Over the last few weeks, you were responsible to keep a personal dictionary. Well, now it is time to complete your project. Choose one word from your dictionary that you really like, a word you think your peers should learn and would enjoy using. Your task is to write a poem, teaching/showing the meaning of this word. Your poem should vividly express the essence of the word you choose. Once you are done writing your poem, create a podcast of you reading the poem. The first word in your poem should be the vocabulary word you are showing. See the examples below.
By a group of FCPS teachers:
“Obsolete”
Obsolete is so yesterday . . .
Outdated, discarded, unused, unavailable.
rotary phones,
record players,
VCR’s,
chalk boards,
letters by mail,
floppy disks.
Excuse me while I update my Facebook page!
From Michael Salinger’s Well Defined Vocabulary in Rhyme
“Fiasco”
Fiasco is an utter disaster
If something could go wrong it has
A train off its track
A dam that has burst
A play in which every actor
Has forgotten his lines
You would assume that things
Couldn’t get worse
Except the train was carrying poisonous snakes
There was lava behind the dam
And once those actors turn into werewolves
Well, you’ve got a fiasco on your hands
Read chapters 1-3 of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Be sure to add any unfamiliar words to your personal dictionary, and after each chapter, record your personal response using italk. Save each file as the chapter it pertains to (chapter one).
Your personal responses for each chapter may include any of the following:
- opinions
- predictions
- connections
- feelings
- high-level questions
Warm-up for Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Go to the following links, and read to build up your background knowledge about frame stories and Angel’s Camp, the setting of the story.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/215717/frame-story
http://www.angelscamp.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=10&Itemid=14
Classwork
Now open Stanza, go to the online catalog, select Feedbooks, click on the magnifying glass at the top right of the screen, and type “jumping” in the text box. “The Jumping Frog” should appear. Download it.
In your groups, read and discuss the literature. As you read “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” keep track of the main events, and document any words you don’t know in your personal dictionary.
Alternative view of the story:
http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/projects/price/frog.htm
Homework
Respond to the following questions. Be sure to support your responses with evidence from the story. You may use italk or notes to record your responses.
-
Provide evidence that the narrator is characterized as clever in some ways, but ignorant in others.
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What is the climax of the story within the frame?
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What is the theme of the story within the frame?
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What do you feel the theme of the whole story is?
“Flowers for Algernon”
The Update
Objective
Compose a fictional narrative using specific vocabulary and information to accurately exhibit the character of Charlie Gordon.
Directions
Pretend you are Charlie Gordon. You wrote your last progress report on July 28, 1965, which has long passed. Explain what you are doing with your life now. Where do you live? How do you feel? Who are your friends? What are your future plans? Be sure to accurately portray the character of Charlie based on “Flowers for Algernon.” In other words, be creative, but be reasonable.
Once you have revised your work, record your progress report on your iPod using the iTalk application. Save your file as your last name, followed by FFA (for example, RodriguezFFA).
Vocabulary Project
Objective
Expand your personal vocabulary through reading experiences.
Description
While piloting the iPod touch, you are required to keep a personal dictionary through the notes application. From now on, whenever you read, have your iPod touch handy. When you begin a new text, start a new page of notes for unfamiliar vocabulary words from the text. Label each new notes page with the title of the text you are reading, and document unfamiliar words, their parts of speech, and definitions on the page. When reading books using Stanza, you may use the Stanza dictionary. When reading paperback books, use the dictionary application. At the end of the pilot, you will be expected to complete an assignment based on your personal dictionary.
Daily Expectations
Document unfamiliar words, their parts of speech, and definitions.
Review/study the words in your personal dictionary.