Figure That Language!

Metaphors are monsters to come up with! Similes are like butterflies lighting on various objects, loosely linking them together. Alliteration makes my mind mosh modishly through many mantras. Personification rears its ugly head when you least expect it. Assonance makes me aim lazy brain cells mainly at the vowels. Hyperboles are so hard to come up with that it makes my head want to explode! Idioms make me feel as old as the hills. Onomatopoeias ZIP! and ZING! through my head, and all I want to do is to grab some Zs....

So as you can see figurative language really can be fun;

It can make your writings interesting, and they'll shine like the sun!

Your prose can have a lot of flare and even make people smile,

But include a sound device or two if you really want to add style!

~Kim~

"Complex-Compound Throwdown"

Today was a Monday all day long, but when tomorrow rolls around, we are going to do some different activities. We are learning about sentence types this week; the lessons get really tedious when variety is not included. We are learning about complex-compound sentences tomorrow, and after I present my minilesson, we will play Jeopardy. Before we play Jeopardy, we will do a Gallery Walk as a quiz on sentence types, and we will fulfill our Active Learning requirement for MLED 5053. Jeopardy will definitely add a little spice to our sentence differentiation, so after we've played the game, the students should have a clearer understanding. Since we are studying compound-complex sentences tomorrow, I have chosen to write this entire blog using that sentence structure just for fun. Look back and check the sentences; you will find they all fit the format since I was bored with it too. Whenever I get to class tomorrow, I will let my students read this blog, and they will have seen even more examples of complex-compound sentences.

"Braincruching Bloom's"

With a heavy heart I drove all the way home;
Straight home, I tell you, with no time to roam.
So much to do and spread so thin,
No cooking tonight; it's Popeye's again.
I must enter grades and complete lesson plans,
But I must be quick, every second flows the sand.
For UAM calls and nips at my heals.
Will I complete my book talk? Only time will reveal.
I rush the kids through homework and clean up the mess
Of another meal I didn't cook, I must confess.
So I get the kids quiet, sequestered in their rooms;
I must get relief from this impending doom.
I must get finished on what has begun;
Braincrunching Blooms is a load of... fun. :)
But wait just a minute, and you will see,
It's not the book I'm poking fun at, it is me.
Trying to find this balance between family, work, and school
Is starting to turn my brain to mush and from my mouth, drool.
But there's no better feeling under the sun
Than turning that 11pm project in at 10:51!
Good night, farewell, au revoir, auf vedasane...
Here's to hoping the next 4 hours of sleep will help keep me sane.
And enter another day where the sun shall rise
If God is willing and the creek doesn't rise.
As we march once again into the land of kids
Where we hope just one will flip their lid
And come to understand a concept or two
Don't forget to apply, analyze, and evaluate too!

"Shorty start a fire on the dancefloor"

Point of view (POV) is fairly straightforward to teach by definition; analyzing a text and determining point of view is not always easy. My students were doing fairly well comprehending POV, but I needed an activity to strengthen clarity.

Thursday morning I set my alarm for 4 A.M because I had promised my students we would do a role playing activity to practice POV determination. I created four skits: "The Pirate" (Third Person Omniscient), "The Teacher"(First Person), "The Rodeo" (Third Person Limited Omniscient), and "The Dance" (Third Person Limited Omniscient). The students loved the activity! The bold ones had the opportunity to express themselves through drama, and the shy ones had the opportunity to laugh shamelessly at them. The following is the script to "The Dance". The real CMS "Welcome Back to School Dance" is September 23rd. The theme of the back to school dance this year is to dress like a nerd. I thought this would be a fun way to link learning to a true life event:

"The Dance"

Narrator: Chris picked Denisha up for their date. After a short ride, they arrived at Crossett Middle School for the "Welcome Back to School Dance". Out on the dance floor Denisha was thinking, "Chris is rocking that nerd outfit!" Denisha says to her friend,

Denisha: "I've got a feeling...that tonight's going to be a good night...that tonight's going to be a good, good night."

Narrator: Standing with his buddies at the edge of the dance floor, Chris smiles back at Denisha. He's standing there in his high water pants, pencils in his shirt pocket, suspenders, and black rimmed glasses held together with tape at the bridge of his nose. While watching Denisha dance, Chris says to his buddies,

Chris: "Someone call 911...Shorty start a fire on the dance floor."

The skits were a hit! The boisterous bunch bellowed brazenly as the brave boys and girls boldly blared their blurbs. The students cackled with laughter, and of course, there were many that broke out into different refrains of each of the two songs quoted in our skit. Triumphantly, the students were able to tell me that this skit was written in third person limited omniscient since only Denisha's mind was read. It made for a really fun day!

Monday on a Tuesday

Wow! As long as the teacher is juggling, introducing, and overviewing, the students are entertained and their brains remain in neutral. Challenge them with tasks and terms like 'rough draft', 'revision', and 'third person limited omniscient' and they morph into a big herd of deer frozen in the bright glare of headlights. Those kids - I love them in spite of themselves and in spite of myself. Yesterday was tough. I learned the joys of picture day; how the students faces looked as though they had won the lottery when the first letter of their last names were called to go to the cafeteria. I remember. I was once an eighth grader. Picture day, fire drills, tornado drills: all mini lottery wins. Kids are so funny. Yesterday I laughed in one class and wrote a referral in the next. Another adventure... Monday on a Tuesday.

Feels Like Home

Finally finished, I looked around the room and decided that I was pleased with what I saw. The blue and brown sheers I had hung in the back of the room had softened the starkness of the white cinder block walls. The double bookcases centerpieced between the curtains were full of books from every genre. The sheer blue scarf draped lazily around the window to the right of the classroom library offered a pop of color in the corner; the miniblind pulled all the way up as an invitation to the sun. In front of the curtains on each side of the bookshelves sat comfy chairs with pillows for readers to cozily transport themselves into untold adventures. Covering the walls were bright colors and encouraging quotes challenging my young charges to follow their dreams and believe in themselves. On the whiteboard to my left were objectives written in careful hand, promising to challenge young minds. I could hear the soft tunes of Third Day extolling the favors of the Lord. The cool vanilla-scented air in the room made me feel comfortable and welcomed, and I knew I was home. Then, the bell rang, and I welcomed my first class ever, into my first room ever, to share my first day ever - as a teacher. It was a good day.