All grades on Pinnacle are currently up to date with respect to work handed in in class and through Google Drive.
You can check your grades on Web2School using information that the school sent home.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
12.19 - Sanctions in Lisbon
Today in class we began looking at the sanctions teenagers experience in their everyday lives. We began this process by having everyone take ten minutes (in teams of 2 - 3) to walk around the school and look for sanctions that exist as part of our school environment using the 24 hours of sanctions sheet.
For the rest of the day, everyone should continue to keep an eye out for and record sanctions that they observe in their classes, the halls, extracurricular activities, and at home. We will then be using these everyday sanctions to look at how realistically the sanctions in a book like Speak are represented.
For the rest of the class, everyone was working on completing the following assignments:
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
For the rest of the day, everyone should continue to keep an eye out for and record sanctions that they observe in their classes, the halls, extracurricular activities, and at home. We will then be using these everyday sanctions to look at how realistically the sanctions in a book like Speak are represented.
For the rest of the class, everyone was working on completing the following assignments:
Finish the Poetry Out Loud theme prompt.
Finish responding to the "fitting in" Speak prompt.
Read "Marking Period 4" of Speak and take note of sanctions experienced by Melinda in the character group you are tracking.
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
Various Teachers (not Mr. Freeman)
Complete or revise any other assignments as necessary.
Homework:
Complete any assignments that you did not complete today.
Revise all other assignments as necessary.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
12.18 - Return to Sanctions in Speak
We started today's class with a review of the sanctions in Speak for marking periods 2 and 3 in the book. Partners worked together to record the sanctions they observed in the book for these marking periods.
Everyone then had the rest of the period to respond to the prompt below in their writer's journals.
During this time, individuals also took turns going online to fill out the Endicott Research survey about their perceptions of our school.
Speak prompt:
Everyone then had the rest of the period to respond to the prompt below in their writer's journals.
During this time, individuals also took turns going online to fill out the Endicott Research survey about their perceptions of our school.
Speak prompt:
(click image to enlarge)
Homework:
If you did not do so today in class, finish responding to the Speak -Fitting In prompt.
Finish the Poetry Out Loud theme prompt.
For Thursday, read "Marking Period 4" of Speak and take note of sanctions experienced by Melinda in the character group you are tracking.
For Thursday, read "Marking Period 4" of Speak and take note of sanctions experienced by Melinda in the character group you are tracking.
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
Various Teachers (not Mr. Freeman)
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
12.17 - Poems and Themes
In today's class we were looking at the themes and significance of the poems that people selected to recite for Poetry Out Loud. To prepare for this, we took a look at a poem together and how to successfully use quotes from a poem with our writing prompt. The writing prompt is included below. The poem we were looking at was "Under One Small Star" by Wislawa Szymbroska.
Homework:
Finish the Poetry Out Loud theme prompt if you did not do so today in class.
For Thursday, read "Marking Period 3" of Speak and take note of sanctions experienced by Melinda in the character group you are tracking.
Finish the “Poetry and Language” sheet if you have not yet done so.
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
(click image to enlarge)
Text in blue shows how I set up the quote by paraphrasing part of the line before using the parts of the quote on which I wanted the reader to focus.
After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, everyone shared their response with someone near them. We then went around and shared out which lines people had selected to write about (results below):
(click image to enlarge)
Everyone then had the rest of the period to work on their response to the Poetry Out Loud theme prompt. I was on hand to answer questions.
Homework:
Finish the Poetry Out Loud theme prompt if you did not do so today in class.
For Thursday, read "Marking Period 3" of Speak and take note of sanctions experienced by Melinda in the character group you are tracking.
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
Various Teachers (not Mr. Freeman)
Finish the “Poetry and Language” sheet if you have not yet done so.
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Monday, December 16, 2013
12.16 - Poetry Out Loud Recitations
We started today's class with some discussion about metaphor (using a comparison between one familiar object to describe another familiar object so that we appreciate both in a new way). Then, everyone wrote an "I am..." metaphor poem in their writers journal (prompt and example below).
Next, we had a review of the Poetry Out Loud rubric. In reviewing the rubric, we got familiar with the poem "Litany" by Billy Collins. We then used the Poetry Out Loud performance rubric to assess a recitation of the poem by a three-year-old fan. Below are the videos we watched in class.
After everyone had a chance to evaluate the three-year-old's performance, we discussed the rubric. Students then had a few moments to review their poems and we used the rest of the class to deliver recitations.
We will have time tomorrow to complete the last few recitations and have follow-up recitations for anyone who feels their recitation today did not represent their best form.
Homework:
Finish the “Poetry and Language” sheet if you have not yet done so.
Read "Marking Period 3" of Speak and take note of sanctions experienced by Melinda in the character group you are tracking.
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Next, we had a review of the Poetry Out Loud rubric. In reviewing the rubric, we got familiar with the poem "Litany" by Billy Collins. We then used the Poetry Out Loud performance rubric to assess a recitation of the poem by a three-year-old fan. Below are the videos we watched in class.
After everyone had a chance to evaluate the three-year-old's performance, we discussed the rubric. Students then had a few moments to review their poems and we used the rest of the class to deliver recitations.
We will have time tomorrow to complete the last few recitations and have follow-up recitations for anyone who feels their recitation today did not represent their best form.
Homework:
Finish the “Poetry and Language” sheet if you have not yet done so.
Read "Marking Period 3" of Speak and take note of sanctions experienced by Melinda in the character group you are tracking.
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
Various Teachers (not Mr. Freeman)
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Friday, December 13, 2013
12.13 - Poetry Out Loud
We started class today by reviewing the “Poetry and Language” sheet that everyone worked on yesterday with the substitute. To review this sheet, I shared a copy which I had completed for my poem (Poetry and Language exemplar). In looking at this example we covered the following two main points for unfamiliar words and familiar words.
1 - Unfamiliar Words - If there are words that you don't know, look the words up in the dictionary. Then explain what that part of the poem means accounting for your new understanding of the word.
2 - Familiar Words - For words that you do know, look up their meaning in the dictionary to get a sense for how they are different from other similar words (e.g. how is "terrible" different from "bad"). Then discuss how that word relates to the meaning of the poem (why did the author say "terrible" when they could have said "bad"? How does "terrible" affect the meaning of the poem).
Everyone had about fifteen minutes to revise previous responses if necessary or complete the assignment. Further revisions or work on the assignment should be completed for homework if it was not completed in class.
We then took a look at the Poetry Out Loud competition scoring rubric that we will be using to assess students' performances. I went over the rubric with everyone and then we watched a sample Poetry Out Loud performance for the poem "The Song of Powers."
We then created a presentation order on a volunteer basis. I ended up presenting my poem, "To a Mouse". Recitations are being recorded so that I can assess the overall performance in class and then go back and assess the accuracy of the recitation later. This is also helpful if anyone has a question about why they received a particular score. People will be able to recite their poem another time if they wish to improve their score.
We will finish presenting poems on Monday.
Homework:
Be prepared to present your Poetry Out Loud recitation for Monday if you did not present today.
Finish the “Poetry and Language” sheet if you did not do so today in class.
Read "Marking Period 3" in Speak for Monday. Track sanctions between Melinda and your character group:
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
1 - Unfamiliar Words - If there are words that you don't know, look the words up in the dictionary. Then explain what that part of the poem means accounting for your new understanding of the word.
2 - Familiar Words - For words that you do know, look up their meaning in the dictionary to get a sense for how they are different from other similar words (e.g. how is "terrible" different from "bad"). Then discuss how that word relates to the meaning of the poem (why did the author say "terrible" when they could have said "bad"? How does "terrible" affect the meaning of the poem).
Everyone had about fifteen minutes to revise previous responses if necessary or complete the assignment. Further revisions or work on the assignment should be completed for homework if it was not completed in class.
We then took a look at the Poetry Out Loud competition scoring rubric that we will be using to assess students' performances. I went over the rubric with everyone and then we watched a sample Poetry Out Loud performance for the poem "The Song of Powers."
We then created a presentation order on a volunteer basis. I ended up presenting my poem, "To a Mouse". Recitations are being recorded so that I can assess the overall performance in class and then go back and assess the accuracy of the recitation later. This is also helpful if anyone has a question about why they received a particular score. People will be able to recite their poem another time if they wish to improve their score.
We will finish presenting poems on Monday.
Homework:
Be prepared to present your Poetry Out Loud recitation for Monday if you did not present today.
Finish the “Poetry and Language” sheet if you did not do so today in class.
Read "Marking Period 3" in Speak for Monday. Track sanctions between Melinda and your character group:
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
Various Teachers (not Mr. Freeman)
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
12.12 - Poetry and Language (Substitute)
I was out sick from class today so a substitute was covering the class today. The directions for the substitute were as follows:
Students can then complete the “Poetry and Language” sheet using their Poetry Out Loud poem.
They should have a copy of their poem. There are some black and yellow books behind the teacher’s desk if they don’t have their poem. They can also print the poem from the Poetry Out Loud site.
When students are done with this, they can do any of the following:
Finish reading “Marking Period 2” of Speak and noting sanctions.
Begin reading “Marking Period 3” of Speak and noting sanctions.
complete the “Poem Tones” worksheet
quietly work at memorizing their Poetry Out Loud Poem
other work that can be completed independently
Homework:
Finish the “Poetry and Language” sheet if you did not do so today in class.
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem in preparation for our presentations on Friday.
Read "Marking Period 3" in Speak for Monday. Track sanctions between Melinda and your character group:
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Students can then complete the “Poetry and Language” sheet using their Poetry Out Loud poem.
They should have a copy of their poem. There are some black and yellow books behind the teacher’s desk if they don’t have their poem. They can also print the poem from the Poetry Out Loud site.
When students are done with this, they can do any of the following:
Finish reading “Marking Period 2” of Speak and noting sanctions.
Begin reading “Marking Period 3” of Speak and noting sanctions.
complete the “Poem Tones” worksheet
quietly work at memorizing their Poetry Out Loud Poem
other work that can be completed independently
Homework:
Finish the “Poetry and Language” sheet if you did not do so today in class.
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem in preparation for our presentations on Friday.
Read "Marking Period 3" in Speak for Monday. Track sanctions between Melinda and your character group:
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
Various Teachers (not Mr. Freeman)
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
12.11 - Poem Practice and Marking Period 1 Sanctions
We started today's class with 15 minutes for everyone to work on their Poetry and Tone sheet.
If this was not finished today in class, it should be finished for homework.
This sheet should help give people an idea of the tones present in their poem and what emotion they should use in presenting it.
Next, we returned to practicing our poem recitations. We reviewed the warrior I option from yesterday and today I introduced the warrior II variation. People were free to recite their poem with a partner or use the warrior competition variations as a way to challenge themselves in the recitation process (instructions for warrior II are below).
In the second half of class, we focused on the sanctions experienced by Melinda in the first marking period section of the book. Working in pairs, groups wrote down the sanctions that they had recorded. If they did not have sanctions to write down groups took note of questions to discuss and questions to clear up. These sheets were handed in to me at the end of the class. We will work with the sanction sheets tomorrow in class.
Homework:
If you did not do so today in class, finish the Poetry and Tone sheet.
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem in preparation for our presentations on Friday.
Read "Marking Period 2" in Speak for Thursday. Track sanctions between Melinda and your character group:
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
If this was not finished today in class, it should be finished for homework.
This sheet should help give people an idea of the tones present in their poem and what emotion they should use in presenting it.
Next, we returned to practicing our poem recitations. We reviewed the warrior I option from yesterday and today I introduced the warrior II variation. People were free to recite their poem with a partner or use the warrior competition variations as a way to challenge themselves in the recitation process (instructions for warrior II are below).
(Click Image to Enlarge)
(click image to enlarge)
In the second half of class, we focused on the sanctions experienced by Melinda in the first marking period section of the book. Working in pairs, groups wrote down the sanctions that they had recorded. If they did not have sanctions to write down groups took note of questions to discuss and questions to clear up. These sheets were handed in to me at the end of the class. We will work with the sanction sheets tomorrow in class.
Homework:
If you did not do so today in class, finish the Poetry and Tone sheet.
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem in preparation for our presentations on Friday.
Read "Marking Period 2" in Speak for Thursday. Track sanctions between Melinda and your character group:
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
Various Teachers (not Mr. Freeman)
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
12.10 - Poet Warrior
We started today's class by watching two Poetry Out Loud performances from Poetry Out Loud's competitions. In watching these presentations everyone took note of the following two elements in their writer's journals:
1 - What tones do you see the performers using in their recitations? How do they communicate these tones to their audience?
2 - These performances are in a recitation style. Based on what you observe, what are some of the characteristics of the recitation style?
After everyone had a chance to respond to these questions, we discussed everyone's answers. Significant points that people noticed were:
Performers communicate their tone via expression in their voice, facial expression, how quickly or slowly they speak, how quietly or loudly they speak, and using pauses in their recitation.
Characteristics of the recitation style are delivering the poem while standing in one place, communicating emotion through the use of voice and facial expressions, and using dramatic hand gestures. While hand gestures are dramatic, we also noted how they were not over done. Gestures are used at very specific moments to make certain parts of the poem stand out.
We then returned to working with the Poetry and Tone sheet from last class. Everyone had time to finish copying out their poem onto this sheet and begin to analyzing tone. After 10 minutes, we took a break to practice reciting our poems. Everyone first practiced reciting their poem with a partner. I then introduced a recitation game called "Poet Warrior" that people could play with their partner as sort of a challenge and way to help keep the continued repetition engaging.
Details of this game are as follows:
We practiced our poems until the last ten minutes of class. In the last ten minutes of class, everyone returned to working on their Poetry and Tone sheet (now hopefully with a better understanding of their poem through the additional practice in reciting and working with it).
Homework:
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem in preparation for our presentations on Friday.
Read "Marking Period 2" in Speak for Thursday. Track sanctions between Melinda and your character group:
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
1 - What tones do you see the performers using in their recitations? How do they communicate these tones to their audience?
2 - These performances are in a recitation style. Based on what you observe, what are some of the characteristics of the recitation style?
After everyone had a chance to respond to these questions, we discussed everyone's answers. Significant points that people noticed were:
Performers communicate their tone via expression in their voice, facial expression, how quickly or slowly they speak, how quietly or loudly they speak, and using pauses in their recitation.
Characteristics of the recitation style are delivering the poem while standing in one place, communicating emotion through the use of voice and facial expressions, and using dramatic hand gestures. While hand gestures are dramatic, we also noted how they were not over done. Gestures are used at very specific moments to make certain parts of the poem stand out.
We then returned to working with the Poetry and Tone sheet from last class. Everyone had time to finish copying out their poem onto this sheet and begin to analyzing tone. After 10 minutes, we took a break to practice reciting our poems. Everyone first practiced reciting their poem with a partner. I then introduced a recitation game called "Poet Warrior" that people could play with their partner as sort of a challenge and way to help keep the continued repetition engaging.
Details of this game are as follows:
(Click Images to Enlarge)
We practiced our poems until the last ten minutes of class. In the last ten minutes of class, everyone returned to working on their Poetry and Tone sheet (now hopefully with a better understanding of their poem through the additional practice in reciting and working with it).
Homework:
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem in preparation for our presentations on Friday.
Read "Marking Period 2" in Speak for Thursday. Track sanctions between Melinda and your character group:
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
Various Teachers (not Mr. Freeman)
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Monday, December 9, 2013
12.09 - Sanctions in Speak / Tone in Poetry
At the beginning of class today, everyone responded to the following writing prompt:
Based on the sanctions you observed between Melinda and your character(s), what do you think about Melinda's relationship with these people/this person.
After everyone responded to this prompt, we discussed the different relationships that people observed with the different groups of people. Everyone then had time to meet with their partner and check in on the sanctions that they observed.
We then spent some time looking at the proper adjective order for the pairings positive/negative, formal/informal, and psychological/physical. We will discuss the common use of this tomorrow.
We then began looking at the use of tones in poem. We talked about tone as being the emotion with which an idea is expressed. In class, I modeled a variety of different sentences using various tones and we discussed how people interpreted those tones.
I then handed out copies of the Poetry and Tone sheet. Everyone had the remaining time in class to begin copying their poem on to this sheet. We will be presenting poems in class on Friday.
Homework:
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem in preparation for our presentations on Friday.
Read "Marking Period 2" in Speak for Thursday. Track sanctions between Melinda and your character group:
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Based on the sanctions you observed between Melinda and your character(s), what do you think about Melinda's relationship with these people/this person.
After everyone responded to this prompt, we discussed the different relationships that people observed with the different groups of people. Everyone then had time to meet with their partner and check in on the sanctions that they observed.
We then spent some time looking at the proper adjective order for the pairings positive/negative, formal/informal, and psychological/physical. We will discuss the common use of this tomorrow.
We then began looking at the use of tones in poem. We talked about tone as being the emotion with which an idea is expressed. In class, I modeled a variety of different sentences using various tones and we discussed how people interpreted those tones.
I then handed out copies of the Poetry and Tone sheet. Everyone had the remaining time in class to begin copying their poem on to this sheet. We will be presenting poems in class on Friday.
Homework:
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem in preparation for our presentations on Friday.
Read "Marking Period 2" in Speak for Thursday. Track sanctions between Melinda and your character group:
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
Various Teachers (not Mr. Freeman)
Complete or revise assignments as necessary.
Friday, December 6, 2013
12.06 - Sanction Mad Libs and Sanctions in Speak
We started today's class with some sanction scenarios that we approached mad-lib style. Everyone had two minutes to analyze each scenario identifying and describing which sanctions were present. The scenarios we looked at in class were as follows:
(click image to enlarge)
(click image to enlarge)
(click image to enlarge)
(click image to enlarge)
(click image to enlarge)
I then handed out our reading schedule for Speak:
While reading this book, everyone will be tracking sanctions that occur between Melinda and another person or other people. We will use one tracking sheet for each section (or "marking period") in the book. The sections that we will be looking at are:
Principal Principal (no need to track other teachers here)
Various Teachers (not Mr. Freeman)
Everyone then had the remaining ten minutes in the period to start their reading and taking note of sanctions. The best format for this will be to write in the appropriate box "So-and-So sanctions So-and-So when she/he..."
Reminder: The point is to record sanctions as they occur. If there are eight instances of one type of sanction that is fine; just record them as they come. If one type of sanction does not occur, that is fine too.
Homework:
Read the "Marking Period 1" section in Speak for Monday while tracking sanctions that occur between Melinda and your assigned person/people.
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem (the class competition is next Friday, 12/13).
Complete or revise any other work for the course as necessary.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
12.05 - Social Sanctions
We started today's class by looking at a quote by Jack Kerouac and then responding to a series of questions designed to help us start looking at the way society encourages and discourages certain behaviors (see slides below).
(click image to enlarge)
(click image to enlarge)
After everyone had a chance to respond to each question we discussed the different answers that people had. This transitioned us into talking about social sanctions which help to describe the ways in which people encourage and discourage certain behaviors in others. To help outline the range of possible sanctions we looked at and discussed the following chart:
(click image to enlarge)
After discussing these sanctions and getting a sense for how they worked, everyone filled out a chart identifying sanctions that they had experienced within the last week. Next, everyone got copies of Speak and signed them out.
Homework:
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem (the class competition is next Friday, 12/13)
Complete or revise any other work for the course as necessary.
12.04 - Book Pass and Discussion
Today we finished the book pass we started yesterday with everyone having three minutes to look at and take notes on each remaining book using the book pass note sheet. We then got together and discussed the books with each person identifying which book they would like to read next and which book they felt we should follow that with when we are done. For each of the books, each person gave an explanation for their choice.
The book the class decided on for our next read was Speak by Laurie Anderson. We will reassess what our next book should be after reading this book (the current leaders are Of Mice and Men and Summer of my German Soldier).
Homework:
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem (the class competition is next Friday, 12/13)
Complete or revise any other work for the course as necessary.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
12.03 - Poem Meaning and Imagery / Book Pass
At the beginning of class today we returned to working with the illustrated stanza sheet
for the Poetry Out Loud poems people have selected. Today, we focused on the question on the back at the bottom of the sheet:
Identify some key images from the poem that you feel are important to the overall meaning of the poem.
Describe how these images enhance the overall meaning of the poem.
Describe how these images enhance the overall meaning of the poem.
In class we discussed how these responses should contain the following pieces of information:
1- Identify and explain the theme/message of the poem (using examples from the poem).
2 - Two images/moments that are key to understanding/appreciating this theme.
3 - Discussion of why these images/moments are key to understanding this theme.
Everyone had about 20 minutes to respond to this question.
Next, everyone practiced reading their poem out loud for three minutes. In doing this, everyone was encouraged to read the poem once through and then repeat reading it until time was up or repeat specific sections until the end of the 3 minutes.
After practicing our poems, we transitioned to picking the next book for our class to read. I had copies of books on hand and everyone had three minutes to look at each book and take notes on it using our book pass note sheet.
We will finish this activity next class.
Homework:
If you did not do so in class, finish responding to the processing question on the illustrated stanza sheet.
Practice your Poetry Out Loud poem.
Complete or revise any other work for the course as necessary.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
12.02 - Illustrated Stanzas & People and Society Revisions
We started today's class by talking about memorization and how a key to
memorization is connecting with what you are memorizing in different
ways. One way that people have found helpful in connecting to something
they have to memorize is to clearly visualize what they are saying.
To engage this memorization technique I provided students with an illustrated stanza sheet for their poem. I described how to go about completing this sheet. It is important for drawings to be detailed so that each person is very clearly developing clear visual imagery to go with their poem. This does not mean someone has to be a good artist, they just have to have a drawing with plenty of detail. I used the first stanza of my poem "To a Mouse" as an example in class (see below).
Everyone then had 25 minutes to work on illustrating the stanzas (or visual sections) of their poem.
If you did not finish illustrating your poem in class, do so for homework.
We then reviewed class performance on the People and Society in Lord of the Flies writing. Overall feedback on class performance and specific information regarding how to approach the assignments is available below.
To engage this memorization technique I provided students with an illustrated stanza sheet for their poem. I described how to go about completing this sheet. It is important for drawings to be detailed so that each person is very clearly developing clear visual imagery to go with their poem. This does not mean someone has to be a good artist, they just have to have a drawing with plenty of detail. I used the first stanza of my poem "To a Mouse" as an example in class (see below).
(Click image to enlarge)
Illustrations should have more detail (be much fancier) than this illustration.
Due to time constraints, I sketched out the first few ideas for my illustration.
Due to time constraints, I sketched out the first few ideas for my illustration.
Everyone then had 25 minutes to work on illustrating the stanzas (or visual sections) of their poem.
If you did not finish illustrating your poem in class, do so for homework.
We then reviewed class performance on the People and Society in Lord of the Flies writing. Overall feedback on class performance and specific information regarding how to approach the assignments is available below.
(Click image to enlarge)
(Click image to enlarge)
Homework:
If you did not do so in class, finish your illustrated stanza sheet for your poem.
Complete or revise your written response to the People and Society in Lord of the Flies prompt as necessary.
Complete or revise any other work for the course as necessary.
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