An Accidental, Wonderful Discovery

An elementary teacher/friend told me that she held poetry cafe on Fridays. She read poetry, students read poetry... I decided to incorporate poetry cafe on Fridays and let students bring food. They loved it. Then after two weeks of working on a "This I Believe" essay, I implemented essay cafe. I really had no idea how it was going to pan out. Then the magical consequences took effect. The students worked really hard on their essays because they had an audience that they cared about. Each other. They were attentive, respectful and listened because I expected them to make comments about their peers' work.

We finished up a poetry writing unit today and I have to admit, I was surprised at how they worked on their poems, but then I remembered--poetry cafe on Friday! They will be reading their own poems to each other. Once again, they have an audience that matters. Because they are only allowed to make positive comments, they know the writing environment will be positive, supportive and encouraging. Exactly what a ninth grader needs.

I've been pondering this. We have set up this teacher/audience environment. For several years they've been writing for us and only us. Give them a real audience and the passion to write well is born.

At the beginning of the year, writing assignments were met with phrases you recognize all to well: "Mrs. Martinez, how long does this have to be? Do I have to do this?" I cannot remember one of these questions damaging my ears in the last few months.

Writing With the Class

When I assign a writing piece, I do the assignment too and show the class my drafts. It has created a whole new enthusiasm for writing. Students see my passion, they see that I can write bad stuff too, they see the need for several edits. It makes me vulnerable and more compassionate to the students.

For my next class, I will show my final draft of a personal narrative along with a color coded example of everything I wrote-red for all the cuts I made, green for additions to text, blue for the same text re-written or re-worked,yellow for student suggestions I took note of and implemented.

If anyone would like the color coded example just send me an email: pat.martinez@maeserprep.org

Object Lesson for Teaching Editing

I am currently focusing on writing in a writing workshop. Writer Tia Nevitt suggests a great way to understand the importance of cutting unnecessary words/paragraphs etc. from our work.
Bring in a favorite DVD that students love and know well. Go to the menu and show the deleted scenes option. Look for director commentary that illustrates the importance of cutting. Remind the students that they don't have to spend six figures in writing and cutting-allow students to interpret the clip toward their writing.

Grammar question

I can't even figure out how to look this one up, so of course I turn to your fabulous brains for help.

My husband just wrote the following sentence in a formal email:

"I've attached my resume in case either you or he needs a copy for reference."

Should that word in Italics be "needs" or "need?" (And did I put that question mark in the right place?) In other words, does a verb after nouns/pronouns joined by "or" agree with the first or second noun(/pronoun)?

I wait with baited breath on your brilliant responses. :) Thanks all, and hope you're having a great semester!

English Companion Ning

Love this site! Lots of great discussions and areas created by Jim Burke.

Young, High-Level Readers

Hey, all. I'm teaching 6th & 7th grade English at a charter school out near Tooele this year, & I've got a question for all of you: What books (/authors, /series, etc.) would you recommend to very young (mostly age 11), very high-level (12th grade +) readers? I've got about a dozen kids that fall into this category, and I'm having a very difficult time recommending texts that will challenge them reading-level wise (or at least not bore them) without having content that's inappropriate for kids that young. Every time I think I've got a good pick, I skim the book again and find that there's too much swearing, adult topics, intense violence, sexual innuendos, etc. It doesn't help that many of the parents of my kids are really sensitive to anything you could remotely call "inappropriate." My only fallback recommendation right now is Shakespeare, since I assume that the adult content will go way over the kids' heads and their parents won't remember it's there. :P Any ideas?

A Fun Writing Exercise

I was gifted the most unusual Christmas book ever: Red Ranger Came Calling by Berkely Breathed. It would absolutely ruin the book to tell you why it's so unique-finding out for yourself is definitely a part of the reading experience.

What I will say is that at the end of the book, the author uses a local landmark at the end of the book to explain the mystery of a Christmas gift.

I plan on using this picture book in class as a springboard writing assignment. Students will choose a natural or man-made landmark in their city or state and write a legend, story, urban legend about it, in the same way that the legend of Timpanogos was created to explain/enhance the sleeping princess shape of this mountain.

If you are familiar with the book or use it in your classroom, make sure you comment on this post so we can expand the book's use.

Aphorisms As a Writing Genre or Clever Students Like Tickle, Make Teacher Laugh

We are currently studying ancient Chinese history and the literature companion is the Analects of Confucius. In pondering how to teach the Analects, I remembered the old Charlie Chan movie series. CC uses many aphorisms or maxims, some of which are Confucius quotes. I showed the film Charlie Chan in Paris. Students had a worksheet with his aphorisms used in that movie and were required to listen for and check off the sayings and then create their own aphorisms. I didn't expect such great aphorisms from the students, but they were funny, sometimes profound and allowed students to explore another writing genre. And they loved Charlie Chan. I found a great website that has all the aphorisms listed from each movie. It also included ratings on each movie. I checked the movie out from the library. The website is:
The aphorisms were supposed to be original, so if you recognize one...oops! Still working on plagiarism. Here are a few:
"A turtle on ice can go fast." HH
"Time like brain-always ticking." TR
"Without balance man will fall." KR
"Entertainment is a want, not a need." EB
"Eventually you have to take your high heels off..." I read two of these, so I'm not sure if this is original.
"Using unclear words is like getting lost in a straight hallway." JN
"What is drama without girl/boy?" SV
"Nobody can force you to do anything except your mom." TH
"The wish is not always the star." IV
"There is no roof until there are walls." JW
"Cat have nine lives, dog one." JS
"Good ramen make happy tummy." MW
"Thoughts often grow like ivy." ML
"49 is the new 20."
"Right hands live longer than left hands." VH
"A man may only wear a speedo if he makes it look good." NB
"Lie is like tear. At first too small to see. Then it becomes visible as more lies form." DW
"A good question has many answers." JI
"Before you can touch the sky, you must gather many ladders."CB
"Even the biggest fires go out eventually." DG
"To kill two birds with one stone requires time and practice." CL

I Was Encouraged Today To Make A Post

I was excited to see activity on this website today, so I'm going to share a successful classroom project.
We just finished Lord of the Flies. After the first chapter, I brought trash into class, literally- boxes, string, paper grocery sacks, shredded material,phone book, (I went through the school dumpster)and told the students that they would be writing a journal in a character-from-the-book POV. They would have to create a journal from stuff that washed up on shore. I also provided paper from a roll of newsprint that they had to tear. I didn't allow scissors or tape.
They tore into the project with such exuberance and created some amazing journals from trash!
I also believe that it helped them focus on the reading. I required one entry per chapter. Each entry was worth 4 points with an extra 2 points for a well crafted journal for a total of 50 points.
The only downside was that I had to bring in the industrial vacuum after class!
Also, we read this novel as a study of the breakdown of civilization. In hindsight I don't think this was the most uplifting piece of literature to start the year. I pleaded with the powers that be to order Paul Fleishman's Seedfolks so we could follow-up with a positive story about the building of a society. We'll start that next week.

Advice, anyone?

Does anyone know of a good film I could show ninth graders to help them understand/connect with the theme "loss of innocence?"

I just received an offer to teach ninth grade English part-time with the district I've been substituting in. This will last until the end of January, at least, but I hope it might extend throughout the school year. I'm filling in for a teacher who just began a unit in which she planned to show a film that would help the students connect with the loss of innocence theme. Because the movie is rated R, she usually sends out a letter, gets parents' permission, and shows it. I want to find a clean, equally effective film to show, instead. Any ideas????

Students will be studying short stories, poems, song lyrics, The Tiger Rising, Romeo and Juliet, and To Kill a Mockingbird throughout the unit. What do you think, my friends?