Observation and Evaluation Report



Instructional Unit

Nadejda V. Taylor

MPE/539

September 24, 2012

Stephanie Hezekiah

University of Phoenix

Instructional Unit: English

Overview of the unit

a. Unit title: Introduction to language arts components and the role of vocabulary and concept development in becoming a proficient language user.

b. Unit focus: 9th grade English Language Arts

c. Unit length: five sessions of 85 minutes each

d. Unit goals:

I. Demonstrate the functions of language arts and the importance of becoming a proficient reader, writer, speaker, and listener.

II. Introduce high-school English language arts standards, their goals, and structure.

III. Vocabulary development, practice of skills pertinent to independent research on and practice of new concepts.

The unit is for the beginning of the school year: these are the themes the students will study throughout the high school. It follows an introductory lesson covering classroom rules and routines.

Incorporating technology use:

- The teacher presents objectives and instructions using SmartBoard projector and computer via PowerPoint or Prezi application.

- Every handout is available in digital format to enable the students to complete assignments using the laptops as a part of the 1:1 Laptops Program the school is a part of.

- The students have the option of maintaining digital or hard-copy journals.

- Many activities require Internet research.

|USA- DoDEA Content Standards |

| |

| |Subject Area: English Language Arts |

| |

| |Grade-Course: Grade 9: Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking. |

| |

| |Strand-Standard: 9E1: Reading |

| |

|9E1a: Word Recognition, Fluency, and Vocabulary Development |

|Students apply their knowledge of word origins from other languages, history or literature, to determine the meaning of new words |

|encountered in reading and use those words accurately.. |

| |

| |

|9E1b: Comprehension and Analysis of Nonfiction and Informational Text |

| |

|Students read and understand a variety of grade-level-appropriate nonfiction such as biographies, autobiographies, books in many different |

|subject areas, magazines, essays, speeches, newspapers, reference and technical materials, and online information. |

| |

| |

|9E1c: Comprehension and Analysis of Literary Text |

|Students read and respond to a wide variety of grade-level-appropriate culturally and historically significant fiction, such as classic and|

|contemporary, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology, poetry, short stories, drama, and other genres. |

| |

Region: USA- Nat. Council of Teachers of English: Standards for the English Language Arts

Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

Five lesson plans appropriate to the unit.

Lesson 1

a. Objective

I. The student demonstrates the understanding of components and practical applications of language arts by designing a poster about the three main categories and providing at least 10 examples.

A list of materials used in the lesson

Printouts:

– graphic organizer

– Speech by J. F. Kennedy Ich bin ein Berliner (1963)

– warm-up vocabulary hand-out

Poster paper, construction paper, magazines with pictures, glue sticks, craft supplies, scissors.

Detailed instructional sequence

Preparation:

– print handouts and place them in hand-out box

– arrange for the guest narrator, a higher grade student with strong presentation skills

– write brief summary of the lesson content on the board

– write helper question words on the board

– write homework on the board

– prepare a video of a speech of Sandra Cisneros (2012)

– set timer for vocabulary warm-up

Lesson begins:

1. 5 min. warm-up:

The teacher instructs the students to start working on the handout as soon as they enter the classroom and settle in. The students know from the previous class they have exactly five minutes. It will be a daily routine - the first month non-graded as the students develop mastery of the new vocabulary. The vocabulary has a theme – mythology (Mythological Dictionary, 2012) – it ties to the unit goals and objectives and serves as an anticipation building activity for when the students study mythology in lesson five of the instructional unit. The theme will continue for the first three weeks and will be reviewed mixed with other themes later in the duration of the course. The vocabulary activity worksheets for the five consecutive lessons are in Appendix A.

2. 10 min. guest narrator presents J. F. Kennedy speech:

The teacher should choose out of materials and other resources available a speech likely to capture students’ attention and demonstrate the height of the speaking mastery.

3. 5 min. Teacher’s lecture:

This was an example of the power of language: history is full of examples of speeches that influenced events, cultures, and people. There is a reason people call them Language Arts – like with any other arts you can have fun – create new things, enjoy the works of other artists. Ms. Clark told me that the problem with the students in Language Arts classes is that they do not understand why they need it; the good news is that this year she said, her students show signs of becoming genuine artists of language. There is a progression to any language: first a child learns to read, and it becomes the most important skill in his future studies and career. Then she becomes a good writer, and the better writer a person is, the better career he is likely to have. The top of it is speaking: only some people become good speakers, these are leaders, whose speeches change history.

5 min. Journal Writing.

The students volunteer to be teachers or students. “The teachers” explain in their journals why it is important to study language arts; the students write questions to the teachers pertaining to why they are taking this class. They are to use question words: what, what for, how, which, when, who, whom, whose, where.

4. 30 min. Guided discussion: analysis of components of language arts.

Journal Writing Review: the teacher navigates the students to forming the understanding of the three major components of the studies covered in language arts using student’s journal responses. The teacher writes the labels pertaining to the categories and subcategories, on the board developing a graphic organizer. The example of desired questions/responses is in Appendix B

5 a). Comparing writing to speaking. During the review the teacher provides examples of an effective writer – Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street (1984) – by reading a vignette and comparing the famous writer’s poetry style to her ineffective speaking. To do so the teacher plays the video of Cisnero’s interview (Cisnero, 2012) to demonstrate that it is not enough to be a brilliant writer to be an effective speaker.

5 b). A grammar activity: the teacher asks the students to write 10 adjectives describing the author’s writing and speaking. The teacher walks around the classroom and calls out adjectives she sees students write.

6. 30 min. Performance Assessment:

Poster designing: the teacher instructs the students to design a poster that demonstrates why Language Arts are important to study and what role the three components play: reading, writing, and speaking/listening. The students are allowed maximum freedom: what to include in the poster as long as they cover the three components, and whom they want to work with – individually or in groups and how much time they want to put in it (Appendix C).

7. Five minutes before the bell rings the teacher hands out homework assignment (Appendix D).

Addressing students’ diversity:

- the teacher provides the graphic organizer print-out (Appendix B) as a visual help to guide students who may have difficulty connect the language arts elements independently

- the teacher monitors students progress during the poster designing and regroups students if necessary to provide a helper for special needs students

- the teacher has available different literature for helping students connect the new concepts with concrete examples

________________________________

Lesson 2

a. Objectives

I. The student retrieves information from his or her memory defining concepts pertaining to reading by completing a graphic organizer with 90% accuracy.

II. The student researches sources during completion of the graphic organizer by finding relevant information with 90% accuracy.

A list of materials used in the lesson

Printouts:

– Graphic organizer: Department of Defense Educational Activities (DoDEA) Reading Standards (Appendix E)

– Warm-up vocabulary hand-out

Glue sticks

Detailed instructional sequence

Preparation

– print handouts and place them in hand-out box

– cut out “In your own words” examples matrix boxes and concept words (Appendix E)

– write brief summary of the lesson content on the board

– write the instructions and evaluation criteria for the lesson activity on the board

Concept Words: nonfiction text, informational text, literary text, comprehension, concept development, analysis, fluency, word recognition, vocabulary development, structural features (Appendix E)

Lesson begins:

1. 5 min. Vocabulary warm up (Appendix A)

2. 10 min. Feedback.

Discussing results, questions of the previous class. If the students did not have a chance to introduce their posters they may do so now.

3. 55 min. Practice by doing. DoDEA Reading Standards (Appendix E).

- Teacher groups the students in equal ability pairs - the teacher provides the amount of handouts equal half of the students in the classroom. The assignment is challenging and lengthy, and it is the teacher’s estimation that working collaboratively will help. The students receive graphic organizers – breakdown of the state standards for reading.

- The students are to complete matrices with paraphrased sentences either of their own or provided by the teacher. The students also provide an example of each standard strand: they write down a few words summarizing the example ready to give detailed explanation upon request. The students complete assignment in three phases: they should not proceed to the next page before finishing the preceding.

- Their work will be evaluated by the teacher or a pair of students who finished work earlier. The only criterion is clarity of examples and correct match of paraphrased sentences. For the examples the students are free to use any resources from Internet texts and videos to books, including dictionaries, magazines, and their own creations. The teacher provides relevant resources, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, a compendium of mythology (White, 2012).

4. 15 min. Review.

Posters presentations, question about the homework assignment – sources, completing the DoDEA Reading Standards Organizer.

Addressing students’ diversity:

- The teacher groups students in pairs of student helper – student needing additional help

- The teacher monitors students’ progress and when necessary gives additional descriptions of concept words and points out their applications in the graphic organizer activity

- During review the teacher pays additional attention to those students who are more likely to have difficulties. If they require more time to complete organizers they do so during the review and are provided an alternative helper

___________________________________________

Lesson 3

a. Objectives

I. The student demonstrates skills necessary to identify the literal and figurative words meaning and uses words appropriately by completing a matrix with 90% accuracy.

II. The student concludes his Internet findings of the origins of words by completing the quiz with 90% accuracy.

A list of materials used in the lesson

Printouts:

– Warm-up vocabulary hand-out (Appendix A).

– Concept Words

– Figurative Meaning Matrix

– Quiz

– Homework

Detailed instructional sequence

Preparation

– print handouts and place them in hand-out box

– write brief summary of the lesson content on the board

Concept words: literal meaning, figurative meaning, origins, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, imagery, symbolism, paradox (Appendix F).

Lesson begins

1. 5 min. Vocabulary warm up (Appendix A)

1. 10 min. Feedback.

Discussing results, questions of the previous class. If the students did not have a chance to introduce their posters they may do so now. The students may start turning in their mythology resources.

3. 5 min. Learning styles

Three discussion groups – instruct class to divide into three groups by dominating intelligences. I introduce the students to the idea of learning styles describing briefly the three main learning styles – visual, audio, and tactile/kinesthetic and ask each student to choose the one he or she relates to the most: this will determine in which group each student works today. The teacher gives students the task:

4. 10 min. Figurative Meaning Decoded Matrix (Appendix G).

- Students receive the handout with the matrix that requires the students to conduct a research using dictionaries, encyclopedias, and web search as well as their own prerequisite knowledge. As the students complete the matrix, they need to think how they will present their findings using their learning style. The objective is to have students start thinking of options to how material can be presented and give the teacher ideas on how they want her to introduce the material in the future or the students to introduce the material to each other.

- All three groups complete the same assignment: they find meaning of 10 phrases in sources of their choice, the origins of the phrases, a category of figurative speech, and give their own example of the use of the phrases.

5. 15 min. Students present their findings to class using the learning style they chose.

6. 20 minutes: Quiz (Appendix H).

Word origins: students use various sources to find origins of words. The objective is to demonstrate to students global origins of many words of modern English and to practice research and inquiry skills.

5. 20 minutes: revision of problem areas, misunderstandings.

- Teacher works with individual students whom she estimated informally as needing clarification on activities completed so far in the unit. Other students are instructed to either watch videos of spoken poetry: key terms are Sarah Key, Rives, Def poetry (appeals to visual and audio learners) or make entries in their journals about their favorite book/author/genre.

- The teacher hands out the homework (Appendix I) and introduces it. The students are to conduct research about origins of their family together with a family member. They also receive a Letter to Parents (Appendix J).

Addressing students’ diversity

- One of the objectives of the lesson is to introduce the students to the concept of learning styles, help them identify and practice using their preferred style.

- The teacher applies a strategy to involve parents as helpers in students’ homework assignment.

- The vocabulary warm-up activity is timed and must be turned-in after five minutes from the moment the bell rings. However, if students require additional time they are free to start the activity as soon as they enter the class before the bell.

__________________________________________________________

Lesson 4

a. Objectives

I. The student performs an act that demonstrates his ability to select appropriate connotations and denotations of words.

II. The student analyzes his or her writing by considering what connotations will make the writing more vivid with 90% accurate word choice.

A list of materials used in the lesson

Printouts:

– Warm-up vocabulary hand-out (Appendix A).

– A personal writing of each student, one of their choice from their journals

– Connotations exercise

Detailed instructional sequence

Preparation

– print handouts and place them in hand-out box

– write brief summary of the lesson content on the board

– write concept words on the board

– the teacher instructs three students to eat a small peeled orange (to expedite the process): one is to eat it slowly, savoring every bite; another is to eat it quickly, gobbling it up in a flash; the third is to eat it reluctantly, as if it tasted sour but the student still eats it against his will.

Concept words: denotation, connotation, synonyms

Lesson begins

1. 5 min. Vocabulary warm up (Appendix A)

2. 10 min. Feedback.

Discussing results, questions of the previous class. The students continue turning in their mythology resources.

3. 5 min. Demonstration:

The teacher writes on the board:

“He ate the orange.” The three students eat the oranges in a different manner.

4. 10 min. Demonstration of the use of connotations

The teacher thinks aloud description of the manner in which the three students ate the oranges and writes the verbs, adjectives, and adverbs that describe the act more precisely than “ate” and rewrites the sentence three times.

The teacher demonstrates how to access resources to retrieve additional synonyms, either using a web browser or a thesaurus, or a dictionary with synonyms.

5. 15 min. Personal Writing Revision

Students open their journals and choose one page or one entry to re-write using more colorful words to create a vivid effect. Encourage them to use the resources. The teacher checks the students’ work during the assignment and during the students’ preparation stage of the next activity.

6. 40 min. Performance assessment: the students create groups of three or four (Appendix K).

The teacher provides them with a text: modified excerpt form Alice in Wonderland (Carroll, 2012). The students work in groups of four. They should add 10 connotations that will make the text more vivid. Following the instructions and the rubric the students act out the edited text.

Addressing students’ diversity:

- appealing to various learning styles: the teacher integrates students performing – kinesthetic – and demonstration – visual

- the teacher ensures equal distribution of students by ability so that special needs students received peer support when necessary

- the teacher permits special needs students to compare the simplified Alice in Wonderland text with the original at the beginning of the activity to explicit the application of connotations

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Lesson 5

a. Objective

I. The student structures responses pertaining to language arts elements and the role of vocabulary by completing the unit test with 85% accuracy.

A list of materials used in the lesson

Students’ resource materials

Printouts:

– Warm-up vocabulary hand-out (Appendix A).

– Test

c. Detailed instructional sequence

Preparation

– Print handouts and place them in hand-out box.

– Write brief summary of the lesson content on the board.

– The teacher arranges the material the students brought in together with any other relative manipulatives, including the student’s presentations of Family Origins. The guiding principle in arranging resources is learning styles: video, audio, books.

Lesson Begins

1. 5 min. Vocabulary warm up (Appendix A)

2. 10 min. Feedback.

Discussing results, questions of the previous class. The students continue turning in their mythology resources.

3. 5 min. Take time to explore.

The teacher welcomes the students to take a look around.

4. 20 min. Analysis of myths.

- Task: students choose any material(s) and find 10 words that came to English language from the myths in the source(s). The students are free to work alone or in groups as long as they can indicate the place in the source where they found the word(s). Yes it can be total of 10 words even if it is the entire class result.

- The activity can be, if necessary, in the next classes throughout the month.

5. 45 min. Unit Test (Appendix L).

Addressing students’ diversity

- The teacher announces during feedback time the upcoming unit test. She provides the special needs students with a test handout now to provide them with additional time for completion of the test. The students are allowed to start working on the test in the classroom or in the resource center.

- The students are allowed to use additional resources during the test, such as Internet or dictionaries.

- To ensure that the students will have adequate opportunity to study myths resources the exhibition will remain in the class for the duration on the next month.

________________________________

Bibliography

Community Resources

Source: Guest Speaker – a student from a higher grade with strong presentational skills.

Demonstration of mastery of language by an older student is an effective way to inspire the students to explore the language and its components because students relate better to information presented by their peers. The selection of the material to be read – J. F. Kennedy’s speech helps integrate curricula as it presents aspects from history and gives a vivid demonstration how mastery of language has the power to change history.

Source: school, home, and community libraries.

Mythology Resources assignment requires that students explore home, school, and community libraries. The students are to bring resources pertinent to the study of mythology.

Parent Involvement Resource

Epstein, J. L. (1987). Parent involvement: What research says to administrators. Education and Urban Society. (19.2). 13.

The article identifies types of parental obligations, among which school involvement relates to the use of parental assistance and cooperation in instruction. It also gives descriptions and recommendations of effective strategies of parental initial involvement and maintaining strong parent-teacher relations.

References

Carroll, L. Alice in Wonderland. Retrieved 09/15/12 from

Cisneros, S. I hate the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Video retrieved 24/09/12 from

Cisneros, S. (1984). The House on Mango Street. Random House.

Kennedy, J. F.(June 26, 1963). Ich bin ein Berliner. Retrieved 23/09/12 from

Mythological Dictionary. Retrieved 09/21/12 from

Appendix A. Mythology Daily Warm-Up.

Mythology

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

|1 |Apollo | |a seemingly small but important weakness |

|2 |Atlantis | |a member of a country of women warriors |

|3 |bacchanalian | |a young man of great physical attractiveness |

|4 |Amazon | |place offering peace and easiness |

|5 |Aurora | |book that includes a collection of geographic maps |

|6 |Achilles' heel | |a mythical island in the Atlantic Ocean |

|7 |Aurora borealis | |the glow before the sunrise |

|8 |Atlas | |light display in the Northern part of the world |

|9 |I fear Greeks even when they bear gifts | |an adjective describing hyper, drunken party |

|10 |Arcadia | |a warning to beware of betrayal |

Mythology

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

|1 |Calypso music | |the fifth planet and a god |

|2 |cornucopia | |victory at a cost too high |

|3 |Jupiter | |a sea spirit who detained Odysseus on her island |

|4 |Calypso | |music style of Caribbean islands |

|5 |chaotic | |belonging to goddess of grain |

|6 |Cadmean Victory | |a condition of great mess |

|7 |cyclopean | |horn of plenty |

|8 |cereal | |areas of the universe rather than the Earth |

|9 |cosmic | |giant, immense, primitive (building) |

Mythology

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

|1 |genius | |evil spirit |

|2 |dionysian | |a Greek spirit who vanished but her voice remained |

|3 |Echo | |extreme, asymmetrical, and unreasonable |

|4 |flora and fauna | |from Greek “filled with the God” |

|5 |demon | |from the Greek god of love |

|6 |Europa | |flowers and animals |

|7 |furious | |princess stolen by Zeus, land of the setting sun |

|8 |Erotic | |from the Latin: spirits of revenge |

|9 |enthusiasm | |from Latin: creative power |

|10 |gorgonian | |a coral that looks like hair of snakes |

Mythology

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

|1 |hermetic | |a Greek female monster with a bird’s body |

|2 |iridescent | |greatest hero in the ancient world |

|3 |Lotus | |supernatural knowledge/completely sealed |

|4 |hypnosis | |from the God of sleep |

|5 |lethargic | |reckless, from the name of a boy who flew too close to the Sun |

|6 |Icarian | |from the name of a Goddess that means rainbow |

|7 |labyrinth | |a maze built to imprison the monster Minotaur |

|8 |harpy | |from the name of the river in the underworld in which one is drowsy and |

| | | |sluggish |

|9 |Hercules | |a fruit in Greek mythology believed to cause happy irresponsibility |

Mythology

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

|1 |hydra | |the greatest warrior of the Trojans |

|2 |mercury | |son of Hermes, both male and female |

|3 |museum | |monster with many heads |

|4 |hermaphrodite | |Worthy of Mars Roman god of war |

|5 |mentor | |teacher, Odysseus’ trusted counselor |

|6 |narcissist | |messenger of Gods, planet closest to the Sun |

|7 |money | |from the Roman mint in the temple of Moneta |

|8 |martial | |nine daughters of Zeus, inspirations in the arts |

|9 |hector | |place of the Muses |

|10 |muses | |Selfish, in love with him/herself |

Appendix B. Analysis of Components of Language Arts: Graphic Organizer Example.

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Appendix C. Poster design instructions:

Design a poster.

1) feel free to be as creative as you wish.

2) feel free to work alone, with a friend, or in a team.

3) answer the question: why it is important to study Language Arts.

4) explain what role you see reading, writing, and speaking/listening play in helping you succeed.

5) you are free to draw and paint.

6) you are free to use images out of magazines. You have to include connotations that explains why you chose the image(s).

Present the poster.

1) present the poster when you are ready.

2) you are free to finish it at home.

3) in two-five sentences, describe your work.

4) be ready to answer questions.

Appendix D. Homework: Sources

Bring a book, audio CD or a movie (DVD or VHS), a poster, a picture, your own drawing, magazine on mythology to the next class – ask a parent, search in your home library, visit your local library. It can be in any format except Internet.

|Task |Examples |Warning: Unacceptable |

|Bring in a source on mythology in any |a book/magazine |Format: Internet |

|format |an audio CD | |

| |a movie (DVD or VHS) | |

| |a poster | |

| |a picture | |

| |your own drawing (has to be specific. prepare to explain what | |

| |the drawing depicts) | |

|How do I find a source? |No printed material |

|ask a parent |from a computer |

|search in your home library | |

|visit your school or community library | |

| | |

|What kind of mythology. | |

|Definition: | |

|Mythology – myths (sacred stories) of a particular culture, or of humankind as a whole, the study and of | |

|such myths. (urbanlegends.) | |

|Greek | |

|Roman | |

|Egyptian | |

|Assyrian | |

|Persian | |

|Hindu | |

|Tibetan | |

|Scandinavian | |

|Celtic | |

|Aztec | |

|Peruvian | |

|Chinese, etc. | |

| | |

|Timeline | |Grade |

|Monday 09/24/12 |Assignment given today | |

|Wednesday |Please ask me any questions / bring your find to check if it | |

|09/26/12 |relates to mythology | |

|Friday 09/28/12 |Bring your find for full grade |A |

|Tuesday 10/2/12 |Bring in your find |B |

|Thursday 10/4/12 |Last chance to bring your find |C |

Appendix E. Graphic Organizer: DoDEA Reading Standards. (Minimized to scale 1:2 to fit the page)

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Appendix F. Figurative Speech Concept Words.

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Appendix G. Figurative Meaning Decoded Matrix.

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Appendix H. Word origins quiz.

Quiz: Words Origins

Almost every word has a rich history. Using a dictionary, encyclopedia, or Internet for sources agree or disagree with the statements below: circle “T” for true and “F” for false

1. T F The word salary originated from the Latin word meaning “salt money,” because the Roman soldiers were paid in salt.

2. T F The word curfew originated from an Italian phrase meaning “deadline.”

3. T F The word gossip originated from an Old English word meaning “godparent.”

4. T F The word ski comes from Norway, there is even a Norse god and goddess for skiing.

5. T F The word soccer originated from an abbreviation of the word “associate.”

6. T F The word lacrosse originated from an Old English phrase meaning “to cross the field.”

7. T F The words “yawn” and “chaos” are related in their origin.

8. T F The word “ketchup” originated with a German term meaning “pickle sauce.”

9. T F The word “planet” originated with a Greek word meaning “wondering stars.”

10. T F The words “orange” and “citrus” are related in their origin.

Key: 1 T, 2 F, 3 T, 4 T, 5 T, 6 F, 7 T, 8 F, 9 T, 10 F

Appendix I. Homework: Family Origins.

Have a conversation with your parents/guardians/grandparents about the origins of your family:

◙ do you have a family crest, if so what do its elements represent?

◙ the culture(s)/country(ies) you come from, what words from that culture/country came to the English language, what does your family name or even the first names in the family mean/represent?

◙ facilitate your conversation with an online research. Recommended resources:

Present your findings in any way you wish (essay, poster, speech, a combination of these, etc.).

If your family member would like to visit our class to help with the presentation we will be thrilled! Please give this letter to him/her/them and return it to me next class.

Your work is due on October 8, 2012. If you are preparing a presentation please have it scheduled with me by this date with an outline of what it will be like.

Rubric:

|Task | | |Points earned |

|Researched family origins (5 points) | | | |

|Returned the letter with parent’s | | | |

|signature (5 points) | | | |

|Presented the work / scheduled | | | |

|presentation / provided outline by | | | |

|October 8, 2012 (5 points) | | | |

|The presentation introduces ten-plus |The presentation introduces |The presentation introduces | |

|words/symbols (5 points) |7-plus symbols (4 points) |4-plus symbols (3 points) | |

| | | | |

Appendix J. Letter to Parents.

Familial Words Origins

Dear Parent/guardian,

In our English class we are studying words origins. Every word has its history and so does every family. We would like to help your child to explore the history of the words and symbols that come from your family or culture.

Do you have a family crest, if so what do its elements represent, what culture(s)/country(ies) you come from, what words from that culture/country came to the English language? What does your family name or even the first names in the family mean/represent? Facilitate your conversation with an online research. Recommended resources:

Your child will need to present your findings to the class in any creative way he/she/you wish. We will be happy to have you as a guest in our class whether to enjoy the exhibitions/presentation of other students or help your child present yours. The project will run through the month of October.

Whenever you wish to visit the class please circle the date in the calendar below. If you need more time to decide, please feel free to send an e-mail or call or send a note with your child at a later date. This will help us to designate time in the lesson to greet you and/or enjoy your presentation.

| |Tuesday 10/2/12 | |Thursday 10/4/12 | |

| |Tuesday 10/09/12 | |Thursday 10/11/12 | |

|Monday 10/15/12 | |Wednesday 10/17/12 | | |

|Monday 10/22/12 | |Wednesday 10/24/12 | |Friday 10/26/12 |

| |Tuesday 10/30/12 | | | |

Please sign to confirm you have read the message. You child will need to return the letter with your signature to earn the full grade for this assignment. Thank you! ϑ

Parent’s/guardian/s signature: _________________________________________________

Respectfully,

Nadejda V. Taylor

English/French Teacher

Kaiserslautern High School

06371-838-5115

nadejda.taylor@eu.dodea.edu

Appendix K. Connotations.

Instructions: Finding Connotations in Classical Literature

1. Read the excerpt from Alice in Wonderland.

2. Add ten connotations that will make the text more vivid. DO NOT USE INTERNET

3. Think how you can act out the text. Reserve one role for the narrator. Pay special attention to acting out the connotations you added.

4. Read the original of the story. Underlie the connotations that were replaced.

Rubric

|Skill |1 point |2 points |3 points |Points earned |

|Connotations are added to the text.|4-plus connotations were |7-plus connotations were |10-plus connotations were | |

| |added |added |added | |

|Connotations are acted out, |4-plus connotations were |7 plus connotations were |10-plus connotations were | |

|correctly reflecting their meaning.|acted out |acted out |acted out | |

|Every team member performed |___ |___ |Every member performed | |

|The original connotations are found|4-plus connotations found |7-plus connotations found |10-plus connotations found| |

|Comments: |

ALICE was beginning to feel tired of sitting by her sister on the bank and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had looked into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or speeches in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or speeches?'

So she was thinking over (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when a White Rabbit with pink eyes passed by her.

There was nothing so remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!" (when she thought it over afterwards it came to her that she ought to have noticed this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but, when the Rabbit took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for she thought that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and as she wanted to find out, she ran across the field after it, and was just in time to see it enter a rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, not thinking of how in the world she was to exit. (Adapted from Alice in Wonderland).

______________________________________________

ALICE was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?'

So she was considering, in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" (when she thought it over afterwards it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but, when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again. (from Alice in Worderland)

Appendix L. Unit Test.

True\false: Circle “T” if you agree with, and “F” – disagree with each statement:

1. T F The word “curfew” originated from a French phrase meaning “cover fire.”

2. T F It is easier to believe a person who does not support his/her statements with accurate examples.

3. T F The word “ketchup” originated from a Chinese phrase “fish sauce.”

4. T F I can determine what kind of person a character in the story is by the color of his eyes.

5. T F “Lacrosse,” which means “the stick” has its origins in a tribal game of Native Americans adopted and named by French immigrants.

Short answer:

6. Give an example of a non-fictional text. What is its purpose?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. What is an important step to take before researching on issues or topics?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Explain the difference between figurative and literal meaning.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. How can we classify different works of literature?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fill-in-the-Blank:

10. The expression “as snug as a bug in a rug” would best fill the blank in which sentence:

a) When he wrote that message he felt _______________________.

b) So she whispered in his ear and the expression on their faces was _______________________.

c) The child fell asleep on the couch. He looked _________________________________.

d) They arrived to the village. After such a long journey they felt _____________________________.

Multiple-Choice: circle the letter next to the best matching answer in each question.

11. The lines from the poem Ghost House by Robert Frost (1915) are what figure of speech:

I dwell in a lonely house I know

That vanished many a summer ago.

a) simile

b) metaphor

c) hyperbole

d) paradox

12. This symbol was first used by military and today every nation uses one to represent patriotism and love of country.

a) a flag

b) a crest

c) an army

d) a name

13. Something or some place from which a word or expression started:

a) the origin

b) the example

c) determination

d) a kind

14. Statement blown out of proportion, gone to extremes:

a) literal meaning

b) simile

c) metaphor

d) hyperbole

Matching test items: write the word number next to the correct definition.

|15 |Atlantis | |a condition of great mess |

|16 |Amazon | |a book that includes a collection of geographic maps |

|17 |Atlas | |a mythical island in the Atlantic Ocean |

|18 |Cornucopia | |from the Latin: spirits of revenge |

|19 |Chaotic | |flowers and animals |

|20 |Cereal | |belonging to goddess of grain |

|21 |Genius | |Horn of plenty |

|22 |Flora and fauna | |from Latin: creative power |

|23 |Europa | |a member of a country of women warriors |

|24 |furious | |princess stolen by Zeus, land of the setting sun |

Essay:

Write a one-page essay. Answer the following questions:

♪ Why is it important to study Language Arts?

♪ What components Language Arts include?

♪ Which component do you think your are the strongest in?

♪ Why do you think so?

| |

|Essay on Language Arts |

|Date: ___________________ |

|[pic] |

|Score: ___________________ |

| |

|  |

|Criteria |

|Points |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|1 |

|2 |

|3 |

|4 |

|  |

| |

|Length |

|Paper contained at least 15 lines. |

|Paper contained at least 20 lines. |

|Paper contained at least 25 lines. |

|Paper contained at least 30 lines. |

|____ |

| |

|Topic |

|---------- |

|-------------- |

|Paper contained information about students’ strong qualities in English, but the role of Language Arts is not identified. |

|Paper contained information about all components of Language Arts and their role in student’s life. |

|____ |

| |

|Comparison/Contrast |

|--------- |

|Issues among students were neither compared nor contrasted. |

|Issues were compared or contrasted but not both. |

|Issues were compared and contrasted. |

|____ |

| |

|Number of Language Arts areas |

|Less than three areas were identified. |

|Less than three areas were described. |

|Three areas are identified but not described. |

|Three areas indentified and described. |

|____ |

| |

|Grammar and Mechanics |

|5+ errors found. |

|3-4 errors found. |

|2 errors found. |

|0-1 errors found. |

|____ |

| |

|Spelling |

|3+ errors. |

|2 errors. |

|1 error. |

|No spelling errors. |

|____ |

| |

|  |

|  |

|  |

|  |

|Total----> |

|____ |

| |

| |

| |

|Comments: |

| |

Extra credit: Fill-in-the-blanks by replacing, when possible, the words in parenthesis with connotations that will make the text more vivid.

Redruff (lived) ____________ in the Don Valley north of Toronto, and many of my (friends) ______________ will (remember) __________ him. He was killed in 1889, between the Sugar Loaf and Castle Frank, by an (animal) __________ whose name I have (held back) __________, as it is the species, rather than the individual, that I (want) __________ to expose.

Silverspot, Raggylug, and Vixen are (founded on) __________ real characters. Though I have (given) ____________ them the (events) ______________ of more than one of their kind, every (case) _______________ in their biographies is (real) ____________________.

The fact that these stories are true is (why) ______________ all are (sad) ____________. The life of a wild animal always has a (sad) _______________ end. (Adapted from E. T. Seton’s Wild Animals I Have Known)

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