Thursday 29 September 2016

9D Lost and Found Song Analysis Project

9D - Lost and Found: Song Analysis Project
  • Students comleted a brainstorming exercise to explore the theme lost and found.  Students could write and create a list.

See Mrs. Anderson's Example Below:


Then we found songs we felt fit into the theme.  We completed a close reading activity.  Students read their songs and made interpretations to specific lines with deeper meaning.  Then they recorded their connections to these interpretations.

Our Goals:  I identify ideas that have a deeper meaning in texts and interpret them.
I compare and contrast my own life situation with themes found in a text.

See example below:



Now that we understand our songs we write a paragraph to explain the theme and our connections.  See Mrs. Anderson's example below:


Students interacted with this paragraph highlighting the 3 main criteria in their own paragraphs to make sure they are effectively explaining the theme of their songs:
  • use evidence from the song - GREEN
  • make interpretations of these lyrics - PURPLE
  • use evidence from our own lives to explain theme - PINK
Once this highlighting is done we can see what's missing and what to ADD to our writing.

After improvements, we self assessed our work with the rubric below:


Representing Theme Bumper Sticker

Goals:


  • I represent the theme of my song using a different form: bumper sticker
  • I use symbolic font (size, shape, and colour) images and colour to improve the meaning and feeling of my message.
  • I use words with correct feeling to improve the tone of my bumper sticker and demand the audience's attention.
Students completed a mini lesson on symbolism.


Can you find:
  • symbolism defined
  • thoughts about font size, colour, and shape
  • thoughts about images 
  • individual interpretations of meaning
  • thoughts about how the choices in the quote improve the meaning and feeling of the quote



Then we practiced word choice
I use words with an appropriate connotation (feeling behind them)  to improve the tone of a bumper sticker and engage the audience.
This means my words should:
  • Be appropriate
  • Have a strong feeling
  • Be interesting
  • Create imagery

We attempted to transform this info into a bumper sticker slogan. See some of our thinking below:

50. LOVE IS THE ANSWER

LOVE IS WHY WE ARE HERE. IT IS THE FORCE FOR GOOD IN THIS SOMETIMES RANDOM AND HARSH WORLD. SHARE IT FREELY. EXPRESS IT DAILY.


Steps to help us through this process:
  1. Read the description then add to it.  What does it mean to you?
  2. Underline words that are appealing and have a strong feeling.
  3. Create a list of things we can compare our topic to.  
    • Love compared to…   superhero, policeman
    • Love helps us survive… compare random harsh world to a storm or an angry ocean or a complicated maze
    • Fly with love’s guidance… Love from others transforms us allowing us to soaring free through the sky
  4. Write the message as a figurative sentence.  
  5. Change words. (synonyms with a more accurate feeling)  Rearrange words.  Add punctuation.
  6. Create several versions of the same message.
  1. Some things to use:
    • Rhyme
    • Parallel structure
    • Figurative language - Simile, Metaphor, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Personification, Oxymoron
    • Slang?
See our class ideas below:


Students experimented with Google Drawing today:




We used the search tool in images to find:

  • transparent images of houses, family, wheat, waves, roads, and hearts to add meaning and feeling to our message.

We used a text box and changed font styles, colour and size to improve meaning and feeling.
We tapped the touch pad to select background colour - pink

Students participated in musical feedback today.  We examined criteria when giving feedback:


  • Round 1: Word choice

Criteria for word choice:  
    • Words grab attention
    • Message has clear meaning
    • Message has a strong overall feeling

  • Round 2: Symbolic Font, Colour and Image
Fonts: Add meaning and feeling by changing:
Sizes
    • Large = important dominance strength...
    • Small = less important weakness, loneliness...


Shapes:
    • Rounded = friendly + feelings
    • Angular = hostile - feelings
Colour:
    • Red - Love / Anger / Danger
    • Orange - happiness / sunny
    • Yellow - friendship / cowardice / polluted
    • Green - nature / money / inexperience
    • Blue - calmness / sadness
    • Purple - royalty / night / fear
    • Black - evil / fear
    • White - purity / peace

Images: Add meaning and feeling:
    • to individual words  
    • to the statement as a whole.

  • Round 3: Overall Effect

    • Symbolic items work together to reinforce an impression
    • Layout seems balanced - nothing seems out of place or crowded

Students used this specific meaningful feedback to make improvements to their first draft of their theme bumper stickers.

We self-assessed our stickers using the rubric below:




Thursday 22 September 2016

Grade 8 Illustrated Quote

Illustrated Quotes

We are getting to know one another by carefully selecting quotes that show something important about who we are.

Once we have selected a quote we will be writing to show what our quotes mean to us and explain what they show about who we are.

See our guiding questions and Mrs. Anderson's quote below:



Our first step is to brainstorm what the quote means to us and show our life connections to the quote.

Here's my brainstorming of this quote:



Next we experimented with symbolism.  See the mini lesson below:

Can you find:

  • symbolism defined
  • thoughts about font size, colour, and shape
  • thoughts about images 
  • individual interpretations of meaning
  • thoughts about how the choices in the quote improve the meaning and feeling of the quote



Students made a first draft of their illustrated quote and we examined them by identifying a star and a stair for our work.  We phrased these by using what we learned about using symbolic Font, Colour and Images.



Students sorted their specific meaningful feedback using an interactive Google Drawing or Slips of paper and a target place mat.

The most specific feedback is moved to the center of the target and the least specific to the outer ring.

See image below:


We played musical feedback to improve the quality of our work.  Students self assessed their Quotation Bumper Stickers with the rubric below:


I'm really looking forward to seeing all of our hard work pay off!! : )

Wednesday 14 September 2016

Grade 9 Lost and Found


Unit 1: Lost and Found

GUIDING Q'S:  What is theme?  How can I express a preference for one text over another with the same theme?  How can I express my understanding and personal connection to the theme of a text?  What is a timeless theme? 

Students will 
  • explore several texts that have the same theme.  
  • decide which text they prefer and explain why they prefer it.   
  • find and annotate a song that fits into the theme of Lost and Found 
  • compare and contrast their own life situation to themes 
  • represent these connections by creating a variety of texts: poem, memoir, paragraph
  • integrate visuals to reinforce their overall impression of the theme


Students are exploring what it means to be lost or found by making a list and then free writing.  See prompt below:


We are discussing the difference between theme (thematic message) and main idea (thematic concept) by planning a theme party and introducing complications to our parties.


We practiced identifying theme before breaking into groups.  See our work below:

Once we all have a theme statement (in pink above) students will represent this theme using a bumper sticker form.

We decided to talk about symbolism for our bumper stickers see our writer's notebook entry below:

Can you find:

  • symbolism defined
  • thoughts about font size, colour, and shape
  • thoughts about images 
  • individual interpretations of meaning
  • thoughts about how the choices in the quote improve the meaning and feeling of the quote


Next we decided we needed to discuss how to transform our thematic messages in to a slogan that sounded more like a bumper sticker.  We practiced word choice with this lesson below:

Practice Word Choice
I use words with an appropriate connotation (feeling behind them)  to improve the tone of a bumper sticker and engage the audience.
This means my words should:
  • Be appropriate
  • Have a strong feeling
  • Be interesting
  • Create imagery



50. Love is the answer


Love is why we are here. It is the force for good in this sometimes random and harsh world. Share it freely. Express it daily.




Steps to help us through this process:
  1. Read the description then add to it.  What does it mean to you?
  2. Underline words that are appealing and have a strong feeling.
  3. Create a list of things we can compare our topic to.  
    • Love compared to…   superhero, policeman
    • Love helps us survive… compare random harsh world to a storm or an angry ocean or a complicated maze
    • Fly with love’s guidance… Love from others transforms us allowing us to soaring free through the sky
  4. Write the message as a figurative sentence.  
  5. Change words. (synonyms with a more accurate feeling)  Rearrange words.  Add punctuation.
  6. Create several versions of the same message.
  1. Some things to use:
    • Rhyme
    • Parallel structure
    • Figurative language - Simile, Metaphor, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Personification, Oxymoron
    • Slang?
See our class ideas below:




Students made a first draft of their Theme Bumper Sticker and we examined them by identifying a star and a stair for our work.  We phrased these by using what we learned about using symbolic Font, Colour and Images.



Students sorted their specific meaningful feedback using an interactive Google Drawing or Slips of paper and a target place mat.

The most specific feedback is moved to the center of the target and the least specific to the outer ring.

See image below:

We generated an anchor chart to help remind us of what to do when giving specific meaning ful feedback:


After our first draft we played Musical Feedback! Students left 1st drafts, star stair strategy and criteria list on their desks, moved to the music and gave specific meaningful feedback to their peers once the music stopped. : )

Students made improvements and then self assessed their bumper sticker's effectiveness. We examined the criteria below:



AND WORD CHOICE:



Students recieved Global Feedback:


We are reading 3 stories by Shaun Tan:




Students read the stories and completed the summary chart below:


Then we watched "Yertle the Turtle" by Dr. Seuss. While viewing we tried to figure out:


  • Which political leader from history might Yertle the turtle represent?
  • What makes you say that?

Students decided that the story represented Hitler and his rise and fall from power during WWII.
Some proof:
  • is ambitious.
  • steps on others to get where he wants
  • doesn't care about human suffering - pain, hunger
  • stretches his resources and falls from power
  • is in the mud; rules dirt in the end - death
We watched a Schmoop video to solidify our observations.


We defined allegory as a class:

Symbol is one thing represents feeling or an idea.  Allegory uses all the pieces of a story to represent a message. 

Students then reread Shaun Tan's Stories to complete the second side of the chart:


Students work in groups of 3 or 4 to solidify their message and find proof in the story that it is the message.

Last students write an analysis paragraph to explain the theme using support from the story to explain what makes us say this is the message.

Analyzing Theme in Groups

Today we reviewed the definitions for thematic concept and thematic message:


We brainstormed topics that came up in "The Lost Thing":




Next, we generated several theme statments for the topics with red clouds around them.

Here are some of our ideas:

BELONGING:

The author believes belonging is important. (Too general and vague)

The author believes having a storng sence of belonging iwll make people feel happy and ore content with their daily lives.  (BETTER more SPECIFIC)







We tried writing several statements for BOREDOM...  See examples below:



We assessed these statements using the rubric :


Proficient: Thoughtful theme statement - is beyond obvious





Excellent: Insightful theme statement -  Unique / Fresh perspective to the topic.









Satisfactory: Predictable theme statement - general ideas that most will have.






Groups wrote their own theme statements and then we worked in groups to find evidence from the text.

Support should be a quote or descriptive examples in our own words.

Students helped Mrs. Anderson find evidence for her theme statement below:


Students wrote their own paragraphs explaining the theme of the story they liked the most.

See Mrs. Anderson's example below:



Students will self assess using the rubric below:



Friday 2 September 2016

Starting our Writer's Notebooks

Writer's Notebooks


What is a writer's notebook?  Why should I start one?
  • it's a safe place to generate ideas and select a writing topic
  • it's a starting point for writing 
  • it contains lists, images, maps, quotes, poems observations about writing
  • it allows me relief from a grade
  • one out of everly four entries will be developed further and eventually published for a grade
Students began their first entry today.  See image below:


We'll share what our brainstorming means with others through pair sharing and then free writing.

Please bring a duotang to class for your writer's notebook.  

Make sure your brainstorming page has 5-7 ideas and a splash of colour. Due Wednesday September 7 for 9ACG.

Setting up our Writer's Notebook

To keep ourselves organized we put our name class and titled our Wrtiers Notebooks:


Created an index:

Recorded "Free Writing Rules":




LA 7 Fantastic Fiction: Flashback and "Knife"

Fantastic Fiction What are the elements of fiction? How do I identify conflict and explain how it is developed and resolved? ...