Language Arts 9

Procedures

Student Websites

Students create a class website to showcase their work in uncovering their style to answer our essential questions as described below. In this way students are able to develop their own style and present their class writing to an audience wider than the classroom, specifically to be share with friends and families. Please look for your student's name here. I am creating my own example site mrsmakingmetaphors.weebly.com along with them.

Literacy Maps

These maps are created through collaboration of LA9 teachers to ensure our students were delving deeply into our readings with high-interest connections that bring literature to life.

Class Presentations & Handouts

The following prezis (IN PROGRESS!) will be presented in this order throughout the course of LA9 to help students develop their answer to the essential questions for each semester.
SEMESTER 1: How do our personal history, relationships, and choices influence our own style and attitude in comparison to classic and contemporary authors?

Essential Question Introduction: Reviews the essential question and supports the ideas with videos and activities regarding "What is Style" and how to distinguish between mood and tone/attitude. At the end students have completed their Personal History and taken notes in their journal.
Poetic Devices: Review poetic devices students should know as well as introduces some they may not have encountered. Students complete guided notes as we progress through the prezi and play Kahoot! at the end to show their first understanding. The Kahoot! is replayed throughout the unit to check for progress of learning the devices. Students can utilize the Quizlet set to practice the terms on their own, but they are also reviewed and analyzed as they encounter them and use them in the poems that follow:
- Robert Frost: Students investigate metaphor by learning about Robert Frost and reading "The Road Not Taken," practicing identifying the metaphor, stanzas, and imagery present then completing a You Try It where they create their own nature scene, identifying what could function in the picture they draw as a metaphor.
- Billy Collins: Students investigate personification by learning about Billy Collins and reading "Introduction to Poetry," practicing identifying metaphor, imagery, and personification present then completing a You Try It where they write their own 3 stanza poem that utilizes their metaphor drawing and tries to incorporate either personification or imagery.
- Lewis Carroll: Students investigate onomatopoeia by learning about Lewis Carroll and reading "Jabberwocky," practicing identifying onomatopoeia, portmanteau, and personification present then completing a You Try It where they illustrate one of the stanzas of the poem in an effort to imagine what is being portrayed with the nonsensical language.
- Roald Dahl: Students investigate alliteration by learning about Roald Dahl and reading "The Dentist and the Crocodile," practicing identifying alliteration, hyperbole, and personification present then completing a You Try It borrowing ideas from descriptive sentences on the pictures provided to create a 10-line poem that includes alliteration and rhyme scheme.
- Nikki Giovanni: Students investigate simile by learning about Nikki Giovanni and reading "You Were Gone," practicing identifying simile and repetition present then completing a You Try It following the template of the poem read in class.
- Naomi Shihab Nye: Students investigate hyperbole by learning about Naomi Shihab Nye and reading "My Father and the Fig Tree" practicing identifying hyperbole and quotations present then completing a You Try It borrowing ideas from the style of Nye's poem.
- Shel Silverstein: Students investigate rhyme scheme by learning about Shel Silverstein and reading "Wild Strawberries" practicing identifying rhyme scheme then completing a You Try It with a partner to create their own silly rhyming poem that follows one of Silverstein's rhyme schemes.
Short Story: Reviews short story elements students should know as well as introduces some they may not have encountered. Students complete guided notes as we progress through the prezi and play Kahoot! at the end to show their first understanding. The Kahoot! is replayed throughout the unit to check for progress of learning the devices. Students can utilize the Quizlet set to practice the terms on their own, but they are also reviewed and analyzed as they encounter them and use them in the stories that follow:
- Mystery: Students investigate the elements of a mystery in "The Man from the South" by Roald Dahl inspecting the use of foreshadowing and dialogue. Then they complete a Try It activity in which they outline the plot of their own mystery and decide which aspects of a mystery they would include in their own mystery.
- Fairy Tale: Students investigate the elements of a fairy tale in one of Grimm's Fairy Tales: Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, or Snow White identifying the protagonist and antagonist, point of view, and a symbol. Then they complete a Try It activity in which they outline the ideas presented in the original tale and twist some aspects of the story to write their own version of the original.
- Historical Fiction: Students investigate the elements of a historical fiction in "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty identifying setting, irony, and point of view. Then they complete a Try It activity in which they select a historical figure, investigate the 5Ws about their selection, and brainstorm a story from the first person point of view.
- Vignette: Students investigate the elements of a vignette in "Salvador Late or Early" by Sandra Cisneros identifying mood and theme. Then they complete a Try It activity in which they select a character, idea, theme, setting, or object to illustrate and describe using imagery in the vignette style.
- Tragedy: Student investigate the elements of a tragedy in "The Interlopers" by Saki identifying conflict and irony. Then they complete a Try It activity in which they generate ideas for a tragedy including catastrophe, tragic hero, tragic flaw, fate, and setting.
Style in a Variety of Literatures: Students review many of the terms we have discussed through poetry and short stories to understand that these are not exclusive to one type of literature and can cross genres and help a writer develop their own style and technique. Students complete guided notes as we progress through the prezi and play Kahoot! at the end to show their first understanding. The Kahoot! is replayed throughout the unit to check for progress of learning the devices. Students can utilize the Quizlet set to practice the terms on their own, but they are also reviewed and analyzed as they encounter them and use them in the cinematic techniques connections that follow:
Updates coming!

SEMESTER 2: How can our modern-day style be influenced by the journeys of characters and help us create our own?

Updates coming!

Independent Reading

“Reading volume—the amount students read in and out of school—significantly affects the development of reading rate and fluency, vocabulary, general knowledge of the world, overall verbal ability, and last, but not least, academic achievement” (Cunningham and Stanovich). In other words, just reading, whatever you want to read, makes you a better reader. Therefore, on late-start Fridays students have our shortened period to dive into or find their own favorite type of reading. This is my way of re-igniting their passion for reading. The period begins with getting comfy and my reading a short story or poem to them looking for our literary and poetic devices for which we take a monthly Kahoot! quiz, and then their silently reading for 20-25 min. and ends with students working on our survey-driven contract we create which is completed over the course of the semester. The contract includes two book reviews (one of their own reading and one of the story or poem read at the beginning of class) as well as participation in our community circle discussions which are driven by the content of the books Students are required to read at least one book and complete at least one contract, but they can read and create as many extra contracts as they want. To earn an A, students can select any project option that incorporates at least 5 of our literary or poetic devices. Finally, if a student would like to go above and beyond (s)he can create a 10+ vocabulary list from the reading and create their own Quizlet and pass the test.