Web viewUnit 1, Day 1. Lesson Topic. Name the teaching point. Class Survey. Standard Addressed....

Unit 1, Day 1Lesson Topic Name the teaching point.

Class Survey

Standard Addressed Language 3. Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, and listening. a. Chose language that expresses ideas precisely and concisely, recognizing and eliminating wordiness and redundancy.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Share with the class and me

some things about themselves in order to start to build our classroom community

2. Make connection and observe differences between themselves and their classmates to build appreciation for each person’s uniqueness and for their shared traits

Materials Gather materials, mentor texts…

Large butcher paper; post-in notes (at least eight per student); 8 questions projected for students to read and answer at their own pace.

Connection- 5 minuteTell them what you taught the previous lesson.

Welcome to 7th grade English! I’m so glad to see you all here and I’m excited to be able to share this year-long educational adventure with you! 7th grade is an interesting grade to be in, isn’t it? You are almost ready to move on to high school and you are a far way away from elementary school. If you haven’t already, you are going to start to make decisions and observations that are more adult-like and less child-like. You will have what is called “coming of age experiences.” Has anyone heard that term before? What does that term mean? Coming of age experiences are events or experiences that are going to teach you lessons and raise your awareness to ideas that will make you more mature. As we go through this school year, we are going to be reading about characters who are also going through coming of age experiences. These characters are

close in age to you and perhaps you will share some other common traits or beliefs with these characters who we will read about. As we read books and meet these characters in our books, we will talk about many themes that are present in the reading that will all come back to our central theme or idea for the year- Coming of Age.

Explicit Instruction- 5 minutesTell them what you will teach today. Today I’m going to teach you…

The activity that I have planned for today is one that will help me to get to know you better and help you to get to know each other better. I have 8 questions that I would like you to answer as honestly as possible. I will project them on the board so that you can take your time and answer each one honestly. I will give you each 8 post-it notes to write your answers to each questions. I have also posted the questions on large butcher paper hanging around the room. Once you have your completed answer for a particular question on the post-it note, bring the post-it note to the large piece of butcher paper and stick it on. Once we have all responses posted, we will red them together to see how similar and how different we are. Please put your name on each of the post-it notes along with your answer, but that is just for me; I won’t read out names with responses.

Guided Practice- 20 minutes OK, here are the 8 questions that I’d like you to answer. We will take about 15 minutes for you to answer and then post your answer to all of them. [project questions and hand out post-it notes, 8 to each student]

Independent Practice/ Group Discussion- 20 minutes

After students have answered the questions and the butcher papers are full, ask students which question they are most curious to hear their class mates responses to. Begin the discussion with that question; as I’m reading the answers to them, I will group similar answers together and I will ask the students, as we go, if they think answers are similar. We probably won’t get through all eight questions in

the 20 minutes we have for this discussion.

Group Wrap Up- 5 minutes Thank you all for your honesty in answering these questions! These answer will be very helpful for me to better know you as individuals and for me to better know you as a class. Tomorrow, we will do another activity that will continue to help us in building our class community.


Class Norms & Introduce Reading Schedule

Standard Addressed Speaking and Listening 1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. b. Follow rules for collegial discussions, track progress toward specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed, d. acknowledge new information expressed by others and, when warranted, modify their own views.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Express elements that make for

a classroom where all members feel respected, safe, and included.


Computer with projection


Yesterday, you answered some questions that will help me to get to know you better and hopefully help you get to know each other better. Getting to know each other better can be helpful in building our classroom community.

Explicit Instruction, Guided Another thing that will help us in

Practice & Independent Practice- 10 minutesTell them what you will teach today.

building our classroom as a community where everyone feels respected, safe, and welcomed is having common norms, or expectations of behavior that we all agree upon.By now, given that you are in 7th grade, you have had quite a bit of experience with school. You have a pretty good idea of what is expected of you in terms of how to act in the classroom and, based on different experiences you have had, you probably have preferences about how things might work in the classroom. Think about some experiences you’ve had in school, either good or not so good, and try to pinpoint particularly what it was about those experiences that made them so memorable. As things come to your mind, write them down in your notebook, in complete sentences. Let’s take about 5-7 minutes to write down as many things that you can remember. Remember, these can be good experiences or not-so-good experiences; we can learn from both. And, they should be experiences from the classroom.

Group Discussion- 30 minutes OK, I’d like to hear some of your ideas about experiences you’ve had (no names are necessary when you tell us about experiences) and we will try to decide what we want to take from those experiences to build our classroom. [Be sure to cover ideas such as smooth functioning in the classroom, equality and respect, feeling included and safe. As students offer ideas, I will capture those on my computer (projected). ] This finalized list will go with your class’s basket on my Class Organization Shelf, which we will use for many different purposes, but all related to this class.

Explicit Instruction- 10 minutes Yesterday, we talked about a theme that will be our overarching theme for the entire year for this class. Who remembers that theme? Coming of Age, right! Who can explain to me, in his/her own words, what that means?

I mentioned that we would investigate that theme with each unit that we work on. As part of each unit, we will look at sub-themes that support that overarching theme of Coming of Age. The sub-theme for Unit 1 is Take Personal Responsibility for Your Actions. One way that we will come to understand that sub-theme, or unit theme, is by reading this novel, Belle’s Song. We will use Belle’s Song as the basis for many activities over the next month and a half so, I would like for each of you to be reading the novel independently. In order for us to keep at the same pace in our reading of the novel, I am asking you to each read 12 pages a night or 84 pages a week (Monday to Monday). In addition to reading the class novel, you will also be reading a novel of your own choosing. You can read that one at your own pace, and you should have that one completed by September 18, 2014.

Group Wrap Up- 4 minute Restate the teaching point. Ask: Did you try what was taught? Did it work for you? How will it affect your future writing?

As you leave class today, I will give you each a copy of Belle’s Song for you to borrow for the entire unit. Please take good care of this book so that students who come after you will be able to use them as well. You can begin reading over the weekend, but you do not have to as we are going to do an activity in class on Monday that will get us familiar with the time period in which the novel takes place. Please do choose your independent reader book over the weekend. I will look to see that you all have chosen a book for your independent reading on Monday.


Heart’s Desire and intro. mini-research paper.

Standard Addressed Reading Literature 9. Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same

http://www.waldorflibrary.org/images/stories/articles/loveplaytrostli.pdf

period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Have an introduction, by way of

reading a short, one-scene play, to the time period in which our class novel is based. They will also be introduced to Geoffrey Chaucer as an important characters from that period.

2. Participate in reading and acting out a short, one-scene play

3. Identify and define unfamiliar vocabulary found in the text Heart’s Desire


Props for acting out the play: Horse head on a stick, glasses, clip-on braids, 5 different colored veils, 2 crowns (one for a King, one for a Queen), shawl; copies of Heart’s Desire for each student.


We are going to begin reading our class novel, Belle’s Song, as I promised you last class. In preparation for that, I want to give you a bit of an introduction to the time period in which Belle’s Song takes place, the Medieval period (or the Middle Ages) in England, form 400AD to 1485 AD….a long time ago! Belle’s Song takes place in the later time of that period, in 1387.

Explicit Instruction- 20 minutesTell them what you will teach today.

I’m going to perform a play for you called Heart’s Desire, and then you are going to perform the play for me! This play is based on a larger work by a Medieval author, Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer’s work is called The Canterbury Tales. Have you ever seen an entire play performed by just one person? It’ll be great!There might be some words that you do not know in this play. As I am performing the play for you, please write down words you do not know, and I will pause and do the same with words that I think are unfamiliar. [I will read the play to the students, changing props and physical locations

to indicate when the speaker changes. It will sort-of become ridiculous but that’s part of it being engaging for the students and will hopefully encourage them to take on the parts for the second run-through. Pause when an unfamiliar word is encountered and write it on the board, and define it, if possible.]

Guided Practice- 25 minutes OK, now it’s your turn! Who would like to be a cast member in this play? It’s super fun! [Assign cast members, perhaps have a girl be the Knight, a boy be the Maiden, etc. just for added humor. Act out play with students as cast.]

Group Wrap Up- 10 minutes Restate the teaching point.

What do you think about Medieval England? Are you ready to visit? I am!Begin reading Belle’s Song tonight; tomorrow we will begin a mini-research project. There were two characters mentioned in the play who are historical figures; anyone know who that might be? King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. Also, we mentioned a famous author from that period…..Yes! Geoffrey Chaucer! We will add a third historical character, who was not mentioned in the play but will be mentioned in the book, and that is King Richard II. We will begin researching these historical characters and learn more about each of them.Please leave those copies of Heart’s Desire in our class box on your way out. Please bring you notebooks for tomorrow and we will meet here and go over to the computer lab.

Unit 1, Day 4Lesson TopicName the teaching point.

Research mini-research paper

Standard Addressed Reading Informational Text 2. Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary

of the text. Writing 8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; access the credibility and accuracy of each source; quote and paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to:1. Based on predetermined

questions and research topic, use the internet as a source for researching historical characters

2. Distill from internet sources the answers to research questions

3. Gain an understanding of historical characters from Medieval England.


Note-taking material or jumpdrive.

Connection- 10 minutesTell them what you taught the previous lesson.

Meet in classroom, go to computer lab together.

Yesterday, we read an enthralling and memorable play, I’m sure you will all agree. The play mentioned two historical characters and the play was based on a larger work by another historical figure from Medieval England. Who remembers those people? King Arthur, Queen (or Lady) Guinevere, and Geoffrey Chaucer and King Richard II.


Let’s form groups “peanut butter, jelly, and bread.” [Students number off.]The peanut butter group will research King Arthur and Queen Guinevere together. The jelly group will research Geoffrey Chaucer. And the bread group will research King Richard II.I would like for you to focus on the following questions, please write them in your notebook: 1. When did this person (people) live? 2. What was his/her occupation, 3. What is he/she best known for or why was he/she historically significant?

These are the key points that I will be looking for in order to give you a grade on this mini-research paper.

Guided Practice and Independent Practice- 30 minutes

You may work with someone from your group, if you wish on the research part of the paper, but each of you will submit an individual paper. Of course, the privilege of working with a partner can be taken away if I see you cannot handle it. What might be some sources where you would start your research? You might start with Wikipedia to get an overall idea about your character, and that might also give you leads on other sources. Other ideas? Encyclopedia.com. You might choose other words to look-up that you know are related to the person for instance, I mentioned the famous work by Geoffrey Chaucer. Anyone remember? The Canterbury Tales. You might search that. I will be here to assist so please ask me questions. Remember to write down the addresses and page titles of the sources you used.As you are reading your online sources, have the three research questions in mind. Please write them out on a sheet of paper (show students an example) and, as you are reading and finding answers, write the answers on the paper under the appropriate question. This will be your RESEARCH WORKSHEET. Then, when it comes time to synthesize the information and write answers in your own words, you have all that you need in one place. Don’t forget, you will need to give credit to the sources where you found the information. When I collect your papers, I will also be collecting your research worksheet where you are writing down your notes.

Group Wrap Up- 5 minutes Restate the teaching point. Ask:

We will be here in the computer lab again tomorrow to do more research if needed, but you should probably begin to write tomorrow and you will finish writing for your homework tomorrow

night, then we will have presentations on Thursday.Please be reading for homework.


Research and writing mini-research paper

Standard Addressed Writing 2. Write informational/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting, graphics, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. Writing 7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Distill from internet sources the

answers to research questions2. Gain an understanding of

historical characters from Medieval England.

3. Practice writing narrative pieces from informational texts.


Students’ note-taking materials


Meet in classroom, go to computer lab together.

Yesterday we began researching some historical figures from the period of time when our class text, Belle’s Song, takes place. Are any groups finding anything

significant to this point that they might like to share? [Hopefully, someone will make reference to the fact that there is dispute as to whether or not Arthur and Guinevere were actually real people, or are they just creations of legend and myth. Either way, they are part of history, either as factual or part of culture.]

Explicit Instruction & Independent Practice -35 minutesTell them what you will teach today.

Please continue with your research today and, begin writing the responses to the three research questions. Remember, when you turn in your completed min-research papers tomorrow, you will also be turning in your research worksheet so I can see your research process. This will be part of your final grade for the mini-research paper.


Please finish writing your responses for homework. If you are answering three questions and you write 4-5 sentences per question, you will have between 1 and 2 pages, double-spaced typed as a completed paper. Please use your best grammar and spelling.We will be in our classroom for tomorrow’s class.Please also be reading for homework


Group presentations of historical characters and introduction to using dialogue in text Language Lesson, adapted from Smagorinsky et al, p. 47-48.

Standard Addressed Writing 9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history. Speaking and Listening 1. Engage effectively in a range of

collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. a. Come to discussion prepared, having read or research material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to:1. Share with classmates

knowledge they have gained through their research

2. Listen to their classmates presentations and add appropriate, additional information on research topics

3. Use direct dialogue, including proper punctuation, in writing text to bring interest to the writing


English class notebooks


We’ve been working on mini-research papers about some historical British people and I am anxious to hear what you all have found out!


When I say “Go,” I would like for the peanut butter group to be up in the front, the jelly group be back in the left corner of the room, and the bread group be in the right corner of the room. You will get in your groups, and decide how you will present the information you have gathered about your famous person to the rest of the group. Here’s a suggestion, since you have three question that you are addressing, you might break your group into three smaller groups and each chose one question to report about to the larger class. I would like to hear all group-member voices in the presentation. As one group is presenting, what could the other two

groups be doing? [Hopefully, students will answer, “Listening attentively, taking notes, asking appropriate questions.]You will have about 5 minutes to organize, and then we’ll get going. Go!

Guided Practice- 20 minutes Three groups present for approximately 5 minutes each.

Explicit Instruction- 20 minutes Moving on to our Language Lesson for today….if, while researching your mini-research papers, you had access to the Way Back Machine, you know, the one that allows you to go way back in time? And you could have gone and interviewed Geoffrey Chaucer, you just might want to use something he said, exactly as he said it, in your paper. Can you do that? Sure you can! It’s called a direct quote and using direct quotations in your writing makes your writing more interesting and engaging for your reader.So, let’s say that you were asking Mr. Chaucer about his favorite foods, and you wanted to report that he said he prefers grape jelly over strawberry jelly on his pb&j sandwiches. You might say [write on board], Mr. Chaucer said I much prefer grape over strawberry jelly. That get’s the idea across but we need to add some punctuation so our reader knows that it is a direct quote. What’s missing? Quotation marks! [add them where they need to go, hesitate at the end of the sentence….inside or outside the period? Outside!] Anything else? Yes, a comma after “said,” Let’s the read know to pause [read it with a pause] and let’s the reader know that something is coming up. This is an example of converting an indirect quote, that he said he prefers, to a direct quote, Mr. C. said, “I much prefer…” and, you will notice that this part of the sentence changes from referring to Mr. C. in the third person to allowing him to speak for himself. Shall we try another? Someone tell me something your historical person would have said to you. [Work through 2 more

examples of turning indirect quotes into direct quotes and the proper punctuation with the class.]So, what if we wanted to represent a dialogue between Mr. Chaucer and King Richard in writing? Every time a new speaker begins talking, you start a new paragraph. Let’s see how that will look. [Present a dialogue between Chaucer and King Richard demonstrating change of speaker with start of a new paragraph.


Ticket out the door: Please drop your mini research papers ALONG WITH your research worksheet in our class box before you leave. I look forward to reading them.Tomorrow, we will have time to practice these new skills with punctuation of dialogue in text. Please continue reading for homework.


Intro. theme “Personal Responsibility”, Quotation Station activity and 10 minute quick write.

Standard Addressed Reading Literature 2. Determine a

Assessment Tool for Mini-Research Papers and Presentation

4- Exceeds Standard 3-At Standard 2- Approaching Standard 1-Not At Standard

1. Evidence drawn from informational text in support research and complete answers to 3 research questions 4 3 2 1

2. Prepared for presentation using research materials, actively participated in presentation

4 3 2 1

Possible total points: 8

theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. Writing 10. Write routinely over extended time frame and shorter time frames for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Identify a theme in the class text

and find evidence in the text to support the theme

2. Punctuate dialogue in text correctly

3. Develop writing skills through frequent brief writing.


Quotation Station worksheets, computer with projection


Yesterday, we learned about direct quotations and how to represent those in your writing. Who can tell me one thing that he/she remembers from yesterday’s discussion? [Mini review from yesterday]


We are going to practice with some of the things we talked about yesterday dealing with direction quotations. I have three stations set up around the room, each dealing with a different topic about direct quotations. At each station, you will find worksheets. Each student is responsible for completing each of the three worksheets. You will go to each station, have about 8 minutes at each station to complete the worksheet, and then advance to the next station. Take your completed worksheets with you and you will put them in the class basket before you leave today.

Guided Practice & Independent Practice - 25 minutes

OK, peanut butter group start at station one, jelly group start at station two, and bread group start at station three; when time is up, you will rotate clockwise.

Explicit Instruction- 10 minutes OK, I’d like for us to shift gears a bit. Read “Who Is To Blame” story while projecting the story and the questions

which follow.What does it mean to take responsibility for your actions? [Owning up to your actions, accepting consequences for actions, not blaming others, being honest]In general, do you think of taking responsibility for your actions as a good thing or a not-so-good thing?We talked a bit about our theme of Coming of Age, remember? Do you think that taking responsibility for your actions has anything to do with coming of age? Could that be one of the benefits of taking personal responsibility?

Independent Practice- 10 minutes

For the next 10 minutes, I’d like for you to write about taking responsibility for your actions. Write whatever comes to mind about that idea. You could write a story, real or made-up, you could write about why you think taking personal responsibility is a good thing OR you might write about why you think taking personal responsibility is a not-so-good thing. This is called a Quick Write. Without a lot of preparation, you are just going to write whatever comes to mind about this idea of taking personal responsibility.

Guided Practice- 2 minutes In our novel, something happens early on that has really affected Belle. Who can tell us what happened? [She inadvertently cased a very large bell her father was making to come crashing down on him and crush his legs.] How does Belle feel about this event? [She has a lot of guilt.] Does she do something about her feelings of guilt? [She takes this journey to Canterbury to pray for her father.] In your opinion, is that taking responsibility for her actions?

Group Wrap Up- 1 minute Restate the teaching point.

Please turn in your Quick Writes and your Quotation Station worksheets in our class basket. [Quick writes and quotation station worksheets will be used as a participation grade, students will receive 5 points for each.] Please continue reading Belle’s Song over the

weekend and have read up to page 84 for Monday.

Quotation Station Worksheets

Name____________________________________ Date_________________

Station 1. Converting an Indirect Quote to a Direct Quote

Rewrite each of the following 5 sentences so that the indirect quote is a direct quote:

1. Roland Butter asked me when the soup would be ready

___________________________________________________________2. At the beginning of class, the teacher told us to turn in our homework.

___________________________________________________________

3. I got an email saying that I had just won a millions dollars.

___________________________________________________________

4. Bette DeRanch said that we should keep the noise down.

___________________________________________________________5. The principal congratulated us for being so well behaved.

___________________________________________________________

Name____________________________________ Date_________________

Station 2. Punctuating Quotations

In the following sentences, place both punctuation marks in the proper locations:

1. We might be behind by 50 points, but we will win the game said the coach.

2. The chef exclaimed This is my greatest creation ever!

3. Why do you want me to do that I asked my mother.

4. The mayor declared No dog shall roam this town unleashed.

5. Ginger Snapps was told No more cookies for you by the cafeteria lady.

Name____________________________________ Date_________________

Station 3. Quotations and Paragraphs

In the following dialogue, indicate with a / where you think a new paragraph should start

“Hello!” said John to Jackie. “And a big howdy to you!” replied Jackie. John paused to ask, “What are you up to?” Jackie paused to think. She then said, “I was just about to head into that dark and shadowy alley to see if anything pops out and tries to scare me.” “Great idea,” said John. “What do you say we hide between those two dumpsters and see what happens?” Jackie smiled and replied, “That’s a fantastic idea! Last one in is a rotten egg.”

“Who Is To Blame?”

Jenny doesn’t come from a family that anyone would call “ideal.” Her mom is an alcoholic, her father is abusive toward her mother, and the family never has any money. Jenny’s never done very well in school; she feels there’s nothing to motivate her to do well. No one at home cares what grades she gets, except when they are embarrassed by getting more than one call from the same teacher. So it wasn’t a big deal when Jenny started partying, forging absence notes, and ditching classes. Her GPA dropped below a 1.0. For a while, no one seemed to notice that things were going down hill. Then Jenny’s counselor called her in and informed her that she wasn’t going to graduate. “What’s the problem, Jenny?” asked the counselor. “I can’t believe it,” said Jenny… (You finish the story from here)

After finishing the ending to Jenny’s story, think about and answer these questions: 1. At what point in your life are you willing to take the blame for your actions? 2. How is personal responsibility related to integrity? 3. When are you old enough to take control and determine your own direction? 4. At what point in life are you able to overcome the influences around you?

Unit 1, Day 8Lesson Topic Figurative Language- Hyperbole

Name the teaching point. and PersonificationStandard Addressed Reading Literature 4. Determine

the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhyme and other repetitive sounds on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Define in their own words the

literary technique of hyperbole and personification, including why an author might use these techniques.

2. Give examples of hyperbole and personification


“Sick” by Shel Silverstein, projected


Last week, when we talked about using dialogue in your writing, we said that it was a way to make your writing more interesting and to change your writing up a bit. Today, we are going to talk about another way that authors make their writing interesting.


Have you ever hear someone say, “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!”Why would someone say that? Why wouldn’t that person just say, “I’m so hungry!” and call it good? [Hopefully students will offer the idea of exaggeration.]The person is exaggerating for effect, right?How about saying, “I’m so tired, I could sleep for days!” Again, extreme exaggeration for effect and emphasis. Have you ever said something that was completely exaggerated to get your point across? Any examples?Authors do this when they are writing to cause effect and emphasis. This is called HYPERBOLE. Hyperbole is extreme exaggeration to create an effect.

Let’s try a few more and see if we can figure out what the author might be trying to say:I nearly died laughing! What is the author trying to say?I tried a thousand times! Do you think the person really tried a thousand times?It too me forever to get that one right!Those are mile-high ice cream cones! Really? What is the author wanting to get across?

Guided Practice- 10 minutes I have a poem to share with you that I think will help you to a see how an author uses hyperbole. The poem is by Shel Silverstein, called, “Sick”[Project poem while I read it]


Now, read through the poem yourselves and write down all the places where you find hyperbole [5 minutes]. Ok, who has one? [Review for 5 minutes]

Explicit Instruction- 10 minutes Another literary technique that authors use is the one represented in this poem by Carl Sanburg called “Summer Grass”: [project poem]Summer grass aches and whispersIt wants something: it calls and sings; it pours out wishes to the overhead stars.The rain hears; the rain answers; the rain is slow coming; the rain wets the face of the grass.What is something you notice about what this poem says? Can grass ache? Can it whisper? Can it sing or call? Can rain hear? Can it answer? Does grass have a face?No and no and no…what is Mr. Sanburg doing in this poem? He’s giving human traits or characteristics to things that are not human, or making a non-human thing seem like a person - this is called PERSONIFICATION. Why might an author want to give human traits to something that is not human? To, again, create effect and, in this case, make that effect more accessible or relatable to the reader. The author is attempting to relate what he/she is

saying to something that the reader might know or have experience with.

Guided Practice- 8 minutes Let’s look at another poem [project poem]April Rain Song byLangston HughesLet the rain kiss youLet the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid dropsLet the rain sing you a lullabyThe rain makes still pools on the sidewalkThe rain makes running pools in the gutterThe rain plays a little sleep song on our Roof at nightAnd I love the rain

Please go back and read the poem again to yourself and write down all the places where you see personification. [review when students have finished]

Group Wrap Up- 5 minutes Restate the teaching point. Ask: Did you try what was taught? Did it work for you? How will it affect your future writing?

We used poems today to look at examples of both hyperbole and personification. You might guess that these techniques are not just used in poems but in short stories and novels, too. So, your mission is to look for and identify, by making note in your notebook, any examples of personification and hyperbole that you come across in your readings. Anyone who brings an example will get the A for Effort reward of the day.Please be reading for homework.

Sick By Shel Silverstein

"I cannot go to school today,"

Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

"I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I'm going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I've counted sixteen chicken pox

And there's one more - that's seventeen,

And don't you think my face looks green?

My neck is stiff, my spine is weak,

I hardly whisper when I speak.

My tongue is filling up my mouth,

I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,

My temperature is one-o-eight.

My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,

There is a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my heart is

-what? What's that? What's that you say?

You say today is ... Saturday?

G'bye, I'm going out to play!"


Introduce Imply and Infer; Co-plan with History teacher for additional knowledge on political situation in King Richard II England.

Standard Addressed Reading Literature 1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to:1. Define in their own words what

an inference is and what we mean when we say something is implied.

2. Be familiar with the Is Says-I Say strategy to analyze and deduce meaning from a piece of text


English notebooks


Yesterday, we talked about techniques authors use when they write. What were the two that we talked about yesterday? [Hyperbole and personification] Has anyone found any examples? The A for Effort reward of the day is sitting on my desk…..Today, we are going to talk about another technique that authors, and actually everyone everyday uses. What?!


There is a lot to know in the world, do you agree? And, each of you knows a lot, right? What if, everyday when you got up, you had to review everything that you know, in order to know it again for another day. Well, that’s all we’d be doing everyday! When writers write, they assume that we know things, and they draw on that in their writing. Here’s a story to illustrate, a story that some of you may have already heard. I’m only going to read you the section where the author assumes you are bringing knowledge to the story, and so he doesn’t explicitly spell out why what happened, happened. See if you can pick out what that information is:

After she'd eaten the three bears' breakfasts she decided she was feeling a little tired. So, she walked into the living room where she saw three chairs. Goldilocks sat in the first chair to rest her feet. "This chair is too big!" she exclaimed.So she sat in the second chair."This chair is too big, too!" she whined.So she tried the last and smallest chair."Ahhh, this chair is just right," she sighed. But just as she settled down into the chair to rest, it broke into pieces!

So, when you hear that story that, are you left wondering why the chair broke? No, you know that it is a baby’s chair, the Baby Bear, right, and Goldilocks is not a baby, i.e. she weights more than a baby so, when she sat in the chair, she was too big for it

and her weight broke it. You knew all that, right? We could say, you inferred the cause of the chair breaking from the knowledge you have (larger people are too big for baby’s chairs) and from what the author told you, that it was a baby’s chair. The author implied that Goldilocks weight and size was the cause of the chair breaking; he didn’t come right out and say it.

OK, so that’s a really simplistic example. Let’s try one that might take a little more figuring out:He put down $10. at the window. The woman behind the window gave $4.00. The person next to him gave him $3., but he gave it back to her. So, when they went inside, she bought him a large bag of popcorn. What’s going on here? [Hopefully, students will say it is a guy and a girl at the movies, he bought the tickets (so he thinks it’s a date) but she’s not totally comfortable letting him buy (she doesn’t want it to be a date or she’s just an independent type), so she buys the popcorn.] What is implied, by the writer of this sentence that you made inferences about?

1. They are at the movies, implied by popcorn

2. He wants it to be a date, implied by him paying

3. She doesn’t want it to be a date (maybe) implied by her buying the popcorn, as a way of contributing.

Guided Practice- 20 minutes When you are reading longer stories, it is very helpful to pick up on these things that authors imply.We are going to use a strategy called It Says- I Say to help us in organizing or analyzing information that is implied in a text.Here’s how it works: We have a question from the text, either one that you come up with or one that I pose for

you, then, you find evidence in the text that answers that question, that’s the It Says part, then you bring your knowledge to understanding what the text says, that’s the I Say part, and we may continue with a And So part.Let’s look at a section from Belle’s Song that you have read. In the section where Master Chaucer and Belle walk together, he asks her is she knows what a trimmer is and then he says that a trimmer is the worst kind of person. So, my question then is, why is a trimmer the worst kind of person? [Write an It Says- I Say chart on the board and fill in the question.] What does the story tell us to figure out why a trimmer is the worst kind of person? Chaucer compares himself to Seekum and says Seekum has, “run his colors up the mast and doesn’t care who knows it.” We need to do a little unpacking of that…..to run colors up the mast is referring to a ship at sea displaying it’s flag of nationality or origin which would let other ships know if the first ship is friendly or enemy. In this context, Chaucer is saying that Seekum isn’t a poser, he’s completely open and honest about where his loyalties lie and how he feels about the King. Chaucer, on the other hand, is not open and honest about his loyalties, on p. 83 he says he has been in Parliament and should disapprove of the King, and at the same time he takes the King’s wages, “thus neatly keeping a foot in both camps.” [Summarize this to fill in the It Says part of the chart] So, Chaucer is the trimmer because he’s essentially two-faced, and he’s admitting that to Belle. This could be our answer to I Say.


Let’s try another, on p. 84, Chaucer continues to tell Belle about the treachery surrounding King Richard. My question is, why would Chaucer ask the King of France to send troops to England? It Says…[read over pages 84 and 85, students should pick-up on the

idea that Richard’s Uncles would try to depose him so Chaucer will ask the King of France to come to Richard’s aid.] We can add an And So to this one, is Chaucer being patriotic?


OK, great work today! We will revisit It Says-I Say again; today was just the introduction. We will be using it as a tool to help us figure out exactly what the text is telling us, and that will be very handy!Please continue reading for homework.

*I would like to co-plan this particular lesson with someone from the Social Studies department who could give me a better understanding of the political environment of Medieval England at the time of our novel. Additionally, if we co-planned this lesson, the history teacher could reiterate the concepts having to do with the political treachery that was present in Medieval England and surrounding King Richard II.


“Spring Storm” poem and activity, borrowed from E401 Interactive Notebook

Standard Addressed Writing 3. Write narrative to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events. Writing 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Practice techniques to develop

sensory language2. Analyze a poem for its use of

metaphor and sensory language


Project poem “Spring Storm” by Jim Wayne Miller found in Paul Janeczko’s Reading Poetry in the Middle Grades.


We read some poems on Tuesday to find examples of hyperbole and personification. Today we will be reading another poem and talking about the things this poet does to create vivid, sensory language.


Project “Spring Storm,” and read it to the class as they follow along. Is this poem about a weather event?It’s about a storm, but not a meteorological one, it’s about a storm that is brewing inside the subject of the poem, the “He.” We don’t get his name, we don’t get to know what made him angry but, we do get to know….what? [Students answer that he’s angry, he runs outside, and his anger dissipates very quickly.] How do we know his anger dissipates quickly? “His weather clears, his rage dripping away,” Hey, that would make a good It Says- I Say!So the “storm” is a metaphor for the subject’s anger or rage.

In the first sentence of the poem, “He comes gusting out of the house,” Have you heard the word “Gusting” before? [Students will say they have heard Gust, a noun, as in a gust of wind or gusty as an adjective to describe wind. But, Gusting is a verb?

Guided Practice-10 minutes Let’s see if we can do what Miller did in his poem. First, think of an emotion that you are familiar with. Mine is going to be depressed or downtrodden.Think of an adjective that could be used to describe that emotion. Use this sentence: Someone who is _____ is ___________. Put your emotion in the first blank and that might help you to come up with an adjective. Someone who is downtrodden is dejected. Now, turn that adjective into a verb like Miller did with gusty to gusting. Mine will turn dejected into dejecting. To see if the word works as a verb, try

making a sentence with your new verb as the action word. Mine is, Her dejecting left the room blanketed in silence.Now, think of a season of the year and/or a weather event that might compliment your emotion and your new verb. I will choose winter with its lack of energy, desolate-ness, starkness. Give reason why that season or weather event compliments your chosen emotion.


Using that season or weather event as an extended metaphor, can you begin to craft a poem?

Grey skies loomed.Her dejecting left the room blanketed in silenceStark were the prospectsAs the muffled light was fading.No warmth, no heat,Just a small puff of chill.Trudging on was what she could doUntil the thaw might awaken anew.


Sustained Silent Reading


I would like for you to post your poem to our class webpage. I will be here after school today if you want to come in and do it then, or you are welcome to do it tonight at home if you are able. Once everyone has posted, we will go in and read them and I’d like for you to post a comment to two of your classmates’ poems. Look for the new verb that your classmate created and give your classmate constructive feedback about his/her work. So, your feedback should have more substance that just saying, “I liked your poem.” Comment on how the poem made you feel or if you could image the situation described in the poem. Did the poem make you think of an experience you have had or a place where you have been or a person you know? You should have your poem posted by tomorrow’s class time, so you can come in this

afternoon to post it or tomorrow morning before classes start and then you will have until Saturday at 9am to comment on two of your classmates’ poems. I will be checking the site on Saturday noon for your submissions. [Students will get 5 participation points for each- the poem and each of the classmate comments] Continue reading!

Unit 1, Day 10 MODIFIED due to a late start due to snow; class length is now 30 minutes.Lesson Topic Name the teaching point.

“Spring Storm” poem and activity, borrowed from E401 Interactive Notebook

Standard Addressed Writing 3. Write narrative to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events. Writing 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Practice techniques to develop

sensory language2. Analyze a poem for its use of

metaphor and sensory languageMaterials Gather materials, mentor texts…

Project poem “Spring Storm” by Jim Wayne Miller found in Paul Janeczko’s Reading Poetry in the Middle Grades.


We read some poems on Tuesday to find examples of hyperbole and personification. Today we will be reading another poem and talking about the things this poet does to

create vivid, sensory language.Explicit Instruction- 10 minutesTell them what you will teach today.

Project “Spring Storm,” and read it to the class as they follow along. Is this poem about a weather event?It’s about a storm, but not a meteorological one, it’s about a storm that is brewing inside the subject of the poem, the “He.” We don’t get his name, we don’t get to know what made him angry but, we do get to know….what? [Students answer that he’s angry, he runs outside, and his anger dissipates very quickly.] How do we know his anger dissipates quickly? “His weather clears, his rage dripping away,” Hey, that would make a good It Says- I Say!So the “storm” is a metaphor for the subject’s anger or rage.

In the first sentence of the poem, “He comes gusting out of the house,” Have you heard the word “Gusting” before? [Students will say they have heard Gust, a noun, as in a gust of wind or gusty as an adjective to describe wind. But, Gusting is a verb?

Guided Practice-10 minutes Let’s see if we can do what Miller did in his poem. First, think of an emotion that you are familiar with. Mine is going to be depressed or downtrodden.Think of an adjective that could be used to describe that emotion. Use this sentence: Someone who is _____ is ___________. Put your emotion in the first blank and that might help you to come up with an adjective. Someone who is downtrodden is dejected. Now, turn that adjective into a verb like Miller did with gusty to gusting. Mine will turn dejected into dejecting. To see if the word works as a verb, try making a sentence with your new verb as the action word. Mine is, Her dejecting left the room blanketed in silence.Now, think of a season of the year and/or a weather event that might compliment your emotion and your new verb. I will choose winter with its lack

of energy, desolate-ness, starkness. Give reason why that season or weather event compliments your chosen emotion.

Independent Practice- 4 minutes Create a sentence which uses your new verb.


I would like for you to post your sentence to our class webpage. I will be here after school today if you want to come in and do it then, or you are welcome to do it tonight at home if you are able. Once everyone has posted, I’d like for you to post a comment about one of your classmates’ sentences. Look for the new verb that your classmates’ created sentence and give your classmate constructive feedback about his/her work. Did the sentence make you think of an experience you have had or a place where you have been or a person you know? [Students will get 5 participation points for each- their sentence and their comment] Continue reading!


Reading Rate Introduction and Computation (taken from my E-401 Assessment Portfolio) & quick write.

Standard Addressed Reading Informational Text 10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. Writing 10. Write routinely over extended time frame and shorter time frames for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Calculate their own reading rate

and explain one purpose of

knowing their reading rate.2. Develop writing skills through

writing a brief update on their independent reading text.


Print up Reading Rate Recorder cards for each student.


Yesterday, we spent time reading in class. I plan to do that with you every Tuesday and Thursday, because I think reading, for all of us, is important. Since we are reading regularly in this class, I thought you might find it useful to monitor your reading rate. Your brain is a muscle and, what happens to a muscle if you work it a lot? It grows and expands and, it gets good at the movement that you are consistently asking it to perform. I want you to be able to see that by periodically calculating your reading rate.


Please take out your independent reading text or Belle’s Song, whichever one you would like to read right now. Here is a Reading Rate Recorder chart for each of you. We will keep these here in the classroom, back in that small file box next to your class basket.Write your name, today’s date on the first line on the left and the page you are on.We are going to read for 10 minutes and I will let you know when 10 minutes is up. Please do not try to read at a fast rate; read at a rate that is comfortable to you and enables you to comprehend what you are reading.

Guided Practice- 10 minutes OK, 10 minutes is up; please write down the page number you are on now. Multiple that number by 6 to get your hourly rate- there are 6 10-minute intervals in one hour. If you are reading 2 hours per week, multiply your hourly rate by 2 to find out how many pages you are reading per week.

Explicit Instruction- 3 minutes By recording your reading rates at different times throughout the semester, I want you to be able to see your reading progress. I also want us to have this information so that your

reading is not just something we are guessing about; we are going to give reading ability serious attention in this class because I think it is important and I hope that you do, or will, too.


Sustained Silent Reading


Quick Write- please write for 10 minutes about which ever book you are reading today. Give a summary up to the point where you are, follow one character through events to this point, or, if you’d like write about where you think the story is going.


Please put your Quick Write in our class basket and your Reading Rate Recorder charts in the file box next to the basket. [Quick writes will be used as a participation grade, students will receive 5 points for turning it in.] Continue with your reading for homework. You should be up to page 168 by Monday.

Reading Rate RecorderStudent Name:___________________________________

Date Page start Page end Reading rate per hour ( pgs read x 6)

Reading rate/ wk @ 2 hours/wk


Figurative Language: Simile, Metaphor, and Idiom

Standard Addressed Reading Literature 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases

as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhyme and other repetitive sounds on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to:1. Define in their own words the

literary technique of simile, metaphor, and idiom, including why an author might use these techniques.

2. Give examples of simile, metaphor and idiom.


English notebooks


Last week, we talked about two types of figurative language. Who remembers what those were? [Students who have showed examples of these might be prime candidates to call on to share what they remember about the technique and share examples.] And why would an author chose to use those? [For increased effect and emphasis, to make language more vivid, engaging and easier to relate meaning.]

Explicit Instruction- 30 minutesTell them what you will teach today

With two figurative language techniques under your belt (attention, we are going to learn that one), you are probably ready to learn more! Well, you are in luck!We’ve got three more to talk about today; they are simile, metaphor, and idiom [have these words projected or displayed on smart board, somehow represented visually.]Simile and metaphor are very similar but with one big difference. Simile is the technique of comparing two seemingly different things to each other, specifically using the words “like” or “as.” Here are a few examples: Her hair was as soft as silk. [Write sentences on board or doc cam and circle or underline the “as.”]

He slept like a baby.Patrick was as busy as a bee!Baby Charlotte is as cute as a button.Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.The car was clean as a whistle.Metaphors compare two different things as well, but without using like or as. With metaphors, the comparisons are implicit or hidden whereas with similes, the comparisons are explicit. Examples:His laugh was music to my ears.Jane was a tornado on the field, blasting her way through the opposing team.Life is a journey.The assignment was a breeze.Taylor is the black sheep of the family.Have you got simile and metaphor? Both are comparing two dissimilar things, simile uses like or as, metaphor does not. Why would authors want to use these techniques? Many times, both similes and metaphors are used to spark the imagination of the reader or listener, to make topics more vivid, and to appeal to the senses. These all enable to author to get his/her meaning across to the reader more effectively.Do you have room for one more technique? I’ll give you examples first, then we will define the technique. These are fun!That commercial drives me up a wall!What does someone mean who says that?[Students answer that the person really does not like the commercial] But, nothing in that sentence said anything about liking or not liking something, did it? So, how did you know that? It’s a figure of speak called an idiom, another type of figurative language that authors will use to create effect. Here’s another one: Every cloud has a silver lining! What does that mean? [There’s usually a positive outcome from any negative events]…even though none of the words said that, right?

Don’t beat around the bush, just come out with it! What does “beat around the bush” mean? [Avoiding what really needs to be said] She called the shots and dominated the discussion.I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.

*NOTE TO SELF* Get Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms by Marvin Terban (1998) to find out origins of common idioms and possibly use this for an activity about idioms and word/meaning origins and how those are culturally dependent.


Let’s do a little work with similes, metaphors, and idioms.From your reading of Belle’s Song, please chose a character who you’ve encountered thus far in the story. Think of what you know about that character’s personality and write down, in your notebook, some words that would describe that character’s personality.From those words, can you come up with a simile and a metaphor to describe that character? Please write those in your notebook under your list of descriptive adjectives. You are certainly welcome to refer to your book and go back to scenes that you’ve read. Then, put your character in an idiom, either by drawing or describing the scene in words. You can refer to this list of common idioms to pick one. [Hopefully, a student will ask if the character should appear in the idiom in its literal sense or in its figurative meaning….either will work, just please write the idiom and tell its figurative meaning.]


Today we learned simile, metaphor, and idiom and last week we learned personification and hyperbole. As you read, please be looking for examples of these and, as always, if you can bring in the example, you will earn the A for

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English-language_idioms

Effort reward of the day. Please continue reading for homework.


“The Year of the Dragon 1976” poem related to Belle’s obsessive compulsive behavior.

Standard Addressed Reading Literature 2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. Reading Literature 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhyme and other repetitive sounds on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Identify an extended metaphor in

a poem2. Relate the idea of addiction

found in the poem to compulsive disorder found in Belle’s Song.


“Year of The Dragon 1976” poem projected, Belle’s Song


Last week, we talked about Belle and whether or not we thought that her going to Canterbury was a way of her taking personal responsibility for causing the accident that injured her father.


Keep the idea of taking personal responsibility for your actions in mind as we read this poem called “The Year of The Dragon 1976.” [Project poem on doc cam or computer screen so students can follow along as I read]Who is Dragon in the poem? [Some one’s son]Who is the narrator of the poem? [Dragon’s mother?]

Who is Tiger in the poem?[Some addition like drugs or alcohol]In the first section of the poem, Tiger leads Dragon astray [highlight sections of poem to show evidence in the text] and, ultimately, what happens to Dragon, “And when the Dragon wasBroken, desolate and alone,Looking through barsAt the life that he'd known.” What is that telling us?And then what happens? “Spirit opened doorsBy providing the keys,All Dragon had to doWas reach for these.” So Dragon is down and out, kind of like in the story last week with Jenny. Things were not going well, but, it seems like, there’s a choice to be made here. Kind of like with Jenny, could Dragon say, here’s what I chose and, as the poem says, with courage and pride, take responsibility for his actions?

Guided Practice- 10 minutesAsk them to try it out with a partner, or with you for a few minutes. Now try it out with a partner…

We were kind of undecided last week when we were talking about Belle and her decision to go to Canterbury and whether that was her taking responsibility for her actions, or owning-up for causing the accident that injured her father, and forgiving herself, really.Well, we got a glimpse of how she might not be over her guilt and still has not forgiven herself. On p. 150, she gets upset with Walter when he won’t kiss her. She finds a pumice stone among some one’s luggage and begins scraping her legs with it. She says, “The pain from the pumice provided instant relief.” Instant relief from what? [Her upset.] “I stopped crying and concentrated,” she says. “From the first tingle to the last torment I was in the world of harm, [harming herself, right?] a world I controlled, a world with no room for anyone else. …I didn’t need Luke, I didn’t need Walter, I didn’t need anybody or anything.” And then, in the next paragraph, she says

what might be the key, she says, “However, I heard nothing except the scolding of my own internal voice.” So, she really has not forgiven herself, has she and that’s not really taking personal responsibility.


Silent Sustained ReadingBecause it is important to me that you read, let’s take the next 20 minutes in class today and read either Belle’s Song or your independent reading text.[I will either read or circulate around the room and quietly speak to students about their reading.]


Tomorrow, we will begin a project that is going to take us the rest of the week to complete and we will be working more with ideas from Belle’s Song. Please be sure you have your book with you and….you know what comes next….continue reading!

Cheryl Chartier

February 2006

The Year Of The Dragon 1976

Beautiful and bright was the Young Dragon.

Capable and caring,Sensitive but strong,The life of the Young DragonCouldn't go wrong.

Upright and steadfast,Courageous with might,Who knew the DragonWould get lost in the night.

For the Dragon met Tiger,Who lured him away,

Into the jungleOf life's tumultuous way.

Down the path ofDestruction, sorrow and woes,Down the path ofSeduction, deceit and morose.

The Tiger made promisesWhich led Dragon astray,Away from his mother, siblings and wife,Away from the people who'd given him life.

Deep into the jungleDragon followed Tiger.Farther off the path of the good lifeDeeper on the road of sorrow and strife.

And when the Dragon wasBroken, desolate and alone,Looking through barsAt the life that he'd known,

Tiger smiled and nodded his head,For the beautiful DragonWas standing aloneFar from his life, his family and home.

But Tiger underestimatedThe Spirit of love,Looking out for DragonFrom high up above.

Spirit opened doorsBy providing the keys,All Dragon had to doWas reach for these.

Be strong Young Dragon,Do what you must,Before vicious Tiger,Turns you to dust.

Reject all he offers,Come back to the way.We're waiting Dear Dragon,Please join us today.

Come back from the jungle,The Tiger and harm.We're waiting Dear Dragon,With wide-open arms.

The path will be twisted,And hardships abound,With determination as your companion,You'll gain the high ground.

Your new life awaits you,Grab on and demandThat the Tiger who holds you,Desist and disband.

Shuck off your demons,Dig deep down inside,And know that the SpiritHas nothing but pride.

Pride for the DragonWho was led astray,Because Dragon has the courageTo keep Tiger at bay.

M. A. D.(mother against drugs)Cheryl ChartierMother's DayMay 9, 2004


Movie poster assignment in Easel-ly, introduction, brainstorming to create trailer script, begin

gathering images, co-teaching with Art teacher on topic of effect of color and design of layout. This lesson is adapted from E401 Digital Literacies section of Teach A Text assignment.

Standard Addressed Reading Literature 2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.Reading Literature 3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot.)

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Give aesthetic (color and layout)

considerations to visual representation of concepts or ideas

2. Analyze a theme and decide how they might visually represent that theme.


Check with Art Teacher to see if he/she needs me to prepare materials; computer with internet access and projection, English notebook; movie poster assignment sheets for each student


We’ve talked about some themes related to Belle’s Song. We are going to work with those themes in, what I hope will be a fun project. And, Mr./Ms. [art teacher] is going to help us today!

Explicit Instruction-20 minutesTell them what you will teach today.

You know when you go to the movie theatre and they have posters hanging that show the other movies that are currently playing and ones that are coming? [Pull up examples from internet; Google “movie posters”] Take a look at these posters; which of these movies would you want to see? What made you choose that movie? Was it the person depicted on the poster? Feeling or emotion that poster evoked? Did text or colors influence anyone’s decision?We are going to develop similar posters advertising or marketing Belle’s Song. You will each develop a poster, using a

website called Easel-ly, with the goal or purpose of influencing your audience to want to read Belle’s Song. How the poster looks in the end is completely up to you and what you think would “sell” the book. Keep in mind the things that influenced you when we looked at those movie posters.

1. Famous/favorite actor; does this come into place with Belle’s Song? Maybe…..

2. Feelings that images evoke3. Feelings that color evoke4. Attractiveness of color or

combinations of color5. What words will you use?

Quotes from the book? Summaries that you compose? Others?

Pass out assignment sheetGuided Practice- 20 minutes Mr./Ms. [art teacher] is going to talk to

us now about colors and the emotions or feelings they can evoke and also teach us about layout and design considerations and how to make things look appealing.


Take the last 12 minutes of class to start brainstorming ideas about how you want your movie poster to look and what images you think you’d like to have on your poster and why. Think about colors you would like to have and why. Lastly, what text will you have on your poster?


For tomorrow, have a good idea of what you want your poster to look like. Bring your notes from today and, if you have a flash drive, you might want to bring that. We will meet here and go over to the computer lab and have a work day there. Guess what I’d like you to do for homework? READ!

*I will ask the Art teacher if he/she would be able to co-teach this lesson, joining us to discuss 1. Color choices and the effect that color lends and 2. Aesthetic considerations when designing the layout for their posters.

* In our 7th grade PLC, Shana, Lauren and I discussed the realities of asking teachers to come in to co-teach. We hope we will be in a supportive staff

where co-teaching is welcomed and practiced; Lauren said she felt that this would be the case. Shana voiced a concern for taking other teacher’s planning time, knowing how precious that is, and she said that she wanted to be respectful of this. I’m hopeful that, the Art teacher would welcome the opportunity and be appreciative of the fact that I would ask him/her to come into our class and teach us about something that he/she has much more expertise that I do. I just hope that person has planning time at that time and is available! If that is not the case, I would ask him/her to co-plan the lesson with me and get advice on how best I could teach these topics.

Create a Compelling Poster

You will each create a digital poster, similar to ones you might see at a movie theatre, about Belle’s Song. Your goal, or the purpose of your poster is to entice people to want to read the book. So, there will be an element of advertising, marketing, or appealing to your audience involved in making your poster.

As you begin to think about how you will represent the book in a very appealing way, I would like you to consider the theme of Taking Personal Responsibility for Your Actions that we have talked about related to the book. That theme will be represented or depict on your poster.

The image(s) you choose to put on your poster should relate to the theme. Images can evoke emotions such as fear, happiness, love, etc. so think about the images you want to use and what you want those images to portray.

Colors can also evoke emotions. Colors can also attract attention. Think about what colors you will use.

Red- increases appetite, passion and love, danger and anger, makes a person excited, draws attention

Orange- draws attention, shows movement, inviting and friendly, “call to action”

Yellow- laughter, hope, sunshine; optimistic and cheerful; comforting

Green- health, new beginnings, wealth; relax, easy on the eyes; growth, security, possibility

Blue- calmness, spirituality, security, trust; most favored colors; portrays a professional image; also cold and disengaging

Purple- creativity, royalty, wealth, luxury; soothe and calm; romance and mystery

Neutral colors- white black, tan, brown; great as background colors

Consider the blank space on your poster as well as what you intentionally place on your poster.

What words do you want to include on your poster? Quotes from the book or summary statements that you make up, or something else?

Which characters, if any will be important to represent on your poster?

Once you have your ideas developed, you will use a program called Easel-ly to create your poster.

At www.easel.ly.com, you will register to create an account for yourself. We will work through the different functions of Easel-ly together and then you will have class time to develop your poster.

Finally, you will present your poster to the class and explain why you chose the images you chose and how those images represent the Belle’s Song theme you are depicting. In addition, your presentation should explain what considerations you gave to the marketing aspects we talked about (What feelings were you attempting to evoke and why? Why did you choose the colors you chose? Why did you pick the words you picked?).


Intro. to Easel-ly, on continue working movie poster assignment

Standard Addressed Writing 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.Writing 8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; access the credibility and accuracy of each source; quote and paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

http://www.easel.ly.com/

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Navigate Easel.ly, a poster

creation program2. Practice locating images on the

internet and discriminate between images to choose those that match their intended message and meaning.


English notebook, jumpdrive (optional)


Today we are going to learn how to use Easel.ly, the program we will use to create our posters, and then we will have worktime on our computers.Before we get going on the computers, please take out the assignment sheet so that we can review the components that your poster should contain.


Once students are logged in, ask them all to go to www.Easel.ly.com and walk through the registration. Ask them to please write down their password that they used to register. Show students how to use “backgrounds,” “shapes,” “text,” by dragging the icons from the top toolbar to the poster canvas. Show them how they can upload images located on the internet by first saving the image (“save image as” by right clicking) to desktop or jumpdrive if they brought one, then uploading it in Easel-ly.


Student working in Easel.ly to create poster representations of Belle’s Song


If you are not yet finished with your poster, you can come today after school to finish or finish it at home. We will present our posters in class tomorrow.


Movie posters presentations

Standard Addressed Writing 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce

http://www.Easel.ly.com/

and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.Speaking and Listening 5. Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Practice presenting and

explaining their ideas and rationales to their classmates

2. Reflect on their presentation and their project work in writing.


English notebooks, any notes students need for presentations


We’ve spent two days developing our compelling posters for Belle’s Song and I can’t wait to see what you have done!

Guided Instruction- 52 minutesTell them what you will teach today.

You will each have 2 minutes to show the class your poster creation and explain why you included the elements that you did. Who would like to go first?


Those of you who did not get to present your poster today will present first thing on Monday. By Monday, you should have read up to page 252 in Belle’s Song.

Assessment Tool for Movie Posters


1. Student uses technology to produce and publish a composition which reflects their class novel.4 3 2 1

2. Student gathered relevant and appropriate information from digital sources and effectively composed that information in a meaning presentation.4 3 2 1

3. Student effective used and incorporated multimedia components in presenting a theme from the novel.4 3 2 1

Total possible points- 12


Someone Wanted But So with Belle’s Song adapted from Kylene Beers’ When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do p. 144-149.

Standard Addressed Speaking and Listening 1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. c. Pose questions that elicit elaboration and respond to others’ questions and comments with relevant observations and ideas that bring the discussion back on topic as needed. Reading Literature 3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot.)

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Name the story elements of

character, plot, conflict, and resolution.

2. Describe in their own words each of those elements in a story, what it is and how it functions in the story.

3. Practice with an activity that illustrates the connection of those story elements.


English notebooks; The Necklace projected


Remaining students present movie posters.


We are going to do an activity today that helps us connect characters to plot to the events in a story. So, we need a story to work with. I’m going to read to you The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant. [Read The Necklace]

Guided Practice- 13 minutes [Make a Somebody Want But So chart on the board.] Who shall be our Somebody, our main character? [Mathilde Loisel.] For the Wanted, we are looking at main events of the story’s plot [Mathilde wanted an expensive piece of jewelry to wear] But, what is the conflict [she and her husband could not afford it] So, resolution [she borrowed one from a friend but lost it] Then, more details of the story [she had to replace the necklace and she took it upon herself to pay off the debt] But [that took 10 years and lots of hard work] So [her life completely changed after spending so many years working so hard, she no long worried about being rich.]


Working with your Work Group partners, I’d like you to construct a Somebody Wanted But So chart for Belle’s Song. I would like for you to turn these in, tomorrow, so please record your chart on a separate piece of paper, and write all present group members names. You have about 10 minutes to work so, see if maybe you can get through more than one chart.


Tomorrow we will present our Somebody Wanted But So charts to each other so please bring your work from today with you to class tomorrow. And, for homework….READ! We will be finishing Belle’s Song for Thursday so, if you need to do some catching up, pace yourself, figure out how many pages a night you need to read to complete by Thursday.

Unit 1, Day 18Lesson Topic Present Somebody Wanted But So

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Neck.shtml

Name the teaching point. charts; Language Lesson- Coordinating Conjunctions

Standard Addressed Reading Literature 3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot.)Language 1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. a. Explain the function of phrases and clauses in general and their function in specific sentences.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. As members of smaller Work

Groups, practice making presentation to the class

2. Explain in their own words what a coordinating conjunction is and give an example of a coordinating conjunction.


Access to internet and projection

Connection- 30 minutes (10 groups present 3 minutes each)Tell them what you taught the previous lesson.

Yesterday, we worked with a technique called Somebody Wanted But So and you were able to practice making SWBS charts in your Work Groups. I’d like for us to share what we came up with. Which group would like to start us off? [Students share their SWBS charts and discuss different way of summarizing the plot/character interactions. **NOTE TO SELF** I would like to allow each group the choice of which characters they will chose, but I also see value in having a variety of character SWBS charts to review. As they work on the SWBS charts the previous day, I might walk around and make suggestions to certain groups that they consider looking at one character or another.


The SWBS charts are a way to make connections between story elements. We are now going to continue on with the theme of making connections (Hahahehe) and look at coordinating conjunctions!What is the function of a conjunction? That sounds catchy, doesn’t it

conjunction function, almost like it could be a song! Well, I think somebody may have done just that, turned conjunction function into a song! [Play Schoolhouse Rock Conjunction Junction]So, I ask you again, what is the function of a conjunction? Hooking up words and phrases and clauses….We are going to learn about two different types of conjunctions. Today, we will learn about coordinating conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions joint two equal parts of a sentence. You will see why that word equal is important when we study the other type of conjunction, tomorrow. There are 7 most common coordinating conjunctions. They are For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. If we take the first letters of each of those words, we get…..FAN BOYS. That might help you to remember the most common coordinating conjunctions. Because coordinating conjunctions join two equal part of a sentence, where do you think we will find coordinating conjunctions? Between the two equal parts of the sentence, right!Let’s look at some examples, shall we? [underline the conjunction and point out the two parts it is connecting]

1. Peanut butter and jelly is delicious on a sandwich.

2. I might eat a steak, but I’m eating a sandwich instead.

3. There were 10 people at the table, yet no one ordered a sandwich!

Notice that in those last two examples, there is a comma before the conjunction. You don’t always need a comma, especially if the conjunction is joining two simple things (pb&j), but if you use the comma, it should come before the conjunction.

Guided Practice- 5 minutes So, there are 4 main things to remember about coordinating conjunctions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPoBE-E8VOc

1. WHO: FAN BOYS- For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So are the seven most commonly used.

2. WHAT: Coordinating conjunctions join two parts of a sentence that are grammatically equal.

3. WHERE: The coordinating conjunction will always come between the two words or clauses it joins

4. COMMA: When used to join two independent clauses, it is always correct to place a comma before the conjunction.


I would like the SWBS charts from each group. Please put them in our group basket and please be sure all contributing students’ names are on the sheet. Tomorrow, we will do more with conjunctions and have some reading time so please be sure to have with you one of your books that you are reading. What’s for homework tonight? Reading!


Asking Questions that Drive Responses activity with Belle’s Song ** NOTE TO SELF** We won’t have time to do this here in this unit but, use it in another unit. It’s a good activity to address theme and also the idea that an author has a purpose in writing what he/she writes. It’s found in 401 Interactive Notebook. Addresses Writing 3. Write narrative to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. b. Use narrative techniques such as dialogue, pacing, and description to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

Language Lesson- Practice with Coordinating Conjunctions and Instruction and Practice with Subordinating ConjunctionsSSR

Standard Addressed Language 1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. b. Choose among simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences to signal differing relationships among ideas.Reading Literature 10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Build knowledge and confidence

through practicing with coordinating conjunctions

2. Define and give examples of subordinating conjunctions, and practice with subordinating conjunctions.

3. Appreciate that reading is important and spend time in class reading their novels.


2 conjunction worksheets for each student

Connection- 2 minutesTell them what you taught the previous lesson. The last writer’s workshop, we learned how to…

Yesterday we talked about coordinating conjunctions. What were the four things we needed to remember about coordinating conjunctions? WHO, WHAT, WHERE, and COMMA.WHO are the coordinating conjunctions? They are the FAN BOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.WHAT are coordinating conjunctions? Words that join two equal parts of a sentence.WHERE are coordinating conjunctions found? Between the two parts of the sentence that they join

COMMA: It is always correct to add a comma before the coordinating conjunction.


[Hand out worksheet] I’d like for us to do some practice with coordinating conjunctions before we move on. [Review the narrative part of the worksheet and go through one example in each section before asking students to complete the worksheet. As students work, move around the classroom to answer questions and to make sure students are on task and completing the worksheet. Give a 5 point participation grade for each students who is on-task and working through the sheet. I will ask students to staple these sheets into their English notebook because I think they could use them as reference in the future.]


OK, I promised you another conjunction today, didn’t I? How about we talk about subordinating conjunctions? Alright!What does it mean to be subordinate? [less than, less important, secondary, lower order or rank, subject to, under the authority of, inferior, dependent.] So, a subordinating conjunction joins two clauses, one dependent (cannot stand alone and make sense) and one independent (the main clause of the sentence; does make sense on its own.) Let’s look more at this idea of independent and dependent clauses. So, I said that a dependent clause cannot stand alone and make sense, it’s not a complete thought. So, what if I said to you, “Because she was sick last week” and I just stopped there. You’d be like, “Yea? What else?” So, that’s a dependent clause. Or, what if I said, “When I get older” and I just stopped there. [Write these sentence fragments on the smart board.] You would want more, wouldn’t you, to know what I was saying. Those are both dependent clause and they both begin with a subordinate conjunctions- Because and When. They need an independent

http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/Coordinating%20Conjunctions.pdf

clause to pair with them to make them meaningful. So with the first clause, what if we paired it with, “The work didn’t get done.” That’s a complete thought, correct? So, we could say, “Because she was sick last week, the work did not get done.” [Add the main clause to the sentence fragment on the board.]How about our second clause. What if I say, “I want to be a teacher, when I get older.” I want to be a teacher is a complete thought, correct? So, we can pair that with “when I get older” and the sentence makes sense.In one of those sentences, the subordinate conjunction came first, in the second sentence, the subordinating conjunction comes second. Either way is correct when working with subordinating conjunctions. Here is a list of common subordinating conjunctions: after, although, as, because, before, how, if once, since, than, that, though, till until, when where, while, whether, unless. This is our WHO.WHAT: a subordinating conjunction joins a dependent and an independent clause to make a compound sentence.WHERE: a subordinating conjunction is at the beginning of a subordinating clause (a dependent clause.) And, that clause can come before or after the main clause. COMMA: The comma will come before the subordinating conjunction if the conjunction is the second part of the sentence. If the subordinating conjunction is the first part of the sentence, the comma will come just before the main clause.

Guided Practice- 10 minutes Let’s practice these together! [Give each student a subordinating conjunction worksheet. Go through the examples together until it seems like students have got it.]

Independent Practice - 6 minutes

I’d like for you to have some independent reading time because we have worked hard on the conjunction learning stuff and because…..you will

http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/Subordinating%20Conjunctions.pdf

have finished Bell’s Song in class tomorrow’s class!


In the past two days, we have learned about coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, words that are used to connect parts of a sentence or, “hooking up words and phrases and clauses.” As you expand your writing skills, I’d like to see you practicing with conjunctions to form compound subjects [Peanut butter and jelly is delicious] compound sentences [I love peanut butter and I love peanut butter cups!] and complex sentences, with a main clause and a dependent clause [Because I ate too many peanut butter cups, I will run 2 miles today] in your writing. Forming compound and complex sentences will help make your writing more interesting and engaging for your reader.


Reading rate assessment & reading conferences, SSR time. Finish Belle’s Song.

Standard Addressed Reading Literature 10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. Speaking and Listening 1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Gauge their own progress using

their Reading Rate Recording chart

2. Diagnose with me what might be affecting an individual student’s reading rate if no progress is seen


Reading Rate Recorder cards, Belle’s Song or independent reading text.


We have been working hard this week and I am very proud of you for all your hard work. We started off the week learning about Somebody Wanted But So charts, then we moved on to our friends, coordinating and subordinating conjunctions so today, I thought it would be nice if we took some time to do some independent reading- you’ve earned it!


For the first 10 minutes of our reading time, I’d like for us to measure our reading rates again. It has been two weeks since we first measured and you have all completed a lot of reading since then. I’d like to see if your rate has changed since last time we measured. I will start the Reading Rate Recorder file box around the room, please just grab yours and pass it on your classmate. To speed things up a bit, I will grab a few and hand them out individually.

Guided Practice- 12 minutes Once you have your recorder card, please mark today’s date in the far left column, and then in the next column to the right, mark down the page number you are on. OK, let’s begin reading now and I will let you know when time is up. [I will read with the students.]Times up, please record the page you are on now.Keep your cards handy, as you continue reading, I would like to do short conferences with each of you to talk about your reading. I’m going to have you meet me out in the hall because I don’t want us to be disruptive to the other students who

are reading. Independent Practice- 34 minutes

SSR and conferences with each student.

Group Wrap Up-2 minutes Restate the teaching point.

Thank you all for that conferencing time today; it’s always nice to check-in with each of you one-on-one. If you think of something else that we didn’t get to discuss, you are always welcome to come see me at lunch or after school.Tonight, please finish Belle’s Song and tomorrow we’ll begin our final activity and assessment with Belle’s Song.


Introduce Retelling activity, adapted from E401 Assessment Portfolio, including Retelling Rubric; quick write- work on retelling

Standard Addressed Writing 3. Write narrative to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. Writing 10. Write routinely over extended time frame and shorter time frames for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Summarize a story, paying

special attention to organization of events in a logical and organized manner.

2. Make use of a pre-designed rubric to organize their thinking, written summary, and presentation.


The Story Reteller assignment sheet/ organizer for each student.

Connection- 1 minute We have come to the end of our Unit 1 novel, Belle’s Song and you should have all finished your independent

reading text as well.As our culminating activity for this unit, and we will be revisiting this activity in subsequent units as well, we are going to do what is called a Retelling.


[Pass out The Story Reteller assignment sheet/organizer]A retelling of a story is basically a summarization of the plot and its important events, with mention of important characters and how each takes part in the plot. The reteller should pay special attention to the organization of events and be able to convey these in a logical and organized manner.On the assignment sheet that you each have, you will see that you will be working with you Work Group classmates for the presentation component of this assignment. Here’s how this will work. One of you in the group will do a retelling of Belle’s Song. The other two group members will do retellings of their independent reading text. You will decide with your group mates who is retelling Belle’s Song and who is retelling their independent reading novel. You will use the Retelling Rubric section on the assignment sheet as your organizer. Please refer to that part of the assignment sheet now and we will go through an example of a retelling together using “The Necklace,” as we are all familiar with that story.

Guided Practice- 25 minutes [Read each of the 10 numbered points on the retelling rubric and then come up with the answers together for “The Necklace”…see sample below.]On Monday, you and your work group members will give a 10 minute presentation of your retelling, and all 3 of you will turn in a written retelling, following the format on the assignment sheet and how we did it here in class. While the presenter is presenting, your group mates will fill evaluate your presentation and your grade for the

retelling will be an average of what you score on the written retelling and what you score on your group mates evaluation of the retelling. I know 10 minutes seems like a long time for the presentation but, you have 10 questions to answer and, I think it is reasonable to think that each question will take a minute to answer.Ask me some questions that you might have about how this process is going to work.


OK, you will get with your work group members and decide who is going to retell Belle’s Song, who is going to retell your independent reading text. You will have the rest of today’s class time to work on your retelling and I will come around to help with any questions you might have.

Group Wrap Up- 2 minutes Restate the teaching point

Please finish your retelling over the weekend. The written version that you will all hand in should be typed and double spaced. For the purposes of your presentations, you might have note cards for each of the questions, if that would be helpful. Or you might just use the same version that you are going to turn in and just increase the font size so that it is easier for you to see as you are presenting.

The Story Reteller

To complete this assignment, you will be working with your Work Group partners. We will be doing this activity six times during the semester so that you will be The Reteller twice and The Audience Member four times.

Please use the following as your Organizing Guide when you are The Reteller.

Name___________________________________ Date________________________

Text Name ___________________________________________________________

Your retelling should include answers to the following questions:

1. Do you have an introduction that includes the story’s title and setting?

2. Do you give the character’s names and explain how the characters are related to one another?

3. Do you identify the antagonist and protagonist?

4. Do you include the main events?

5. Do you keep the main events in the correct sequence?

6. Do you provide supporting details?

7. Are the events well organized?

8. Do you discuss the main conflict/problem in the story?

9. Do you explain how the main conflict/problem was resolved?

10. Do you include the reader’s personal response to the story?

Assessment Tool for Retelling


1. The reteller uses effective techniques, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences to present the book he/she is retelling.

4 3 2 1

2. The reteller was well prepared for the presentation.

4 3 2 1

3. The reteller emphasized important points from the story and effectively communicated with the audience members, making eye contact while presenting in an organized and logical manner.

4 3 2 1

4. The reteller demonstrated a command of formal English and spoke appropriately during the presentation.

4 3 2 1

Possible score: 16

Comments from the listening audience member about the retelling:

Sample Retelling using “The Necklace” by Guy Du Maupassant

1. “The Necklace” by Guy Du Maupassant takes place in late 1800’s in France. This time period is important because of the cultural pressures of the time, namely the fact that there was a prominent class system in place in France in the late 1800’s.

2. The main character is Mme. Mathilde Loisel. Her husband, M. Loisel and a friend, Mme. Jeanne Forestier are the other significant characters in the story. Mme. Forestier is of higher social class that the Loisel and Mathilde borrows a necklace from her to wear to a party.

3. Mme. Mathilde Loisel is the protagonist, or central character and she is also the antagonist, or one who stands in opposition to the protagonist, because she herself presents the inner conflict or moral conflict in the story.

4.-7. Mathilde is a young woman living in the working class society in late 1800s France. She is unhappy with her place in society and feels she deserves to be, and desperately wishes she were in a higher class. Her husband, who works as a minor clerk in the Ministry of Education, is very devoted to her and only wishes to see her happy. He is able to acquire for them an invitation to a fancy party, thinking that Mathilde will be thrilled. Instead she is upset because she has nothing nice to wear. Her husband sacrifices for her and gives her money he had saved to buy a hunting gun for himself so that she can buy a new dress. She is still not satisfied with that as she says she also needs jewelry. He suggests that she borrow jewelry from her friend, Mme. Forestier, which she does. They go to the party and Mathilde has a great time until they get home and discover the necklace that she borrow is gone. They cannot find it anywhere and are forced to buy one that looks very similar in order to give something back to Mme. Forestier. Buying this replacement necklace puts the couple in severe debt for 10 years, during which time Mathilde works hard and changes her middle-class lifestyle to be even lower in class to pay off the debt. Once the debt is fully paid off, and Mathilde is much the-worse-for-wear, she learns that the original necklace was not real jems and just glass, and worth whole lot less than the one they replaced it with.

8. The main conflict in this story can be interpreted in a few different ways. The one I choose is Mathilde’s discontentment with her life and greed for more wealth and a higher social class. Mathilde seems very ungrateful for what she has even as a member of the working class or middle class where she has a “Breton girl who did her humble housework,” and an apartment as opposed to the “garret under the eaves.” Her greed really shows in her lack of appreciation for the sacrifices her husband makes for her and her desires. She seems to always want more.

9. This internal conflict that Mathilde has of wanting more is resolved when, “Mme. Loisel experienced the horrible life the needy live,” when she took on the responsibility to pay off the debt that she created. “She played her part, however, with sudden heroism,” suggests that she had a change of heart and became humble and worked hard to accept her responsibility.

10. I was glad that Mathilde did seem to accept responsibility for paying off the debt. This change from being greed to being humble made her a redeemable character in my opinion. I think we all can fall victim to being discontented with our lives and wanting more but, I think, this story reminds us to look at how fortunate we really are.


Present Retellings in Work Groups

Standard Addressed Speaking and Listening 4. Present claims and finding, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, details, and examples; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.Speaking and Listening 6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.Speaking and Listening 1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. a. Come to discussions prepared, having read

or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.

Lesson Goal Students will know and be able to1. Present a story summary to a

small group of classmates, while paying close attention to accuracy of the events, plot, conflict, resolution, and other elements in the story.

2. Fairly evaluate a classmate’s presentation using a pre-designed rubric as an organizer.

3. Reflect on their own presentation to provide for improvement and growth.


Copies of assessment tool- 2 per student.


As our culminating assignment for this unit 1, we have our retellings today!

Explicit Instruction- 3 minutesTell them what you will teach today

Since we have to keep to the class time that we have today, I will have a timer set and I’ll let you know when to begin and when to wrap-up. You will have 10 minutes to present to your group mates; please take your time, be thorough, and don’t rush yourself. After the 10 minutes, we will allow 3-5 minutes for evaluators to finish up and include any helpful comments on the evaluation and the presenter will have the opportunity to do a little reflection on his/her presentation. Here are some questions to think about and answer for your reflection; please flip over your written retelling that you are going to hand in and write down your reflection questions and answers there: [project these on doc cam or computer projector.]

1. What went well with my retelling?

2. What might I improve upon for the next time?

3. Were my notes helpful or might I consider something different for

next time?4. Did I feel like I talked too fast?5. Did I remember to look at my

audience?Guided Practice- 45 minutes [Students give 10 minute

presentations, I let them know when to start and stop, and then I’ll give them another 5 minutes to do reflection questions and finish evaluations. I will be observing all groups as presentations are happening.]

Independent Practice- 5 minutes For the last 5 minutes of class, please give your evaluations to each of the presenters so he/she can get some immediate feedback on his/her presentation.


Nice job everyone! Please put the two evaluations that you received AND your written retelling in our class box before you leave. Tomorrow, we start unit 2!

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