Tuesday, November 30, 2010

December 2, 2010

Bell-Ringer: Write a "Thirteen Ways Poem."  You need only six or more ways.

Thirteen Ways Poem



Computer Lab to work on our Children's books

Parent-Teacher Conference tonight 4:00 to 7:30 pm

November 30, 2010

Today students wrote Tritinas. These are free verse poems, each with a particular format.
Tritina comes from the Latin word for three. The poet selects three words that can hold much meaning. Those most important words are placed at the ends of lines in a specified pattern.
There are three stanzas and an envoy.
Find instructions for writing a tritina at http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/tritina.htm


Example:   from http://awrungsponge.blogspot.com/2007/06/beach-tritina.html

Beach Tritina

Rain, Sea, Sand

Mist rises up the beach at the edge of rain.
Surf fingers draw long scrolls of foam from the sea.
Three friends come from the city to walk across the sand.

It’s no mystery why they want to bury their toes in the sand,
Why they will drive for hours in the rain,
Why they are drawn to the sea.

Eyes fixed on the curling edge of a bottle green sea,
These three walk toward the surf over the shell-strewn sand,
Believing the sky will lighten, believing the end of rain.

They stand on the sand in the rain, staring longingly at the sea.

-Andromeda Jazmon
June 2007
 _______________________________________________

A Tritina  for Mom
You've always made time to check on me at bedtime
and to be there whenever I worry.
And I knew I could definitely count on a great dinner.

All right, so maybe I didn't always love the dinner.
And it's possible that you weren't there for every bedtime,
and there were plenty of times I made you worry.

But then, isn't it part of a mother's job to worry?
To alwayscome through, breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
And then, at the end of a long day, to be rewarded with a hug at bedtime?

I'm sorry I made you worry and haunted your dreams at bedtime, but I love you (and dinner, too).
-- by Marica Conley Carter -- from Nancy Atwell  -- Lessons That Change Writers



Another site for tritinas.

November 30, 2010

We read/listened to more poetry and students had time to discuss their children's books.

November 23, 2010

We wrote odes, read/listened to more poetry, and discussed the children's books.
Write an ode to a common thing.
http://tipdeck.com/how-to-write-an-ode


Ode to Fried Potatoes

by Pablo Neruda

Translated from the Spanish by Maria Jacketti

The world's joy
is spluttering,
sizzling in olive oil.
Potatoes
to be fried
enter the skillet,
snowy wings
of a morning swan –
and they leave
half-braised in gold,
gift of the crackling amber
of olives.
Garlic
embellishes the potato
with its earthy perfume,
and the pepper
is pollen that has traveled
beyond the reefs,
and so,
freshly
dressed
in a marbled suit,
plates are filled
with the echoes of potatoey abundance:
delicious simplicity of the earth.


Read more at Suite101: Pablo Neruda's Ode to Fried Potatoes http://www.suite101.com/content/pablo-nerudas-ode-to-fried-potatoes-a247885#ixzz16oJLXANp

Thirteen Ways Poem

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Wallace Stevens


I
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
II
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.
III
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.
IV
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.
V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.
VI
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.
VII
O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?
VIII
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.
IX
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.
X
At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.
XI
He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbirds.
XII
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.
XIII
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.

Document URL: http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/stevens-13ways.html

Friday, November 19, 2010

November 19, 2010

Found at http://johnjudyc.blogspot.com/2010/09/fractured-nursery-rhymes.html
Bell Ringer:  "Inspired By" Nursery Rhymes 

Today we are in Computer Lab 223.  This is your chance to finish typing your story for the child from Legacy. 
Also, I have added the photos I took that day to our wiki as images.  See the front page of our wiki for how to access them.

Monday, November 15, 2010

November 17, 2010

I just found a very cool site -- an online rhyming dictionary -- free!
http://www.rhymer.com/

Walter Dean Myers: http://www.adlit.org/second_chances#podcasts 

1. Bell-Ringer: Write an acrostic poem (or more) on your choice of subjects.  Each line begins with one letter of the word.

professional example:


EDITING THE CHRYSALIS
"At last, cried Butterfly,


Poised 
Over its
Empty chrysalis,
"My final draft!"
        by Avis Harley


2. Finish Love That Dog and write "inspired by" poems.


Children's books due December 2.

Monday, November 8, 2010

November 15, 2010

Bell-Ringer:


Computer Lab to work on  child's book

_______________________

extra credit:  Be the first to tell me what a "devil's strip" is -- after reading this:

The grassy area between the street and the sidewalk. This term is unique to the Akron, Ohio area.
The city can plant trees, or come and dig up the devil's strip without the permission of the resident that pays tax on this land. The "devil" in this case is a vague reference to the Tax collector/government in general.  
 
from -- http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Devil%27s%20Strip
 
It is also called these names: 
verge, sidewalk buffer, verge, nature strip, tree belt, utility strip, planting strip, devil's strip, city grass, parkway, terrace --  depending on where you live

November 11, 2010

Bell-Ringer: Painting --  Write about this illustration.  You could create a description, poem, brief story, etc.  Do something creative.  Picture Prompt A 

Information about a Utah Poetry Contest! -- Don't let me forget!


Miss Alaenius  (spelling?) and/or Love That Dog.

Reminder of  Story Grammar and writing process.

Most short stories follow this pattern: Plot Map, Plot Diagram, Story Map, Story Grammar, etc.
1. Exposition -- introduces the main characters and setting and gives any necessary background information.
2. Rising Action -- introduces the problem or problems, then builds tension.
3. Climax -- the problem is solved or things somehow change.
4. Falling action -- What do the characters do after the problem is solved or after there is a major change?
5. Resolution -- What was the end result?

We will be in the computer lab.
You will be able to work on your stories for your children's books.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Limericks





2010 Student Limericks

There once was a young boy named Wyatt
who was always exceedingly quiet.
"Has a cat got your tongue?" asked Ms. Sue,
"that must be why you're so blue."
So he opened his mouth and extended his tongue,
and spectators saw it was true!
 -- Skye K.


There once was a man named Hub,
who rather liked his bathtub.
He took a bath every day,
and in the bath he would stay
'til his pruned-up toes needed a rub.
--Libby W.


There once was a monkey named Bob.
He loved to eat corn on the cob.
He ate and he ate.
'Til he came to his fate,
And that's why he started to sob.
-- Robyn M.




Student Limericks

My new shoes are green, blue and white,
And they glow when you turn off the light.
At night on the street
People see "phantom feet."
It's fun to give people a fright!
             -- Kalie W  Spring  2006


 

Limericks


There once was a lady named Sue.
She had a great dog named Lou.
They would skip near the lake,
And stay up real late,
Her husband would come along too!
--Janessa F

There once was a prince in a boat

Floating around in his moat.
He hardly could speak
When he saw a leak,
And drowned from the weight of his coat.
-- Kayti T

There once was a man named Lode
Whose clothing I always sewed.
One day he ran
In front of a van,
And now he’s dead on the road.
-- David Y

There once was a man named Bud,
Who liked to play in the mud.
He played there all day,
And now he can say
That now he is lost in the mud.
-- Daniel L

Geezer
There was an old geezer named Hank.
He was bigger by far than a tank.
He got new false teeth,
And gave them to Keith.
Keith went for a swim and he sank.
--Taylor J

I once saw a frog named Sam,
Who jumped, and played, and swam.
He ate a nice snack
That was purple and black,
And covered with strawberry jam.
-- Christie B

I’m joking around with the boy.
I’ll treat him like he is a toy.
I’ll play with him once,
I’ll play with him twice.
I’ll give him to you, so enjoy!
-- Crystal C

There once was a frog named Lu.
He lived in a little old shoe.
It stunk like a tire,
And burned in a fire,
But instead of yelling, he shouted, “Woo-Hoo!”
-- Chanice M

There once was a guy named Smoo,
Who dreamed he was eating his shoe.
But when he awakened,
His mouth was a achin’.
He found that his dream had come true!
-- Matthew W

There once lived a princess named Lil
Who was married against her own will.
She took up her knife
And took her man’s life,
And found that she quite liked to kill.
-- Kelton D

There was a young girl with a hat
Who had a very fat cat!
Then one day
As she went out to play,
She found her cat on his back!
-- Emily B
 

_________________________________

Ms. Dorsey's Limericks 
This was from when we sent limericks to a contest. 
This limerick explains this packet:

A teacher of writing creative,
Who was of Utah a native --
Had her students write poems
About Utah, their home.
When you see them, please be approbative. 


This limerick is my own entry:
She studied at dear BYU
Then went to the U of U, too.
So when game time came
She wasn't to blame
When found wearing the red AND the blue.



I wrote these in a prior year -- for the KUER limerick contest, but never sent them in:

School funding in Utah is lower
'Cause of students we simply have mo-er.
We were doing fine.
'Til fed government whined.
No Child Left Behind left us poorer.

There once was a man from Salt Lake
Who heard there might be an earthquake.
But he wasn't scared;
He was always prepared.
In case Earth decided to shake.

These are words and lines I considered for the above limerick.
-- With a year's worth of food for God's sake. 
--With a 72-hour kit he could take.
. . . wake


and here are more notes I took as I prepared those limericks:



A teacher from American Fork
Had students who just wouldn't work.  (rhymes with fork)
She called all their mothers . . .

A trip to Timp Cave

She took them to Parkers.
And

Utah Valley
BYU   U of U  
true blue


She studied at dear BYU
Then went to the U of U, too.
So when game time came
She wasn't to blame
When found wearing both red and blue. 

float in Salt Lake
highways  construction
# children


___________________________________
 
Utah Authors' Limericks -- from an email group a few years back

Rick Walton
 A limerick’s very strict form
Never will stray from the norm.
Break rules, you can not,
Or else you’ll be shot,
For it’s a sin and a crime to diverge from the mandated rhyme and meter.

A DOGGIE LIMERICK

Bow wow bow wow wow bow wow wow,

Bow wow bow wow wow bow wow wow,

Bow wow bow wow wow,

Bow wow bow wow wow,

Bow wow bow wow wow bow wow wow.

(It’s very profound, meaningful and funny, if you speak dog.)


Erica
Oh! Wicked World! Don’t entreat me
For goodness and truth shall defeat thee!
Wither thou cold;
Grow weary and old
I never shall stoop, World, to meet thee.

(Plagiarism? Yup!)

And this, in honor of the upcoming holiday:

There once was a bright Irish lass
Who loved lolling around in the grass
One day as she lolled
A leprechaun called
And stole all her silver and brass
(Or gold!)

And, finally, our magnum opus:

There once was a woman named Sharlee
Who secretly longed for a Harley
In her free time she dreamt
She was cool and unkempt
And spouting new words like “gnarly!”


Justine:

I can’t think of anything clever
to say to this happy endeavor
I’ll leave it to you
Deep thoughts to review
I’m stuck in the shallow forever!


More limericks online: http://www.poetry-online.org/limericks.htm 
Student worksheet for your assignment: Limericks.doc

______________________
11-05-10
A caveman who played basketball
Was short when he should have been tall.
But that boy was quick
So he was the pick
To become Darin Williams 's sidekick.


A girl who enjoyed creative writing
Thought wikis were really exciting
She spent time online
And that was quite fine
But she just couldn't stop over-nighting.

















 

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

November 9, 2010

Fieldtrip to Legacy to Interview Children

November 5, 2010

Bell-Ringer:  Write limericks.

Stories for each other?  Create a storyboard for a book about the classmate you interviewed. 

More Love That Dog -- poetry and poetic devices

Prepare for fieldtrip to Legacy next Tuesday, November 9. 

_______________________________________
Extra Credit: What does semordnilap  mean?  See the nswer below.  Be the first to tell me for 5 points extra credit.
Semordnilap is a word or phrase that spells a different word or phrase backwards, as in this pair: Dennis ; sinned. "Semordnilap" is a 20th Century coined word which is "palindromes" spelled backwards. Among the longest single-word English examples: stressed –; desserts.

November 3, 2010

1. Bell-ringer:  Make a list of as many children's books (books for preschool and elementary age you have known and perhaps loved) as you can.
We shared lists.

2. Examples of Children's book and possible types of books

3. About our fieldtrip to Legacy on next Tuesday, November 9. 

4. We practiced interviewing.
 
5. We began reading Love That Dog to learn more about poetry.   We got through Frost's "Stopping By Woods. . . "
   Students have written two imitation poems in their composition books -- one for "The Red Wheelbarrow" and the other for "Stopping By Woods. . . "

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Misuse of Quotation Marks

See these very strange signs at  http://www.rd.com/clean-jokes-and-laughs/7-silly-signs-using-quotes/article186756-1.html#slide

On each sign the use of quotation marks is "out-of-the-blue."  In situations like these, quotation marks would mean that the thing enclosed by them isn't really what it says.  I don't think that the people who are selling "eggs" are trying to say that their products aren't really eggs, but just some sort of imitation.  

Monday, November 1, 2010

November 1, 2010

Happy New Term!
New Seating!

1. Bell-ringer:  Finish up Mad-Libs.  Play Mad-Libs.
2. About Poetic Devices.  viewed PowerPoint.  Wrote some examples.
3. If time -- Scholastic Literacy presentation with Taylor Swift  to 3:20

Friday: Field trip to Legacy Elementary to interview children.