A New Beginning With Old Friends

It is bittersweet to write this final blog post as an ELA teacher on the Green Rev team.  Throughout 16 years of teaching ELA at JFK, I have collaborated with well over 1000 students to expand their academic knowledge, foster their literacy skills, and inspire their creativity.  In return, students have bolstered my patience and compassion; they have made me chuckle and teary with their heartfelt writing; and they've challenged my own knowledge and understanding of adolescents and how to teach them.  It has been a rich and rewarding journey in so many ways. 

Though feeling a bit sad about relinquishing my role as ELA teacher, particularly with this wonderful group of students this year, I am also excited to embark on the next leg of my trip.  My new position as Reading Specialist will enable me to use my skills in a different context to help students who are challenged in the area of reading.  I made the decision two years ago to pursue this license as I witnessed too many students who struggled with reading, which I consider the most fundamental and vital skill anyone can possess.  The skill of reading comprehension seems absolutely essential in our media-drenched world in which there are so many sources and modes of communication.  I hope that I can contribute my part in helping our young readers to hone their literacy skills as they grow into thoughtful, critical, and wise adults.

I have been in contact with Haley Pearl, our new ELA teacher, to help make her transition to JFK a smooth one, and I look forward to our future collaboration as colleagues.  It is possible that in my position as Reading Specialist I will be "pushing in" to three of my current ELA classes to support students--so, a new beginning with old friends!

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Last week, we discussed mythology:  what it is, it's purpose, and reasons why we study ancient Greek mythology.  This week, students are beginning to read in their mythology books and to keep track of characters on a chart.  On Thursday, students will be treated to their first story as told by our artist-in-residence, Nick Kachulis, who will be telling "Theseus and the Minotaur".  Students will collaborate on questions related to the story which explore its themes, and we will consider levels of meaning that this story might hold for us, in 2020.  A summary and video of the story is linked below for students who miss hearing it, and the story is also in the mythology book.

Homework:

Monday:  read Athena and chart her

Tuesday:  read Demeter and chart her

Wednesday:  catch up on reading/charting or add info to your charts; finish Theseus pre-writing activity if needed

Video: "Theseus and the Minotaur"

Summary: "Theseus and the Minotaur"

Oh, what twisted plots they weave!

Fingers are flying in ELA as conflicts arise, tensions build, and characters become embroiled in messy plots!  Young writers are exercising their imaginations and sharpening their writing skills as they craft their stories.  They are using their prewriting work to weave in character and setting details; they are practicing descriptive writing by employing literary devices; and they're expanding their vocabularies by using a thesaurus as they write. 

We are devoting all of this week to the writing process of drafting, editing, and revising.  I'll be giving students an editing checklist as well as the rubric (linked below).  Depending on their pace, students can turn in their final story either by the end of class this Friday or upon return in January.  I'll be reminding students that they have a choice about the final format of their story, as outlined in the original instructions.

Short Story Editing Form

Short Story Rubric


Homework:

Mon-Thurs:  work on story!

Winter Storms and Brainstorms

Not only is the winter weather churning, but so are active young minds in ELA class!  Students are immersed in brainstorming their characters, setting details, and overall plots of their stories. This week we will also examine the rules of writing dialogue--for which punctuation can be tricky--as well as practice showing characters' emotions, setting, and situation rather than simply telling the reader.  Students should be ready to begin drafting stories by the end of the week!

Homework:

Tuesday:  finish prewriting station 2

Wednesday:  finish prewriting station 3

Thursday:  finish dialogue practice & show not tell practice (if needed); if finished in class, can begin drafting story

Friday:  work on story draft

Let the Stories Begin!

I skipped writing a post last week due to the shortened week, and here we go with another one!  Sometimes the shorter weeks turn out to be the busiest!  I'm not complaining, though--found time outside of school is always a blessing.  Speaking of blessings...in the spirit of the holiday season, I wanted to express my gratitude for having such sweet, intelligent, and creative students under my wing.  It is truly a privilege to be able to work with them each day!

It seems that most have returned energized and excited to dive into short story writing.  Someone even texted me yesterday asking if they could begin--because they just couldn't NOT begin!  Today we discussed why we're writing stories, reviewed the instructions and criteria, and I explained the process of moving through prewriting stations to drafting.  These stations, covering character, setting, conflict/plot line, dialogue writing, and "show not tell" language, allow all students to engage the writing process in steps in order to dispel any feelings of angst.  I've attached below the instruction handout outlining criteria and the prewriting tracking chart.

Homework:

Wednesday:  think/list story ideas (any genre and topic)

Thursday:  work on story prewriting station #1 as needed

Friday:  finish station #1 prewriting


Short Story Writing Workshop (instructions/tracking chart)

The paw will grant three wishes...

Students were left pondering the themes of fate and free will after reading "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs.  Tomorrow they will examine the way that the author portrays characters through their actions, identify words and phrases that convey mood, and engage in creative writing connected to the story.  As well, they will investigate some of the story's vocabulary through context clues to derive meanings.  I am planning to show a film of the story so that they can make comparisons to the text and consider the filmmaker's choices in their production.

Today students drew vocabulary list #3 words on our "wall of wisdom".  Tomorrow they will pair up with a classmate to create a charade or short skit acting out a word.  There is a quizlet attached below for them to use to practice with the words.  Most likely, there will be a vocab quiz on Friday.

Homework:

Monday:  none unless something is overdue (like Poe essay); study vocab

Tuesday:  finish Monkey Paw activities if needed; use quizlet to study vocab

Wednesday:  write 4 sentences using 4 vocab words; use quizlet to study

Thursday:  vocab quiz tomorrow

Vocab List #3 Quizlet

Building An Essay

Last week, students wrote the body paragraphs for an essay on the ways in which Poe uses setting details and language elements to create the mysterious and suspenseful mood in his writing.  This week, they will tackle the introduction and conclusion paragraphs.  Today we examined a sample introduction and identified the three main parts:  hook, background information, and thesis statement.  Then, students completed an organizer of these parts for their Poe essay, and proceeded to type it up.  Tomorrow, we will follow the same process to examine, brainstorm, and write a conclusion paragraph.  Final steps will be to assemble the paragraphs, edit one last time, and tweak formatting as needed.  Students will submit their final drafts on Google Classroom.

Next up--back to reading!  We'll consider the themes of fate and free will in another story with a twist:  "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs.

Homework:

Tuesday:  finish drafting introduction paragraph; edit with checklist

Wednesday:  finish drafting conclusion paragraph; edit with checklist

Thursday:  finish final editing and formatting; submit to Classroom

Friday:  none! :)

Introduction/Conclusion instructions/organizer

From Reading to Writing

To culminate our work with "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart", students will engage in a writing activity about the ways in which Poe creates mood.  They will consider both setting details as well as Poe's language, such as word choices, sentence structure, literary elements, and punctuation.  This will be a scaffolded writing activity in which students will write one paragraph, then add another, then add an introduction and finally a conclusion.  They will move through the process of turning the prompt into a topic sentence, paraphrasing text evidence, and ending with a concluding sentence.  As well, they will engage the writing process of organizing ideas, drafting, editing, and revising.  Hence, in the end, they will produce a four-paragraph essay about the development of mood in two texts.

Homework:

Monday-Tuesday:  finish paragraph organizer-- due Wednesday

Wednesday:  finish drafting and editing paragraph #1

Thursday:  finish organizer paragraph #2

Friday:  finish drafting and editing paragraph #2


Edgar Allan Poe writing activity