8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Stacey Chavours Monday November 7, 2011 Room 212 8th Grade Language Arts 1st – 4th Periods Persuasive Unit Persuasion Standard: Set and maintain the purpose of the composition through a thematic introduction, specific preview, or a more sophisticated strategy Essential Question: Why do writers and speakers establish and maintain a position to convince or persuade the audience? I Can: I can identify persuasive writing and understand why writers establish and maintain a position to convince the audience Purpose for learning: Students will understand how to persuade others through writing. Relevancy: To become better writers in school and in life, students need to how to convince their audience. Bell ringer: 20/10 minutes 8:00-­‐8:20 or 9:40-­‐9:50 Silent read and make personal connections using the Text to Self Connections form. Complete summary and write down one higher level thinking question. Students need writing/reading notebooks. Read Aloud 10 minutes: 8:20-­‐8:35 or 9:50-­‐10:05 Make a vocabulary card that includes synonym, antonym, definition and illustration. Word Work 10 minutes 8:35-­‐8:45 or 10:05-­‐10:15 Pass out affix schedule. Have students paste it into their reader’s notebook. Write down the definitions for the prefixes and roots. Start with the suffix –ary, -­‐ive and -­‐ness. Have students write down the rule for –ness: If adding the suffix –ness, do not change the spelling of the base word unless the base word ends in y (fond/fondness, happy, happiness) Ask students to think of other words with the suffixes ary, ive and ness. Write these down. Introduce the alphabet book. Pass out instructions. Allow a pair to take pictures and the rest to work on creating a word tree. Go to literacy center. Poetry: 15 minutes 8:45-­‐9:00 or 10:15-­‐10:30 Valentine for Ernest Mann We’ll round out this first grouping of poems – free verse that shows some of the range of what poetry can do – with a poem that might remind you of our first, Ronald Wallace’s “You can’t write a poem about Mcdonald’s”. That poem read like a response to a challenge from a reader. This poem reads like a response to a demand from a reader. It seems that someone named Ernest Mann-­‐ probably a kid-­‐ said to Naomi Shihab Nye, “Okay so you’re a poet. Here’s my address. Write me a poem.” As a writer who’s serious about poetry, Nye knows it doesn’t work that way. So, where do poems come from? Notice: The way the poem begins in the midst of its meaning, without an introduction or preamble 1 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 The direct language and conversational tone: and I speaking to a you The poet’s use of concrete objects to exemplify her meaning: the two skunks show how poems are hiding in our lives, if only we’ll look for them, better than a wordy explanation ever could. The purposeful, effective repetition of the word serious Response: Underline the most important lines in this poem – where the strongest meanings reside. Mark your favorite lines too. Benediction: Something else you can do as a poet is “check your garage, the odd sock in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite” – as well as your closet, your kitchen table, the top of your bureau, your box of junk, your dog’s mouth, your cat’s eyes, your old toys, your everyday life – and find your poems. Write a poem about an everyday item. Include at least two AAAWWUBBISS sentences. Reading 10 minutes 9:00-­‐9:10 or 10:30-­‐10:40 Show student technology projects. Writing 25 minutes 9:10-­‐9:35 or 10:40-­‐11:05 Read Thanksgiving Stop at 3 places and discuss Story Grammar form they should be filling out as they listen. Take out computers. With your partner, go to google docs and write a persuasive letter to someone about something you want to change. Use scaffolding. Exit Pass: Write three opinions. What is the most important thing I learned? How can I use this in other classes? Summarize the events in class. Homework: Read 30 minutes and write down one unfamiliar word. 2 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Stacey Chavours Tuesday November 8, 2011 Room 212 8th Grade Language Arts 1st-­4th periods Persuasive Unit Persuasion Standard: Set and maintain the purpose of the composition through a thematic introduction, specific preview, or a more sophisticated strategy Essential Question: Why do writers and speakers establish and maintain a position to convince or persuade the audience? I Can: I can identify persuasive writing and understand why writers establish and maintain a position to convince the audience Purpose for learning: Students will understand how to persuade others through writing. Relevancy: To become better writers in school and in life, students need to how to convince their audience. Bell ringer: 20/10 minutes 8:00-­‐8:20 or 9:40-­‐9:50 Silent read and make personal connections using the Text to Self Connections form. Complete summary and write down one higher level thinking question. Students need writing/reading notebooks. Read Aloud 10 minutes: 8:20-­‐8:35 or 9:50-­‐10:05 Make a vocabulary card that includes synonym, antonym, definition and illustration. Word Work 10 minutes 8:35-­‐8:45 or 10:05-­‐10:15 -­‐cide suffix: Say, “We’re going to examine the suffix cide and see how it affects the root words it attaches to.” Write homocide and suicide on the overhead. Ask, “What do you notice about these words?” Write patricide and infanticide on the overhead. “What do you notice about these words?” Ask what is the definition of –cide (to kill). Allow a pair to take pictures and the rest to work on the CLOZE assignment tailored to each word list. Take out middle sounds instead of whole words. Go to literacy center. Poetry: 10 minutes 8:45-­‐8:55 or 10:15-­‐10:25 Defining the Magic Since we’ve been considering and naming what a good poem does, I thought we should consult an expert. Charles Bukowski wrote forty books of good poems. He was famous for living on the edge and writing about it. In Bukowski’s poems you’ll meet gamblers, hoods, working-­‐class people down on their luck, outright bums, prostitutes, and other Americans trying to survive life on the margins of America. Notice: The humor The similes, metaphors, and personifications, all framed in strong, simple direct language The nature of the comparisons: what they show or suggest about who the speaker is The way the repetition of the phrase “a good poem” creates a cadence 3 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 How the title fits the poem without labeling it The short, strong lines The lack of capital letters, except on proper nouns, and the single period after stop Response: Go back into the poem on your own and mark your three favorite comparisons. Then write a few words next to each about why this simile , metaphor or personification resonates for you. Benediction: Something else you might do as a poet is consider what a good poem represents for you – or a good book, a good song, a good movie, good French fries, a good dog or cat, a good friend. What’s it like for you? Write about what a good poem is like and include at least two AAAWWUBBISS sentences. Literacy 15 minutes 8:55-­‐9:10 or 10:25-­‐10:40 Reading Comprehension Write these questions on the chalkboard and ask students to discuss with partner for one minute: How do you know when you are confused? What do you do when you are confused? Share. Pass out the six signals to know when you are confused. 1) The inner voice inside the reader’s head stops its conversation with the text, and the reader only hears his voice pronouncing the words. 2) The camera inside the reader’s head shuts off, and the reader can no longer visualize what is happening as she reads. 3) The reader’s mind begins to wander, and he catches himself thinking about something far removed from the text. 4) The reader cannot remember or retell what she has read. 5) The reader is not getting his clarifying questions answers. 6) Characters are reappearing in the text and the reader doesn’t recall who they are. Go over these signals. Model how good readers stop and ask questions, highlight and use sticky notes. Do a think aloud with Shakespeare’s sonnet. Shall I compare thee to a summers day Sonnet 18 William Shakespeare Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed. But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Photocopy the first couple pages of a current events article and do a think aloud using these strategies together for the first page. Allow the student to work independently for the second page. Pass out the inner voice sheet to practice the above strategy while reading. Students should make note when they hear the inner voice. 4 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Writing 25 minutes 9:10-­‐9:35 or 10:40-­‐11:05 Complete Your Turns up to 8 in Elements of Language chapter 6. Exit Pass: What is the difference between fact and opinion? What is the most important thing I learned? How can I use this in other classes? Summarize the events in class. Homework: Read 30 minutes and write down one unfamiliar word. 5 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Stacey Chavours Wednesday November 9, 2011 Room 212 8th Grade Language Arts 1st – 4th periods Persuasive Unit Persuasion Standard: Set and maintain the purpose of the composition through a thematic introduction, specific preview, or a more sophisticated strategy Essential Question: Why do writers and speakers establish and maintain a position to convince or persuade the audience? I Can: I can identify persuasive writing and understand why writers establish and maintain a position to convince the audience Purpose for learning: Students will understand how to persuade others through writing. Relevancy: To become better writers in school and in life, students need to how to convince their audience. Bell ringer: 20/10 minutes 8:00-­‐8:20 or 9:40-­‐9:50 Silent read and make personal connections using the Text to Self Connections form. Complete summary and write down one higher level thinking question. Students need writing/reading notebooks. Read Aloud 10 minutes: 8:20-­‐8:35 or 9:50-­‐10:05 Make a vocabulary card that includes synonym, antonym, definition and illustration. Word Work 10 minutes: 8:35-­‐8:45 or 10:05-­‐10:15 Suffix: ure and dom Go to spellingcity.com and put in individual spelling words. Library 15 minutes: 8:45-­‐9:00 or 10:15-­‐10:30 Go to literacy center. Poetry: 15 minutes 9:00-­‐9:15 or 10:30-­‐10:45 Autobiography in Five Short Chapters by Portia Nelson There’s a scene in the movie Good Will Hunting, set in a psychologist’s office, in which the Matt Damon character is talking about the choices he made in his life and the outcomes that he is – and isn’t – responsible for. On the wall behind him hangs a poster version of this poem. When I caught a glimpse of it, I thought, “Smart set decoration – not only did someone in Hollywood know this poem, they got the theme of this poem. Some features to notice: How the chapter headings on the stanzas separate them and give each the weight of a distinct episode in an autobiography or phase in a life. The use of repetition to create patterns, both in the structure of the poem and the actions of its speaker The sustained metaphor: engaging in a harmful behavior is encoded as walking down the same street 6 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 The open-­‐endedness of the imagery: the street can be interpreted in myriad ways Response Stance: Please go back into the poem and mark what you think are its most important lines. Then, write a sentence or two: what, for you, is this poem about? Benediction: We’ll never know exactly what the speaker’s problem is in Autobiography in Five Short chapters.” Nelson’s sustained metaphor – the same street, then another one-­‐ is generous: it accepts multiple interpretations. But we can be pretty sure there was a problem, something concrete from a real life that led to this coded imagery. As poets, consider what you might be able to do with a sustained metaphor. What if you wrote at length about something from your real life as if it were something else? Write about something in your life as if it were something else. Writing 15 minutes: 9:15-­‐9:30 or 10:45-­‐11:00 Work on persuasive essay. Exit Pass: Write an AAAWWUBBIS sentence. What is the most important thing I learned? How can I use this in other classes? Summarize the events in class. Homework: Read 30 minutes and write down one unfamiliar word. 7 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Stacey Chavours Thursday November 10, 2011 Room 212 8th Grade Language Arts 1st-­4th periods Persuasive Unit Persuasion Standard: Set and maintain the purpose of the composition through a thematic introduction, specific preview, or a more sophisticated strategy Essential Question: Why do writers and speakers establish and maintain a position to convince or persuade the audience? I Can: I can identify persuasive writing and understand why writers establish and maintain a position to convince the audience Purpose for learning: Students will understand how to persuade others through writing. Relevancy: To become better writers in school and in life, students need to how to convince their audience. Bell ringer: 20/10 minutes 8:00-­‐8:20 or 9:40-­‐9:50 Silent read and make personal connections using the Text to Self Connections form. Complete summary and write down one higher level thinking question. Students need writing/reading notebooks. Read Aloud 10 minutes: 8:20-­‐8:35 or 9:50-­‐10:05 Make a vocabulary card that includes synonym, antonym, definition and illustration. Grammar 10 minutes: 8:35-­‐8:45 or 10:05-­‐10:15 Ask, “Does anyone know how to make a compound sentence?” Show students the ways to create a compound sentence by making a wall chart together. The wall chart should look like this: CHART 1 Coordinating Relationship Conjunctions Expressed (FANBOYS) _________________________________________________________ for, so Shows a cause-­‐effect relationship. And Joins things or ideas that are alike or similar, implies a continuation of thought. but, yet Shows a contrasting relationship. or Indicates a choice between things or ideas. Nor Continues a negative thought. CHART 2 for and Sentence, nor sentence. but or yet so 8 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Then, show students two sentences from Flipped: I am still trying to break free, but the girl’s got me in a death grip. (p. 3) Bryce’s point of view I chased Bryce up the walkway, and that’s when everything changed. (p. 13) Julianna’s perspective Ask students what they notice about the sentences, pointing out the subjects and verbs on each side of each sentence as well as the commas and coordinating conjunctions. Then, compare the sentences to the compound sentence wall chart, and we discuss how each of these sentences needs a comma to complete the whole compound sentence mystique. We take some time to chant the FANBOYS: (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.) Then, write a new pair of sentences on the overhead: Mrs. Chavours, I got my report card signed. I didn’t bring it. Explain that, when we have two ideas that are connected, as writers we may want to join them. Say, “First, as a speaker how would you join the ideas? As a writer? Right, the revision would be: Mrs. Chavours, I got my report card signed, but I didn’t bring it. Why didn’t we use and or so?” Put up the Flipped sentences again without the commas and have students mark where they belong, referring to the wall chart for the language and visual cues to discuss and conceptualize the pattern. After students practice writing a few sentences, they quickly reread a passage from the editorial and add the new concept into their writing. Go to literacy center. Poetry: 15 minutes 12:10-­‐12:25 Fat Man by Niall Janney and New Eyes by Adrienne Jaeger In these poems, seventh graders Niall and Adrienne tell stories of chance encounters – Niall’s with, as he puts it, a fat man, and Adrienne’s with someone who is homeless. A shift in their perspectives shifts their attitudes, and as Niall and Adrienne are surprised and changed, so are we. Some features to Notice – Fat Man How the lead and conclusion echo one another, with an intentional shift in the verb tense from present to past and the addition of two lines at the end that imply Niall’s shift in perspective How the repetition of fat man and fatter in the third stanza conveys Niall’s initial impression of disgust How Niall doesn’t need to describe his reaction, once he realizes the fat man’s purpose and recognizes that the man isn’t a stereotype; Niall lets the readers connect the dots or make an inference. Some Features to Notice – New Eyes How the lead and conclusion echo one another, with the addition of two lines that imply Adrienne’s shift in perspective The strength and specificity of the verbs, nouns, and adjectives we can see and feel what Adrienne saw and felt 9 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 How Adrienne doesn’t need to spell out her reactions, once she recognizes that the young man isn’t a stereotype – how, like her, he is a reader and has a rich inner life; how Adrienne lets the reader connects the dots or make an inference Response Stance: Please go back into one of these two poems on your own – your choice – and mark the phrases and lines that struck you. Then, would you wrie a sentence or two about why you think Niall or Adrienne wrote it? Benediction: Something else your poems can do is help capture times when you discovered you were mistaken – when you misjudged or stereotyped someone. These are poems that will help you grow up – and help others, too. Word Work: 15 minutes 8:45-­‐9:00 or 10:15-­‐10:30 Suffix: ade, cy Play jeopardy with words. Writing 30 minutes 9:00-­‐9:30 or 10:30-­‐11:00 Work on persuasive essay. Exit Pass: Write a FANBOY sentence. What is the most important thing I learned? How can I use this in other classes? Summarize the events in class. Homework: Read 30 minutes and write down one unfamiliar word. 10 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 11 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Alphabet Book Assignment You and your partner will make an alphabet book. This assignment is part of your word study so you’ll work with your word study partner. You and your partner will take pictures or draw pictures of things that start with each letter of the alphabet. You will use Comic Life. 12 Prefixes ad-­‐ = Roots Acid/acri = 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 anthrop = bin-­‐ = Ir-­ = Re-­‐ = aud = cata-­‐= Circ/circum-­‐ = Tri-­ = helio = mal-­‐ = Hydra/hydro = mid-­‐ = omni = ob-­‐ = Quarter 2 Pater/part= under-­‐ = spect= Quarter 2 sur-­‐ = ap-­‐ = theo = ante-­‐ = Gress acro-­ = Pos/pon fer Suffixes -­‐ary = -­‐ive = -­‐ness= -­‐cide = -­‐ure = -­‐dom = -­‐ade= -­‐cy = Quarter 2 -­‐fic = -­‐itis= -­‐ship= -­‐ous= 13 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 8th Grade Affixes 1st Quarter ISAT Affixes Week Prefixes Roots Suffixes 1 ad-­ to; motion acid/acri bitter; sour; -­ary of; like; relating toward; addition to sharp to 2 bin-­ two corp body -­ive of; relating to; belonging to; tending to 3 cata-­ down anthrop man -­ness state or quality of being 4 circ-­/circum-­ aud to hear -­cide killing around 5 mal-­ wrong; bad helio sun -­ure action; process; result 6 mid-­ middle hydra water -­dom state or quality of being 7 ob-­ against hydro water -­ade action or process 8 under-­ below omni all -­cy fact or state of being Affixes 2nd Quarter Week Prefixes Roots Suffixes 1 sur-­ over; above pater/part father -­fic making; causing 2 ap-­ to; nearness to spect (spic/spec) to -­itis inflammation of see; look at; behold 3 ante-­ before theo God -­ship state or quality of being; condition; skill 4 acro-­ end; beginning; fer bear; carry -­ous having; full of; height characterized by 5 be-­ around; gress go -­crat/cracy rule completely; having or covered with 6 contra-­ against pos/pon put; place -­cule very small 7 em-­ to make into; to clud/clus close -­let small put into; to get into 8 hemi-­ half cred to believe; trust -­ine having the nature or characteristic of 14 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Text-­to-­Self Connections In the space below, copy a sentence or two from the text and then write down the connections you made between the quotations and your own life. Be as specific as possible. 1. Text Quote: This reminds me of . . . . 2. Text Quote: This reminds me of . . . . 3. Text Quote: This reminds me of . . . . 15 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Story Grammar
Name of the story
Author of the story
Main characters
Illustrator of the
story
Other characters
Where does the story happen?
When does the story happen?
What is the story about?
What is the problem in the story?
How is it solved?
Did you like the story?
Yes No
Would you tell others to read the story?
Yes
No
16 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Valentine for Ernest Mann by Naomi Shihab Nye You can't order a poem like you order a taco. Walk up to the counter, say, "I'll take two" and expect it to be handed back to you on a shiny plate. Still, I like your spirit. Anyone who says, "Here's my address, write me a poem," deserves something in reply. So I'll tell you a secret instead: poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes, they are sleeping. They are the shadows drifting across our ceilings the moment before we wake up. What we have to do is live in a way that lets us find them. Once I knew a man who gave his wife two skunks for a valentine. He couldn't understand why she was crying. "I thought they had such beautiful eyes." And he was serious. He was a serious man who lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly just because the world said so. He really liked those skunks. So, he re-­‐invented them as valentines and they became beautiful. At least, to him. And the poems that had been hiding in the eyes of skunks for centuries crawled out and curled up at his feet. Maybe if we re-­‐invent whatever our lives give us we find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite. And let me know. 17 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Defining the Magic
Charles Bukowski
a good poem is like a cold beer
when you need it,
a good poem is a hot turkey
sandwich when you’re
hungry,
a good poem is a gun when
the mob corners you,
a good poem is something that
allows you to walk through the streets of
death,
a good poem can make death melt like
hot butter,
a good poem can frame agony and
hang it on a wall,
a good poem can let your feet touch
China,
a good poem can make a broken mind
fly,
a good poem can let you shake hands
with Mozart,
a good poem can let you shoot craps
with the devil
and win,
a good poem can do almost anything,
and most important
a good poem knows when to
stop.
18 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Autobiography In Five Short Chapters Chapter I I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost... I am hopeless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. Chapter II I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in this same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. Chapter III I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it there. I still fall in... it's a habit... but, my eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately. Chapter IV I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. Chapter V I walk down another street. -­ Portia Nelson 19 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 Fat Man
I catch sight of the man
on route to the mountain's summit.
He carries with him a recycled Coke bottle
secured to a small pack.
But the man also hefts his weight
inside a sweat-stained XXXL red tee shirt.
He's what I call a fat man –
a fat man who doesn't exercise,
a fat man who engulfs food,
a fat man who lives only to become fatter and fatter.
He turns at my approach
then drops his eyes
as they meet the expression in mine.
I pass the fat man swiftly, with disgust,
wondering what could drive him
to attempt the summit.
When I glance back with this question in mind,
my eyes drop to the legend on the red tee shirt:
I'm hiking for the National Cancer Foundation.
I caught sight of the man
on route to the mountain's summit.
He carried with him a recycled Coke bottle
secured to a small pack.
He was heading upward.
He was on a mission.
-Niall Janney
20 8th Grade Lessons Week of November 7, 2011 New Eyes
Shuffling through the crowds –
a sea of shorts and tank tops –
hot sun beating down on a packed Madison Avenue,
I tighten my grip on my sister's hand
and push through the mob.
From behind us stalks a young man,
trailing in back of him a cart.
He flips his head
to wipe unkempt hair out of his face.
Grubby, torn clothes
swallow a frail body.
He curses
as he drops the remnants of a sandwich
and, without a flinch, picks it up
and stuffs his mouth. I look away in disgust.
But as he passes us,
I spy books
scattered through his pile of belongings,
each with a tattered binding
or missing cover,
but every page well loved.
I watch him disappear into swarms of people,
embarrassed that with one look,
I knew everything.
I trudge on
through a sea of shorts and tank tops,
hot sun beating down on a packed Madison Avenue,
looking ahead
with new eyes.
-Adrienne Jaeger
21