7M : Below
Be on the look out for some more posts after spring break...
Until next time,
Ritchie
Personification can be tricky! Not only do my 7th graders need be able to identify personification, but they need to be able to apply personification in writing! What better way... Than to compose an ode!! This was the perfect lesson to do right before break and for national poetry week!! As a class, we read and discussed our mentor text, "Ode to an Artichoke" by Pablo Neruda. The discussion was fruitful especially when it came down to "why do you think the author chose an artichoke as the topic?" As a class we determined, that it was a topic or subject that might not get recognition very often or it was significant to the author. Thus! our theme for our own odes were born! After reading and the discussion, students made a list of 20 things that were small but had a major impact on their life. Students agreed to give recognition to only one thing that doesn't get praise very often! After narrowing it down to one topic, students began brainstorming ways the topic impacted them, descriptive phrases and figurative language. Below are pictures of the results of 7F & 7M's work! 7F : Top 7M : Below This lesson was adapted from Scholastic! Mrs. A, Mrs. T and I were extremely proud of the thought and effort the students put into this! :)
Be on the look out for some more posts after spring break... Until next time, Ritchie
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"A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes, is a great tool for showing how authors incorporate similes and metaphors into poetry. Plus! This poem has an excellent theme of never letting your dreams die! :) Below, is the poem if you're not familiar with it! We've been reviewing figurative language, last week in particular, was similes & metaphors! After discussing the meaning of the poem and identifying the figurative language... we used Langston Hughes work as inspiration to compose a "dream fulfilled" poem using similes and metaphors! The graphic organizer used was from Scholastic! Students worked in their groups to compose these poems and then shared with the class! This was such a great lesson & all my 7th graders were highly engaged during the close read, discussion, and writers workshop!
Until Next Time, Ritchie As 3rd quarter wraps up, the 7th & 8th graders are anxiously awaiting spring break! To keep my kiddos engaged and also learning during (what I like to call) the crazy time of year... We've been completing fun higher order thinking activities with each new skill or strategy learned! Take a look at some of the oral tradition work below! During our Oral Tradition Unit, we read two tall tales & learned about the elements and structure that made them unique. Afterwards, students paired up and created their own tall tale! First, they brainstormed using the graphic organizer above & then wrote a brief story on the back! In this unit, we studied fractured fairy tales, urban legends, folk tales, and fables! I didn't snap any photos, but my kiddos were given different Aesop fables to act out & we had to try to guess the moral of the story! Below is a link to read some below! 7th graders have been exploring the different types of figurative language through art & playing games! Until Next Time,
Ritchie My 7th grade kiddos have been learning about the different types of point of view and why authors choose different ones for different purposes. Not familiar with point of view? It's the stand point from which a story is told. The 5 different types of point of view are: 1st person, 2nd Person, 3rd Person Objective, 3rd Person Limited, and 3rd Person Omniscient! The pictures below, are of a project I adapted from an excellent blog called "Teach With a Mountain View". Students chose a magazine picture and then used that image to write from ALL of the different points of view. This was done over the course of a week. There was always a shared writing as a class before the independent writing workshop! I could only snap a few photos of certain projects due to it being hard to see. I had the kiddos write in pencil for a quick and easy revision/editing process! However, the ones that were clear for picture taking are so clever and witty! If I happen to do this project again in the future, we will definitely collaborate & write this on google docs! This was a such an engaging way to explore writing in different points of view! :) After drafting and revising, students peer edited each other's work for convention issues and self assessed their writing! I love using the Readwritethink.org rubrics and checklists! They are super kid friendly!
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/printouts/Editing%20Checklist.pdf. Onward to another author's style... Figurative Language! Until next time, Ritchie When the opportunity arose to implement an Exploratory Unit at Washington, I just had to volunteer! We do not have art as an elective... It made sense to me to allow students who have an aptitude for art or simply just an interest in it... the chance to engage in an art project. Although I allowed for some students to explore different art related concepts on their own, the majority in my four week class chose to participate in creating a one point perspective drawing. One point perspective is the simplest method of perspective drawing which uses a single vanishing point. I showed my students a tutorial online and multiple different drawings. Most of the students took the initial lesson & ran with it! There were many different ideas that were generated! Very proud! After the art work was complete, my students created free verse poems to give insight about their drawing! Take a look at these masterpieces below! These are just a few of the talented projects that are on display in the front lobby at Washington! You should take a peak! They are even more amazing in person!! :) More art is on its way!
Until Next Time, Ritchie |
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