Mrs. Clark-Burnell's English Classes

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Structure of Fiction:  plot, point of view, conflicts, topics, themes, literary devices

Characterization:  authors' methods of characterization, writing a characterization paragraph, paragraph forms, sample paragraphs

On and Under the Surface Notes:  sample rubric created by students, what is it? how does one do it?

Annotation:  what is annotation? how does one do it? why is it a good learning strategy?

Dialectical Journal: what is a dialectical journal response?  how does one do it?

Handouts

"Song of the Trees" by Mildred Taylor

• Find out about the setting--> for research links on the Great Depression click here  Spiral # 25
• Do As a Reader & As a Write Questions in Spiral#28
• Character Collage Project
  • Chart
    

"Mother and Daughter" by Gary Soto

• Read "Characterization" essay by Mara Rockliff pp.106-7
• Read Before You Read the Short Story-- literary focus = character traits & inferences
• Read/listen to story
• Teams make a Direct vs. Indirect Characterization poster
• Write a characterization paragraph about a character in "Mother and Daughter" or "Rikki Tikki Tavi."  (see Characterization Page listed at left for a host of helpful hints on how to write this type of paragraph, including sample paragraphs.)

"Duffy's Jacket" by Bruce Coville

• NOTE: This story is not in the edition of the literature book which students have at home.  We read/listened to it in class.  Students do not need the text  to answer the questions on  this one; I'm not expecting as detailed answers. However, if a student really wants to use the book he can come to my room during SSR/homeroom or use our library before school, after school or at lunch.
• Read "Plot" essay by John Leggett in green literature textbook
• Quickwrite in spiral notebook
• Listen to story in class
• Questions from green literature textbook/handout
• Vocab. list (also on vocabulary page)-- toolkits
• Related Reading:  "Yeti-Like Monster Gives Staid Town a Fright"
  • Read p. 15-- Structure and purpose of newspapers
  • Read the article Pp. 16-17
  • Spiral Entry #_____  Do the reading check, test practice, and vocab. development pp. 18-19

"Rikki Tikki Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling

• Questions from green literature textbook/handout
• Vocabulary list-- do toolkits for each of the vocabulary words-- see table on vocabulary page for list (also in green literature textbooks)
• Characterization chart
• Characterization paragraph #1

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