After reading and analyzing poetry, 7th grade students are now becoming poets themselves! They started their writing journey last Friday with a poem about fall. This was the first rough draft that we've written this year, and as you can see by Braden Lawhead and Morgan Madinger's examples, they are already AWESOME writers!
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Today, we wrapped up an intense analysis and debate about a mummy. Sounds deep and meaningful, right? It was. It was also really awesome and fun! We used the talented musician Josh Ritter as our poet this week to study his song, "The Curse". Students used poetry analysis strategies (a version of TP-CASTT) to really dig into the possible meanings, figurative language, vocabulary, and theme of the song as they read over a copy of the text. Then, they listened to the song and tried to infer what was happening. Finally, students watched two different music videos of the song, which confirmed or refuted their original ideas. It was a nice way to introduce poetic techniques with a subject that students found engaging. After digging into the meaning of the song, we also extended the learning into a spirited debate about whether the main character (a mummy) was truly in love or just sucking the life out of a victim. Mr. Garvin and Mr. Pettijohn made videos of themselves to model the art of using text evidence to support opinions. I think this was really key in helping our students understand how intellectual debate is supposed to occur. If you have a student in our classes, chances are, you have ALSO been subjected to some deep discussion and contemplation about the mummy in this song. Good times. The 7th grade English department all agreed that this was some of the best debate we've ever had in our classes. It was really exciting to see so many students caring and having opinions about poetry. If you're looking for an interesting lesson to introduce poetry and figurative language, check this one out for sure! I don't think it could have gone any better. The students have even been tweeting and messaging the author to see if we can get his take on the mummy! If you want to decide for yourself about the mummy, check out the the song above and the video below. In 7th grade, we are preparing for a unit on poetry. One thing the students will need to know is figurative language. We will be analyzing the use of metaphors, simile, alliteration, etc. in poetry, so it's important that students know the definitions of these terms. What better way to practice than a battle to the death (figuratively speaking)? Students were put in teams and given three lives. Step one was to spin the wheel. Once it landed on a term, we drew a random noun (unicorns, Whataburger, selfies, etc.) from a bucket full of nouns the students had written. The students then had one minute to come up with a sentence that used that particular type of figurative language about the noun that was drawn.
At the end of the minute, they chose which team they would battle. After both teams shared their sentences, the class voted on which team won the round. The team that lost the vote, lost one of their three lives. We keep going until there was only one team left. There were sound effects, creative metaphors about tacos, and even a pink microphone (in Mrs. Gordon's class). Hopefully the students had fun, and more importantly, know the figurative language terms really well now. After we started the year by teaching literary elements via Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, students took the information and put it in presentation form with Haiku Deck. Here is a great example from Sarah D. Plot Chart Dalton - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires I'm biased, but I think we have the best middle school library in the universe. Mrs. Blank, our librarian/media specialist, is extremely creative and enthusiastic about getting our students invested in reading. It's not uncommon to see students walking down the hall with their face buried in a book at Walnut Grove. Mrs. Blank works closely with the ELA teachers, and there is always something going on in the library.
Over the last two weeks, our ELA teachers have been taking their classes to the library for orientation. That means that students may now begin checking books out. The 6th grade teachers will take their classes to the library regularly, but the 7th and 8th grade students will need to pay close attention to their due dates and get things back on time. This week, we're continuing our WGMS Film School. We're focusing specifically on literary elements and plot while watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. We'll use this as a contextual framework for the rest of the year.
As an educator, sometimes It's hard when you have lots of different links and images that you want to use in class. Clicking around from here to there can waste class time. Padlet is one helpful tool that allows the user to compile links, images, and text all in one place. I'm going to use this one as we study mood and tone in the context of the film. I'll be using it as a springboard in class as we watch and discuss. I plan on creating more throughout the year. Walnut Grove has been a technologically connected school, but with iPad carts in every math and science classroom on campus, and more carts available for use in the ELA and SS classes, it's definitely jumping to a whole other level this year. Homework Online and PowerSchool have been required programs, but now teachers are being encouraged to use web-based apps like Edmodo and Google Drive. Throw in Class Dojo, Remind 101, and a handful of other options, and it can be difficult to keep up with all the passwords and login processes. At Walnut Grove, we rely on supportive parents. Parental involvement is one of the best things about our school. We want all of our parents to feel like they have a handle on keeping up with what their children are doing at WGMS. If necessary, we would love to be willing to offer a few short trainings on the basics of managing the various sites and software the students and teachers will be utilizing this year. To determine if there is a demand for this, please complete the short questionnaire below, and check back soon for more information. Using Film as a ContextIn the 7th and 8th grade classes this year, we are trying something new. We are watching a movie together. But it will be movie watching with a purpose. Before we dive into novels, poetry, and short stories, we are going to introduce several concepts through the medium of film.
7th grade is watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the 1971 original, not the creepy, newer Johnny Depp version), and 8th grade is watching The Princess Bride. We are starting with a review of some key literary elements: the plot chart, theme, inferencing, tone, mood, characterization, and point of view. After we have finished the movie, we will transfer these skills to literature. Throughout the course of the year, we will be referring back to the movie as a common reference point. Over the next few class days, ask your students what they are learning as they watch the movie in class. |
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August 2015
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