Image Grammar Chapter 1

Writing as Seeing

✎ In this section, I found some great quotes that could help writers add descriptive language. The quote I loved was found on page 2 and read, "Paint. That's the magic word. Paint pictures with words. That's the greatest advice I can give anybody. Paint the pictures with words. The pictures will appear in the imagination so the person reading it can say, 'I can see that'" (O'Neill). I enjoyed this quote because many students struggle with adding description in their writing. Not only students, but adults can struggle with this as well. This quote shows writers that if you relate writing to painting, then maybe you can "paint" a visual image and be able to write about that image. "A good author writes with a camera, not a pen" (3). Writers need to write with pictures, not necessarily words. I think the activity Dr. Kist had us do with the postcards could really help students create that picture. This activity could help students begin writing about an image, then you could have students create their own image based on the activity.

Painting with Five Basic Brush Strokes

Painting with Participles

✎ In this section Noden describes participles as evoking action. As I grade my students' essays, the sentences are bland; they don't have a variety of sentences. Using the metaphor of brush strokes to help students add to sentences is a great way to introduce different elements of writing that students may struggle with throughout the school year. In the participle section, Noden says, "Using a single participle creates rapid movement, while expanded phrases add details at a slower, but equally intense pace" (Noden 5). I believe one of the strongest ways to show students how to use this first brush stroke is by modeling what they are expected to do. The brush strokes cover more complex elements that are added to sentences, so modeling will help students see what needs to be done, but also it will allow students to work as a class. Dr. Kist's strategy example with the note cards is a great tool to use when using brush strokes, specifically participles. I believe that the note card activity will allow students to expand on sentences, and allow then to add participles. I like how Noden defines certain words or examples in each section because I haven't covered a lot of this information since my high school days. The terminology is a good refresher.

Painting with absolutes

✎ Again, I like how Noden simplifies the definition of an absolute. He says it is "defined simply as a noun combined with an ing participle" (Noden 6). Noden uses the metaphor of a telescope lens to introduce and teach absolutes. I think this is a great idea because you need to zoom in on the sentence to identify the different places where absolutes should/could be used. Students, according to Noden, can learn absolutes by imitating. To help students write absolutes, they could watch video clips and write absolutes based on what they observe. A video example I found was about nature. Students can use absolutes to describe what they see in each video clip. This is the video I found:

Students could also use this brush stroke to create a character profile from a story. Students can use absolutes to create an image from the words.

Painting with Adjectives Shifted Out of Order

✎ In this section, the two examples of adjectives helps students and myself see how not to overload a description. In high school, I remember being taught the rule of three because it makes a description more balanced; however, in this section, Noden says that professional writers "avoid a three-in a-row string by using a technique called adjectives out of order" (Noden 9). I want my students to write like professionals, so this is new to me because of what I was taught in school. I like this rule / brush stroke because it adds variety to a description and doesn't create the dull three word description.

Combining Strokes

✎ A good friend of mine has been a teacher for many years now and graduated from Kent State. This past winter break I observed her classes for extra field work. When I observed she was having students complete this brush stroke activity Noden discusses in chapter 1 of Image Grammar. I observed at the end of this unit because students were combining strokes in their narratives they wrote.

Strategies

✎ There were three strategies that I liked the most in this section. The first was the Create an Artist's Image Palette. I feel this strategy will help students find/locate words and images to help create their own writing. Students can add this Artist's Image Palette to a list provided by the teacher. This list can be a resource for words and terms to use in future writing. The second strategy I liked was Stimulate Images with Derived Poetry. Because I will be teaching a poetry unit in February, I thought this section would be a great resource for me when teaching my unit. This strategy allows students to look for words that could be used in their writing in poetry, and students can then create their own poem. As a teacher, I would like to model this activity with my students based on a poem I select. I could modify this strategy and use it when I teach figurative language and emotional language. Students can find their own poem for homework so all students have different words to select. Then, after the lesson on emotional language/figurative language, students can create their poems for homework. Lastly, I liked the strategy Paint Models from the Nando Times. I liked this because the images are preselected and appear to be school related. Unfortunately, the Nando Times website is no longer available, so teachers would have to select images for students. This strategy though will allow students to select a brush stroke they feel fits the image the best.

Reflection of day 2 of my ten-day unit.

Day 2

Students seemed to better understand the elements of persuasion. The indicator and concepts that students continued to grasp were the different appeals. For the first five minutes of class, students discussed in pairs the characteristics of persuasion based on the story they were assigned for homework. Students were assigned different stories, so in the pairs the students educated each other on the story they were not assigned for homework. Then, the next five minutes we discussed as a class the homework assignment. Students provided excellent examples of logical and emotional appeals. I was impressed with the quality. However, I was frustrated because students didn’t follow the directions. The directions clearly state to use a page number and a quote from the story to defend the response, but only four students followed the directions. Students understood the content from the previous lesson, but did not follow directions. After the homework check, students were put into groups to write a persuasive speech based on a law they picked. The speech needed to include the different appeals, examples from the stories, and it needed to be persuasive. Because I am teaching basic Language Arts, I am trying to push students with this assignment. This assignment is for accelerated classes, but I feel students should practice speaking in public and begin writing persuasive elements. I want to challenge my students because I know they are capable for success. While I was walking around, students seemed to struggle with using examples from the story to their law. Students were having a difficult time making connections between the laws provided and laws from the story about Martin Luther King, Jr. After I walked around to each group, students seemed to understand and make connections.

Students are struggling with providing examples with author’s purpose in a piece of writing when dealing with persuasion. After grading the homework assignment, a handful of students just said the author’s purpose was to persuade. Students weren’t explaining what the author was trying to persuade. This could be due to the vague directions I gave about the worksheet in class. I felt the worksheet was self-explanatory, but as a teacher I need to explain things in more detail. A major concept students struggled with today, also was making connections to the stories read for homework and applying concepts to their group speeches. When I walked around to monitor group progress, students were asking how the law they chose would apply to the story. I had to explain and give ideas to each group. I know this assignment is for accelerated students, but I want to push the basic Language Arts students as well.

In my lesson, I still need to continue to slow down. I feel like I need to cover so much in so little time so I rush through things to get them done. I need to focus on what students NEED to know rather than what students need to get done. If I notice a student or students struggling with something, I need to take the time to slow down and explain a concept again. I may also need to read verbatim the directions on worksheets for a while. I am disappointed that only four students read the directions on the homework assignment. I was impressed with the details students provided; however, I took off points for not providing examples from the directions. I may need to be more clear when assigning homework because I know I explained page numbers and quotes need to be provided. For the next class, students will be presenting their group speeches. I hope that this activity will allow students to apply persuasive terms to their own writing and help them identify persuasion in different texts. In the next couple of days in my unit, students will be introduced to their summative assessment, which is to write a 5-paragraph persuasive essay. This activity is supposed to get students thinking of how to use persuasive language in a writing piece.

As a teacher you learn things that work in a classroom and things that don’t work in a classroom. I tried a snowball activity with laws/beliefs to get students thinking of how it feels when people are restricted from laws. The activity worked, but students weren’t able to really make a connection to how it felt to have a law taken away from them. Unfortunately, I would not do this activity again because it didn’t seem to have an impact.

As a future teacher, I think I am beginning to think well on my feet. When students ask me questions that I am not prepared for, I am able to answer in a correct manner. If I am unsure of an answer, I tell students we can research this together. If a question is related to something that my cooperating teacher would know, I explain to students that I will find out the information and relay it back to them when I find out. I think I handle this very well. Also, I think it is imperative to walk around the classroom when students are working. The teacher needs to be visible and available to answer questions for students, and I am beginning to do this. I walked around to each group multiple times while they were working on their group speech. When students were working on their homework at the beginning of class, I was at the front of the classroom taking attendance. I was visible and available for students.

Journal of Ten Day Unit-Day one

It's official. I am a teacher now! I started my ten-day unit on persuasion today. I didn't crash and burn. In fact, my cooperating teacher thinks I did wonderfully. She said, "If all of your lessons go like this, I won't ever have to be in here." This made me feel confident because I am always harder on myself. Today was an introduction to persuasion, introducing new terms. I began the lesson by showing this video:

The video was to get students thinking about persuasion. I used this video as an example to show persuasion including the different types of appeals, logical or emotional, and the type of tone the author is trying to use to convince his or her audience. After the video, students answered question about the video such as, what was the purpose, what was the tone, and who was the audience. Students were reluctant at first to answer, but then a few students began raising their hands. Two students, Kevin and Solonas, contributed the most.

After the video students followed a guided notes handout to follow the PowerPoint I created.

The PowerPoint covered basic terms for the unit such as intent, persuasion, tone, subjective, objective, etc. Students seemed to follow along better because they wanted to fill out their worksheet. I asked students for examples in the media of logical appeals and emotional appeals. (This was not in my lesson plan). I was surprised with myself that I thought quickly on my feet to ask questions like this. Students began talking about different commercials such as political campaigns, adopt a pet, donate money, etc.

After we worked through the guided notes, students were split into groups to begin reading one of the two stories assigned for homework and fill out the characteristics of persuasion worksheet. Students got a head start on their homework and were able to ask me question if they had any.

As a teacher, I didn't realize the little things that could be so challenging, or that I was unaware of. For example, I started off with the lights on in class while going through the PowerPoint. After five minutes into the notes, I realized that students were having difficulty seeing, so we turned the lights off. This simple procedure was the last thing on my mind, but it created a minor road block for some students.

Secondly, the newer technology in classrooms has been a little bit of a struggle for me because of my height (I know this sounds funny.) The smart board requires the use of a pen if you want to write on the board or advance slides. In order to activate the pen, you need to follow it around the screen. Because I can't reach the top of the smart board, this was a challenge for me. I did practice this the day before my lesson so I could be prepared, so the period before I started teaching I got the smart board ready so I wouldn't have to reach to start it during class.

Teachers make so many decisions throughout the day. I had to make so many in a 41 minute period class. A student asked if she could go to the library to get a book for silent reading. I know silent reading is imperative for Mrs. Schaub's classroom, so I told the student to go ahead. Looking back on this, I should have asked her if she had a study hall she could go to the library. Today was a day of learning, as will all of the other days be days of learning.

If I could improve things about my lesson I would mark down who I assigned what story. Students can say they had a particular story, but they could change the story they had to be with their friends. I probably should have had more authority over this activity. One of the biggest things I need to improve is slowing down. I didn't rush, but the PowerPoint slides could have been slowed down. Students had a hard time keeping up with their guided notes. That awkward silence is what makes me feel that we need to move on in the lesson. Mrs. Schaub and I created the guided notes differently. I used her handout and was unfamiliar with some of the material she added to the worksheet. In the future, I need to make sure I am familiar with all worksheets, even if I borrow one from another teacher.

Overall, my first day was successful. This is a learning experience and that is what I am doing, learning. I appreciate my 3rd period class for their enthusiasm and willing to learn from me. I will have to make cupcakes or something after the lesson to let them know that my first teaching unit was a success. I can't wait to see how the rest of the unit goes.

The Modern Library Writer's Workshop-Ch 6

As I continued reading Stephen Koch's book, I was hoping to find ways to hold workshops in my classroom. Unfortunately, I did not. In chapter six, Koch describes memoirs. He lists memoirs throughout the chapter, but provides no specifics on how to write effective memoirs in a classroom.

I did like some of the points Koch brought up on page 136. I found the section Subject of Your Memoir Cannont Be "You." I like this section because memoirs have to be about something, and as Koch explains, "'you' are not a subject" (Koch 136). A memoir is a story about you, but it the subject you will not shape the story. I think this is a great message for students to understand. I would like to come up with an activity in my classroom to show students that you is not a subject, but can help form a subject. Does anyone have any ideas?

After reading this book, I would like to continue sticking with the writing workshop that I currently use in my classroom at Green High School. The writing workshop I use is from Kelly Gallagher. Students are paired in groups, selected by the teacher based on writing abilities with a higher performing writer in each group. Students will then help correct the six highlighted sentences from the teacher. If that group cannot figure out the mistake in someone's highlighted s

entence, then the whole group has to come to the teacher because no one knew what was wrong. This method seems to work really well because students are learning from each other. I will also provided two comments on the paper for students to work on. Students need to perfect these two techniques for their final drafts. Also, while grading rough drafts, I take notes on common mistakes from students. If a group of students has a similar issue with writing, I will meet with this group while other students are work shopping. I am able to help these students that struggle with a certain topic in writing, while others still are writing. I do not have to interrupt class time to teach a select few of students who do not understand material. IF anyone has any other ideas or references for writing workshops I'd love the help. My cooperating teacher also uses this practice.

Click the picture below for more information.

The Modern Library Writer's Workshop-Ch 1

✔ I hate to admit, but I am not found of this book. I am always looking for useful tools to help teach students. I feel that the title of this book is deceiving because there is not really any focus on a writing workshop. I feel a majority of the book is of Stephen Koch providing statistics of writing with references every other line.

✔ With that said, Stephen provides some beneficial information throughout the text. In chapter one I specifically liked the quote, "Begin with whatever gives you the impetus to begin: an image, a fantasy, a situation, a memory, a motion, a set of people__ anything at all that arouses your imagination" (Koch 3). I thought this quote was important because it enforces that writing can come from whatever gives motivation. This quote reminds me of Nancy Atwell's territories. Writers need to find territories that they want to write about. Territories help writers have a beginning point. Koch also discusses that writers need to write it now. He states that writers tend to say they don't know their story, but if you put off writing, you won't ever have a story. I think this is an important philosophy because students struggle with what to write about, but if students don't ever write, then they won't ever have a story to tell. By starting with an idea, according to Koch, the idea will lead to questions then to a developed piece of writing.

✔ One element of this chapter I disagree with is Koch's philosophy of writing as you know is misleading. He does not believe in writing what you know. I disagree because students may be able to write detailed stories on what they know. I believe a teacher should assign certain writing assignments, but some times the teacher needs to allow students to write about what they know. Doesn't this defeat the purpose of territories? I agree that we should turn the unknown into the known, but also I believe students can focus on the known. The same with reading. Teachers introduce books to students that don't interest them because students can't relate. When teachers allow students to chose what they want to read, then students seem to enjoying reading more. Further in this paragraph Koch says if you don't know what to write about start with childhood. I found this condescending to what he stated earlier in the paragraph. Childhood is familiar with most people. Although Koch says to develop the story of childhood, writers are still starting with the basis of childhood, which is part of the "known."

✔ I like the notebook idea. The notebooks help prepare writers for the entire writing process, before, after, and during. I like the way Koch phrased his opinion. Writers are "preparing all the time." As a teacher, I think I am going to borrow the idea from Koch of folders. He describes using a folder for each paper topic. The folder will include evidence, rough drafts, brainstorming, etc. Students will be able to reflect upon their writing and have a writing portfolio for that particular writing piece.

✔ Finally, Koch describes having rules for rough drafts. I couldn't disagree more. Students need structure, yes, but a rough draft is exactly what it says. A rough draft is the process for students to learn. Rough drafts help writers grow and continue improving writing. If writers have rules when beginning a piece, then writers will not be able to learn from their mistakes, and writers will be turned off from writing all together. Overall, I was not impressed with this book. Koch provides many examples from prominent writers including quotes from these writers; however, I feel a lot of the content in this book is hard to apply towards high school students. Maybe I am just missing something in this book ☹