Powerful Literature

As a junior high English teacher, I have the opportunity to introduce my students to some GREAT literature! It is the #1 reason I chose English...it certainly wasn't for all the papers I have to grade!! :(

This year, I have built my units around the concept that ANYONE, even an 8th or 9th grader, can be someone's hero. It's really worked out GREAT and I think the kids are really getting it which is the best part of teaching!

In my HONORS ENGLISH 8 class, we've studied:

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

 

Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

In my ENGLISH 9 classes, we've studied:

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

Romeo & Juliet 

along with a variety of short stories

It's been a GREAT year with a lot of discussion around which character(s) could be viewed as a hero and what they did to earn that "title." I've always tried to tie it back to what THEY...the students...could do. I feel like I've pretty successful with most/all of the students.

After Spring Break in April, we began reading our last novel: Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt. It's the "sequel/spin-off/companion" novel to The Wednesday Wars. Without going into a lot of detail about either book, The Wednesday Wars is centered around a 7th grade boy named Holling Hoodhood and his 7th grade school year. He learns some powerful lessons from teachers and from studying Shakespeare. (YAY!!) In this book, there are several other students who are part of his adventures...both good and bad...and you really get to know and either love them or hate them. One of these boys is Doug Swieteck who is a bully in the beginning but eventually becomes someone Holling could consider a "sort of friend." Okay for Now is Doug's story as he moves away from Holling, the others, and Camillo Jr. High to Marysville, New York. We learn Doug's story from him...POWERFULLY written in as the first-person narration of an 8th grade boy who has a very rough life! He learns lessons from some great adults in his life and through the Audubon bird plates. We realize why Doug was a "bully" and come to love him!!

Today, we read an incredibly powerful scene in the novel. The students have had some amazing reactions to what they learned about Doug. The discussions have been FABULOUS!!!!!!!! I can't wait to continue and see how their understanding of the power of literature, text-to-self connections, deeper meaning, etc., etc., etc. I've also realized something I needed to be reminded of: Every child, every student, every adult, every teacher, EVERYONE...has a story! NO ONE is exempt from trials and crappy things that help shape us into the people we become. Sometimes, it takes persistence and a lot of hard work to figure out how to help someone but as teachers, adults, leaders, we can TRY to make a difference!!

NOTE: Even if you don't teach English, EVERYONE should read this book!!! I'd recommend reading The Wednesday Wars first but you don't have to...Okay for Now can be a "stand-alone" book.

Quotations, Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and MLA source formatting

UPDATE 5/13/2015: I APOLOGIZE TO ALL WHO HAVE REQUESTED COPIES OF THE DOCUMENTS FOR THIS POST. I HAVE NOW UPLOADED THE DOCUMENTS FOR YOU TO HAVE FOR YOUR OWN USE. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THEM. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND PATIENCE!! :) 

THE DOCUMENTS ARE UPLOADED AT THE END OF THE POST.

It's my least favorite time of the curriculum...research. I personally don't mind doing research but trying to teach the process to students is so time-consuming and tedious. But, with the new Common Core focus on argumentative writing, we have got to focus on it more. Plus, it's a skill they will use in all the years of schooling that follow.

I'm all about making the Interactive Notebook pages creative which makes them more likely to be used. I also firmly believe that the more modalities you have students use when learning something, the more likely they are to remember it. So, I've pulled out the colored pencils and markers and encouraged them to have fun designing the pages.

NOTE: Our district has adopted MLA formatting as the standard for all classes. Everything I post on this subject will be in accordance with the latest MLA standards.

I started with a reminder of what is considered FICTION versus NON-FICTION:

I reviewed our school's plagiarism policy to remind them of the consequences here as well as explained the consequences if caught in college/university. I stress this over, and over, and OVER again throughout the year! (The most hateful part of my job involves cheating and/or plagiarism!!)

Then we created a page for using quotations in an essay:

The next day, we discussed paraphrasing: 

and summarizing:

I then showed them the Incredible Shrinking Notes concept of taking a piece of material, taking notes on it in the top box, deleting the lesser important items for the middle box, and then 2-3 MOST IMPORTANT statements in the smallest box. It helps give them a visual of how to pick out the most important information. I also stress using bulleted lists with sentence fragments when taking notes. This helps with making sure they aren't copying information word-for-word which leads to plagiarism.

Then we created a reference page for "MLA Format for Parentetical Documentation." This is hard for them to grasp so having a resource to refer back to always helps.

The following two pages are the basic types of sources they will be using as they research and how to create the Works Cited page. My own daughters, who are in college, still refer to this as a guide for Works Cited pages. I update it as MLA standards change. 

Then, we practiced as a group how to cite an article they had summarized the other day. I had them walk me through the citation but made corrections as needed. Next week, they will create a Works Cited page from a variety of sources I provide. It takes time but it really helps them get the hang of it.

NOTE: THE NOTES ON THE TOP OF EACH NOTEBOOK PAGE ARE ON PAGE 1 OF THE QUOTATIONS, PARAPHRASING, SUMMARIZING PAGE. YOU CAN EITHER PRINT THIS OFF FOR THEM TO GLUE IN TO THEIR INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOKS OR HAVE THEM WRITE IT. I PREFER TO HAVE THEM WRITE IT BECAUSE THEY'RE USING MORE MODALITIES SO IT GETS INTO THEIR BRAINS BETTER. (AT LEAST I HOPE IT DOES...)

QUOTATIONS, PARAPHRASING, SUMMARIZING

MLA FORMAT FOR PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION

WORKS CITED FORMAT GUIDE

COOLEST EXPERIENCE EVER!!

I just have to share the most amazing experience. Long story short...I met and have become great friends with author Jason Wright. It all started in November 2007 when he was touring our district promoting his little novel, Christmas Jars. We had him come speak to our 9th graders in a mini-assembly and the response was overwhelming! Over the years, we have emailed, texted, visited, held assemblies, etc. and become GREAT friends! Each year since that time, I've had at least two of my classes (totaling 60ish students per year) read Christmas Jars and have seen it change their lives. It's AMAZING!!

So...today my Honors English 8 students had the opportunity to Skype with him! I prepared them with an understanding of the novel, explained the basic premise of his other novels, and then had them write up questions they'd like to ask a New York Times best-selling author. Today, I took them on an "In-house Field Trip" (pulled them out of a couple of classes) and we Skyped for 90+ minutes. It was hilarious and very touching to hear some of their own personal experiences with his other books as well as ask for advice on how to be better writers. I am so grateful to those who are willing to share their time and talents to help our young people!!

Bildungsroman

It's been a while since I've updated my posts. It's crazy how busy this year has become!

My Honors English 8 classes have just finished reading The Outsiders in class and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry as their assigned "at-home" reading. We've had some AMAZING discussions about both books and made terrific text-to-self connections. I'm astounded at how insightful these kids are! :)

In one of the lesson plan packages I purchased from Secondary Solutions, I found an explanation of the literary genre, Bildungsroman. Both novels fit the genre criteria of being a "coming of age" novel. So...for their Interactive Notebooks, I created a half page header they could cut out and glue in which gives the definition of the genre and the four points of criteria a novel must meet in order to fit. We then had a class discussion where we outlined the characteristics of Ponyboy (The Outsiders' protagonist) and Cassie (Roll of Thunder's protagonist) at the beginning of the novel and the end. I wrote their descriptions on the board. Then, I had them divide the bottom half of the page in half again vertically and write a paragraph explaining how each of the novels (one per side) fits the Bildungsroman criteria. It was really powerful! They saw how the experiences the characters went through over a period of time helped to mature and develop them.

(NOTE: My 9th graders have finished The Wednesday Wars; we did the same thing with Holling on the full bottom half of their page.)

DIDLS

When I attended the Pre-Ap Conference this summer, we were taught various ways to help students interact and understand the authors' tone, theme, etc. One of these exercises was called "DIDLS" (Diction, Images, Details, Language, Sentence Structure). I worked with them on a passage from The Wednesday Wars last week and it went SO WELL!! They got it!!

Exercise:

Gary D. Schmidt, author of The Wednesday Wars, Okay for Now, and many others has an incredible way of writing which makes you feel like you're part of the story not only as an observer but as a character! He is AMAZING!! I had the students read the following passage from page 23 of The Wednesday Wars:

“Then Mrs. Baker and I sat. Alone. Facing each other. The classroom clock clicked off the minutes. She was probably considering what she could legally do to remind me how regrettable it was that my family was Presbyterian.”

WOW!!

Based on the “DIDLS” formula, how is this passage effective to create additional meaning?

• He used sentence fragments to emphasize meaning/emotion.
• He used sensory details.
• He explained the situation well enough we could all think of a similar situation we'd experienced! 

Using this method, describe a situation where you may have felt the same way as Holling with Mrs. Baker.

Then, this week, I had them create a page in the Interactive Notebooks to help them remember the steps for "DIDLS." We'll review this throughout the year as we study other authors and text. It's the same format as the one we did on PLOT. 

(Definitions for each section were taken from The College Board Pre-AP: The AP Vertical Teams Guide for English textbook we received at the conference. BTW...GREAT resource!)

DIDLS Masters