My Classroom Confidential

An English Teacher's Secrets and Lessons

Acrostic Poems with a Purpose

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This was a great activity for National Poetry Month. And it also helped the kids think outside their own little realm. I put every one of my students’ names on notecards, along with their locker numbers. Each kid drew one. The names were from all my students in all my classes, so the name drawn might be from someone they knew well, knew a little bit, knew of, or didn’t know at all.

Their task was to then write an acrostic poem for the person. They did a rough draft, revised, and then did a final draft on a sheet of colored paper.

Finally, each student hung the poem on the person’s locker.

It was so fun. Every kid loved writing their poem, and they loved receiving theirs. It was a fantastic lesson in empathy and poetic language.

 

 

Thematic Statements Made Easy

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Like any teacher, I love a good lesson. I love it even more when it was a last minute activity created in the wee hours of the morning.

Such was the case today. Here’s the background. I had the great opportunity to attend a 2-day training on Jane Schaffer’s writing program. I immediately went out to buy red, blue, and green ballpoint pens. Alas, green pens are not easily acquired. Our local Staples closed. So did our Office Max. Only Office Depot is left, and the only green pens they had were in three packs. To get 30, it would have been almost $40! I came home and immediately searched Amazon. Let me just say that green ballpoint pens with caps (no clicking!) are hard to come by.

I am by no means OCD, however, I do need things in the classroom (and at home) to begin only when I have the right materials. The expository essay plan I am itching to introduce to my students is going to have to wait.

The sad fact of no pens left me without a lesson for today. I went to bed unsure of what I was going to do with all my seventh graders the following day; I woke up this morning with an inspired plan. I love when that happens! I got to school an hour before the first bell, which is my typical routine. But this morning, I raced around, cutting pieces of butcher paper, writing topics on half pieces of index cards, and figuring out how to present the idea of thematic statements.

I started with two definitions:

  • Topic/Subject: a single word
  • Thematic Statement: A complete sentence that represents the topic. It is stated as a universal truth.

I ended this with an example.

  • Topic: Friendship
  • Thematic Statement: Strong friendships make a person’s life more fulfilling.

Next, I introduced the idea of a “reflective statement”. I asked them what they see when they look in the mirror.

“Myself!” “Me.” “Myself.”

The discussion of what they see, compared to their three-dimensional self, was the point. They see a reflection of themselves, but it is not actually them. It’s a mirror image.

Once the foundation was laid, I had the students elect one person from their table groups to come get their piece of butcher paper, three topic cards, and two different colored poster markers. Back in their groups, I modeled how to organize the information (see pictures).

They then got to work. They used thesaurus’s and worked hard to make sentences that sounded ‘smart’. Strong vocabulary to create great thematic statements. Synonyms and strong vocabulary to create the reflective statement.

These kids came up with some excellent thematic statements, but more than that, they really seemed to get it. And now, because they put each other’s thematic statements in their ISNs (Interactive Student Notebooks), they have an amazing reference tool for their writing.

It was a fantastic day!

The Monsters are Due on Maple Street Lesson Outline

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I think The Monsters are due on Maple Street, by Rod Serling, is the quintessential 7th grade play. Every 7th grade textbook seems to include this play. I’ve taught it in every district in which I’ve taught.

Which is fine with me. I love it. The kids love it. And each year I come up with something to add to the unit.

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s how I did it this year, ending with poetry.

  1. Background research on Rod Sterling
  2. Discussion of drama elements: drama terms slides
  3. Oral reading (preassigned roles)
  4. Act Structure/Story Plot/Hero’s Journey of play
  5. Viewing of Twilight Zone episode 
  6. Optional home viewing of Monsters/Maple Street remake
  7. Compare/Contrast evaluation of the teleplay verses the production
  8. Poetry connection with Monsters are Due on Maple Street Poem
  9. Literature Response (I often use Seesaw.me for this)

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The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, by By Roon Morose


The Monsters are Due On Maple Street
The monsters are due on maple streetA breed not seen beforeNeighbors, once friends turned barbarians
Spreading hatred to each door

The skin of civilization
So easily peeled away
Power outage, darkness falls
Surely someone here is to blame

The voice of a small boy cries out
His superstitious mind
He claims the threat flies above their heads
Aliens from the skies!

The young child yells, “There’s more to tell
They’ve sent one down ahead
One of us will shed his skin
Find him or we’ll all be dead!”

Beings that toy with humanity
Take only hours to vanquish sanity
As night descends they’ll start to kill each other
Warlike instincts reign: brother slay brother

The finger pointing begins
None are safe from suspicion
Even as the first man dies
Primal fear clouds their vision