Need some inspiration during these last few days before Winter Break?!  While the following post does not give the NCTE 11 session, National Literature Project, nearly enough justice, I’m sharing a few inspirational tidbits that continue to stick with me since attending a month ago.  I continue to be inspired . . .

~ Meaning is neither in the text nor the reader.  It is in the transaction.

~ Literature helps us work out our relationship with the world around us.  Students have this experience all the time with games, movies, etc.  We can help them see that they can get just as lost in literature!!

~ “Unless you are educated in metaphor, you are not safe to be let loose in the world.”  Robert Frost

~ NAEP reading framework – % of Literature vs. Informational text:    4th grade – 50%, 8th grade – 45%, 12th grade – 30%

~ Young people betweeen the ages of 8 – 18 are using entertainment media 7 hours, 38 minutes a day!!

~ HOW they read matters much less than HOW MUCH they read!!!!  (in other words, the video game magazines are helping their reading as well!!!)

~ Background knowledge only builds from reading.

~ A student, on average, takes 7 seconds to look at a painting and 36 seconds to read a plaque.  In other words, students are much more likely to interpret visuals freely rather than interpret written text.  Students are visual these days!!!!

~ Reading is a way to have tea with an author. 

~ All teaching and learning is relational.  We are creating culture and knowledge!!

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Lesson idea:

A. Write a note to one your favorite authors or teachers.  Include some highlights of that relationship, influences, insights gained because of the relationship, great moments, etc.  Perhaps explore how you have grown with/because of this teacher or author.  How has this author/teacher transformed your thinking?

B.  Exchange letters with your neighbor.  Cirle words that seem to capture the relationship highlighted in your neighbor’s letter.

C.  Use those circled words to create a poem

D.  Once poems are written, ask for volunteers to stand in a line in front of the class.  One at a time, the standing students read one line from their poems.  The teacher (with the help of the students) will move students around to create a “class” poem; place students in the order of lines that build upon one another.

E.  Finally, read the final poem

The moral of this lesson . . . the power of attachment is so much greater than detachment.

“Produce great persons.  The rest follows.”  ~Walt Whitman

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My school district afforded me the wonderful opportunity to attend my very first National Council of Teachers of English conference held in Chicago, Illinois this year.  I met wonderful national colleagues, many of whom I’ve been conversing with online but never had the opportunity to meet face-to-face, and I returned to school feeling completely motivated and recharged.

 The following is a sampling of tips from a session titled “Zapping Apathy:  Creating a Sense of Community in English Class”      Please see Gary Anderson’s informative blog, What’s Not Wrong, for more detailed information:

My students' 1984 Chalk Talk!

1.  Build Community Through Movement:  Chalk Talk:  A silent, non-threatening way to generate ideas, spawn discussion, understand connections.  Here’s my students’ first 1984 Chalk Talk.  (see my sample in picture)

2.  Build Community Through Online Means: 6-Word Memoirs with Wordle: A team-building, creative writing activity.  First, show the following two YouTube videos – First video and Second Video.  Second, students write their own six-word memoirs.  Third, have students go to www.wordle.net and create and a visual of their memoirs.  They’ll be able to play with font, color scheme, etc to fit their subject and make it come to life.

3.  Build Community through Cell Phone Activity (shared by Lee Anne Spillane):  Did you know that if students text Google, 466453, and punch in Define: (followed by the word), Google will text back a definition of that word?!

4.  Build Community through Discussion  - A means to get the quieter students involved. Provide envelopes filled with slips of paper numbered 1 – 10.  Give these envelopes to about 4 students and have those students stand in front of class.  Read a statement and ask students to hold up a slip that represents how strongly they agree with the statement.(1 = strongly disagree; 10 = strongly agree)

Like these samples? . . . see Gary Anderson’s What’s Not Wrong site for more along with the original handouts and Prezi’s from the session.

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There are so many more worthwhile sessions I attended.  For instance, stay tuned for a synopsis of Carol Jago’s Literature Project!!!!

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Whether or not you are an educator, viewing the two videos below will be worth your while.  Sit back and enjoy the symbolism within our daily lives. . . .

Here is an assignment I recently shared with my two accelerated freshman English classes.  We have a rigorous curriculum to follow in the classroom yet I wanted to give the students opportunity to express their more creative sides.  I came up with this to supplement our study and analysis of symbolism.  Aside from the period during which we watched and discussed “Words”, this is a project they had to complete solely at home on their own.  The student sample below is just one example of how well they ran with this!  

ASSIGNMENT:

In conjunction with our study of “The Scarlet Ibis” and symbolism, watch this video from NPR’s Radiolab to help illustrate how images are contextual. You will complete an assignment afterwards, but first I just want you to watch and enjoy it:  

Now search for the word semiotics and define it.  Watch the video again with that definition in mind.  As you watch, write down all of the words presented through the images and sound in the video.  We will discuss how the varied definitions of these words match the context within which they are shown.

For the end result, you are going to create your own video.  You will need to decide on eight words of your choosing.  Four of the eight words must be from our most recent vocabulary list.  You must find at least two different meanings for each word and at least one image to represent each meaning.

Use PhotoPeach, MovieMaker or another program of your choice.  In addition to production of your slideshow, provide a “key” that highlights which words you used along with an explanation of the word definitions.  Happy producing!!! 

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Have you heard about this book?  One of my colleagues, Jennifer Krause, recommended this last year after she initialized her own successful encyclopedia journal project.  Two more of us have since followed suit.  I finally read the book this past summer and created my own online version.  I can’t wait to begin an ongoing blogging activity with my accelerated freshmen, modeling the book’s format!!  I explain my assignment below:

In her book, Rosenthal writes 200-plus pages of entries, written encyclopedia-style, for words and terms involved in her life: people, ideas, items and objects, anecdotes, her own definitions of words, obsessions.  Some examples from the book appear at the end of this post. Part of her inspiration comes from reading other writers—from ancient China on to modern times—who wrote in essays that didn’t necessarily weave points seamlessly from one to another and instead wrote in separate, discrete entries, or an alphabetical format similar to her own.

The assignment is to write a mini-encyclopedia of your own by writing at least one encyclopedia entry for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet, plus two numbers. These entries can be definitions, short-short stories, zany asides.  Provide at three visual elements within the 28 entries: illustration, chart, photo, sketch. Additionally, cross-reference at least three entries to each other. The entries can be anywhere from 5-500 words each.

Some ideas for entries? A favorite (or hated) word, a family name, an artist you love, or idea or concept that is directly related to your own experience.  Perhaps write about something that triggers a memory from your life.  Movies, books, comics, magazines, celebrities are all fair game.  In other words, write about YOU!!!

Some excerpts from Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life are here.

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Reading with my special girl last summer!

When I was a little girl, my mother would find me with a flashlight under my bedspread reading past my bedtime.  I’ve been reading since as long as I can remember – honestly, I can still visualize the pictures in my head of the first book I learned to read by myself.  I’m happy to say I’ve passed this passion on to my successful, driven college-age daughter, and am now relishing the sharing sessions with my precious niece who hands me books to read again and again.  As summer is upon us, there are many blogs out there divulging how to promote summer reading.  I’d like to add mine to the pile with a twist of my personal methods, quirks and habits I use to promote reading in my own home:

~ Walk into my home and you won’t find a room that doesn’t have a book and/or magazine thrown or displayed in it.

~  Every holiday gift collection (Christmas, bday, Easter basket, etc) included books.  Books were as exciting to receive as toys.  Today, my daughter’s passion for shoes gives books a run for their money but they are still exciting nonetheless.

~ I read every day and made sure I did so in front of my daughter.  I write and journal frequently, and bought her journals of her own through the years.  Oh the lucky soul who finds my hidden journals someday.  ;-)

~ Every so often, we’d have “reading sessions.” I’d set up pillows and/or stuffed animals in a circle on the floor.  I’d grab my book, my daughter would grab hers, we’d gather in the circle and read to our hearts content.  We still have reading sessions on quiet summer evenings – sans the pillow circle these days – just a quiet time on the couch when we’ll both read, stop and share.

~Bi-weekly library check-out visits were treated as special events.  I would never put a limit on the number of books we could bring home; we’d always walk out of there with AT LEAST ten books when my girl was little.

~ I’d peruse our local library’s event calendar and be sure to regularly take part in the storytelling sessions.

~ Speaking of the library, my daughter participated in the local library’s summer reading program every year.  These programs are an absolutely fabulous way to keep kids learning as the summer rolls along.

~ I’d buy action figures or dolls of favorite characters from books to extend the story engagement.

~ Regular trips to the bookstore were also treated as special events and usually ended with scanning our new treasures over ice cream.  Don’t tell my daughter I’m telling you, but she still enjoys taking a trip to our local B & N on late summer evenings with one of her good friends . . . just because.  An English teacher-mom dream come true.

~ Whenever we vacationed or took long trips, we’d bring books for the rides. Reading always makes time fly.  Books accompanied us to doctor and dentist visits too.  This kept the ants out of our pants waiting for those delayed doctors.

~ Of course, up until she was in her upper teens we’d have, without fail, nightly story time when I would read aloud for about 10 – 20 minutes before bed.  I did that literally since she was one day old and wouldn’t give up any of those moments.  As both a reading teacher and a parent, I can say this may have been the most significant activity I shared with my child to promote her lifelong journey of reading, learning and discovering.

Happy Reading this summer.  Above everything else, just sit back and enjoy the gifts that reading brings us!!

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Shakes Up Close

One of my goals as a teacher this year is to improve my communication with parents and involve them more in the classroom.  Yes, I’ve been sending class newsletters, calling, emailing and meeting with parents more . . . but somehow there still seems to be a disconnect between a child’s day in high school and life at home.  Here’s an idea I came up with for my honors freshmen who are in the midst of studying Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet.”  As I think of more parent involvement ideas, I’ll share them.  Please share your ideas as well!

Instructions on our class blog:

Some teenagers don’t have any qualms over their parents approving dates, believing it is simply one more way parents show their care and concern.  Other teens feel that this is not necessary and, furthermore, shows parents don’t trust a teen’s judgment.    What do you feel?  Should your parents approve of the people you choose to date?

Write a blog in which you respond to this persuasive prompt in the same format that you’ve been responding to with the practice prompts in class.

In your response, take a position on this question.  You may write about either one of the two points of view given, or you may present a different point of view on this question.  Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

Once your response is complete, I will be inviting your parents to comment on your blogs.  Regardless of their points of view, this will be a chance for your parents to share in your writing and, indirectly, share in our study of “Romeo and Juliet.”  My hope is that this spurs some interesting comment feeds!

"Swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon . . ."

 

Parent Letter:

Dear E108 Parents,

With the celebrated observance of Shakespeare’s birthday this past weekend, it’s fitting that I’m inviting you to share in our study of “Romeo and Juliet” this week.

As you can check out on our class site, __________________ , the students are responding to the following prompt: Some teenagers don’t have any qualms over their parents approving dates, believing it is simply one more way parents show their care and concern. Other teens feel that this is not necessary and, furthermore, shows parents don’t trust a teen’s judgment. What do you feel? Should your parents approve of the people you choose to date? They are to have this complete by this Friday, April 29th.

Here’s where the fun begins! Once they complete their responses, I’m inviting you to respond to their answers. Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not? Does your child’s response surprise you? Feel free to comment in any way you wish; for instance, comments on your child’s writing are very welcome as well. My hope is that this spurs some interesting dialogue and motivates your child’s writing even further. Please respond by Friday, May 6th. I really look forward to your involvement. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions whatsoever, please do not hesitate to contact me.

By the way, your child may come home and tell you that I brought mini-cupcakes in to celebrate the Bard’s special day. We each had a small treat today not only to celebrate our author’s day but to revel for a moment in our hard work over the past couple of weeks with practice ACT essay writing. As you know, the students have been writing numerous in-class essays addressing issues within “Romeo and Juliet” as well as persuasive prompts addressing issues pertaining to high school life. Concentrating on focus, elaboration and support is crucial to effective writing, and I’m proud that each and every student is displaying improvement. If you don’t hear from me personally via email or phone over the next week, and would like to speak about your child’s writing, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

In the meantime, as Shakespeare once wrote, “It is not in the stars to hold our destinies but in ourselves.” Have a beautiful, safe, and healthful week!

**Next newsletters – Expectations for Great Expectations, Final Exam Tips, Summer Reading and Summer Blogging suggestions

The verdict – Out of 30 students , three sets of parents did not particpate.  (I  had these 3 students anticipate how they believed their parents would respond and proceed from there).  Some parents emailed me back stating they couldn’t wait to begin; others called eagerly with questions on specific how-tos for logging on and commenting. I may even have hooked a few on blogging themselves!  Here is a sampling of student-parent interactions:

Cassidy’s Blog – Cassidy’s father took advantage of the opportunity and posted a set of suggestions to improve parent/child communication

Marley’s Blog – Both Marley’s mother and father took turns to comment.

Austin’s Blog – Austin and his father continued an engaging feed of comments.

The follow-up:  Students read excerpts from The Office of Christian Parents: Shewing How Children Are To Be Gouerned throughout All Ages and Times of Their Life, all articles written in the 1600s dealing with parenting.  After analyzing main parental principles, the class compared parenting today to parenting during the Elizabethan era.

What I will do differently next year:  Next year I will have two sections of accelerated freshmen.  I plan on getting their blogs up and running right away within the first week of school; furthermore, I plan on involving parents within the first month of class.  My goal is to complete at least one parent virtual involvement per quarter.  I will keep GG readers posted!

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We are ALL guilty of using some of these.  Below are tips for polishing our presentation skills in both everyday conversation and more formal presentations.

My speech students are presenting a speech on Friday that many fail but walk away with essential lessons learned.  In past years, in fact, students have continually expressed that, despite the low scores, this assignment is their favorite because they walk away much more cognizant of speech blunders.  I’m speaking of The Ummm Speech in which points are deducted each time students blunder their conversation with unnecessary fillers and upspeak.  Students are invited to talk about their own personal topics; however, anxiety still abounds as students fear their habits may be hard to kick.  To preface these presentations, we discussed these verbal tics today.  How many are you guilty of utilizing?!

Speech Spillage

1.  Frivolous Fillers = mealymouthed language littered with “um,”  ”you know,”  ”ah,”  ”like,”  ”and so,” etc.  Frivolous fillers are a turn-off in the business, entertainment, political, and professional world.  Presentation is half the battle.  People seem to understand very well these days that networking is important; yet, too many folks lack the presentation skills to network as successfully as possible.

What can you do?  Practice in a no-stakes environment.  For instance, at your local coffee shop, instead of saying,”I’ll have, umm, the, I don’t know, I think the French Vanilla Skinny Latte” . . . . say “A Tall French Vanilla Skinny Latte, please.”  Who’s going to get the better service?

2.  Unnecessary Upspeak = the habit of speaking so that your pitch rises at the end of a sentence?  And everything sounds like a question?  It’s an easy habit to adopt?  Especially if your friends do it too?  This is usually a habit that teenagers adopt.  I hear this too frequently during high school speeches.  The problem is it invites the listener to question the speaker.  If you sound like you’re not sure you believe what you’re saying, why should anyone else?

What can you do?  Record yourself in a brief conversation or while rehearsing a speech.  Hearing yourself?  Talking like this?  Can do wonders to kick-off the process of quitting.  Period.

3.  Creaky Communication – Here’s a site that illustrates the creaky voice loudly and clearly: http://squibbage.blogspot.com/2009/07/creaky-voice-craze.html

Creaky voice is making your voice sound tired or strained.  (Lindsey Lohan, Mary-Kate Olsen . . . you get the idea)  This may be sexy in the right situation however people interpret these sautéed syllables as uncertainty or even smugness.

What can you do?  Relax your vocal cords so your voice sounds creaky, then murmer: “I am the perfect candidate for this position.”  Now say the same words in a forthright, clear, assertive tone.  Who’s getting the job?!

4.  Careless Cussing = While my high school students are careful not to do this, many adults get in the habit of rolling these dirty little words into their everyday conversation.  Not good – not only do curse words sound plain old ugly, they make you sound negative.  Profanity is lazy language . . . people tend to use it when frustrated, angry or impatient.

What can you do?  Challenge yourself to think of different, clever synonyms for four-letter words.  You just might break the ice and get a laugh out of it too.  How about borrowing Shakespeare’s exclamation, “Zounds” or “balderdash” or “bunk?”  See the reaction this instills.

5.  Silly Slang = offensive, very uncool, and often politically incorrect words.  No one seems to remember anything about Jennifer Anniston’s interview with Regis Philbin other than her joking about being a “retard.”  Why?  Slang can easily be offensive.  There’s a reason public figures keep having to apologize for using words such as this.

What can you do?  When in doubt, leave it out.

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Whether you want to avoid meeting mayhem or have your students utilize a new technique to outline problem solution papers, this strategy helps problems become more clear and workable.  Many times, the problems we face have multiple layers that affect the solutions.  In some of these cases, the problem that is most visible, in fact, is the symptom of a deeper issue.

This activity can be performed as an entire group, as small groups, or as individuals.  It asks participants to look beyond the obvious when working through problems:

1.  Create a chart similar to the one drafted below.  (or, if you are artistically inclined, create a picture of an onion with open layers)

2.  The most obvious part of the problem is written in the area that represents the outer part of the onion.

3.  The group members (or individuals) are asked to generate a statement that represents an example of something that is occurring “behind the scenes” or a factor that could be causing the problem on the outer layer of the onion.  Write this in the second level of the diagram.

4. The group members (or individuals) are asked to generate a factor that could be causing the problem or suggestion listed on the second layer of the onion.  The leader writes this idea in the third level of the diagram.

5. The process is continued until the group exhausts its ideas.

6.  The teacher (or leader) asks the members to talk about what they learned as a result of the activity and to make a decision regarding a solution to the original problem written on the top level of the onion diagram.

Peeling the Onion Chart

Layer 1 – Presenting problem:

Layer 2 – Deeper level affecting the presenting problem:

Layer 3 – Deeper level affecting layer 2 situation

Layer 4 – Deeper level affecting Layer 3 situation

The idea is that this creates an energizing experience that probes participants to look beyond the obvious.

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I just read an essay in which a  student wrote “I gave a complement to the author after the presentation.”   This prickly pair needs clarification.   Here’s my complimentary mini-lesson on these two complementary words: 

The sheen of the bright yellow-orange yolk truly complements the navy purple saucepan.

Complementary vs. Complimentary

Entities that go well together are complementary.

The colors blue and gray complement each other.

Two people who complete each other are considered complementary.

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Complimentary refers to items given without charge, usually offered in addition to a product or service purchased. Additionally, it means to praise someone.

The hotel provides a complimentary breakfast to patrons who stay overnight.

The PR Vice President was very complimentary to the qualified intern candidate.

GG hopes this complimentary lessons complements your vocabulary!

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Keeping a journal may be the easiest form of writing there is.  With blogging, it may be even easier – certainly more fun.  Regardless of whether you write in a notebook or blog on a web page, you need only follow three rules:

• Write freely and honestly, and don’t worry if your entry doesn’t make sense.
• Make it a habit to write something every single day, even if you think nothing happened that day. Your days are more eventful than you may realize.
• Finally, make sure it’s kept as private as you want it to be, so you always feel safe saying anything.  If you have a blog, you can make your visibility “private.”  If you have a notebook, you can stash it away for safe keeping.

7 Reasons to Keep a Journal or Blog

1.  Writing is a release.  The act of journaling counteracts daily stress and is a useful tool to learn more about yourself and to clarify your life’s goals. Disorganized in your thinking? Not sure how you feel? Regular journal entries help you to work through everything that is going on in your life and those around you. As you put these thoughts to paper (or screen), you are working through these problems in your mind and subtly figuring out how to solve them.

2.  Journaling also has a lighter side and can be used for the sake of creativity. Journal writing have been shown to improve mental function and stimulate creative thinking for people of all ages, children through senior adults. The process of writing can enable any individual to become a better communicator at home and in the workplace. Creativity begets new ideas and new ways of doing things. It can be producing a piece of art for the pleasure of others. With writing, anything is possible.

3.  Think of journaling as nourishment for your brain. While writing cannot possibly solve all of your problems tomorrow, with some discipline and a regular schedule, gradually you will begin to see improvements in some areas of your life such as mood and mental health. Chances are your physical health will improve as well. As you make decisions, define priorities, strengthen relationships, and generate new ideas, the transformation you will achieve may surprise you.

4.  Even if your life may not seem very exciting now, you’ll have a record of it later, when you’ve forgotten so many details that you now take for granted.  Imagine your grandchildren, years from now, reading about what it’s like to go to a movie (because something tells me that may not be a leisure activity of the future . . . but that’s another post).  A journal is a living part of history.

5.  Your journal will be a record of your best memories, and you will always have access to events that may seem unforgettable now but do fade with time.  I’m so very grateful that I kept a “Mommy Journal” when my daughter was little.  When I read some of those entries now, I’m tickled and realize I would not remember those precious details had I not written them down as they occured.

6.  Write about your favorite people.  Talk about special qualities and what you learn from them.  What’s your grandfather really like?  What is it about Auntie Anne that makes you so happy when you know you will see her?  These people may not always be in your life.  Your journal will keep their memories alive.  I’ve written about a handful of extremely special people in my life – some of which I’ve posted on this site, some of which are private.  Writing about them makes me perceive them as even more special.

7.  If you write honestly, you’ll be able to go back and read entries that will help you learn from your mistakes.  At troublesome times, you can look back and see what went wrong.  If you are always writing about sad or negative things, perhaps it’s time for an attitude adjustment.  If you are writing negatively about one person, perhaps you need to communicate more clearly to him or her.  You can use your journal to solve problems.

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