Mrs. Piffath's ILA

Extra!Extra! 7th Grade   We are currently writing Free Verse Poems about the Indians and their active lifestyles.  We are still in the midst of the wonderfully written novel by Mitch Albom Tuesdays with Morrie.  While reading, the students are strenghtening their vocabulary skills and are analyzing Albom's talent of figurative language. We are wraping up adjectives and making our way to Pronouns!  These are sometimes difficult for us, especially those indifinite pronoun, so please keep on top of grammar skills, refreshing them every night.	Books for the Year 7th Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie  5 People You Meet in Heaven  For One More Day 8th Simply Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet No Fear Shakespeare MacBeth Holes
Extra!Extra! 8th Grade   Grade 8's Health Issue of The SJC Times will be available for distribution the week of Thanksgiving. 8th grade has decided to write ballads about Magellan and his travels to exemplify Social Studies and Active Lifestyles through Poetry. Romeo o Romeo, where for art thou Romeo?  We have just completed our Capulet/Montague Family Trees and are preparing for our character test.  We will be making our way to the shortly to "throw insults" "Yo Momma"  style to exhibit the opening scene of the brawl between the Capulets and Montagues. 8th grade is also wraping up adjectives and making our way to Pronouns!	Homework 11-3  7th  8th  Monday      Tuesday      Wednesday      Thursday      Friday
St. John's Writing Program:    A Blueprint for Success    Subject: Social Studies/Active Lifestyle Type: Poetry   St. John’s Writing Program: A Blueprint for Success!                                  GRADE 7         Objective:  Students will learn through differentiated instruction that Free Verse is a poem without a regular rhythm or rhyme scheme, and uses the sounds of spoken language in lines of different lengths.  Free verse may or may not contain imagery or figures of speech and sometimes contains no punctuation.  The students will then compose a Free Verse poem based on their on rules and elements that are reflective of the Indians and Active Lifestyles.  They will take ownership of their artistic abilities of free form writing and then illustrate their   objective.                    PREWRITING Students will be introduced to the elements of writing Free Verse Poetry. They will learn that all lines of their poem must consistently describe a scene, give an opinion, express an idea, share a feeling or emotion, or relate a personal experience.  Students will also learn that Free Verse is a poem without a regular rhythm or rhyme scheme, and uses the sounds of spoken language in lines of different lengths.  Free verse may or may not contain imagery or figures of speech and sometimes contains no punctuation. Group discussion about sensory images and possible literary elements that may be used. Students will research through differentiated instruction utilizing the lap top cart and create a graphic organizer. Students will compose an outline bulleting the points that will be included in the poem.    DRAFTING Students will write their rough drafts after a conference with the teacher about the outline. Peer or teacher conference about rough draft.  REVISING Students will peer conference on the fluency and creativity of the poem. Students will recognize synonyms for sensory words. Students will conference with the teacher regarding the elements of Free Verse. Then re-write the drafts. PROOFREADING Follow same policy as revising step with peer conferences and then teacher conferences. Re-write the drafts with the editing corrections.  PUBLISHING: ·        Students will type poems on laptop cart. ·        Students will orally present original FreeVerse poems to class. ·        Students will display illustrations and poems in the hallway. Materials: Merit Workshop handouts. Laptop Cart.   Writing Process Checklist. Free Verse Rubric. GRADE 8   Objective:       Students will compose a Ballad about Magellan and his travels around the world, while understanding that a ballad is a form of musical poetry. Procedure PREWRITING Introduce rhyme, meter, figures of speech (simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, hyperbole, onomatopoeia and assonance) and emphasizing feeling of the narrator ·        Students will research Magellan and his travels around the world ·        Utilize a library period to research on the computer and encyclopedias ·        Compile a list of figures of speech dealing with selected subject ·        Integrate Differentiated Instruction by using books, and Internet   DRAFTING   After discussing the requirements on the scoring rubric, students will draft a Ballad containing four stanzas of four lines each Students will utilize the drafting portion of the Writing Process Checklist to check progress  REVISING Review figures of speech and the use of capital letters for the first line in each stanza and punctuation throughout the poem Students will read their poems aloud and try to replace frequently used words Students will check to see that they used enough figures of speech and is appropriate to content Students will utilize the revising portion of the Writing Process Checklist to check progress  PROOFREADING   Students will read their poem aloud to a classmate Students will identify and try to fix misspelled words Students will utilize the proofreading portion of the Writing Process Checklist to check progress   PUBLISHING   Students will complete a final draft correcting all mistakes Students will present their Ballad to the class    Materials Library Materials Scoring Rubric Writing Checklist Merit Program Handout	HELPFUL & FUN WEBSITES http://www.funbrain.com/kidscenter.html http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/index.html
Mrs. Piffath! I need help! Contact me @ mpiffath@comcast.net