This week was a particular busy one, I apologize of not getting to this blog sooner. This week we looked at the poem, "To the Mothers and Fathers who Hover." Students were asked to answer two questions on this poem.
Question #1 What is this poem about, back up your ideas with proof in the poem.
Question #2 Do you agree/disagree with what the author is saying in the poem. Again support your ideas with reference to the poem.
Short Story ( rough copy due Mon. Oct. 14)
We spent some time in the computer lab working on our personal experience stories, I am expecting students to come to class on Mon. with a rough copy ready to hand in for editing. I like to edit all work and hand go over it with students prior to them handing in the good copy.
Criteria for this story is as follows:
- the story must reveal a real experience the student has had
- the writng should focus on show not tell
- the writing should incorporate sensory details
- the story should have a beginning, middle and end
- writing should be grammatically correct (full sentences, proper punctuation etc)
- the story must be edited by the teacher ( parent editing is also encouraged, but make sure you go over your editing with your son/daughter)
- must be between 1-3 pages, typed times new roman 12 pt font, title and name on front page
Example:
Tell: "It was very cold outside. I noticed the mountains were covered in snow."
Show: " Frosty bits clung to the man's beard as he gazed toward the magestic towers beyond. Snow capped and gleaming in the sunlight, the mountains silently sung their magic."
Show: " Frosty bits clung to the man's beard as he gazed toward the magestic towers beyond. Snow capped and gleaming in the sunlight, the mountains silently sung their magic."
Learning and Growing Through Stories
by Michale Gabriel
A teacher once said to his 3rd grade students, "Do you want me to read you a story or tell you a story?" "Oh tell us a story," they exclaimed, "because then we can see into your eyes."
Connection. Communion. The opportunity to engage.
Stories are the medium through we can communicate meaningfully with each other. Our wisdom, our intuitive knowing is imbedded in the stories we tell. Just after our need for food and even before our need for love, we have a need for story.
Storytelling is the oldest form of communication. The first thing people do upon meeting each other is begin telling stories. A wise teacher once said, "The shortest distance between two people is a story." Another teacher was asked by his frustrated students one day, "Master, we ask to hear the truth and all you tell us are stories." The Master smiled and replied, "The shortest distance between a person and the truth is a story. "
Stories invest our lives with meaning, they develop and express our creativity. They help us to laugh at ourselves. They give us the strength to face life's difficult moments. They connect us more vitally with ourselves and each other and they turn ordinary moments into extraordinary ones.
"If there were no stories there would be no world because the world is made up of stories," said a child when asked the question. "What are stories?" Think about it. We create with our stories. We imagine what is possible, we make up a story about it. We bring that story into existence. Our words, our images are just that powerful.
According to brain/mind research, we organize information in story form. It is how we make sense of the world around us. And it is how we communicate that understanding to another. Stories allow us to bypass the linear and access whole brain learning.
When I tell you a story, I let you into my world. I cannot tell you who I am without telling you a story. Stories illustrate the text of our lives. They go beyond facts into feelings. They engage the whole of us--our minds and our hearts. By storying my life, that is, by telling about the incidents that give my life meaning I make sense out of it. I begin to connect the dots of my experience and as I do, gracefully, artistically, memorably, I invite you to go inside and begin to connect your own dots to make sense out of your own experience.
I love when I find a piece that speaks oh so eloquently to exactly what I believe and expresses why I always start out with personal experience stories when I teach!
A teacher once said to his 3rd grade students, "Do you want me to read you a story or tell you a story?" "Oh tell us a story," they exclaimed, "because then we can see into your eyes."
Connection. Communion. The opportunity to engage.
Stories are the medium through we can communicate meaningfully with each other. Our wisdom, our intuitive knowing is imbedded in the stories we tell. Just after our need for food and even before our need for love, we have a need for story.
Storytelling is the oldest form of communication. The first thing people do upon meeting each other is begin telling stories. A wise teacher once said, "The shortest distance between two people is a story." Another teacher was asked by his frustrated students one day, "Master, we ask to hear the truth and all you tell us are stories." The Master smiled and replied, "The shortest distance between a person and the truth is a story. "
Stories invest our lives with meaning, they develop and express our creativity. They help us to laugh at ourselves. They give us the strength to face life's difficult moments. They connect us more vitally with ourselves and each other and they turn ordinary moments into extraordinary ones.
"If there were no stories there would be no world because the world is made up of stories," said a child when asked the question. "What are stories?" Think about it. We create with our stories. We imagine what is possible, we make up a story about it. We bring that story into existence. Our words, our images are just that powerful.
According to brain/mind research, we organize information in story form. It is how we make sense of the world around us. And it is how we communicate that understanding to another. Stories allow us to bypass the linear and access whole brain learning.
When I tell you a story, I let you into my world. I cannot tell you who I am without telling you a story. Stories illustrate the text of our lives. They go beyond facts into feelings. They engage the whole of us--our minds and our hearts. By storying my life, that is, by telling about the incidents that give my life meaning I make sense out of it. I begin to connect the dots of my experience and as I do, gracefully, artistically, memorably, I invite you to go inside and begin to connect your own dots to make sense out of your own experience.
I love when I find a piece that speaks oh so eloquently to exactly what I believe and expresses why I always start out with personal experience stories when I teach!
Response
Last day in class, it was a short block, we worked on our stories and did a response to Robert Fulgum's piece, "All I need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." This is our first shot at responding without me formally teaching how to respond. I wanted to see what prior knowledge and skills the students had. After discussing how to do a response, and further discussing the piece, students will be asked to revise their piece and hand in for a mark.
Responding means
- a desire to express thoughts and ideas in informal settings, to react in some way to the literature
- an ability to gather meaning from the literature and relate it to personal interests and experiences
- an ability to organize, recall, and make inferences
- an ability to ask questions, express thoughts, feelings or opinions, while backing up ideas with reference to the piece of literature
- ability to make connections and synthesize information
- an ability to look at all aspects of the literature to really understand the author's intent
Week of Sept 30-Oct. 4: On Mon. we will be in the library for a library/computer orientation. I will teach what a good response to literature looks like and take the students through a model step by step. Students will use the rest of the block to work on stories or rough copies of the Kindergarten response. Wed. class should see us handing in the Kindergarten response (typed).
On friday, we will begin a response to the video, "My Final Days" a story about Zach Sobiech, a 17 year old who died of osteosacrcoma. This will lead us into a short response assignment and the top 20 things students want to do before they die. Students will be marked on the thoughtfulness and completeness of the list, and the response will be marked based what I look for in a response.
( response and list total= 20 marks)
Zach Sobiech Video
- an ability to gather meaning from the literature and relate it to personal interests and experiences
- an ability to organize, recall, and make inferences
- an ability to ask questions, express thoughts, feelings or opinions, while backing up ideas with reference to the piece of literature
- ability to make connections and synthesize information
- an ability to look at all aspects of the literature to really understand the author's intent
Week of Sept 30-Oct. 4: On Mon. we will be in the library for a library/computer orientation. I will teach what a good response to literature looks like and take the students through a model step by step. Students will use the rest of the block to work on stories or rough copies of the Kindergarten response. Wed. class should see us handing in the Kindergarten response (typed).
On friday, we will begin a response to the video, "My Final Days" a story about Zach Sobiech, a 17 year old who died of osteosacrcoma. This will lead us into a short response assignment and the top 20 things students want to do before they die. Students will be marked on the thoughtfulness and completeness of the list, and the response will be marked based what I look for in a response.
( response and list total= 20 marks)
Zach Sobiech Video
