Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words

I was first introduced to this book at CUWP. I've been wanting to use it ever since, and now that we are doing Poetry Out Loud, this is my big chance. We spent about half of a class period making word tickets. Word tickets means that the students had a big pile of magazines and newspapers from which they were supposed to choose interesting words. After they got their words, they cut them out and glued them onto carnival-type tickets.

I had every student choose ten nouns, ten verbs, and ten "others," so we had around 900 words or so by the time they had finished. Then everyone got 10-15 random words and used as many as they wanted to create phrases and images to inspire poetry. My students had a fantastic time choosing words (and it was very educational, too, as they spent a lot of time arguing and teaching each other which words were and were not nouns and verbs). I will post some of their best works here after I've gone over all of their portfolios.

The Secret Knowledge of Grownups

I bought this book at CUWP, and I've been meaning to use it all year as a Scribble. I finally found a time when I thought it would work well, since my students were learning about Romanticism. Romanticism privileged children and childhood, right? So--what better time to write from a child's perspective.

In the book, the author takes those basic nagging rules that all parents have: don't pick your nose, eat your vegetables, etc., and comes up with a wacky secret reason behind them. For example, you shouldn't pick your nose because you might accidentally deflate your brain.

My students took the ball and ran with it. They came up with some great secrets--about everything from aiming urine to talking to strangers. I gave them a 17 x 11 piece of paper and had them fold it like a book. They put their rule and the supposed reason (Eat Your Vegetables - Because they are good for you.) on the outside and then they put the real secret reason and optional illustrations on the inside. As a culminating activity, I had the students pass their completed booklets around the class. That way everyone got to see what their peers had come up with, and we all got to have a few laughs.

A New Resource. . .

I just discovered a really great site: http://comp2reflections.blogspot.com/. I think this same blogging lady has a couple of other sites, too. I think there is some stuff here that I can use. Yippee!!!

CUWP Reading Group

Well, due to my general insanity, I've taken on yet another project. I volunteered to be in charge of the reading groups for CUWP. The last book we read was The Digital Writing Workshop by Troy Hicks. Our next book choice is Penny Kittle's Write Beside Them. We will meet on the 3rd of June and discuss the book. So far it has been a lot of fun. I sometimes get a little over my head with book groups for professional books. I've purchased all the books for the EC NING groups, but I've only ever finished three of them: Jim Burke's What's the Big Idea?, Tom Newkird's Holding on to Good Ideas and Kelly Gallagher's Readicide. Anyway, here is looking forward to a new month of school - only 33 days of instruction and 3 days of testing until the last day of school. Yikes!!!

Digital Writing Workshop

I had a great time at this conference today. I was introduced to an online writing site called youthvoices.net. My mind is running with all the possibilities. I tried something similar to this earlier this year, but it fizzled out. This site looks to be much more user friendly, and it has a lot more student writers on it.

The opportunities for peer review and peer editing with this format are amazing--I can't wait to give it a try!

Why we need stories

I just finished my Chaucer unit. I had my students read/experience some of Chaucer's tales (The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Tale, The Reeve's Tale, The Nun's Priest's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, and The Wife of Bath's Tale). I had my students write tales similar to Chaucer's after we read some of the tales: a beast fable for Chaunticleer (NPT), an urban legend for the Pardoner's Tale (cautionary), and a riddle or question tale for TWOBT. Then we spent one day telling each other our newly created tales. I think next year I will write a tale so I can be one of the tellers, but this year I played The Host and drew their names out of a cup. Anyway, the story telling -- especially in sixth period -- went so well. One of my students told a story deriding conservative Utah County, and that led to rebuttals (manufactured on the fly with the epilogues they were supposed to have for their stories) from several students. It was eerily reminiscent of the Miller/Reeve and made for a great day.
In the past I've had students find and tell a story -- it was a much more meaningful assignment when they had to write and tell a story.

Next year I think I'll try having the students write an original fairy tale rather than a riddle tale. That one was much too hard for them to grasp.

Thoughts on Beowulf and Chaucer

1. I liked using the chapter from Grendel, but I need to edit it for length.
2. Using the Star Trek Beowulf was fun - I need to edit it.
3. Add the part where the Pardoner and Summoner talk to Chaucer after the first tournament to my Chaucer Clips Movie.
4. Get more info on urban legends and riddle tales - give students more time.

The Things They Carried

I just ran across this article and photo essay from Time Magazine that would go so well with this novel.

In his classic story collection about the Vietnam War, Tim O'Brien wrote that what G.I.'s carried into battle was determined by necessity, specialty and rank, and "to some extent by superstition." Three decades later, the 145,000 Americans serving in Iraq rely on their own talismans to protect them from the barrage of sniper bullets, mortar fire and roadside bombs that have claimed the lives of more than 2,700 of their comrades. The Marines of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment spent much of this year deployed in Ramadi, the heart of the Sunni Triangle and one of the most dangerous outposts in Iraq. The things they carry are often emblems of love or faith, reminders of home and a higher purpose. PFC Phillip Busenlehner's good-luck charm is an angel pendant given to him by his best friend's mother last year before Busenlehner left for boot camp. The case it came in reads, "An angel to give you strength to overcome any challenge." The pendant has been blessed by three priests and the Pope.

Lance Corporal Richard Caseltine wears a dog tag that belonged to his grandfather, who fought in the Korean War. "It is older than I am and means the world to me," he says. "I haven't taken it off since I got it." He was wearing it on April 8 when a bullet hit him in the head. He survived and returned to duty. "God was with me and so was my grandfather," he says.

Corporal Michael Compton carries a plastic bag containing a pair of his wife's underwear. She gave it to him before his first deployment to Iraq, when they were still dating. "She said that she would stick by me," he says. But on a patrol outside Fallujah, the bag fell out of his pocket and blew away. "I thought it was long gone," he says. A week later, while "out in the middle of nowhere," he noticed a plastic bag and picked it up. The underwear was inside. "I couldn't believe it. I guess it was a sign because, sure enough, when I got back, me and my wife got married. I deployed again to Iraq, and I figured I should bring it with me. After all, if it found its way back to me, maybe it could guide me back to her."

Other Ideas:

I love this book, and my students typically do too. I try to prepare them for the structure of the book, as well as the idea that this is a book about truth and storytelling as much as it is a book about war. We spend time discussing the idea of story-truth vs. happening-truth, etc.

One activity I did with my students which worked nicely was character interviews, an idea I got from Carol Jago. Students were assigned a character, and then came up in front of the class (typically in groups of three or four) and were asked questions by the rest of the class as though they were the character. The students really enjoyed the activity, and it had them thinking deeply about character relationships and motivations, as well as using the text for questions and support. As I recall, we did it after reading, but you could really do it at any point(s) throughout the novel.

One thing that could add relevancy is comparing the book and the things/feelings the characters are going through and feeling to the current wars in the Middle East. Is there a soldier that you could have come to the class to discuss with students what being a soldier, etc. is like? I think tying it in with the wars that are going on now, making the things the read and see on the news more real, is a great way to show how literature reflects life.

Friendly Letter

I found this great friendly letter example that I want to share with my students. Right click on it to go full screen.

Jim Burke at NCTE 2009

Penny Kittle's Britton Award Speech

I got to talk to Penny at NCTE; she is as nice as can be.

Stories and Standards

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Stories and Standards

Reader's Choice

There's been a big hullabaloo over reader's choice of late in academic circles. Many teachers feel like they HAVE to only have their students reading the classics or they are somehow depriving them of a mainstay of their education. Heinemann has a forum and a video up by Nancie Atwell that reply to those critics. As I am advocating for reader's choice in my classroom this year, it is nice to have a validation of what I am doing from the leaders in the field.

CUWP How-To Examples

Cat Bathing as a Martial Art
Beginner Crochet Block
How to Look like a Real Zombie
How to plan the perfect Twilight trip to Forks, Washington
How to Moonwalk like Michael Jackson

CUWP Demonstration Lesson

Complete lesson plan with links
Handout
PowerPoint
Student examples

Thoughts on the CUWP

Wow!!

I have enjoyed this group so much. It is invigorating and inspiring to be with a bunch of people who all love to write and want to learn more about writing. The freewrite responses every morning have been fantastic. Today was the first time we had a chance to share our writing with our immediate writing group. We each had a very different style of writing that we brought to review. Mine was very personal in nature, Janette's was humorous, Serena had employed a unique point of view, and Eric, our resident mathematician, had an informative piece that proved both challenging and interesting to review. We also had our first demonstration lesson (dl) today. Amy did a great job at teaching us some of the pre-writing strategies she used with Pride and Prejudice this year. Our only regret as a group was that she didn't have any of us write. We were all ready to go after hearing her activities. After listening to the response of the group, I think that everyone wants to write as part of the dl. Chris, one of our facilitators said something like we can't really own a piece and know how we would use it until we write it ourselves. Anyway, even though we didn't get to write I came away with some good ideas. She used some sensory experiences and had us rate them as good or bad. Then she talked about why some of us loved cinnamon bears, and some of us hated them. This led into talk about prejudices. It was especially nice that it opens up the full realm of prejudices and goes beyond just racial ones. She also had an interesting writing prompt where she asked her students to compare a tootsie roll pop to a character in P&P. I immediately thought of how I could use that with Gatsby this year. What a fun (and exhausting) week!

Conventions and Conferences

Next week I will be attending the CUWP. I am still finishing up my lesson idea that I am supposed to present. I think I have a pretty good idea - I just need to get the ideas down on paper. My goal is to blog about my experience every night (or at least every other night), so I will remember what I learned and thought about.

Speaking of thinking and learning, earlier this week I attended the Utah Charter School Convention. I actually enjoyed most of the classes that I attended - they seemed to be a lot more helpful this year than in years past. The first class I went to talked about effective class room management. Probably the biggest idea I came away with from that session was the need to recommit to bellwork as a way to get my students minds focused and ready for English.

Ideas for getting class off to a good start:

Have the class set up and ready to go (Hard for my since I am a floater; I'll have to adapt)
Personally greet as many students as I can as they come in
Ask about how the student is doing - create rapor and commonality
Call students by their names
Be at the door
Give assignment immediately - bellwork
Give instructions for those who finish early (when the whispering starts)

Three Point Preventative Structure for Classroom Management
1. Entry Activity (bellwork)
2. Diversity of Instructional Techniques
3. Procedural Consistency

Either you are in my classroom ready to start - or you are not.

Strategies for Designing Entry Activities:

1. Every entry activity should have two main objectives: FOCUS student attention to your subject and provide a positive experience wherein the student can SUCCEED at the beginning of class.


2. The entry activity should be posted somewhere where all students can see it IMMEDIATELY upon entering into the classroom.


3. Be wary of allowing students to talk during this activity-it will result in loss of focus for the students. The purpose of an entry activity is to promote this focus.
   


4. All entry activites should have simple instructions that can be read or implied by the students.


5. ALWAYS BE IN THE CLASSROOM GREETING STUDENTS WHEN THE BELL RINGS OR YOU WILL STRUGGLE THE REST OF THE HOUR FOR CONTROL.


6. Start instructions on minute or two before the bell rings; since students are trained you won't need to repeat them, but those who have arrived will already be on task by the time the bell rings.


7. If you intend to split students into groups, assign them as they enter or have a pre-existing procedure that students may invoke themselves.


8. Remember that you must train your students to respond to these activities. Students are creatures of habit, so teach them the habits you want them to perform!

Sample Entry Activity Ideas:
* Always alternate the type of activity or your students will become bored.

• Open ended question leading into today's subject matter


• Open ended question reviewing previous subject matter


• Discovery activity leading into the lesson


• Simple knowledge questions (1-5)


• Code switching activity (changing text from one mode (formal, etc.) to another (cell text, twitter, etc.)
  
• Prior knowledge/preassessment questions


• SAT Vocabulary to define and form sentences about


• Prompts from standardized tests (BSCT, CRT, or ACT)


• Ask for assessment of previous activities


• Have students self assess how they are doing in class


• Analize a poem, picture, music, short video clip


• Correct homework and have student re-do two problems that they missed


• Post a short reading assignment from a text, novel, or free reading book


• Listing and brainstorming


• Respond to current events


• Have students review and respond to yesterday's notes


• Have students think of questions they have (Stump the Teacher)


• Use ideas from Why We Must Run With Scissors


• Editing practice (from Everyday Editing)

Modes of Instruction:

Direct Instruction
Guided Discussion
Manipulatives (Magnetic Poetry, Found Poetry, Word Strips)
Socratic Seminar
Discovery (Inquiry) Activity
List and Categorize
Group Activities
Synthesis
Synectics
Concept Development
Concept Attainment
Cause and Effect
Vocabulary Acquisition
Resolution of Conflict
Values Development
Cooperative Learning
Entertainment as Education (media, music, TV, Etc.)
Fishbowl
Expert Groups
Jigsaw
Code Switching
Alternate Genre

I've Made the Newspaper!

About a week ago, I got an email from someone who writes for the local newspaper about writing a book review. I gave him one and then kind of forgot about it. Apparently, a lot of my colleagues and students read that newspaper, because I started to hear a lot of comments about it on Wednesday. So, I went and checked it out, and I was amazed to see the stellar company I was in. Here's a link to the article:
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/300129/149/

This Is Why I Do What I Do

By the end of last semester I was feeling a little burned out. I had one class in particular that was driving me insane and making me feel like a failure at teaching. So, I have been more than a little thankful for a few teaching compliments that have been thrown my way lately. I have found out that at least a few of my students do appreciate all the effort I make to have even things like Chaucer and Shakespeare fresh and relevant for them. I've heard feedback about three different events that let me know that I have made a difference, at least for three of my students. I guess that will be enough to keep me going for 3 more months now!

Oh my, is it August already?

Well, this summer has certainly flown by. It's hard to believe that I'll be headed back to school in two weeks. I am actually kind of excited about it. I just hope my foot has healed up by then so I can walk.