Students should not be surprised about what they are expected to know and be able to do on an exam.  As you prepare the  summative assessment or final exam for your course consider ways you can help your students review effectively and then use exam time efficiently.

The outline below is designed to guide the final week of class time and the student review time at home.  Here’s Prep for Exam handout.  Note the instructions for each section are including in the handout in much the way this information appears in test prep resources for the SAT and ACT exams students take.

Prepare for English I – First Semester Examination

I. LITERATURE – 50 minutes

A. Read the short story (15 minutes) MARK TEXT to save time. Then, refer it to complete the following sections:

B. Vocabulary in Context –(10 points) The Italicized words are vocabulary in the short story. Use the context to determine the meaning of words with which you are unfamiliar, then mark on your Scantron the letter that corresponds with the BEST definition or synonym. (10 words at 1 point each)

C. Short Answers: ( 20 points) Write answers in INK in the LINED SECTION of your answer sheet. Write your answer, then using evidence from the story, explain your response. Complete answers earn more points. (5 questions at 4 points each)

D. Thinking Critically about the Story – (20 points) Choose two of the following sets of questions and respond to each set in a well-structured paragraph. Indicate the number of question you’re answering. (2 questions at 10 points each)

II. IDENTIFYING LITERARY DEVICES (15 points ) – On your Scantron sheet, mark the letter that corresponds with the DOMINANT literary device illustrated by the quotation. Carefully read the entire quotation before making a final decision. (15 quotations at 1 point each)

III. GRAMMAR (10 minutes)

A. Recognizing Verbals and Verbal Phrases – (5 points) Identify the underlined the verbals in the following sentences. On your Scantron, mark A for participial, B for gerund C for infinitive.

B. Correct Use of Modifiers – – (5 points) On your Scantron, mark A if the sentence is correct B if it is sentence is incorrect.

C. Recognizing Dangling Modifiers – (5 points) On your Scantron, mark A if the underlined modifier is dangling or misplaced B if the underlined modifier is in a logical or correct place.

IV. WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE (50 minutes) – You may use one page of notes with facts about the stories.

A. Comparing Old literature to the New. Consider the themes expressed in the new short story you will have read during the exam. Think about the short pieces we’ve studied this semester. (3-4 pgs.) prompt will be on the exam). (45 points)

SHORT SELECTIONS: “from Annie John” “from Bless Me, Ultima” “from The Cat’s Eye” “from Their Eyes Were Watching God” “Making Do” “No Name Woman” “Orbiting” “Run” “Seventeen Syllables” “Sonny’s Blues” “The Iguana Killer”

FULL LENGTH LITERATURE: The Circuit  and To Kill a Mockingbird

B. Literature about different cultural and ethnic groups can be a window to the world or a mirror in which you see yourself. (prompt will be on the exam) 2-3 pages. (25 points)

Remaining 10 should be used to reread and edit your two essays.

I invite you to view this TED Talk-Education clip featuring Sir Ken Robinson’s insightful and inspiring take on the future of education in America. Then, encourage you to reflect on your practice and decide what you can do over the summer to be prepared to nurture a climate of change built on curiosity and creativity in your teaching which can lead directly to increased student interest and improved learning.

Reading and Writing a Literary Critique

1. Use the Nine Yardsticks of Value Chart to show how you rate the autobiographical novel Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao.
2. Also, carefully read the following critique and use the chart to indicate what you believe to be the values of the author, “Monkey Bridge,” Cao has a distinctive style that’s subtle and engaging. But because the novel is so clearly autobiographical, I wished that Cao had abandoned her creaky literary devices and written a memoir. In the interests of creating a compelling narrative, Cao shamelessly leads the reader toward the soap-operatic revelation of Mai’s mother’s murky parentage. The sensationalism feels tacked on, while the well-chosen details are what gives the story its energy. Click here for Monkey Bridge Evaluation handout.

Cao excels at memorializing, conveying ironies in the simplest details. For instance, the Mekong Grocery, where Mai’s mother works, becomes a meeting place for the American GIs of Falls Church who want to indulge their taste for Vietnamese delicacies and distaste for Jane Fonda. Cao also tells us that in Saigon women buy paper bags of canaries and hummingbirds and free them for the karma of doing a kind deed. And we learn that in Vietnamese, the word for “please” is “make good karma.” (“Make good karma and pass the butter.”) In “Monkey Bridge,” it’s the glimpses of Vietnamese-American culture — not the melodrama — that left me wanting more.” (Elizabeth Judd)

We sometimes wonder if taking the time to teach students to read the media is worth valuable classroom instructional time.  Check out this video, then look at some of the lessons on this site tagged "media arts".  If you have time, view the slides on Viewing to add to your understanding of reading the media.  The slides also link to video.


Viewing and Writing about Photos

from Around the World

Preliminary Activity:  Direct students to a website similar to 24 Hours in Pictures .  Let them explore the most recent photos, choose three of their favorites and write one sentence response/reaction to those three.

They can copy and paste the photo onto a Word document or PowerPoint slide and add their sentence as caption. Share results in class presentation or by posting on class website.

For an end of the year project in a creative writing class, ask students to pretend they are preparing a portfolio to submit as part of an application to an all expenses paid creative writing institute to be held this summer on your state college campus. The committee wants to see the quality and range of writing the applicants can do.  They ask the students to submit their original work in three different genres.  You, the teacher, are so proud of their work, you suggest the following assignment to generate writing students may decide to submit in that portfolio.

*  view photos on 24 Hours in Pictures taken on students’ own birth date.  Or, Library of Congress site and search for students’ own birth date.
* choose three and write about three different photos in three different genres. (One genre for each of three photos.) Consider a story, a poem, a dramatic scene in a movie or TV script, a pitch to use photo in advertising campaign, an essay of protest, or a news article.
* copy and include photo on final draft to be shared with class, posted on class website, and evaluated by teacher using Customized Six Traits Rubric created by student(s) doing the same genre.. Those writing poems customize rubric for poems.

Their creating the rubric gives them ownership, but also reminds them of qualities expected in effective and interesting writing.  For example, those students who are writing the same genre can meet and customize a Six-Traits© rubric for their genre.  In the CONTENT area add the minimum requirements. This will make grading easier for the teacher.

 *  For those writing poems consider the constraints of free verse or form with specific minimum elements of imagery, music (rhythm, rhyme, sound) and number of lines, say 14-16.

 *  For those writing short, short stories, include dialogue and traditional plot line; about how many words or pages. For example, 2-3 pages, 250-300 words.
 * For those writing a dramatic scene: How many characters? Include stage directions? Camera shots?  Props and/or sets? Lighting?
 * For those writing news articles – Lead paragraph that includes answers to who, what, when, where, why, and how?  Length 250-300 words?
* For those writing essays of protest or explanation: Introduction, body and conclusion that summarizes, reflects, or projects without introducing new ideas. What else?
 * For those writing an advertisement: Write a pitch to the company to use as the advertising agency. What is the product? Who is the audience? What is the slogan? What appeals? Why should customer buy product?  Where will ads be placed?

Click here for Handout Viewing and Writing about Photos

April 22  is Earth Day as proclaimed by the United Nations in 2009.  Here’s an English Language Arts  activity you can incorporate into your lessons that will raise awareness of some of the issues important to humankind and especially to Michael Jackson as expressed in his “Earth Song“.  Focusing on lyrics fits in nicely with Poetry Month that many observe in April.

Print and provide copy of lyrics to  Earth Day – Michael Jackson for each student.

Play ”Earth Song” that you have downloaded in a format you can play in your classroom.

Invite the students to read along as they listen.

Then instruct students to add correct punctuation to the handout of lyrics.  Turn and compare editing with a partner.  Discuss and resolve different marks of punctuation.

Or

Project the lyrics on white board and invite students one by one to come forward and add punctuation one line at a time.

Consider using different color markers for different marks of punctuation.

Next, project a copy of the poem punctuated your way.  Discuss any differences and how the marks of punctuation influence meaning.

If time permits and technology is available play the video that accompanies the song on this Michael Jackson website.  How does their response to the song change when they see the images in the video?

You could close the Earth Day lesson asking students to respond to the closing question with a resounding “YES!” and commit in writing to one thing  they will do to show they give a “darn” about the earth.

Earth Day 2013 Image

Keeping a journal as they read helps prepare students for more engaging discussion and elaborated writing.  When they have thought deeply about key issues and written words, phrases and sentences to record those thoughts, students are more likely to speak up with confident and write with authority.

Here are some journal questions to help your students considers persuasive strategies the characters in Ernest Gaines novel, A Lesson Before Dying, used get others to do what they wanted.

A Lesson before Dying – Discussion Questions

April 23rd is the day many celebrate the birth of William Shakespeare, one of the more widely read dramatists of all times. Prepare your students to understand Elizabethan society a little better.

Have a go with your students and have them take a Humours Quiz  to determine their own basic personality traits, then see how they’d rate characters in the plays you have them study.  Teens in the US will have fun with this quiz written in British English by our colleagues at TeachIt in the UK.

I also include one my students’ favorite pictures of Shakespeare – with the earring which suggests how “hip” William Shakespeare still is today.  See Words and Phrases from Shakespeare.

Spend some time reading poetry and deciding which poem you like well enough to share with the class. (Please select a new poem; one not done for previous assignments or projects).

Steps to Selection

1. Select a collection of poems (a collection by the same or by different authors).  See our class anthology, Poems 180, Gleeditions or other on-line collections.
2. Start with the first poem in the book. Read the first four lines, and then decide if you understand them.
3. If you also enjoy the poem you understand, stop, and go on to preparing your class presentation.
4. If not, read the next, continuing by reading the first four lines of each successive poem until you find one you understand and enjoy enough to share with the class.
5. Keep a record of the number of poems you read before selecting one to share in class.

Preparation for Presentation: Written and Visual

1. In your own words, tell what the poem seems to be saying. See Poetry T.I.M.E. Introduction
2. Tell why you enjoyed the poem. What about the poem got your attention?
3. Copy out your favorite line from the poem, and tell why it is your favorite.
4. Tell what you noticed about the way the poet wrote the poem — the special way s/he used words, lines, stanzas, sounds, ideas, and comparisons. If you can use the language of poetry analysis, do so.
4. Pattern this poem by writing one of your own using some strategies used by your poet.
5. Photocopy or word process the poems or write them in calligraphy or other attractive print.
6. Mount and illustrate, or select an appropriate border for them or create digital slide,
7. Bring to class the day you are to present your poem. You can send your poem or save it to the class website. We plan to make an anthology of favorite poems.
8. Memorize the original poem.

Presentation Day

1. Recite the memorized poem dramatically. You can recite it twice. Once at the beginning of your presentation, and again at the end.
2. Your presentation should be about 3 minutes. During this sharing time, state the title and author of your poem, relate some of the information from your writing about the poem, and perhaps, play some music in the background. (Let me know ahead of time so I’ll have equipment in the classroom to play your music).
3. Let me know if you wish to bring “neat to eat treats” on presentation day. J
4. Turn in your illustrated poem and your writing about the poem.

ENJOY!!

Planning for Efficient Student Feedback on Speech Presentation Days (See variety of feedback form below)

To help student focus on various aspects of public speaking by classmates, for each round of speeches, I ask students to complete one section of our speech check list each day they are not speaking.

Once the assignment is given, each student signs up on the class wiki to present in a panel that that we designate with a color. On day of presentation, students sign up for speaker order.  Allowing students to sign up ahead of time acknowledges their busy lives. High school students know their academic, arts, athletics, and work schedules and when they can be better prepared to present their speeches. They know a class of 15 plus students do not present speeches on a single day, even when on block schedules! They appreciate having have a choice.

Signing up ahead of time, frees students to be a more attentive audience; they don’t have to wonder if they’ll be called up during the period. To maintain a level of fairness, however, all drafts are due on the same day. The final written version (usually a sentence outline with bibliography)  is due the evening before the students are scheduled to speak in class. They turn in this written assignment in on-line.

Those not scheduled to speak are responsible for providing peer feedback using the class check list. (1 equals low, 5 equals high) Students are asked to include one commendation and one recommendation. One student each day is recruited to record stop and start times for student speakers.

Speaking-Feedback Chart

Self-Reflection after Personal Experience Speech
Feedback Form: Partner Check for Abstract Term Speech
Feedback Form: Partner Check for INFORMATIVE Speech
Feedback Form: Peer Feedback for INFORMATIVE SPEECH
Feedback Form: Practicing PERSUASIVE Speech
Feedback Form: Peer Feedback for Persuasive Speech
General Evaluation Form for Non-Class Public Speaking Experience