This activity has a  handout (hammer) and a video (to explain what a pneumatic hammer is). 

I got mad because I thought the District had blocked my pneumatic hammer video — but they blocked the entire Youtube site.  So as long as the stick is in everyone’s eye, I’m happy.

This is due Tuesday before break.

SSR tomorrow.  Laissez les livres rouler!

“The Novice sees many paths; The Master only one.”

The students also checked and handed in their Reading Logs.  The check was based on the points stressed a PowerPoint presentation.

Story Planning: “Birthdays & Backstage Passes.” In the afternoon classes, we took the final 15 minutes of class and the students worked independently (helping each other) on a second story planning activity.  This one is titled “The Birthday & The Backstage Pass” and it reads as follows:

Three months ago, 15-year-old Jenna agreed to be the “special guest” at her cousin Bella’s 9th birthday party.  Jenna’s not crazy about the idea of spending a Saturday evening with a bunch of eight- and nine-year-olds, but a promise is a promise.

THEN ONE DAY (Thursday, only three days before the party) Jenna’s BFF, Lucia, shows up at school with GREAT NEWS!  Her mother won two front row tickets to the Jonas Brothers Concert … and a Backstage Pass/Meet-And-Greet with the Brothers … and she’s giving the pass to Lucia and JENNA.

OMG!  That’s the biggest news EVER!  The other girls will be green with jealous – especially that stuck up Amanda Petty!

But if Jenna goes to the Jonas Brothers Concert, what about Bella’s Birthday Bash?

As with the previous exercise, the job is to

(1) draw the story structure diagram,

(2) label the parts,

(3) map on the background and problem, and then

(4) finish the story by coming up and mapping on the rest of the “parts.”

The handout is here.  For the afternoon classes, this is due at the beginning of class:  The Birthday

Why? Because when we get back from break, students will work in groups of three to plan a “well-structured short story” — a story that is structured along the lines of classical Aristotelian dramatic structure.

To help with that, we did a number of activities today.

(1) “Amazing Fantasy” Planning Activity.  In all the classes, we did some work with the “Amazing Fantasy” Planning Activity.  In this activity, I present the students with the background and problem for a story.  They have to “map” these two elements onto a story structure diagram and then complete the story plan — coming up with logical Rising Action Scenes and an appropriate climax.  (We planned the story together in class.  Each student practiced mapping the new story out on the diagram.  They should have turned that completed diagram in at the end of class.)

(2) The Story Structure Song.  When there was time, I played and sang the “Story Structure Song” for students.  And some of the classes even sang along!

(3) A Quiz.  By the end of the week, all of the classes will take a quiz over the Story Structure Diagram.  Like multiplication facts, this is one of those “mental tools” that becomes more useful once it’s memorized.

HW:  Bring a book for SSR.  We have SSR tomorrow.  As always, everyone’s job is to find something that will hold their interest for 20 minutes.

Today we did 20 minutes of SSR (Silent Sustained Reading) in class.  Since self-selected independent reading is SO IMPORTANT, I’m awarding 20 points for every session of SSR. 

SSR. 

(The flip side is that they LOSE those points when they’re NOT reading during that time.  So it’s important for students to bring something that will hold their interest for 20 minutes.)

STORY STRUCTURE.  After SSR, I introduced STORY STRUCTURE.  This trimester, the kids will be working with the concept of the “well-structured story” — a story built more or less on Aristotelian dramatic structure. 

Their stories will center around a dilemma: a decision that the main character will have to make.

(Example:  A kid’s band gets a slot in a Battle of the Bands on the same day as his big 75th Birthday Party.  Should he blow off the party to perform with his band — or should he disappoint his band members, pass up his big chance, and go to Grandma’s party?)

As a first step, today the students took notes on Story Structure (to review and extend what they learned last year in Language Arts 7.)  

I gave the students a handout with the story structure diagram drawn and labeled.  Their job today is to add notes as I talk through it. 

Tomorrow we’ll be using the structure diagram to plan a story.

The handout is here.  A PowerPoint presentation with the notes is here.

South East Junior High, Language Arts 8

Tri 2, Day 1 (Monday, November 16, 2009)

Today I asked student to give me some information (about their new schedules and about contact information) [Here are the tri2-questions ]

and

we looked at some of the music videos that students made at the end of last tri …

Tomorrow we start for real …

Also SSR is tomorrow — so the homework is to BRING SOMETHING THAT WILL HOLD YOUR INTERESTS FOR 20 MINUTES.