard a perfect. They should shoot for that.

We also had another person read the three essays they wrote. Thursday, we will choose which piece will be read and which piece will be handed in for a grade. Then we can start recording!

If you are interested, I had to stay home with my son yesterday. He was hit in the mouth with a bat at my daughter's softball practice Sunday. Apparently, many people have similar stories of split lips and major injuries. It is scary, though, when it is your own child. He has a big boo boo lip now. I have pictures on my mobile blog.

February 9, 2007

Homework:
Finish "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" essay for Monday.
(The assignment should already be on GoMyAccess. The draft can be there.)
Get the grade slip signed.

Today we did a number of things. The Daily Buzzword was fun to figure out. If you have not seen what I am talking about, there is a link on my web page. Go here to see one. Today's work required students to use process of elimination. It is interesting to listen to them figure out which answer is right. I try to get them right as well, so I explain how I deduced the answer. We are learning new words each day and practicing the important skill of trying to figure something out using any bits of information we have in our brain.

We also reviewed quiz 9. We went through the quiz question by question. Hopefully, students will see where they are going wrong and will ask for help.

February 8, 2007

Homework:
Work on "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" essay
The rough draft is due on Monday when we go to the writing lab.

Today we took the unit 9 quiz. We also took the first round of the district spelling bee. I will take the top 20 or so students and give them a chance at a second round. Those two rounds just use paper, like a quiz. The last round will use the traditional format so we can determine the top three spellers of the grade. The district spelling bee is February 20th at 6:30 P.M. I will let you know who the winners are for 7th grade next Wednesday when the names are due.

I handed out a suggested outline for the upcoming essay. We will discuss it further tomorrow. We will also continue to decide which essay will be read to the class and which essay will be scored by me. You can see the handout on the assignment page on http://www.mrboz.com/ .

February 7, 2006

Homework:
Flashcards for Unit 9
Quiz Unit 9 Thursday
Work on "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" essay

Today we started to look at the three essays. I am going to have two people read through the three essays they wrote. (Each student gives his folder to two people.) They will make suggestions for which essay to hand in to be scored and which essay would be best to read to the class. If you think about it, the best essay to be scored might not be what an audience wants to hear. I want them to think about how the two essays differ in purpose.

There will be a first round of the spelling bee tomorrow. It will look like a spelling test. That is to weed out the best spellers quickly. Then there will be a second round. Finally, the top speller will be determined by the typical spell off.

February 6, 2007

Homework: Finish Unit 9
Quiz on unit 9 Thursday
Make sure essay #3 is done for Wednesday (tomorrow)

It feels like it has been a while since I wrote on this blog. I did not blog on Thursday due to the incident at the school. Since then, there have been two in-service days. So here we are.

That is how class felt today. Today we did a few things. We organized the three essays into folders so we can have students read through the three essays. I want the students to determine which of their three essays they should read to the class. It will provide a way to discuss what a good essay looks like.

I also handed out the next topic. In reading class, the students are finishing studying "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street." This is an episode of The Twilight Zone. The story has a twist at the end. The topic is too long to list here. I will make a page for MrBoZ.com soon. You can see the whole topic there.

January 30, 2007

Homework: Pictionaries 11-20 and Choosing the Right Word
Continue to work on the essay
Be sure parents have filled out the sheet

I handed out grade slips today for the third marking period. I wanted the students to see how they were doing so far. It was more of an update.

Report cards will be handed out Wednedsay. I will not be here. In class I will be expecting the students to work on the essay. Today we discussed the general format of the essay. I can guess from the discussion today that most students don't really know what they are going to write. That is fine. Neither do I! I was sitting and working on my essay for at least an hour today. The best idea I came up with is pretty lame. But, it will have to do. I am writing a detailed explanation of what my goals are for my children.

In some classes, we listened to the song "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts. The song is about a parent's wish for his child. It is touching. I wanted the students to discuss how they would agree or disagree with that parent's goal for his child.

January 29, 2007

Homework: Pictionaries 1-10 Unit 9
Get the parent brainstorming sheet filled in

I tried to have a discussion about values on Friday, and it did not go as well as I wanted. I tried the discussion today using this format:

What we value, determines how we act.
For example, if you value “honesty,” you will try not to lie to anyone and expect people to be honest with you. If you do not value honesty, you might lie and cheat to get what you want.

1. Today, look down the list of words and find items that you value (think are important).
2. Write down as many items you want that you value.
3. Rewrite the list putting the most important items at the top.


When we look at our own list compared to yours, we might see that we similar in our values. Or maybe, we will see that we value different things.

Suggestion:
Look for words that cover more than one idea. For example, “Truth” contains words like honesty and justice.

Here are my values I want my children to possess when they get older:
1 spirituality, beauty, truth, vision, passion
2 faith, grace, thankfulness, discipline
3 family, selflessness, humor
4 exploration, wonder, spontenaity, learning
5 education, knowledge, reason, artiulacy
6 empathy, thoughtfulness, respect, making a difference
7 trust, honesty

January 26, 2007

Homework: Parents, please complete the goal sheet I sent home.

The new assignment is listed at MrBoZ.com . I handed these sheets to the students yesterday.

I also updated the calendar. (I don't know if you are aware of it.)

Today we worked from a copy of these values. I showed them the definition of a value and a principle. In short, our behaviors are determined by/grow out of our values. What we value will determine how we act. Today, on a Friday afternoon, I pointed out that their values were not my values. They did not want to do work or pay attention. Clearly they did not value education the way I was at that moment. That is frustrating, but to be expected. However, I think they got the point.

I made the classes pick what five values they thought Americans should have. They were to discuss which one should be the top value. All of this discussion of values will show up in their essays. I have not decided exactly how, but it would be interesting to have the parents choose their top five values they hope their children possess.

January 25, 2007

(I could not blog yesterday. The site was out when I had time to do it.)

Homework: Yes, I sent home work for the parents.
Please fill out the sheet and return.
(The more detailed you can be the better.)

We are starting our third essay of this unit. I will have the page up soon on MrBoZ.com soon. In short, though, the essay will be a comparison between what the students see as their goal for their lives and what their parents see as the goal for their child's life. I am reading a parenting book with a study group, and one activity was to picture my child as an arrow that my wife and I will one day release at a target. The book asked us to define the target so we can make our parenting decisions based on that target. If we want her to have certain values, we have to do certain things as parents to help her attain those values. Or, we raise her so that she is heading in the right direction.

As I look at my children, I realize that they will not always agree with what I want as a parent. Therefore, I am asking the students to figure out what their goals are for themselves. With their goals in mind, they will be better able to make decisions. Since this is the first time I am doing this topic, I have some details to work out. But over the next few days the students will develop a clear picture of what they need to write.

January 23, 2007

Homework: Finish Unit 8 vocab
Finish the essay for tomorrow

Today we discussed how the introduction of an essay aims towards the conclusion. We discussed how the writer has a purpose for the essay and the introduction and conclusion help him to deliver that message. I gave them a handout that had thirteen different types of introductions. I expect the students to play with their introductions for this paper.

Tomorrow we will begin the third essay. If any parent is actually reading this blog, you will find this third essay topic interesting. I am reading a parenting book. It asked us to write down the target we have in mind for our children, like our goals for them. This third essay will ask the students to explain what they think (or know) are your goals for them. Then they will explain how they are doing in meeting those goals. In other words, they are comparing your expectations for their lives with their own performance so far. How do they think they are measuring up to your expectations will be the focus. It should be an interesting paper!

January 22, 2006

Homework: Completing the Sentence Unit 8
Work on the essay (was due today but is not due Wednesday)

I pushed the due date of the essay off until Wednesday. I wanted to cover a few topics important to the writing of narrative essays. Today I discussed the idea of how the introduction points towards the conclusion. I used the analogy of a bow and arrow. The writer pulls back the bow and sets the reader up to look forward towards the distant target. When the reader has the basic idea of where he is being aimed, the writer stops the intro and releases. Now the reader goes through the story and hits the target. Ideally, the target should resemble the ideas presented in the intro, or at least be in the direction the intro pointed towards. It isn't the perfect analogy, but it works.

We also looked at a sample essay for their topic. I showed the sea and mountain technique being used. Tomorrow we will look at 13 different types of introductions.

January 18, 2006

Sorry I did not blog yesterday.

Homework: Choosing the Right Word Unit 8
Work on the essay

Today: I have not been so ready to teach grammar this week when I see that I need to teach the format of the narrative essay. The three days this week have been spent teaching a variety of techniques for detailed narratives that have meaning. Today I had them practice a technique to add sensory details and thoughts.

They make three columns. The middle column contains the story in outline form: first, second, third, etc. Then, in the right column, I had them add sensory details in between the items in the middle. In other words, after they say the event, they should give sensory details to explain. Next, I had them add thoughts in the left column. This adds another layer. These thoughts come from two levels. The thoughts could be those they had during the even they are describing, or they could be the thoughts they are having now as they write from the mountain. The mountain is the perspective we look back on events from. Now that we are farther from the event, we are not in it; therefore, we can look back and reflect on how the event fits into our current lives.

Finally, I had them read the piece weaving back and forth from side to side. This way they can focus on event, sensory details, and thoughts as they tell their story. I hope they will use this technique in their next essay that is due Monday.

January 16, 2007

Homework: Pictionaries 1-10 Unit 8
Begin new essay.

Here is the topic for the next essay: Life takes surprising turns which challenge human beings to face the unexpected. Last week we read an example of a narrative essay. If you read the essay, you will see that the task of building a blue bird box has new meaning when she looks back on it. The meaning which she states at the end of the essay is that "the things you build can have a purpose greater than you imagine." When we begin to wonder what the point is, she states it at the end. Today I had a few students tell me stories, but I had to ask why they told me about them. Sure, the stories were funny, but a narrative is more than just entertainment. The story reveals something about the writer and how he/she views life.

I thought I would have a grammar day Wednesday, but I think the students need some more time to get this essay rolling. Starting the week late is difficult. The essays are the most important thing I teach. I want them to understand how to arrive at a good topic. Then I want them to see what they are to develop.

January 12, 2007

Homework: Essay due Tuesday

Today I discussed the idea of "sea and mountain" in the narrative. When we are in the moment, experiencing it, we are in the sea. We only notice what is going on. We are not even thinking about the importance of the moment. "Mountain" is when we are beyond the moment looking back. In narratives, this can be years or decades. From the mountain, we can see the moment we went through and the others that surround it. Whereas we could only experience the moment in the present while we were in it, now that time has passed, we reflect on the event and give it meaning based on our current life situation. The way we look at the moment can even change over time. For instance, the trip that I am writing about had meaning to me for the months that followed. But now that things have changed in the relationship of the person I visited, I am revisiting the trip through different eyes. I am, in a way, rewriting the narrative of the trip. This time I am emphasizing the parts that relate to my life right now. I am realizing that the trip was important to me for other reasons.

I have to finish my essay this weekend as well. I plan to write all three essays with the students. Narrative writing is my favorite. The essays we have done so far have been kind of formal. Now we can engage in introspection... my favorite! I enjoy the process of discovering what I need to say. While the formal writing process stresses outlining, these types of essays allow a writer to discover meaning and craft the final piece in stages. Sometimes what I think I am going to write is not what comes out.

January 11, 2007

Homework: Essay due Tuesday

Today we took the quiz on Unit 7. I also handed out the graded ant debate essays to sections 2,3, and 6. I handed those students an updated grade slip to show the impact of not handing in an essay, although I have already notified them many times that they have not handed in the essay. I can only do so much. Missing 100 points has a huge impact on the grade.

The marking period is over January 19.

January 10, 2007

Homework: Sections 3,6,7 make flashcards
Quiz Unit 7 Thursday
Work on essay if you have time.

First, sorry I did not get to blog yesterday. I forgot. I don't really have that much to say. We have had two days to work on the current writing topic. Tomorrow we will take a quiz and continue working on grammar. Finally, Friday will be used as writing time for the essay. The final draft is due next Tuesday. (I am writing one as well.) Students should be working on the essay at home. I am only giving them some time in class. Quiet time should be provided for the students to organize their thoughts into a quality essay. Thanks.

January 8, 2006

Homework: Synonyms and Choosing the Right Word Unit 7
Essay #1 is Due January 16 (They must keep a copy.)

I handed out grades in class today. It was a small update. I also sent e-mails to parents with the grades. If you are not receiving them, you should send me an e-mail so I can add you to the list.

Today we began the first essay. I stressed that a narrative should be more about the writer than the topic. What I mean is, even though the essay is to be about an event, I am not interested in the details of the even as much as I am interested in how the event exemplifies something the writer has learned about him/herself.

January 5, 2007

I will have the grades updated Monday morning. I will send out an e-mail when I am done.

The results of the ant debates are also posted online:
(If you have been there before, you might have to hit "Refresh" on your browser.)
Honors 1
Honors 2
Academic 3
Academic 6
Academic 7

I don't know if the students notice all the factors that went into getting a win. Since the winner is decided by the class, each student in the class scores the debate. When the debate was over, I then entered all their scores into a spreadsheet which totaled the points and revealed the winner. The class and I didn't always match. There was only one time where I overruled the class and determined the winner. Sure, sometimes students added points for their friends. Sometimes they just made up scores that sounded like those around them. Other times students weren't really being critical, and they gave points for everything that was said no matter how silly it was. In summary, the votes they cast are as accurate as some of the votes we cast when we vote!

I don't know what each participant takes away from the debate experience. They stand in front of the class, deliver a presentation on a fictitious ant's fate, rebut an opponent that might have terrible supports, and then they are scored and given a 100 point grade! How crazy is that? But it is an experience they won't forget. I hope they remember the lesson when they are asked to write a persuasive speech in the future.

I will be reading the essays soon. I look forward to seeing how all of the preparation has resulted in intelligent, well thought out essays. That is what I will be scoring them on.

January 4, 2007

Homework: be finished 1-20 pictionaries unit 7
get a notebook for grammar and "Daily Buzzwords"

There were not as many debates left as I thought. Therefore, I will be getting some grades into the book soon. Look for a grade update early next week. I have to add in the ant essay turned in (25 pts), the 4-6 quiz (35 pts), and the results of the debate (100pts).

Today, some classes started grammar. I plan to complete unit 11 in the grammar book we are using. It covers nouns, adjectives, and pronouns. It may sound simple, but the book is not. This is an "old-school" grammar book (no pictures!). Discussing these parts of speech allows discussion of all parts of the sentence.

I also put up the first of three essay topics. You can see the assignment here: http://www.mrboz.com/school/assignments/assignment_essay1_january_writing_month.html . I will be having the students write three essays. They will then choose one to read to the class and have scored. Since I want their full effort on each essay, I will not put up the next topic until the first one is handed in. I don't need them blowing off two essays and only writing one. They should do their best on each one. I will be giving them time to write more in class.

January 3, 2007

We are back! But what a long day it was! I discussed the upcoming schedule. First, we will finish up a few ant debates. Some might not get to go. I timed the presentations wrong.

Starting next week, we will begin the first of three essays the students will write this month. On February 6th, we will read one of them to the class and record it as we did earlier in the year. I will have the prompts up one at a time when I give them to the students. We will be spending more time writing in class this month.

We will also be doing more grammar. By the end of the month, the students will have covered a few parts of speech. This is further prep for diagramming sentences. We will cover as much as we can.

I will update the calendar soon.

December 21, 2006

I collected the essays in class. We continued the debates. Two classes are finished. One class is almost finished. The two honors classes, because they are so large, have about 5 more debates to go. We will have to finish them after the break.

After the break we will begin a new essay. I think it will be a compare contrast essay. The topic will not need to be studied so much, so we will have time for sentence diagramming... for real this time. We will have time to work the whole period, not just the little daily drill time. I mentioned the essay topic in an earlier blog. I THINK it might be something comparing what goals parents have for their children and how the children think they are measuring up to those goals, or something like that.

I will grade the ant debate essays after the break. They will be quicker to grade because I will just score them based on the lessons I have been teaching about organizing persuasive essays.

Have a nice break (students). I will not be blogging over the break. If you have a real desire to know what I am up to, you can check out my mobile blog: http://mrbozmobile.blogspot.com/ . I post pictures from my cell phone.

December 19, 2006

Homework: pages 80-83 in the vocab book
Quiz on units 4-6 tomorrow
Ant essay due Thursday

Vacation has not started yet! The debates are rolling along now. The first ones are so hard, but now that we have scored a few, it is getting quicker. The idea behind having the debates it to see the strategies needed to effectively persuade. When they are in front of the class, they see how strong (or weak) their arguments are, especially when they see their scores. My hope is they will use that experience to strengthen their essays. There is so much that could be used in the essays. Unfortunately, too many students are only using a fraction of what was discussed.

December 18, 2006

Homework: Pages 78 and 79 in vocab
Be ready for the debate (which too many are not!)
Have the essay written by Thursday

I had too many students not ready for the debates! Even when we have had three weeks to prepare, too many students are standing in front of the class like they have no idea what to talk about. I am disappointed.

The essay has a format that I am asking them to follow. It is the standard format for a persuasive essay:
p1 Introduction
p2 Discuss your position fully
p3 Discuss the opponent's position
p4 Rebut the opponent's position point by point
p5 Maybe have a final strong paragraph
p6 Conclusion

The essay should have some passion to it, unlike too many of the debates.
(I am just frustrated. Oh, well. It is their grade.)

December 15, 2006

The debates are in full swing! Some are amusing, while others are disappointing. I can't emphasize this enough: be prepared! I suggest students deliver their presentation to someone beforehand. When they are ready to present should NOT be the first time they have spoken their research to someone! If you are interested, here are some things to consider about the scoring:

You get extra points for a proper introduction. (5 points total)
You should have four main reasons for your side with two explanations each. (12 points minimum)
You get two points for each rebuttal. If the other side said four points, that is 8 points.
There is another round for rebuttals (maybe 6 more points)
A good conclusion that incorporates the opponent's weaknesses gets 5 points
Visuals can give you three points
Eye contact can give you five points.

Here are the grades:
30 = A
20 = B
15 = C
14 + 13 = C-
How could one even get a D?

If you look above at the way they get points, it is hard to see how a student could not get an A! Only the winner gets the A, though. The winner gets 5 points for winning. That can push the grade up to the next grade.

December 13, 2006

Sorry I did not blog yesterday. I guess I forgot.

Homework: pages 76 and 77 in the vocab book
I assigned an outline for the essay in sections 3,6,7
They should be working on their debate presentations and essays

By tomorrow, all classes will be in full swing with the debates. They are fascinating to see, really. Some students are good at presenting their position. Others come up unprepared. Still others don't really turn it on until the rebuttals. But when the class gives me the results, we see who won.

The debates teach the students lessons for writing. I stress good introductions and conclusions. Debate after debate forces the students to observe good organization and bad. They also evaluate the effectiveness of the supports given. It is like every student gets to be the teacher; they give the scores for the debates. For all the time this takes, I think the lessons learned are great. Look for the winners and losers off of the ant debate page on MrBoZ.com.

December 11, 2006

Homework: pages 72 and 73 in the vocab book
work on the debate
maybe they want to start writing the essay that is due next week

The debates are getting closer every day! Today I discussed how the debates will be scored. It's hard, really, to explain how they will be scored until they see it in action. I wanted to show them, though, that they need to have a lot to say. They get points for each good reason and/or explanation of that reason. The more they say, the more points they get. They also get points for a unique introduction, eye contact, visuals, and solid conclusion. They will need to listen during the debate to earn points during the rebuttal round where they refute what the opponent has said.

The essay will be a written version of the debate format. There will be an introduction, a discussion of the main reasons they have for their position, a discussion of the opposition, rebuttal of that opposition, and a strong conclusion. The essay and debate should show depth of thought and a consideration of both sides.

December 6, 2006

Homework: Keep researching for the ant debate.
Use the sheet I gave you to organize rebuttals for "Hey, Little Ant."

Today we finished the movie in all classes. I had them finish the sheet I created to go along with the movie. I see three themes discussed in the movie: education eliminates prejudice, the world we live in varies as a result of our perspective, and what would the world be like if we discovered "the ant with-in?" I do not have time to write a paper on how each of these is seen in the movie. Like many children's movies, though, this one has plenty for adults to think about. The children will not catch the deeper, spiritual quest that is encourage throughout the movie. This self actualization and guidance is realized through a supernatural belief that the ants have.

Interestingly, the "religion," if you will, of the ants resembles many world religions all in one. Sure, the boys learns that ants are not just stupid. But if you enjoy looking for deeper meanings in a movie, check this one out! (I did not spend much time at all on the religion part. I merely mentioned that the ant religion seems to be comprised of many ideas from many world religions.)

December 5, 2006

Homework: Flashcards sections 3,6, and 7
Study for quiz 6
Continue researching for the ant debate

Most of the classes are finishing The Ant Bully. I look forward to seeing how the movie will be used in the debates. I see many ways to argue whether the ant should be squished. In some ways, the factual information can help. But since the book is fictional, and the ant is more human, the details from The Ant Bully will help. However, those aren't the only angles that can be discussed. What about bullies? What about morals and ethics? What about laws, both human and in the movie? What about larger guiding ideas, sort of univeral laws?

No, I do not have one specific answer that I want to hear. What I do want to do for the students is teach them how to write a well thoughtout piece that not only proves their position but explains how they are more correct when both sides are considered. It is a big task, and the debates help them to see the many positions. In their minds, they are right. Once they see how many ways this can be argued, they will have to rethink their positions.

Oh, I forgot. The essay position DOES NOT have to be the same position they took during the debate.

December 4, 2006

Homework: Finish Unit 6 vocabulary

I checked the progress of the students today. As expected, some are doing just fine with the research, but too many don't really have much to show. Many had a proper bibliography, but they were lacking abundant notes.

I told the students that they would be standing in front of the class delivering a speech. I don't know how else to put this. If they do not have research, they will look pretty silly! We are watching The Ant Bully examining prejudice and "the ant within." I look forward to how this movie will be incorporated into their debates. Although the movie shows what ants do, not everything is true to life. There are many ways to attack the opponent in the debate. I hope by showing them multiple angles of attack, they will produce a thought out debate with and equally impressive essay that follows.

December 1, 2006

Homework: Be finished taking notes. Have a bibliography ready to show me that you have been researching. Use http://www.easybib.com to format your sources.

All classes are in the middle of watching The Ant Bully. I have created a worksheet that goes with the movie. If you are interested, you can look at it from the assignment page for the ant debate. The goal for the coming week is to finish the movie, do more sentence diagramming, and develop strategies for organizing their essays and debates.

November 30, 2006

Homework: Completing the sentence unit 6

We spent time researching in class. The honors classes started watching The Ant Bully. More discussion on the movie will follow. When I was doing this debate last year (I have done this for many years), the movie trailer was out. Now that the movie is out, I am figuring out how I will use it with the lesson. Everything I am doing with the kids now is to get them to think critically. They don't just do it naturally. Each day is like doing thinking push-ups. The momentum builds slowly. But once it kicks in, watch out! Wait until it is full steam during the media literacy unit!

November 29, 2006

Homework: Choosing the right word unit 6
Continue researching for the ant debate

Note: I am not getting the feeling that the students are really taking the research part of the debate seriously. Maybe it is due to the fact that the debate is far off. However, the research is due Monday. I want to see all their notes and a bibliography.

I will be giving them class time to research Thursday. Hopefully they will not waste it talking. I am leading the horses to water, so to say. On Friday, I will show them how to do a bibliography.

Sometime soon we will be watching a little bit of the movie The Ant Bully. Even though it is rated PG, there is nothing that I found objectionable. I watched it with my 9 and 5 year old children. I want some of the students to argue more about the story than just the facts about real ants. There are many angles they can come from.

November 28, 2006

Homework: 11-20 pictionaries and synonyms unit 6
Finish the handout from class

In class we discussed an article about the cow killer ant, which is actually a wasp: http://lancaster.unl.edu/enviro/pest/Articles/CowKillerAnt.htm . We read the article to show how as they gather facts for the debate, they should be getting information on both sides. The article had reasons to squish this ant, and there were reasons to not bother squishing the ant. Ultimately, though, we concluded that the information was not even needed for the debate because the ant in the story was NOT a cow killer ant. Since the debate is on the ant in the story, not ants in general, it would be useless to bring up the information in the article. I want the students to become more critical of their resources as they research. The goal of the whole unit is to get the students to think more critically. The reasoning is that a persuasive essay is only good if it has something intelligent to say. Organization and grammar won't matter if the essay says nothing.

November 27, 2006

There is calendar for the month of December at http://webdav.venuecom.com/calendar/bozmd/month.php?cal=classroom

Tonight the homework is to do pictionaries 1-10 unit 6. That is pretty easy. I also expect them to be researching for the ant debate.

I sent out a grade up-date e-mail this morning. I also gave the students their grades in class. As usual, students are encouraged to get in the make-up work.

I am getting to the scoring of the essays. They should be done in two weeks or so.

November 21, 2006

No homework. We took quiz 5 today. We also began researching. Please see the requirements for the ant debate at this address: http://www.mrboz.com/school/assignment_ant_debate.html

You can also see the match-ups for the debates.

November 20, 2006

Sorry I did not post this yesterday. I had to leave school suddenly to pick up my son.

The homework for Monday night was to finish unit 5 and be ready for the quiz Tuesday. Sections 3, 6, and 7 were to make flashcards.

In class, but not in section 3, we started the next assignment: ant debate. We read the book Hey Little Ant by Judith Viorst. The story ends with the question, "What do you think that kid should do?" Basically, the students will debate each other about whether the boy in the story should squish the ant in the story. I have been doing this assignment for years, and it goes very well. It is a research project that ends with a debate and an essay. The essay will have a bibliography. It will also be citing the location of the facts mentioned in the essay. If you would like to see the assignment page, it is here: http://www.mrboz.com/school/assignment_ant_debate.html .

November 17, 2006

I changed the due date for the essay. It is due Monday. I wanted to spend some extra time revising the essays.

I also sent out grades by e-mail. Furthermore, I sent home the grade slips to be signed.

We are now finished studying "The Highwayman." I have a new project that we are going to start next week. We will be reading a children's book called "Hey Little Ant." From that story, we will be having debates where the students try to convince the class to choose them as the speaker with the most persuasive argument. It is a great project to do before the winter break.

But I am also thinking about having them write a quick piece. I am reading a book on parenting, and it is asking my wife and me to write what we expect our children to be like on the other side, when we are done raising them I guess. That way we can make all of our decisions based on the final goal. I wonder... What would your children write if they were asked to explain what they think your vision for them is and how close they are to fulfilling it? I am curious. It could spark some interesting discussions.

I will think about this more over the weekend. I love the ant debate, but I am just so tempted to write this piece because they would make great recordings. Also, the next enduring understanding is, "By reaching out to people who are different from themselves, human beings relate to new experiences, ideas, and emotions." I wonder how either the ant topic or this topic relates to the enduring understanding.

November 15, 2006

Today is my son's 5th birthday!

We reviewed words 11-20, checked the synonyms, and put the pictionaries on the board. It is fun to try to guess what the pictures actually represent. The students have choosing the right word for homework tonight.

We spent the rest of the class discussing the use of quotation marks. I figure I will review the rules before I get the essays. We only got through half of what I wanted to cover. I might push the due date of the essay off until Monday. I want to spend time getting the essays perfect before I read them. When the students get the papers back they do not study my corrections. I want to teach the skills and have them apply them in the paper.

November 14, 2006

We were in the writing lab. I took the computer score today. There are six scores returned by the computer. I made each worth 10 points for a total of 60 points. When I score the essays, I will give them another 60 points. The students should have their essays in class Wednesday and Thursday. I want to discuss a few ideas for revision so the final drafts do not have as many grammar mistakes as last time.

Due Wednesday: All the pictionaries and the synonyms.

November 13, 2006

We read examples of essays that ranged from 3 to 6. The six paper was amazing. It showed that they should give supports for the author's message, and they should also use lots of quotes. In addition to the quotes, we saw that the quotes needed to be explained thoroughly.

We will be in the writing lab tomorrow. At the end of the lab time, the students will print out their essays, and I will take the grades from the GoMyAccess scoring. On Wednesday and Thursday we will revise the essays and look at how to punctuate the quotes. On Friday, the students will hand in the good papers.

The homework is to have all the pictionaries and synonyms done by Wednesday. I would also like students to work on adding more details to their essays.

November 10, 2006

We were in the writing lab. Monday we will discuss some of the shortcomings of the essays. Many students are simply not including enough examples from the poem. We will look at samples of a 4, 5, and 6(best) essay. Many are also not keeping the paper focused on the author's message. They are just listing details from the poem. Again, this is a tough essay, but the students are getting there. I saw many students who raised their scores and celebrated the improvement. That is nice to see.

November 9, 2006

We took vocab quiz 4 today. I checked to see that the whole unit was completed as well as the flashcards for sections 3,6,7. We then discussed the idea of analyzing a poem. I created a chart that they could use to take apart a poem. It had five categories.
1. What is the author's message(s) in the poem?
2. What images in the poem show this message?
3. List the actions of the characters that show the message.
- Also, what dialogue demonstrates that message?
4. How is figurative language used to further the message?
Metaphors, similes, alliteration, personification, onomatopoeia
5. Describe your opinion of the message in the poem.

If the students take the time to write to each one of these, I think they will begin to explain what the author is trying to say. They should have a better draft to work on in the writing lab Friday.

November 8, 2006

We were in the writing lab. I was disappointed with the students today, but I am not sure why. I know the essay is not so easy, but I really get the feeling they are waiting for me to tell them exactly how to write it. I won't. However, I do wish they would have had more written when they came into the lab. Regardless, I will give them a small grade for being prepared today.

The district allowed the model essays to be seen in GoMyAccess. I was not going to have the students look at them because I feel they will steer the students towards what was written in the examples. I really want the students to think about the message of love in the poem. They should figure out how the writer expresses that message through the characters' actions and words. He also expressed feelings about love through figurative language by the way the poem is written. Finally, I expect the students to comment on the message.

I will take them through an exercise tomorrow on a Bob Dylan song, "Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather." It is a love song as well. I hope by doing what I expect for the essay using the song they will get a better idea of what they need to write.

There is a quiz tomorrow, Thursday.

November 6, 2006

The Highwayman essay should be written for Wednesday. We will be in the writing lab, and I do expect the students to have something. I will admit that the topic is difficult, but I have been preparing the students for responding to the prompt. You can see the handouts on the assignment page. I was thrilled when I saw the abstract art the students created for the one worksheet. If I have time, I will scan a few of the really good ones.

They should also have the imagery sheet finished. It is brainstorming for the essay.

They should also have unit 4 completed in the vocab book. I do not count Tuesday as a vacation day. I will be doing school work, and I expect the students to do the same. Look for the marking period grades to be e-mailed Tuesday.

November 2, 2006

We listened to the "The HIghwayman" today. I don't know how the students feel about the poem, but I love it! I think they like it as well. The hard part is not if they like it, though. The hard part about this prompt is whether they can figure out what the author is trying to say. Then they have to give their thoughts on that message. I would love to tell you what I think the message is, but I want the students to come up with it themselves. I will teach them how to gather details from the text so they can support what they say.

The homework is choosing the right word unit 4, but I told each class that I will not be here Friday, so I will not check that assignment until Monday. They should be ready, though! I will be in Dover benchmarking essays for the DSTP test for the spring. What we do is establish a series of essays as examples of each score: 4,3,2,1. The company that scores the essays uses our scored essays as benchmarks, references. As Delaware teachers, the group scoring the essays is establishing the cut-offs ourselves based on an established rubric. It is not glamorous, but it gives me insight into the scoring process. I get to look at both the stand alone essays and the text-based essays. I will be there Saturday as well. (I get paid.)

November 1, 2006

http://www.mrboz.com/school/assignments/assignment_the_highwayman.html

Have you checked out the requirements for the next essay? I added two handouts to the page. I believe the prompt is quite advanced for the students, so I am showing them how they can analyze a writer's message. I will not tell them the message of the poem, but I will help them organize thier thoughts.

The homework for tonight is to do the pictionaries 11-20 and synonyms for unit 4.

I have finished the grades for the first marking period. I will send out an e-mail soon with the final grades. I have a few students who have make-up, so I will wait one day for them.