Caption Writing Bell Ringer

Write a caption for the above photo, using the 5 W and H questions.

Where Are They Now? Canterbury Tales Style

Students in English 11 concluded the study of the Canterbury Tales Prologue with a project in which they were each assigned a character for whom they had to use Chaucer's characterization along with their opinions to make predictions as to where the character might turn up and how he/she may fare in life.  Students developed an oral presentations of some sort to demonstrate their understanding of the characters. Some additional sample presentations can be seen below.

Interview with the Plowman (with a bonus poem)

Where Are They Now? Canterbury Tales Style

Students in English 11 concluded the study of the Canterbury Tales Prologue with a project in which they were each assigned a character for whom they had to use Chaucer's characterization along with their opinions to make predictions as to where the character might turn up and how he/she may fare in life.  Students developed an oral presentations of some sort to demonstrate their understanding of the characters. Some sample presentations can be seen below.

The Wife of Bath

CAL's Production of "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten"

The CAL Drama Department performed "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" on November 18 and 20. The play showcased Robert Fulghum's essays from his best-selling books.

Below are some pictures from the play.

Family Colors: Our Digital Memoirs

     The freshman English class recently completed a digital memoir project entitled: Family Colors: Our Digital Memoirs. In the beginning of the project, students looked at different forms of memoir and then chose a person they would like to feature. This person, who is admired by the given student, was interviewed to preserve family history. The students then used their laptops to edit and compile a polished piece of video that would be shared with the interviewee. Students burned a copy of the video to give as a token of appreciation along with a hand-written thank-you note. 

    In a discussion that followed the project, students talked of the things they had learned from completing the project. Many stated they had not had a deep and meaningful conversation with their parents or role models in recent memory. Students also commented about how the process of communication has changed, mostly noting Facebook and text messaging as primary sources of communication with these role models. Even more, students talked of the value held within the discs: they truly had preserved the history of their loved ones.

    A sample of the project can be seen by clicking the video below.

Rachael's Family Colors

 

Audio Recordings of To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird audio recordings to help students in their understanding of the novel. Be sure to read along as you listen.

Prejudice in Dr. Seuss's Eyes: An Anticipatory Activity

Students in English 9 watched the Dr. Seuss video "The Sneetches" to open a discussion on prejudice and racism. The students then discussed similarities and differences in the events of the South in the 1920's and 1930's as well as some occurrences still happening in today's world.  Students are beginning their study of To Kill a Mockingbird.

The Crucible: Character Recipes

Students in English 10 recently finished Arthur Miller's drama The Crucible. As one of the culminating activities, students used the imperative form and character analysis techniques studied during the unit to create Crucible Character recipes. Some of the recipes can be seen in the links below.

 

 

Caption Writing Activity

Freshmen and sophomores wrote captions for the following picture. The students were instructed to include the 5 W's and H in one well-developed sentence.

English 11: Beowulf Music Video 4

Video 4:

Beowulf to the tune of Katy Perry's "E.T."

English 11: Beowulf Music Video 3

Video 3:

"Beowulf" to the tunes of a country compilation

English 11: Beowulf Music Video 2

VIDEO TWO: 

"Beowulf" to the tune of Eminem's "Lose Yourself"

English 11: Beowulf Music Video 1

VIDEO ONE: 

"He Is Who He Is" to the tune of Kesha's "We Are Who We Are"

 

 

 

Off the Beaten Path...What Can We Do to Breathe New Life into Our Small, Rural Communities?

As an effort to promote problem-solving skills and encourage students to think outside the box, our daily bell ringer focused on the question "What can we do to breathe new life into our small, rural communities?"

Unfortunately, many small towns in Iowa are facing slowed population growth or are even declining. As young citizens, it is important for students to think about what this means for our area. Because students are filled with energy and inventiveness, it makes perfect sense to ask them to generate ideas about why the problem exists and what may help off-set or even solve the problems our communities face.

We talked of some of the advantages and disadvantages of living where we do.

Each student thought of three reasons population may have declined in our area.

Each student then brainstormed for a few minutes to generate ideas to bring people to our towns and to promote all the great things we do in Latimer, Coulter, and Alexander.

Students then worked in pairs and small groups to compile ideas and piggy back of each other. The ideas will be forwarded to city councils, the school board, and other businesses and organizations. You can view these ideas in the comments section below.

Oral Poetry Reading Responses

Students listened to the poem "Table Manners" by a fellow English Iowa teacher Kurt Straube. Kurt wrote the poem during our summer session of the Iowa Writing Project.

As they listened to the poem, students participated in a PiratePad discussion. Students paid special attention to VOICE, TONE, and STYLE. Students used PiratePad to record thoughts on a live document, where they were also able to see their classmates thoughts and feelings. Students then had a few minutes to respond to others on the PiratePad document.

English 11
English 9
English 10 



The poem, in its entirety, follows.

Table Manners

Kurt Straube

Dear Father–

Dad–

you'd be so proud

of me tonight, here

with a girl–maybe even

The girl–at the Pizza Ranch

on University,

not because I've picked

the seediest dive in town

with the most engorged patrons and loudest brats

at which to impress the one

I've been seeing for almost a year now

but because at this moment

I am not sucking up stray kernels 

of corn from the corners of my plate

with nothing but my tongue.

That was, after all, the one

trait you said a man should

avoid, so long ago–my 

nine-year-old bare feet dangling

carelessly below my seat

at the dinning room table–

"Whoever she is, she won't love

you if you eat your corn

like a vacuum sucking lint."

Such poignant advice

from the man who once offended

my mother with horseradish-

breath, only to immediately shower,

shave, and brush his teeth...

all for the sake of her kiss.

So, Dad–Father–Man

to whom I may credit all

my finest and lowliest traits

thank you

for the advice, and

as always, for knowing

that the ones who are worth it

hate boys that suck.

A special thanks to Kurt Straube for sharing this poem.

Favorite Word Poems

Students brainstormed a list of 10 of their favorite words based on either sound or meaning. They then composed five-line poems featuring all words.

Creative Writing from Hint Fiction

English students have been working with a variety of types of literature, including hint fiction. As a warm-up writing exercise, students wrote brief creative stories based on the following prompt from Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer entitled "A Dignified Purpose" by Ty Miller.

"She loved to steal spoons. She didn't need them; she just enjoyed having a hundred tiny mirrors to see what no one else could."


The students short creative stories can bee seen as comments to this post. Enjoy!

CADET PRIDE

English 11 students wrote tongue twisters to show their Cadet pride in celebration of Homecoming week.

We Are Animals

Students composed six-line perspective poems in which they chose an animal they feel resembled them.

Digital Story Telling

Students in English 9 not only wrote the typical personal narrative essay, but they used GarageBand to record the stories and add effects to make the stories more interesting for the listeners. Students worked on presentation skills, editing skills, and writing skills throughout this project. Personal narratives can be heard by clicking on the links below.

Miguel's Narrative

Brandon's Narrative

Sidney's Narrative

Brooke's Narrative

Hailey's Narrative

Juan's Narrative

Spencer's Narrative

Rachel's Narrative

Trevor's Narrative

Zach's Narrative

Aly's Narrative

Nole's Narrative

Angelo's Narrative

Daniel's Narrative

"The Rotten Finger" Hint Fiction

Students wrote a Hint Fiction story based on the the prompt title of "The Rotten Finger". The stories the students developed can be seen in the comments of this post. Enjoy!

"When You Were Very Small" Poetry Collection

Students in English 9, 10, and 11 each wrote five-line poems about their earliest memories. The bell ringer prompt was: "Try to recall your earliest memory. Who was there? Where were you? What were you doing? Construct a five-line poem about this memory with as much description as possible." Each student posted his/her poem as a comment to this blog entry. Enjoy!

Prompt taken from The Daily Spark: Poetry Warm-up Activities.

Beowulf Music Video

The students in English 11 will be collaborating and creating their own music videos to tell the history and story of the epic poem Beowulf. A superb example can be seen by watching the following video.

This video (Beowulf meets Nena's "99 Luftballons") was  created by History for Music Lovers and can be found on historyteachers channel on YouTube.

Bite-sized fiction: Twi-ction

Writing fiction has been simplified in recent years, largely due to our short attention spans and the growth of social media. Twitter has recently inspired a whole new branch of this revolutionary writing fad. Fiction composed in a single Tweet of 140 characters or less.

Constitution Day WallWisher

Students wrote six-word memoirs from the Constitutional right or freedom of their choice. Memoirs were posted on WallWisher, an interactive bulletin board site. To read the work of English 9, English 10, and English 11 students, click here or go to http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/shaw-constitution-da

Hint Fiction

Hint fiction is the newest rave in the world of writing and literature. Hint fiction limits writers to a brief title and 25 words or less. The power of these words have to spark images and a much larger story. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors all tried their hand at creating hint fiction based on the given title: "Just One More Day."

“Just One More Day”
Freshmen Hint Fiction

One more day to fight. One more to live, to make it all worth while. To do everything he’s ever wanted. Before he’s gone. Alyssa

As he looks down from the sky, he sees a city on fire. Holes in the ground from the bombs. If he had one more day. Angelo

There was just one more day for you to live? Would you go skydiving or do something else dangerous? Would you tell as many people? Nole

As he sat there, feeling emptiness and sorrow, darkness came upon him. He saw sudden light while he walked through the street. Abby

One more day and I will be there. No more counting the days desperately waiting for it. I only wish it was one more minute. Sidney

I have one more day to go off and see my family before I am taken away for ever in quiet solitaire. Brandon

Lost in thought, staring at the boring, educational walls, wishing the horror go away, sitting blankly is the room, knowing there’s just one more day. Hailey

Knowing she was gone hit me harder than I thought. If I could change it all tonight I would do it in an instant. Juan G.

Just one more day until it started.  The wait was almost over.  He just wished it was today instead. Zach

Just one more day. To to show the world what he could give. Life was wrong, to give  you everything and take it all away. Daniel

I stare up at the ceiling feeling pain. No one is there to stop it I hope for one more day. Spencer

Tomorrow will come sooner than they know it. The other families and them in tears,
knowing they should make their last day count. Rachael

Year after year the day came, but this year was more exciting than others, for now she could do much more. Brooke

“Just One More Day”
Junior Hint Fiction

What would be like if I didn’t have to sit here? 24 more hours to live. Scared out of my mind thinking about tomorrow. Gaby

He put his hat on a hot, sunny summer day. A party just for him. They said they don’t know, but they still can guess. Ben

I’m crying on the inside, wishing for one more day on the outside. Locked in this cell alone with no one else around me. Dylan

She watched as he lay sleeping on the hospital bed. His body lie fragile, lifeless, pale. His health had not changed. When would this end? Emma

He’s stuck in prison, in a nation of evil. He did something against the leader, sentenced to die but has no regrets. Jacob

Everything as its end, time passes. The bags were packed; it was time to go. Time to part from her, days with her were over.  Ana

All the hairs have abandoned my body, this disease has taken all my strength. Hearing comforting words, I only want life... Clara

He waited, watching from afar. She was everything. She was life. It drove him insane. He plotted for tomorrow. Now…wait. Christi

She carried this baby for nine months.She decided to drive to the store to find out it was an unfortunate day. Jessica

She went to the doctor. Tears fell as she told her kids. Her husband was the last she told as she kissed him good-bye. Trisha

I wonder if this chain wasn't on my ankle and if the other end wasn't hooked to the wall if I would be free. Storm

It was an elegant, gorgeous luminescence. She felt the urge to draw near, yearning closure, left with no option, she consigned to the past, abandoned her life. Brooke

She screams and yells and lectures and talks.  He listens with no interest and begins writing. He delivers it she stops and smiles and laughs. Billy

He picked up the gun. Why was it out again? In the next instant she walked in and started yelling. Melina

“Just One More Day”
Sophomore Hint Fiction

He was mad and very sad. His mind was wondering and he couldn’t think about one thing. He just wanted more time. Tyler

He was sitting in the hospital bed waiting for the news...The doctor came in and told the bad news...tears filled his eyes...Taylor

A girl stares at the hole in the earth thinking, hoping this day weren’t real. That the whole thing was just a bad dream. Amber

One more day. Getting the guns ready, the calls cleaned, adrenaline rising. It’s only a day away and he can’t wait to hear the first crack. Jake

There is just one day left. All the kids were excited, but need to stay focused for what will come tomorrow. Andrew

Just one more day until I leave, one more day to be with my family. I’m nervous, but excited. Ready to go, but still scared. Jenna

As I see you leave, I hope to see you again. Maybe not here and now.  Maybe some day lead me to where you left. Alicia

Tears welling in her eyes just as the doctors are leaving. Laying in bed for so long, feeling her head where hair use to be. Karter

He misses him a lot and can’t stand it. They argued a lot. If only he got to see him for one more day. Mario

The skies are bright. Tomorrow they turn grey for five more days, when I enter with lifeless bodies. Most of us are committed for life. Austin


For More on Hint Fiction visit Robert Swartwood's website

Captions for a Picture Using Pirate Pad

English 11

Gaby Gomez: Several brides are participating in a cake eating contest in New York on a summer day to try and win a free wedding dress.

Dylan Moricz: Right now in the closet 5 hungry women are stuffing their faces with cake to gain weight because they want to.

Emma Calles: After a long saturday morning at a mass wedding reception starving brides stuffed their mouths with sugary cake because they were selfish and didn’t want to share.

Clara Arnold: Last night at the Embassy Suites Wedding Palooza, several hungry brides chow down on as much cake as possible in 60 seconds for a chance to win a free honeymoon.

AJ Meier: At the reception, the bridesmaids are eating cake with their hands the fastest to win the contest on who gets to kiss the broom.

Ben Fahrmann: Brides eating cake at a table during the day because they have been dieting to fit into their dresses and now are splurging by eating cake

Patricia Halverson: Several brides are eating cake in a cake eating contest to win a free wedding in London the day before their wedding.

Jessica Heiserman: After the wedding in the reception room, several brides were shuffling through cake because they were offered a free hot rich husband if they found the ring in the cake.

BILLY SOSA-This morning a group of anorexic ladies got over being skinny and now decided to go all out FAT at the dessert table at a CAKE all you can eat wedding. 

Melina Yepez- Monday morning in Chicago ten bride to be's went to a contest where they have to find a diamond ring in the cupcakes. Who ever wins gets a million dollar wedding good luck ladies. :D

Cristi Flores:

Several brides participate at a cake-eating contest at Bob's wedding party last week for the win of a fancy car.

Cameron Carpenter: The brides are at a weding on a saturday morning they are having a contest to see who can eat the most cake so they are all stuffing their mouths with cake.

Jacob Anderson: Four friends eating cake like crazy at their friend's wedding. Were probably really hungry.

Elijah Dohrmann: Some brides stuffed their faces with cake at the ceremony yesterday trying to win the cake eating contest.

Brooke Elphic: Brides are feeding their faces with bright blue wedding cake at a cake eating contest. The girl who eats a whole cake the fastest will win an all expense paid honeymoon!

t: brides are stuffing their faces with cake celebrating the wedding the the summer at a colorado park competing for a vacation

English 9

Alyssa Hamilton: In Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 25, 5 Brides, that don’t know each other at all, at a 5 way wedding, each eating through a wedding cake trying to find two plane tickets that will take the bride and groom to their unknown honeymoon destination. The bride and groom will also win a fully paid honeymoon, rings, and a six month trip around the world!

Spencer Brinkman: Brides are having a wedding cake eating competition. They are eating the cake at city hall for 1 million dollars. They are going to try to eat the cake fast if one of the brides finishes it first will win the money. 

Rachael Arnold: four women are at a contest eating cakes to see who can eat the most at 2:00 pm.

Felipe Lerma:Four women eating cake at night in a church.Four women trying to win a contest by tasting the most delicious cake.

Daniel Sosa: Four brides from philidelphia on augest 30th are having a food contest to see which one will win $500 in minlpoly.

Brooke Mensing: Last week some brides go to the bridal shop to find their dream dresses. Whoever eats the most cake in five minutes gets their dress for free.

Zach Vanness: Five brides were messily eating cake in a contest after their weddings to see who would eat the most cake and get a free honeymoon.

Juan Gomez: A couple of brides are eating cake during a contest on a TV Show for a prize. That or they really like to eat cake in front of a studio audience.

Sidney Turner: Today four brides competed in a cake eating contest to compete for a 10,000 dollars for a wedding they've always wanted. The brides-to-be win by whoever can eat the most cake in 10 minuntes.

Brandon: These girls all show up at in their wedding dresses for the same wedding turns out the guy has been seeing all these girls at the same time. They decide to settle this so they all go to the bakery and have a blue cake eating contest. Who ever finds the ring first gets to marry him. 

Hailey Manley: On the day of their wedding, a group of middle-aged brides are gathered at a reception hall in NYC, NY to stuff their faces with blue wedding cake, trying to eat the entire cake the fastest for an all expenses paid honeymoon of their dreams, the girls are shoveling their faces faster then we all thought possible. 

Juan Trinidad: 4 brides are eating cake in a contest at the coulter community center so they coud win a honey moon to Fiji.

Angelo Yepez  Today there are some brides that are at a wedding doing a eating contest during the wedding where someone is getting married and they are using there hands to eat the cupcakes.

Nole Erickson : Four brides are eating cake last Saturday in New York. They are seeing how much cake four people can eat in a day with their hands. 

Trevor: Brides eating cake at a cake eating convention at 12:00 P.M. to see how good the cake is so they can get a new house.

Abigail Sosa-Girls wearing wedding dress and playing a game of eating a wedding cake in the county fair, and win a wedding dress of their choose.

Miguel Calles: Five brides were at a cake eating contest at the cake convention and the bride that ate cake the fastest would win a wedding.

English 10

Amber Zewert: Several brides were shopping in a bridal store one weekend where there was a contest to see who could eat the cake the fastest. If they won they would get their wedding dress for free.

Austin Blayer:the brides maids are eating a whole lot of cake because the had to skip breakfast and lunch so the could fit in their dresses for the wedding 

Andy Castillo: Some bridesmaids and having a cake eating contest and whoever finishes their cake first wins a trip to Norway. 

Andrew Quinones: At a wedding in August four hungry brides ate some very tasty cake because they had not eaten for a year. They have to win by eating the most cake at the wedding and who ever has the loudest burp wins.

Taylor Rapp: The bride and the groom met each other in Fareway in september.  They got married and this picture shows the brides mades eating the cake at the reception..

Karter Miller: These lucky ladies are choosen to be on a tv show called My Dream Honeymoon, premiering on September 20th (in New York City) where they are in a contest to eat the most cake possible in 2 minutes. The bride who eats the most will win a dream Honeymoon. 

Jake Blau It was four brides mades having a cake eat competition at a table after a wedding with their hands to see who the biggest pig is.  

Tyler Fitz Four freshly married women seeing who can gain the most wait in the least amount of time right after there weeding in Las Vegas trying to become extremely fat by shoveling cake in there faces.

Mario Yanez: On a Saturday there is a wedding reception. During the wedding reception there is a cake eating contest where they have to eat the most pieces of cake with their hands. The winners get game tickets to a Miami Heat’s game.

Alicia Cano: Wanna be brides are having a cake eating contest in a church on a sunny spring day. if they win they will receive one of there dream weddings of there lives! So they must eat three pounds of wedding cake!

Hunter Schleisman: Four brides are having a competition to see who can eat the most cake and the winner gets the wedding that they have always wanted.

Jenna Johnson: After their weddings in New York City, the brides were hungry from starving themselves for months, so they started stuffing their faces with cake.

Juan Carlos Calles:Last week 10 lucky brides got randomly chosen to participate in a cake eating contest. The brides had to eat a whole cake in the shortest amount of time and the winner receives their dream wedding.

Six-Word Memoirs (Freshmen)

The freshmen were challenged to write a six-word memoir to describe the start of the year so far. Here are their unique and insightful responses.

Juan G.: This year may be my favorite.
Brooke M.: So far it’s been super great.
Abby: It’s YOUR education so appreciate it.
Spencer: Man, this year is really challenging.
Rachael: Why did summer have to end?
Danny: Life is great with books back.
Trevor: I liked summer a lot better.
Angelo: I want to win a game.
Hailey: Learn it, live it, love it.
Sidney: I could be sleeping right now.
Zach: Work hard because this year counts.
Aly: Being nice does not change anything.
Juan T.: Work to improve, improve to succeed.
Marshall: Work hard; don’t give everything up.
Nole: Do homework so you can pass.
Miguel: Be smart, be attentive, be ready.
Felipe: Work hard and you can achieve.
Brandon: This year is going by fast.

Teaching Grammar with Comics

Grammar is by far one of the least interesting to students, especially when they are handed various worksheets to practice. This looks like it might be an interesting alternative for some. The discussions that would likely follow are an stimulating consideration.

Having students generate comics for grammar would take grammar to the next level of HOTS.

Fakebook

What if you're favorite character had a Facebook page? A free site to allow students to use their knowledge and love for social media to do character analysis.

An act of bigotry centered around the English language

Close minded politicians forget the diversity on which America was founded. Former Alabama gubernatorial candidate Tim James' campaign ad shows just how far bigotry has reached.

Luckily, there are still some Americans who realize the sheer terror that is possible in his proposal. Watch the video below to see how humor and intelligence combat the bigotry that has found its way into American mainstream in recent decades.

Could this be an indication of the improvements in Amercian politics in years to come?

Dalton Sherman: The Future Obama?

As Sherman spoke to thousands of teachers in his "I Believe" speech, he drew attention of thousands around the world. Read more about his interview on Ellen.

Summer Reading with My Pal Will

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: Pretty fly for an old dead guy!

Picture taken from http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.157514721.jpg

Where in the world was Matt?

As we all begin to think about the busyness that inevitably comes with the summer months, at least in education, it is important we all take time to laugh, have fun, and explore new things. YouTube sensation from his "Where the hell is Matt?" dancing around the world video shares more about his current work through his blog.

Singing for Change

Preparing for 2011-2012 School Year

As the 2010-2011 year wrapped up, I had several plans to meet goals--not only my personal goals but professional goals as well. With the first week of summer rolling, I realized my first two weeks of summer would likely be my only true break before the next school year begins. Beginning today, June 13, I have begun to embark on professional development opportunities.

Today marks the start of an online linguistics class that already seems a bit overwhelming as well as a technology boot camp. The courses are worthwhile and will not only improve my teaching methods but further my understanding of the components of which I am teaching to my students.

Next week I will add another course to the list--Advanced Studies in Writing.