National Poetry Month Activity- "April Excursions-Poetry in Motion"

In his poem, The Wasteland, T.S. Eliot said, “April is the cruelest month…”. Considering the

fickleness of the weather- bone-chilling sleet one day, sunbathing warmth the next- it’s no wonder peoples’ moods swing from gloom to gaiety.

Maybe April was chosen as National Poetry Month because of it quirkiness. Strong emotions create word pictures and poems are the Kodak moments of writing. 

April is the perfect month for teachers and students to take an excursion on the Lesson-Up Express. This posting offers two tickets:

Option 1. A Literary Connections Tour:
This ticket offers students the chance to find poems, poets and lyrics that fit the themes of any novel or narrative non-fiction book that they are studying. To complete this trip, students will work individually or in teacher-chosen groups to analyze a poem (teacher or student selected). See the Teacher Notes for finding poems that connect with story themes. Stops on this tour include:
A. Atmosphere Alley
B. Poetry Junction
C. Imagery Island 
D. Theme Mountain 
E. Project Pass: On this final leg of this tour, students must prepare the final draft that includes the analytic results of each of their stops on the tour in a poster or in a travel brochure format.

Option 2. A Poetry Camp Trip
If students choose this ticket, they will create five original poems from the types written on the tree branches on the cover of this offering and/or types they choose with the teacher’s approval. After they have composed the poems, they will put them in a literary magazine that they created, and will illustrate each one with original or found images.

3.(Required) Poetry Performance Buffet:

All students will present either the results of their Literary Connections Tour or two poems from

their Poetry Camp Trip at the Poetry Performance Buffet at the end of the month. See the download for complete details on how to manage this aspect of the project.

Also included in this packet are Teacher Notes listing the Common Core Standards, the Bloom's Taxonomy thinking skills that are addressed, and directions for teaching the lesson; a printable student handout with directions and information on how to match poetry, poets and lyrics with stories (with examples) and examples of the Personal Poem and the Rhyming Couplet make up the remainder of the octet of pages. On the last page, are tickets to the Poetry Performance Buffet.

Download this packet from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poetry-Activity-April-Excursions-Poetry-in-Motion-639372 ($) and make April the coolest, not the cruelest month.

Another poetry activity
Poetry Analysis Activity: Poetry on Parade

Enjoy a Teach It Now Day,

News Flash – "Journalism Activity Bundle" Simplifies Teacher Planning!

"It's that time of year

When Fall course schedules appear,

And some teachers scramble to see

If newspaper sponsors they will be."

by Keith Naquin

Whether you have chosen to take on the responsibility of teaching journalism and sponsoring the school newspaper, or whether you have been asked to do so, between now and the opening of a new school year, your emotions will run the gamut from , "I can't wait!" to "What did I do?".

Saying, "Yes," to shouldering any new course, no matter the subject area can subdue the staunchest classroom leader, but taking on the obligation of a publishing class can be downright daunting. Teachers who are veterans of their own high school or college newspapers find that when sitting on the other side of the desk, questions blossom quicker than spring pollen. 

Where do I even start planning?

The school has only outdated texts and won't buy new ones. 

What do I teach? In what order of importance? 

Where do I find lessons?

How often should the class publish a newspaper- once a quarter, once a month?

Let me start with that last question first. When I became the school's journalism teacher and newspaper sponsor, my predecessor's student staff had been putting out one paper a quarter.  The incredibly motivated staff that I inherited desperately wanted to aim for once a month, so that's what we did.

Needless to say, that first month I felt like a hamster on a wheel that kept spinning faster and faster as Deadline Day loomed, because I had to create lessons for the separate Journalism 1 class and teach them while I inspired the Journalism 2,3,4 students through their planning and  researching articles and designing the layouts.  But we made deadline, sending the layouts to the printer with an hour to spare.

Oh, did I mention handling old and new advertisers, dealing with the printer's contract and learning the school's policy regarding financing and administrative review? Since these three topics differ from school district to school district, you will need to find answers to these very important questions. Let me suggest that you clarify these matters before this school year ends. You will be busy enough in the fall settling into your teaching and publishing routine to deal with these vital issues.

Now, for some relief from all of your concerns about creating lessons, browse through my Journalism Grades 6-12 category in my Teachers pay Teachers store

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Connie/Category/Journalism-grades-6-12. You will find 15 products that you may purchase separately - ranging from my Journalism Whole Course Year Overview and Lesson Ideas  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Journalism-Whole-Course-Year-Overview-and-Lesson-Ideas-45173 

to  Journalism: Reporting Practice Worksheets 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Journalism-Reporting-Practice-Worksheets-38551 

to Journalism Article & Layout Rubric & Guidelines https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Journalism-Article-Layout-Rubric-Guidelines-83579.

Or...or... you can purchase all 15 in my 94-page Journalism Activities Bundle 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Journalism-Activities-Bundle-1775930, and save yourself $10.00.  All of these lessons and activities are direct results of my decade as the Journalism 1-4 teacher and newspaper sponsor. I  tested, revised and retaught them  many times over the years.

When you add any or all of these lessons to your repertoire, send me some Feedback if you would like my email address.  I will be glad to talk with you about any teaching or publishing concerns you have or that might crop up during your first year teaching this course. If you would like to see a lesson on any journalism topic, let me know and I will create onet. Right now I am working on one about headlines.

On a very important note, be sure to check with the current journalism teacher for any lessons and activities. If this person will still be at your school in the fall, also discuss whether he/she will mentor you for the first few weeks or so until the journalism gene settles into your system.

Most of all, enjoy this exciting, energizing and yes, even the deadline stress. I hope that you will fand it as rewarding as I did.

As Edward R. Murrow would say, 

"Good Night, and Good Luck,"

Enjoy a Teach It Now Day - Every Day

English Language Arts - "Poetry Analysis Activity: Poetry on Parade"

 

"Poetry, It's elemental, my dears." With this unit, Poetry Analysis Activity: Poetry on Parade,  I use this play on the famous quote by Sherlock Holmes to show my middle and high school students that poetry is ever-present in their lives through the music they pipe into their ears.
This is the format that I follow

1. We listen to some of their music. In the days before I begin this unit, I ask students to bring in their favorite song that I s school-appropriate.  Along with the recording, they are to type out the lyrics for me to review. 
2. I choose three-five and make enough copies of the combined choices so each student receives one song. Example - if I choose 3 songs and I have 25 students in my class, I make 8 copies of two songs and one copy of the third selection.
3. Together, we review review some of the basic elements of poetry. After I write a few terms on the board, such as - Metaphor, Simile, Sensory Imagery, Rhythm and Rhyme- the students jot down an example from another song or from a poem that they know or that they have studied.  They initial their response.  For rhythm, students with examples of this tap it out on the desk. Each student gets 1 minute to explain his/her example.
4. Next the students teach one of the poems that I selected for this unit, focusing on one of the elements.
5. After that, they  write a poem that will include any number of the poetic elements we studied, but that focuses on the one that they taught.
6.  The unit culminates with a test on the elements of poetry so the students can show their deeper understanding of these terms.

 

Use this format as it is, or adapt it to fit the skills, abilities and needs of your students.

This product is aligned with Common Core Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy. In ten pages it includes

• Teacher Notes
• Complete student directions
• A sign up sheet where students select a teacher-chosen poem to prepare a lesson for and to present
• An Imagery Activity sheet
• A 60 point test with an Answer Key, and
• Two rubrics: one for grading the students' analysis of their poem and the other to grade their presentation.
• Bonus: both rubrics can be used with any literary analytic essay and any presentation.

This plan will be music to teachers' ears, as it sets poetry in motion in students' minds, thinking and writing.  Download it from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poetry-Analysis-Activity-Poetry-on-Parade-663467 ($2.50)

Happy teaching,

TEACH IT WRITE

BUILD POWERFUL ACADEMIC HOMES

31 ELA Writing Activities - "March Maneuvers - Sprint Into Spring"

Mother Nature continues to imprison much of the country in her wintry grip on this first day of March. Teachers are desperate for a few academic ice picks that will chip away the, doldrums encasing their students' brains and freezing their motivation to learn. Thirty-one Common Core aligned writing activities aimed to tone up students’ - and teachers’ -  winter-weary brains will do the trick.  

Teachers, say, "Hello!" to March Maneuvers - Sprint into Spring -  just the chisels you need to engage, inspire and motivate your students during Mother Nature's, "Which Season Am I- Winter or Spring?" month.

What's Included

• Thirty-One writing activities with directions and writing requirements
• A March calendar of celebrations with at least 2 events per day for each day of the month.


5 Sample Activities
1. Choose one of the celebrations under today’s date. Even if you don’t know why this topic became a day of celebration, imagine a reason for its existence. Explain the: Who, what, where, when and why behind its formation. Also discuss any ways people celebrate this day.
2. Write a persuasive essay that supports either promoting or abolishing this celebration.
3. Research the real reason this day came to exist. Explain the: Who, what, where, when, why and how behind its formation. Also discuss any ways people celebrate this day.
4. Choose a character from the literature you are currently studying and show his/her opinion about this day. Be sure that you are writing from this character’s point of view and not your own. 
5. Compose a scene from a book that creates a word picture of a fervent follower of this holiday. 

*General Writing Activity Project
1. Following the teacher’s time-frame and specific requirements for this project, create an

  advertising campaign for this holiday that includes newspaper/magazine, radio and television ads. 
2. *Create three recipes for this day to share on a Food Network show. They can be appetizers, snacks, main dishes, soups, salads, desserts or sides, but no more than two can be from the same category. See the complete list of activities (31) and a March calendar with over 135 Celebrations when you download this product from 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Activities-March-Maneuvers-Sprint-into-Spring-584169.

Think warm breezes and sunny days with March Maneuvers - Sprint into Spring

Happy Teaching,

TEACH IT WRITE - BUILD POWERFUL ACADEMIC HOMES