Poetry Quiz

Most of today's class was dedicated to the writing of our poetry quiz.  I will try to have these marked and back to you by next class.  I will return them on Monday at the latest.  If you missed class today, please see me to find out when you should write your quiz.

We then watched the next twenty minutes of "Dead Poets' Society."  We will finish the film next class.

Dead Poets' Society

We began watching the movie, "Dead Poets' Society" today, as a conclusion to our poetry unit.  I've asked students to keep track of important sections in the movie, in order to complete a summary assignment once the movie has been completed.

I also reminded students that your poetry summative assessment will take place in Tuesday's class.  Please be prepared to analyze a poem, identifying and explaining poetic devices, as well as commenting on the overall meaning of the poem.

Childhood Memory Poems

I returned character webs today, and marks were recorded in our work portfolios.  Then, I also returned the "Flannan Isle" assignments, and we went over the answers to the questions.  We have decided that we are feeling fairly confident as a class, with respect to our knowledge of poetic devices, but we'd like a little bit more practice before a summative assessment.  Next class will be devoted to poetic devices review.

We spent the final part of class writing free-writes on a childhood memory.  We will use these pieces of writing on Wednesday, to develop poems about these memories.  Please make sure you have a piece of writing, or a mind-map, ready to use on Wednesday.

What Do I Remember of the Evacuation?

Students spent time reading an article on Japanese internment, during WWII, to start today's class, in order to provide some historical context for the poem they were about to read.  They participated in an activity called "Tea Party" in order to connect sentences from the article, as well as make predictions about the article, before reading it.

After reading the article, students were given the poem "What Do I Remember of the Evacuation?" and asked to read it, considering the tone of the poem.  How does the child's view of her experience contrast the reality of her situation?

We will follow up with the poem next class, and begin preparing for a summative assessment of what has been learned in the poetry unit.

Poetic Devices Review

We began class today with a game about homonyms.  Basically, I tricked you!  We played a game... but about WORDS!!

Then we reviewed ten poetic devices: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme and rhythm.  Students attempted to define these terms and provide an example for each.  We went over each one, once people had a chance to recall what they knew of each one.

The last fifteen minutes of class were spent finishing off rough drafts of our simile poems.  I have collected these and will provide feedback before returning them next week.

What does a cookie look/feel/smell/sound/taste like?

In an effort to have students think about using imagery in their simile poems, I brought cookies to class, and had students sensory details about them.  Students wrote about how they looked, smelled, felt, sounded (as we bit into them) and, finally, tasted.  We talked about how sensory details really enrich the thing we are describing.

Students then spent the remainder of the block working on putting together their simile poems.  We talked a bit about line lengths, and what makes line lengths effective, and then students went to work playing with the words and lines of their poems.  

Please submit completed simile poems to me on Friday.

Simile Poems

Today we read a sample of a "simile poem" called "Crowning Gory" and we discussed what made the poem so effective.  We noted that we got a really clear image of the person's hair in our minds, as the poet described it using a variety of similes, and used very descriptive language.  She also used sound devices like alliteration and onomatopoeia to achieve an effect.

We then began constructing simile poems of our own.  Students chose a subject or topic (your room, a face, your cat, a car...) and began thinking of similes which would help describe that thing.  Please bring your list of similes with you on Wednesday, to begin to make them into a poem.

Also, I collected "Flannan Isle" responses today.  Please get these to me as soon as possible, if you did not submit them today.

Flannan Isle

I collected letter essays at the start of class.  If you did not submit one today, please get it to me by Monday.

We then did a Sort and Predict, using words from the poem we were about to read.  Students paired up, categorized the words, and then formed predictions based on the categories they had formed.

We then read the poem together, and discussed problematic words.  We talked about what we understood of the story in the poem, and then I assigned some practice questions to be completed for Monday's class.  If you were away or you lost the questions, there is a copy here for you to download.

We also listened to a reading of poem in Swedish.  I mean... Anglo-Saxon English.

The Letter Essay

We did some speed dating to begin today.  Not real speed dating... but speed dating to discuss our Lit. Circle books.  Students met with three peers, to hear about their books and share some highlights (or lowlights) from their own book.  After meeting and chatting (so quickly!) students filled out a reflection form, indicating which books sounded interesting, and which ones... not so much.

We spent the remainder of class working on letter essays.  I reviewed the expectations, and then students either wrote or peer edited letter essays.

These are due on Thursday, at the beginning of class.