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Grammar Punk
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Word Cells
Word Cells Biglist
 To see all weeks, scroll all the way down!

April 2-4, 2014: Fourth Term Begins!

For this final term, you will learn....
  • ...more word cells...lots more!
  • ...how to torture a confession out of a poem.
  • ...connotation vs. denotation of words.
  • ...to use colons and semicolons for something other than emoticons: ;-) :-).
  • ...the finer points of counterclaims.
  • ...advanced strategies for close reading literary and informational text.
  • ...writing in various genres for a multitude of purposes: memoirs, letters, analysis, argumentation, exposition.
  • ...Voice/Word Choice.
  • ...more poems o' the day!
  • ...more cartoon analysis.
  • ..."Where I'm From."
  • ...the Argument Clinic.
  • ...what the SAGE has in store.

Wednesday, April 2: B Day
Thursday, April 3: A Day

  • Welcome to the beginning of the end!
  • Hall Passes, Handouts, and Return to Routines
  • (Return the Stuff to Keep from last term.)
  • Writintg Notebook 1: What did you do over Spring Break? (Fill HALF the page!)
  • Poem o' the Day: "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins
  • Handout: How to Torture a Confession Out of a Poem
  • Let's Practice: "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost (MPT, p. 315)
  • Writintg Notebook 2 (Fill the bottom half of the page):
    • Quickwrite (p. 314): Think of a time you made a significant choice in your life. Now imagine you had made a different choice. How would your life be different? (Identify the choice and write three sentences in response.)
    • Answer questions 1 - 5 on page 318.
    • Tone: Copy line 16, but insert an adjective that describes your interpretation of the tone of the poem:
      "I shall be telling this with a __________ sigh...."
    • Explain your choice: What did you see in the text of the poem that indicates that tone?
  • Poetry Out Loud Assignments: You will be assigned a poem that you will read aloud at some point during this term. By the time that happens, you will become an expert on every nuance of the poem -- no simile will escape you, and no descriptive image will go undissected. Also, you will practice reading the poem aloud mutliple times, so you master the pronunciation of all the words and the rhythm of all the lines. When you read it, you will command the attention of everyone in the room, and we will be completekly blown away by your presence and performance. For a minute, we will forget we are in a classroom doing an assignment, and we will be swept away to the world of your poem. Start by torturing the confession from your poem using the handout. Have this done by next week...even though you may not need it until later in the term. Bring the poem and the handout next time!
  • Word Cells List #1 Assignment
    (Turn in finished assignment and take quiz on April 8/9.)


Friday, April 4: B Day

  • Poetry Out Loud: How to Torture a Confession Out of YOUR Poem
  • Here's a model! (Do this with your poem by next Thursday.)
  • Poem o' the Day: "Roaches" by Peter Wild
  • Lesson o' the Day: Connotations and Denotations of Words
  • Writing Notebook: I/You/S/He Combos
    Create and write 10 of your own.
    Here are some character descriptors to get you started.
  • Grammar Punk Review: Colons
    Roll the bones and write a correctly punctuated sentence for each of the following rules. (Colons are the last sentences on the handout.)
  • Colon Rule #1: Use a colon at the end of a sentence to emphasize another word, phrase, clause, or list.*
    • Example #1: There is one main benefit of swimming: health.
    • Example #2: I have a simple motto: "Born to swim."
    • Example #3: I swim for many reasons: health, endurance, strength, and fun.
    • Example #4: I took these items to the pool: towel, swimsuit, goggles, and flippers.
    • *A complete sentence (independent clause) must come before the colon.
  • Colon Rule #2: Use a colon before an announcement, instruction, or directive.
    • Example #1: This is the example.
    • Example #2 -- Warning: Do not drink the water!
    • Example #3 -- Caution: No running!
  • When Not to Use a Colon: Check for Understanding
  • Homework: Study Word Cells Set #1 + Finish List #1 Assignment.


April 7-11, 2014

Monday, April 7: A Day

  • Poetry Out Loud: How to Torture a Confession Out of YOUR Poem
  • Here's a model! (Do this with your poem by next Thursday.)
  • Poem o' the Day: "Roaches" by Peter Wild
  • Lesson o' the Day: Connotations and Denotations of Words
  • Writing Notebook: I/You/S/He Combos
    Create and write 10 of your own.
    Here are some character descriptors to get you started.
  • Grammar Punk Review: Colons
    Roll the bones and write a correctly punctuated sentence for each of the following rules. (Colons are the last sentences on the handout.)
  • Colon Rule #1: Use a colon at the end of a sentence to emphasize another word, phrase, clause, or list.*
    • Example #1: There is one main benefit of swimming: health.
    • Example #2: I have a simple motto: "Born to swim."
    • Example #3: I swim for many reasons: health, endurance, strength, and fun.
    • Example #4: I took these items to the pool: towel, swimsuit, goggles, and flippers.
    • *A complete sentence (independent clause) must come before the colon.
  • Colon Rule #2: Use a colon before an announcement, instruction, or directive.
    • Example #1: This is the example.
    • Example #2 -- Warning: Do not drink the water!
    • Example #3 -- Caution: No running!
  • When Not to Use a Colon: Check for Understanding
  • Homework: Study Word Cells Set #1 + Finish List #1 Assignment.


Tuesday, April 8: B Day
Wednesday, April 9: A Day


Thursday, April 10: B Day (Writing Lab)
Friday, April 11: A Day (Writing Lab)

  • Poetry Out Loud
  • Poems o' the Day: "The Kitchen Shears Speak" by Christianne Balk & "Poetry" by Don Paterson
  • Utah Write Essay Practice for SAGE: Smartphones: Good or Bad?
  • Your essay must include the following:
  • Intro that captures attention, gives background info, and states a thesis
  • Body paragraphs that develop the thesis and include...
    • ...a claim.
    • ...textual evidence to support the claim.
    • ...citations that show where the textual evidence came from.
      • ...at the end of a sentence like this (Thompson).
      • ...or within the text, as recommended in the article by Thompson, like this.
    • ...warrants for each piece of textual evidence. (So what? Why is the evidence significant?)
    • ...acknowledgement and rebuttal of potential counterclaims.
    • ...a conclusion statement.
  • Conclusion paragraph that briefly retates thesis and claims.
  • Hey, if think you might need extra credit before the end of the term, check the main page!
  • Lois Lowry @ Northridge (4/11 @ 7:00 P.M.)

April 14-18, 2014

Monday, April 14: B Day
Tuesday, April 15: A Day

  • Quiz on Word Cells Set #2
  • Poetry Out Loud
  • Poems o' the Day: What am I? & "Today" by Billy Collins
  • "Where I'm From": Turn that Outline from First Term into a Final (Decorated) Draft by May 1st!
  • Focus on Counterclaims
  • Read the case involving Jesse Watson, and decide whether or not you think he should have been arrested for the hit-and-run violation. Discuss the case with a partner and fill out the chart on the worksheet.
  • Writing Notebook: Write your opening statement to the jury. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I intend to prove that the accused is __________________. (List the reasons briefly.) My opposition will try to convince you that _______________________________. (List counterarguments that the other side will present.) The problem with that is __________________________. (Poke holes in the other side's version of the facts; say what is wrong with the other side's case and why yours is better.)
  • Word Cells List #3 Assignment (Quiz next time!)


Wednesday, April 16: B Day
Thursday, April 17: A Day

  • Quiz on Word Cells Set #3
  • Poetry Out Loud: Poems o' the Day
  • "Dandelion" by Julie Lechevsky
  • "My Life" by Joe Wenderoth
  • "Immortatlity" by Lisel Mueller
  • Grammar Punk Review: Comma Rules 1, 3, 5, 7
  • Semicolon Rule #1
  • GP Packet
  • Writing Notebook:
  • Independent Reading Assignment: Sign up for the book you are going to read by May 2nd.
    Have a copy of that book in class every day between now and then.


Friday, April 18: B Day
(Wednesday, May 1: A Day)


April 21-25, 2014

Monday, April 21: A Day -- SAGE Testing
Tuesday, April 22: B Day -- SAGE Testing
Wednesday, April 23: A Day -- SAGE Testing
Thursday, April 24: B Day -- SAGE Testing
Friday, April 25: A Day -- SAGE Testing

Poem o' the Week: "A Student's Prayer"

April 28 - 30, 2014

Monday, April 28: B Day -- SAGE Testing
Tuesday, April 29: A Day -- SAGE Testing
Wednesday, April 30: B Day -- SAGE Testing

B Day: Study Word Cells List #4 for next time!

To see previous weeks, scroll ALL THE WAY down!

(Friday, April 18: B Day)
Thursday, May 1: A Day

  • 10 Sessions of Class Left (Excluding Testing Days)
  • Poetry Out Loud
  • "I Knew a Teacher Once" by William Strong
  • "Gratitude to Old Teachers" by Robert Bly
  • Writing Notebook: Pages of SAGE.
  • In all of these articles (Article #1 and Article #2 and Article #3), no one ever interviews a student who has taken the SAGE test like you have. After reading the articles, what are your impressions? Fill at least two pages in your notebook discussing the following: What did you think of the SAGE test? How did it compare to last year's CRT? What do the people in the articles not know? Choose a quote or two and explain why it illustrates their misunderstandings.
  • Word Cells List #4 Assignment (Quiz on May 2/5)

Friday, May 2: B Day (Sub.)


May 5-9, 2014

Monday, May 5: A Day


Tuesday, May 6: B Day
Wednesday, May 7: A Day


Thursday, May 8: B Day
Friday, May 9: A Day


May 12-16, 2014

Monday, May 12: B Day
Tuesday, May 13: A Day


Wednesday, May 14: B Day
Thursday, May 15: A Day

  • 5
  • Life Soundtrack Draft due (handwritten pages)
  • Final Draft due May 22/23.
  • Sample Life Soundtrack Final Draft
  • Poetry Out Loud
  • Poem o' the Day for the lovers: "Selecting a Reader" by Ted Kooser
  • ...and the haters: "Hate Poem" by Julie Sheehan
  • Poem o' the Day for the young women:
    "For a Girl I Know About to Be a Woman" by Miller Williams
  • ...and for the young men:
    "If--" by Rudyard Kipling
  • Stargirl: Continue the Order of Operations to .... ?
  • Poem o' the Day: "The Way to Start a Day" by Byrd Baylor
  • While out in the desert with Leo (Chapter 17), Stargirl seems to find special insight and inner peace by "erasing herself" through meditation. Consider an activity you are especially familiar with in which you find peace and insight into Life and the world. Write a non-literal poem describing the way to do that activity. Instead of just listing the steps involved, describe the process from the inside. Create metaphors to explain the thoughts and emotions that the activity conjures in you. This fill-in-the-blank outline is only for those who aren't creative enough to come up with all the lines on their own. Don't use it if you don't absolutely need to. You may create a decorated final draft that is suitable for classroom display. Here's an example. Here's another. Be creative!
  • Neil's Solo: Think of the state of mind one must be in to perform a task this well. Imagine the thousands of hours of thought and practice that went into it. Then consider how he has to put all that aside for the eight minutes in which it all coalesces. He can't stop to think about each of the basic mechanics that make up his craft; he has to "get in the zone" where it all comes together without thinking. Your "The Way to _________" poem should focus on this zone, this state of mind, not on the literal how-to instructions of the activity you describe.
  • Reminder: Word Cells CRT List Assignment due next time! (Study for quiz!)


Friday, May 16: B Day


May 19-23, 2014

Monday, May 19: A Day


Tuesday, May 20: B Day
Wednesday, May 21: A Day


Stargirl Projects/Serenades
Thursday, May 22: B Day
Friday, May 23: A Day

  • 2--The Last Day in Room 198
  • Poetry Out Loud
  • Poem o' the Day: "George Gray"
  • Serenades, Anyone?
  • Writing Notebook: Finish the Stargirl Order of Operations
  • WN - The Final Entry: Write a letter to yourself in ten years. Keep the journal until then and read it. Then write me a letter or an e-mail (or whatever the latest communication technology is by then) to tell me if things turned out as you planned.
  • Copy this on the last page:
    Thompson's Words of Wisdom as You Head to High School
    Life is Short: Don't be a George Gray!
    Be Nice: We're all in this together, and nobody gets out alive!
  • When all of the above is finished, show the notebooks to me for a score.
  • Then take 'em home.
  • Hide 'em somewhere safe.
  • You'll be glad you did.
  • Last Chance for Extra Credit: Read The Kardiac Kid & Take the Kardiac Quiz by May 29th!



May 26-30, 2014

Monday, May 26: Memorial Day


Tuesday, May 27: B Day (Lab 137)
Wednesday, May 28: A Day (Lab 137)



Thursday, May 29: B Day (Lagoon Day)

  • Ride the Fire Dragon...with Ashton and me!


Friday, May 30: A/B Day

  • Yearbook Day
  • School's Out for Summer!



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A: Yes.
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