Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Learning about Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank:  Exploring the Secret Annex:
  Today you will begin to explore The Secret Annex and learn about its inhabitants.  Visit The Secret Annex and answer the questions on the handout.  Please take your time, explore the different sections, watch the videos and read the descriptions.  There are so many interesting things in this site to do and learn about.  Click here to download the worksheet.
 

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Learning about The Holocaust

We will be creating a Padlet Wall to hold all our resources and information on The Holocaust.
  Click here to see the padlet.


Oral Tradition- American Tall Tales and Folklore

We are beginning a new unit!  We will be studying Oral Traditions and storytelling, starting with the study of American Tall Tales and Folklore.  Today you will learn about some of the New Hampshire folklore and some legendary heroes in American Folk history.  Complete the questions on the handout and enjoy learning about some bigger than life heroes!

 Quizlet-  Oral Tradition Flashcards.  Study the definitions of important terms you need to know during this unit.

Complete the worksheet on Folk Heroes (click here for a copy of the worksheet)Use the sites below to find the information.

American Folklore-  Use this site to find tall tales from different parts of the country
Tall Tales -the basics  A lot of good links to different tall tales
American Tall Tales-  good site with some videos to watch
Animated Tall Tales- a fun, interactive site to learn more about tall tales
Myths, Folklore and Fairy Tales- Read different myths and legends from around the world
Aesop's Fables- online collection of Aesop Fables

Monday, April 7, 2014

Performing your Poem

Congratulations!  So many of you have already memorized your entire poem.  WOW!  I am in awe and so impressed by your ability to learn your poems.  As you all know,  I am still struggling to learn more than the first stanza of mine!  Now you need to start learning how to "perform" your poem.  How will you say your poem outloud?  What words will your stress?  How should your stand?  Where should you pause, speak louder?  How to you show the meaning of the poem in the way you recite it?  To help you out, we will start watching students perform their poems in the Poetry Outloud Contest.
Click here to watch the performances.  Good luck!
 













Tips for Performing your Poem



5 Tips for Performing Poetry 

1. Score your Poem-Go through and highlight words you might want to emphasis, speed up, pause or slow down for effect. Make choices that are natural for the poem.
2. Find your pace-A poem is a little story. Be sure your audience understands the entire story. Be careful about how to handle line breaks. Save pauses for where you see punctuation.
3. Use good diction-this mean clear pronunciation of the words. Every word is important!
4. Use natural movement—This is probably the area people have most trouble with. Keep it simple and natural! Let the poem inform your movement.
5. Be natural and have fun! Have fun practicing your poem until it becomes second nature!

 Adapted from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cca7SRzsbBw

Friday, April 4, 2014

More Poetry Writing Sites and Ideas

Write a Poem about your Hero-  this poem will be displayed along with your hero stamp and letter during the Celebration of Learning Night this spring.  Two possible poem types that would work for this assignment are the cinqauin and the septet.
Forgot who your hero was?  Click here to view your stamp.