M-STEP TESTING BEGINS THIS TUESDAY.  STUDENTS WILL TAKE THE ELA TEST ON MAY 1ST AND THE MATH TEST ON MAY 8TH.

4/30-M-STEP Practice

4/23-Read and annotate the narrative poem “Oranges” by Gary Soto 

   -use rough draft organizer to  begin planning individual narrative poems

4/24- Students use their rough draft to write their final Narrative Poem 

4/25-Students are introduced to lyrical poem. Students complete their own lyrical poem.

4/26-Students are introduced to dramatic poem and must write their own. 

       -Review for Quiz 

4/27-Poetry Quiz

       -Students will be given rubric for summative assessment. Students take old drafts of poems (autobiography, acrostic, lyrical, dramatic,  free verse, Limerick, haiku, and narrative) and create their poetry final drafts for the portfolio. 

STUDY GUIDE FOR FRIDAY’S TEST

Terms to Know (as applied to a poem)

haiku

alliteration

white space

simile/metaphor (know the difference)

onomatopoeia

rhyming

personification

tone

imagery

S.I.F.T (symbols, imagery, figurative language, tone, theme)

POEM THAT WILL BE USED ON THE TEST:

How to Eat a Poem by Eve Merriam

Don’t be polite.

Bite in.

Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that

may run down your chin.

It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.

You do not need a knife or fork or spoon

or plate or apkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core

or stem

or rind

or pit

or seed

or skin

to throw away.

BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THESE TYPES OF POEMS:

Haiku

Free verse

Limerick

Acrostic

Monday-Review poetic devices 

              -complete Poetry is Like an Onion worksheet

              -grammar practice on -noredink.com

Tuesday- Discuss history, form/structure of a limerick

                -read and discuss examples of  limerick poetry 

                -write original limericks with the help of sentence starters.

                -word work:  using semicolons and colons in writing

Wednesday- Discuss Letter Poem form/structure/use of line break

                   -complete graphic organizer on poem “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams

                    -practice writing  letter poems focused on emotions

-grammar review: Prepdog.org

Thursday  Introduction to free-verse poetry.

                 -discuss Walt Whitman, the “Father of Free Verse”

                 -students complete free-verse poem

Friday-Review Game for poetry quiz

           -grammar review: Prepdog.org

Welcome Back!  Hope you enjoyed a fabulous spring break despite the cold Michigan weather!

Here are the poetry activities planned for this week:

4/9 -Read “Teenagers” by Pat Mora

-Review SIFT Method

4/10-4/11- Review Symbolism

Introduction to formula poems (shape poem, haiku, tanka, and diamante). Students will choose one of the above poem types to create and share.

4/12-

Introduction to autobiographical poems, using a Curious George example. Students will have an autobiographical poem organizer which they will use to write their own poem.

4/13-Cooperative learning vocabulary activity using the terms: white space, line break, rhyme, rhythm, and meter.

 Analysis of the poems “Untitled” by Nikki Garmi, “Dog Math” by Jen Maschari and “Hank’s Dad” by Mary Quattebaum.

We are kicking off our first full week of spring with an exciting unit on POETRY!  Students will work through the unit to analyze and build a portfolio of poems from various genres.  This unit will take us through approximately the end of April.  Student portfolios will be due April 27th.  Click link below for an explanation of the project.

poetry port..docx

This week at a glance:

Monday-Notes on Poetry

   -Read “There Will Come Soft Rain” by Sara Teasdale

   -Discuss/use SIFT method for analyzing poetry

Tuesday – Mini Lesson on Imagery

  -Complete Imagery Guided Notes

  -Poetry portfolio-Acrostic

Wednesday/Thursday-Mini Lessons on Symbolism

         -Poetry portfolio-Haiku

Have a wonderful Spring Break!!

The following six students (two from each class) earned the most ‘at home’ minutes on Moby Max and a free lunch of their choice this week:

2nd Hour:  Tommy Sullivan and Joslynn Jarrait

3rd Hour:  Jenna Jamgochian and Mariam Alzeidawi

4th Hour: Fernanda Lezama and Luke Selwa

Be watching for details on the NEXT Moby Max Challenge!

                   WEAR PURPLE TO SUPPORT EPILEPSY

                                       AWARENESS!

                             What is Purple Day?

Purple Day is an international grassroots effort dedicated to increasing awareness about epilepsy worldwide. On March 26th annually, people in countries around the world are invited to wear purple and host events in support of epilepsy awareness.  

Some FACTS:

Epilepsy is a condition of the brain that is characterized by recurrent seizures. Approximately one in ten people will experience at least one seizure during a lifetime. A single seizure, however, is not epilepsy. Epilepsy is a condition that is defined by multiple seizures.

Epilepsy is a seizure disorder. It is not a psychological disorder nor a disease and it is not contagious. The brain is made up of billions of nerve cells or neurons that communicate through electrical and chemical signals. When there is a sudden excessive electrical discharge that disrupts the normal activity of the nerve cells, a seizure may result.

Famous People with Epilepsy

Throughout history, many famous people are known or are suspected of having had epilepsy. These include:

Julius Caesar 
Alexander the Great 
Agatha Christie 
Socrates 
Joan of Arc 
Harriet Tubman  
Napoleon Bonaparte 
Vincent Van Gogh 
Charles Dickens 
Richard Burton 
Alfred Nobel 
Thomas Edison

ONE MORE DAY UNTIL SPRING!!!

Don’t forget…this is the last week students can earn minutes for the Moby Max Challenge to win lunch!  The minutes will be calculated over the weekend and the winners announced on Monday, March 26th.  Lunch will be either Wed. the 28th or Thursday the 29th depending on class period.

This week……

Monday-Tuesday Students will continue reading, annotating and analyzing THANK YOU, MA’AM by Langston Hughes to create a brace map (thinking map) to analyze the main character.

Wednesday-NWEA practice and informational reading practice, THE RED GUARDS

Thursday-Friday  Begin POETRY Unit, Complete poetry notes in interactive notebook and read THE WORST DAY EVER

Click Link below to view Folktale Study Guide

FOLKTALES-study-chart

ALSO…..KNOW WHAT THESE WORDS MEAN:

folktale, moral, setting, conflict

Monday-  M-STEP practice-read and annotate passages, then create thinking maps to organize information needed to answer the prompt

         Word Work: prefix/suffix practice

Tuesday- M-STEP practice continued (taking information from thinking maps and using to construct an essay)

Wednesday- Finish M-STEP practice essays

Thursday-Folktale unit review, read/watch short folktales

                  Complete folktale sort cooperative learning activity

Friday- Folktale Quiz (study guide will be posted on the blog soon!)

              Begin planning story boards for individual folktales