Put that sentence on Weight Watchers . . .

Today's Zingers: 

I've been working on conciseness with all of my classes recently, and I had one group take a sentence from one of their own essays and write it on the board. When one student finished writing his, his friend said, "Dude,  you need to put that sentence on Weight Watchers and trim the fat."

My AP English Language students are working on style analysis this quarter. Last week, they analyzed Bill Clinton's DNC speech, and one student wrote, "Clinton tries to convince his listeners to re-elect Obama. People "on the fence" know which meadow they want to be in. If it's one that breeds donkeys or elephants, only they know."

Yesterday, my juniors began studying "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," the fiery sermon by Jonathan Edwards. When I asked the group what they knew of the time period in which the sermon was delivered, one boy confidently said, "The Great Awakening happened just before the Great Depression."

Today's Tip/Resource: I need to clarify the way in which I bundle my products on TeachersPayTeachers because many of my buyers are purchasing the same item twice. My 77-page unit, Style Analysis (or Rhetorical Analysis) for AP English Language and Composition, is also sold in pieces. The following products are part of that unit, so please be aware that when  you purchase the unit, you purchase ALL of these items as well. It is much less expensive to buy the entire unit than it is to buy the pieces.

If you have made double purchases in error, shoot an e-mail to TpT for reimbursal, OR e-mail me to get a product of equal value for free.

HANDOUTS ONLY for Style Analysis (or Rhetorical Analysis) for AP English Language and Composition

Back Door Syntax Organizer

Tone Words in Categories

AP English Syntax Test

Using Images to Introduce Tone

AP English Style Analysis Tool Box

AP English Syntax Scavenger Hunt

Point of View Terminology Graphic

SOAPS Acronym Visual and Activator

AP English Syntax Bundle

Figurative Language Analysis Bundle

Rhetorical Triangle Graphic

Constipated Red Blood Cells

Today's Zingers: Another bonus day! You get three student funnies for the price of none!
1. (Out of context, this one's funny.) "That red blood cell looks constipated."
2. (From a student's memoir) "She looked as scared as a raccoon that was almost hit by a minivan."
3. (Again, a gem out of context) "Why rats need erectile dysfunction medication, I'll never know."

Today's Tip and Resource: I LOVE http://www.weebly.com/! You can create a free teacher web site and then set up student accounts. Students can create multiple-page sites, and the instruction you would front load aligns with Common Core. Imagine knocking out several standards as students analyze literary and informational texts, write, and collaborate on their sites.

AssAss ination

Today's (Overheard) Zinger:
Student A: "How do you spell assassination?"
Student B: "Oh! I know this! Double ass-i-nation."

Bonus: "Everyone in my urgent family does it." I think she was going for immediate.

Today's Tip: As you come to grips with the new Common Core standards, mount a pacing guide, unit guide, or standards grid on a bulletin board near your desk. As you incorporate each standard, highlight what you've done.

Today's Resource: I created a grid so that I can see all the Common Core ELA 9-10 standards at once. It made so much much sense to me that I thought it would be valuable to others. I'd love some feedback on the format.

Common Core Instruction Tracker (ELA 9-10 Grade Band)

9/11, the day the Japanese attacked America

Today's Zingers: On the way to school today, I realized that this year's freshmen would likely be my first group to have no memory of 9/11. These kids were four and five years old. Before beginning a photo response writing exercise on the World Trade Center collapses, I decided to assess students' background knowledge. I was dismayed when one of my freshmen said, "Wait, 9/11, I've heard of that." It only got worse. Not one student in my first block class could tell me the nationalities of the hijackers. Guesses ranged from Indian to American. Not one student could tell me how many planes were involved. What I did not realize was that "Flight 93 landed in Transylvania." I was also surprised that "9/11 was the day the Japanese attacked America." Better yet, "The emergency number 911 was named after 9/11."  I'm so afraid that this generation will never know the story.

Today's Tip: Trim back on paper by using blog posts as journal entries. The blog post is your prompt, and students respond by commenting. Here's an example from my school site.

Today's Resource: Here are some FREEBIES from my store on TeachersPayTeachers.com:

Tone Words in Categories
Accessing The American Pageant
Persuasive Speech Matrix Rubric

Grattamarically Wrong

Today's Zinger: Bonus day! You get two! Four students were using my room during lunch to plan a group project for another class. I overheard these two lines:

"You can't use that sentence. It's grattamarically wrong."

"I was nervous about getting my lip pierced until I went with my mom when she had hers done."

Today's Tip: Before beginning a unit, copy all materials needed for instruction, practice, and assessment. You'll save yourself the drama of running down the hall to the copier just before the bell rings ... because you were late to work ... because the baby threw up on you TWICE. This scenario is hypothetical, of course.

Today's Resource: TeachersPayTeachers.com is gaining thousands of members each week. Here's a Romeo and Juliet freebie from a newbie.

Keeping Us Straight

Today's Zinger: I teach an integrated Biology/Creative Writing class, and a student wrote this line on a review bellringer today: "The animal cell does not have a cell wall because we don't need one to keep us straight." This (unintentionally) funny line made me laugh aloud while grading the assignment, and when students looked up to find out the reason for the laughter, one asked, "Did one of us make the blog?!"

Today's Tip: At my school, students are allowed to have cell phones. We were losing the texting battle, so our administration team decided to come up with a compromise. Students may have them on campus and even use them between classes and during lunch, but they must surrender them before walking in to any classroom. The teachers stand at their doors with baskets, buckets, and boxes collecting phones as the kids come in. Everyone does it, so there's no drama when one teacher plays the heavy. Students know to turn their phones off before placing them in the basket, and they pick them up on their way out.

Today's Resource: I utterly love the work of Sabrina Hinson, a crazily creative high school English teacher. I highly recommend that you check out her TpT store here.

She has a migration.

Today's Zinger: "Brenda went home early. She has a migration."

Today's Tip: My first year teaching, someone gave me a "Tip a Day" time management calendar. One of the suggestions has stuck with me for 23 years: Keep an eye out for five-minute tasks. With a few minutes left at the end of lunch or a small chunk of time while students are working on an assignment, grade one paper, answer one email, or find five pieces of paper you can clear off your desk and recycle. Twelve of those five-minute jobs add up to an hour of work!

Today's Resources: I have posted several new products to my TeachersPayTeachers store. Please take a look.
Quotation Mark Posters (14 colorful posters with a rule and example on each)

Back Door Syntax Organizer (Revised to include teacher notes!)

Figurative Language Analysis Bundle

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