09.29 - NWEAs (Day 2)

Today we had our second day of NWEA testing. We will wrap-up our testing tomorrow.

Homework:

Individuals who did not complete the summer assignment for A Separate Peace should be reading the book and working on the essay.

09.26 - NWEAs (Day 1)

Today we had our first day of NWEA testing. We will continue with this testing on Monday with Tuesday as a wrap-up day.

Today, people also turned in their revisions on the comparison paragraph looking at the messages communicated in "2081" and "Harrison Bergeron".

Homework:

Individuals who did not complete the summer assignment for A Separate Peace should be reading the book and working on the essay.

09.25 - Hot Dog Discussion & Roots/Diction Quiz

We started today's class by discussing the tone of the Led Zeppelin song "Hot Dog" and how they use tone and diction in an attempt to make a country song. In our discussion, we noted how the tone is not entirely convincing with some lines and phrases feeling forced and having informal forms of diction worked into lines that feel more formal than they should. At the end of our discussion, we listened to the song (see below).

Everyone had the remaining time in the period to take the set two roots and prefixes quiz and the diction quiz. If you were not in class today, see me to make these quizzes up.

Handouts:"Hot Dog" by Led Zeppelin

Homework:

Revisions for essays on "A Separate Peace" and the paragraph comparing "2081" and "Harrison Bergeron" are due Friday (this will be the final revision opportunity for both of these assignments)

09.24 - Changes in Tone

We started today's class by discussing the tone(s) present in Jamey Johnson's "Front Porch Swing Afternoon". People discussed this initially with a partner and then we had a discussion together as a class. In our discussion we looked at the emotional tone of the song, informal vs. formal tones, serious vs silly tones, and subjective vs. objective tones. 

Next, people worked individually or with a partner to alter the tone of the song by adding or changing words in the song. Once everyone had an opportunity to do this, individuals shared their altered versions of the song and we discussed how the changes made affected the tone of the song.

We will have a quiz over tone and diction in class tomorrow along with our roots and prefixes quiz.

For homework, everyone is looking at the song "Hot Dog" by Led Zeppelin to analyze how the group attempts to appropriate a country music style through their use of tone and diction.

Handouts:
Set 2 Roots and Prefixes
Set 2 Roots and Prefixes practice sheet

"Front Porch Swing Afternoon" lyrics
Tone Change: Front Porch Swing Afternoon class examples

"Hot Dog" by Led Zeppelin

Homework:

Read "Hot Dog" by Led Zeppelin and respond to the following prompt:

What is this song about? How do you know?

What has Led Zeppelin done here to attempt to appropriate the country tone? (give examples)

How successful is this song in appropriating the country tone?

Prepare for the set 2 roots and prefixes quiz tomorrow.

Prepare for the tone and diction quiz tomorrow.

Revisions for essays on "A Separate Peace" and the paragraph comparing "2081" and "Harrison Bergeron" are due Friday (this will be the final revision opportunity for both of these assignments).

09.23 - Set 2 Roots, Country Tones (cont'd)

At the beginning of class today, people reunited with their partners from the country song activity yesterday to share their analysis of the country song they had analyzed for it's use of diction in establishing a country tone. Partners shared their analysis and then decided which song was more country, writing down this decision and their explanation for it in their writer's journal. We then discussed these decisions as a class.

Next, everyone had about 15 minutes to work on the set 2 roots and prefixes for words this week. We will have the quiz for these words on Thursday since Friday will be our NWEA testing. We will also be having a quiz on diction on Thursday.

I then handed out grade report sheets while several students helped to return work that had been assessed. This work included feedback on the salt water tones or tones in The Giver assignment. These assignments were not graded (credit was given for completion as a repeated practice grade which shows up in the grade book, but does not influence a person's grade). On these assignments, I provided everyone with feedback on their analysis of diction (including denotation and connotation) to explore tone. With this feedback in mind, everyone was to look at a new country song analyzing it's use of diction to develop tone (see prompt and handouts below). Today's song was "Front Porch Swing Afternoon" by Jamey Johnson.

In class, everyone had enough time to begin annotating this song and should finish their written analysis as homework.

Handouts:
Set 2 Roots and Prefixes
"Front Porch Swing Afternoon" lyrics

Homework:

Finish your analysis of how diction is used to shape the tone of "Front Porch Swing Afternoon"

Prepare for the set 2 roots and prefixes quiz on Thursday.
Prepare for the diction quiz on Thursday.

Revisions for essays on "A Separate Peace" and the paragraph comparing "2081" and "Harrison Bergeron" are due Friday (this will be the final revision opportunity for both of these assignments).

Class Site Bonus:

Jamey Johnson performing "Front Porch Swing Afternoon"

09.22 - Country Tones

We started today's class with an activity looking at choices in diction (see "Tone and Diction with Gordon Dahlquist" below). We discussed the denotation and connotation of words in this selection and how different words impacted the meaning of the text.

Next, everyone worked with a partner to brainstorm common tones and choices in diction found in country music. Then, each person received lyrics to a country song which they were to annotate for tone and diction (taking note of the denotation and connotation of significant words) and ultimately write a paragraph describing just how country their song was. At the end of class, we discussed significant words that people noticed.

Handouts:

Tone and Diction with Gordon Dalhquist
Country Tones

Homework:

Finish writing your paragraph looking at how country your song is based on its use of tone and diction.

Class Site Bonus: Listen to the songs from today's class

09.19 - Roots and Prefixes

At the beginning of class today, we reviewed this week's set of roots and prefixes. This review usually happens on Thursdays. Since I was out though, we had the review today. To review we played the game "root stick." We reviewed how to play the game and how knowledge of roots and prefixes can help people win in the game. We then took 15 minutes to play the game. After this we had the roots and prefixes quiz which we corrected together as a class.

Next, we reviewed the work that everyone had done with diction around the denotation and connotation of words as well as how that relates to word meaning. In looking at the two assignments that were completed on Wednesday and Thursday, everyone starred the assignment that they felt showed their best work. I will be reviewing and commenting on this work this weekend to set us up for some more formal assessment of these skills next week.

Homework:

If you did not finish the analysis of diction in The Giver or the two poems about the ocean, do so for homework. The following resources will be helpful to you in this work:
Diction Notes
Diction Practice
Diction in The Giver
Salt Water Tones