Limericks

HSA testing today caused a little juggling of cores. I only saw cores 2, 3, and 4 for class and we wrote limericks. Limericks are suppose to be funny and the students saw it was hard. Click here to see the worksheet.

Homework:
Read AR
Finish limericks

Correcting Annotations

Today we went through The Red Wheelbarrow and Dreams so the students could see if they have been doing TIPFEET correctly. The biggest problem for students seemed to be doing all of the annotations. Some only did TIPF and didn't do the rest. The big idea is to annotate poems and TIPFEET is a way of giving students focus. HSA testing starts tomorrow so get some rest.

Homework:
Read AR

More Poem Practice

More practice today as students annotated three more poems. Click here to see them. As for last night's poems, the big problem was with figurative meaning. Many students referred to details from the poem in their figurative meanings, but there should be no reference to details.

Homework:
Read AR
Finish Annotating poems

More Annotation

Today we continued annotating poetry by reviewing TIPFEET and adding literal and figurative main ideas. Literal main idea is reading a poem and stating the idea as what is read without any analysis of what the poem's deeper meaning is. Figurative main idea it the deeper meaning that many have trouble determining.
Click here to see the worksheet. Whatever students didn't finish in class, they had to finish it at home.

Homework:
Read AR
Finnish annotations

ACT Testing

No class work today as students took the ACT test to help them with their decisions when high school rolls around. We will continue with poetry tomorrow.

Homework:
Read AR

Annotation

Today we practiced annotating the poem Willow and Ginkgo. Click here to see the poem. The students worked in pairs and used TIP FEET as their annotation guide.It was the first attempt, so it took a while. As time goes on and the students get more practice, annotating will become second nature to them.

Homework:
Read AR

First Day

Today was the first day of the last term for students in middle school. Click here to see the calendar. The focus for the term will be poetry and symbolism. We will annotate poems and for symbolism, read Animal Farm and do a small project to get the students thinking about their futures.

Homework:
Read AR