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.

 

Click here to visit The Secret Annex

Poetry Slam Program Information

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

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

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.

Click here to find more poetry writing ideas and templates

Creating a Works Cited with EasyBib

Today 7th and 8th graders are going to learn how to use EasyBib--an online citation generator.  Click here to go to EasyBib.  Then using the MLA Worksheet, create a works cited page.  Use the handout I gave you last week.  You will be amazed at how easy it can be!

Click here to access the list of resources you need to create your Work Cited List

Choose one of the lists above and create your works cited page using EasyBib.  Remember to type Works Cited at the top of the page.  Sources need to be listed in alphabetical order.  Have fun!

Poetic Elements and Types of Poetry Review

Click here to study the types of poetry and poetic elements on quizlet

Getting started on writing poems!

Not sure how to begin?  Not sure what type of poem to write?
First, click here to go to Shadow Poetry to learn about different types of poems.
Click here to go to a poetry template site.  Choose your poetry form from the list of links.  Then just add words to make the poem your own.  When you finish be sure to print out a copy.

Click here to write about a childhood memory.  Read the poem, listen to the poet and then try to write your own.

The Author Responds!

It's always a wonderful experience to have an author respond to your letter.  The author of One For The Murphy's found Maddie's Book Trailer on my YouTube channel and wrote her a response.  Very exciting!  Congratulations, Maddie!

Harriet Tubman and The Underground Railroad Thinglink

Click here to get to Thinglink

I made a Thinglink account for 5-8 Language Arts-

• username:  barnardla@barnardschool.org

• password:  barnardla58

Your information from the Thinglink we started yesterday can be found on Google Drive--

• Click here to get to  document
• log into barnardla@barnardschool.org

Choose one of the Nonfiction books on the efollet book shelf and research Harriet Tubman and The Underground Railroad.  Try to find some new or unusual information on the topics--things we have not discussed or read about.  Find at least two new facts and add them to the Thinglink above (click on Thinglink to add your information).  Add one link to a brief video, website, a song the slaves might have sung or a picture related to the topic.  Use the same icon for all your links so we can tell who has added what information.  Have fun!