The Professor and the Madman

Reading about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary was interesting. The struggles both James Murray and and Dr. William Chester Minor had throughout this story show their relationship through the text. It is amazing to think that Minor sent definitions for the dictionary. The creation of words is an interesting study. I can see how this novel relates to our final project of slang words because students essentially make up words and definitions through slang. As a project, students could create their own dictionary of slang and use in their writing. The students would have to turn in their dictionary for the teacher to reference what the word means. If a teacher needed to teach students how to read the dictionary and how to use it as a reference, this could be a fun activity. I found a video of Simon Winchester discussing The Professor and the Madman. As interesting as I found this book, I am having a hard time relating it to teaching. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

Teenage Dream

I am a Glee fanatic. I love how the show comes up with new ways to sing older songs and popular songs. Last night the episode focused on Kurt, a homosexual student an McKinnley High School, who struggles finding acceptance from his classmates. Kurt explores a new school and is introduced to a new friend, Blaine, and a new glee club. The club sang Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream." I am also a big fan of Katy Perry and the way this glee club sang "Teenage Dream" left me speechless. It was amazing with different rhythms and they sung it accapella. Please take a look :-) .

Pleasure Reading-Saw 7

So it may not be a book, but this weekend I saw the final installment of the Saw series. I have watched every movie. I am not the typical girl who LOVES chic flicks, so I love this series. It is so creative and every movie has a twist at the end. I don't want to give too much away incase there are more Saw lovers out there, but you won't be disappointed. The killings from Jigsaw are still underway in the final movie, 3 movies after his death. The games set up are more intense than the previous movies. The final movie was in 3D. I liked the 3D features in this movie better than Alice in Wonderland because things popped out at the audience. I suggest anyone go see this movie if you like suspense and gory movies. If you are a fan of this series, you won't be let down.

Image Grammar Chapter 5

I would just like to point out how much I LOVE this book. Image Grammar is such a wonderful resource. The strategies at the end of each chapter are beneficial in teaching specific lessons. I feel that the strategies can relate to more than one component of Language Arts which makes them so resourceful.

This chapter focused on creating special effects with punctuation. In the first section of the chapter Noden says, "Authors often consciously craft grammatical structures and push conventions beyond textbook limits to create special effects of meaning" (Noden 95). While this may be a great method, students should use this is moderation. As a teacher, I would be afraid that students would begin to use proper grammar. This is a great and creative method for developing special effects, but at the same rate I am torn that students may forget/misuse proper grammar. The text further states a study by Dawkins where he demonstrates that good writers use "incorrect" punctuation. Again, this needs to be used in moderation.

Creating Special Effects

While I fear that students will learn incorrect practices, this section states different approaches to show this strategy has advantages. This method is able to show students the relationship between meaning and punctuation. Students don't always need to focus on grammar, but they need to be aware of proper usage. Showing students both ways could be a positive or negative thing. It could show students what not to do, or it could give students an ultimatum for grammar.

Creating Special Effects with Sentence Structure

What I really enjoyed about this section was the way these sentences that teachers fear bring a dramatic element to writing. The examples Noden provides allows students, and myself, to see how fragments and run-ons could benefit a writing piece. Noden says, "When teachers help students see conventions as an aid to meaning, struggling students can better recognize when fragments and run-ons don't work, and confident students can better understand why writers break rules" (Noden 98). This example of fragments shows students HOW to make a piece more dramatic. Fragments in this case were used positively and correlating back to Noden's statement they show ALL students how to understand why writers break rules.

Creating Special Effects with a Greek Influence

Noden uses terms that aren't popular or go untaught throughout the school year. I will admit, some of the terms such as epanalepis and chiasmus I have never heard of before I read this chapter, and I am sure a lot of high school students are the same way. I liked how he breaks a part and defines each term, followed by an example. This not only helped me understand what the term meant, but also showed me how to find them in sentences. Students could use television, movies, or music to find these terms.

Creating Special Effects with Mood Filtering

This section gave me great ideas of showing a happy or funny movie with scary music in the background. The music can show students how it helps set the mood of a piece of work. This could become a fun activity in class. Students could find videos on YouTube, or create their own, then provide music for the opposing effect to show mood. After the groups present, students could then writer a breif paragraph/journal entry on how the song selection affected the mood.

Creating Special Effects with Tantalizing Titles

We are all guilty of coming up with boring titles. We may have run out of time, or our brains are fried from writing the paper. The list of 12 items Noden provides is a GREAT tool to help students create catchy titles. This list could teach students how to write titles. I liked how the list provides an example for each element.

Hungry Minds Article

This article made me want to go help out a local shelter. This article was inspiring. Ian Frazier donates his time and effort to the local soup kitchen in his community. He helps out in a way unlike any other; he is a teacher for the writers' workshop. Reading the background information on the soup kitchen helped put in perspective the types of people Frazier works with. The article states, "It serves an average of about twelve hundred meals a day, though the number often spikes higher" (Frazier). Fraizer considers the soup kitchen a "work of art" and wants to give back to the members of the kitchen.

I like how Fraizer doesn't thrust the idea of a Writers' Workshop to the people who come in the soup kitchen, but rather lets them know it's a place for them to go. Just like students need another place to release their thoughts, the members of the soup kitchen need the same thing. I admire Fraizer because although many people just stop by the table, not many show up to the workshop. Fraizer still continues to sit and greet the members of the kitchen weekly with flyers. He is always there to try, and his face shows the people he cares about them.

This article reminded me of the lesson Lauren taught about writing. She posted an example of poor writing and asked if the student could become a famous writer. The writer was Thoreau. The members of the soup kitchen may not be the best writers, but they could become famous and inspire the world with their writing. I really enjoyed this article because students could be struggling writers, but want to get their thoughts across. I like how the members of the writers' workshop from the soup kitchen shared their pieces aloud with everyone. Students can become more comfortable with peer feedback, especially feedback that is positive. Students could also feel proud of their writing and want to share it to the class. I feel a lot of classrooms are not sharing writing anymore. I would like to try a coffee shop writing activity where students share their piece of writing with the class after we have finished it in class. Students can bring in coffee, tea, or any school appropriate beverage and the sharing would be like an open mic night. Students could provide feedback to help others enhance their writing. This could be a different twist on writers' workshop. Students could add background music for an effect.

Waiting for Superman

I have also been hearing a lot of good things about the movie Waiting for Superman. This is a movie based on public education and how it is affecting students. As future teachers, we need to make sure we are helping to better the lives of our students. The synopsis of the movie states, "Guggenhiem sets off on a probing journey into the lives of five unforgettable kids whose dreams, hopes and untapped potential reveal all that is at stake at this critical moment."

As of right now, the closest location the movie is playing is in Pennsylvania, but it is coming soon to Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus. It is in Cleveland until Thursday November 4.

Pleasure Reading

I just finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Although this book is for middle school kids, I still enjoyed reading this book. I have always wanted to read this series. Unfortunately, I started with the second book. This book of fantasy is an allegory to Jesus. I made many comparisons to biblical references while reading this book. The lion, Aslan, dies, but resurrects just as Jesus did in the Bible. Aslan and Jesus both sacrifice themselves to protect the lives of others. Narnia reflects life on earth in the Bible that Adam and Eve walked on. The children are referred to as the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve.

This book would be a great resource to use when teaching allegory to students. Allegory is a more difficult term to comprehend, and with this example, children may better understand this term. The fantasy world tends to draw in a better audience, and this fantasy novel will win the hearts of many.

This book was made into a film, so students would also be able to see and compare the text to the film. This novel is controversial because of the religious overtone, but it is a great tool for learning allegory.

I am continuing to build my classroom library. Through the scholastic book orders my teacher hands out monthly, I have purchased five new books with 8 more on the way. My current order includes The Gift of the Magi, Fever 1793, The Boy Who Dared, and a writing tool called How to Write Your Life Story. I am trying to get a variety of fiction, non-fiction, stories for girls and stories for boys.