I wanted to switch up activities in my English 10 classes and instead of having them write another journal or essay-type of response, I decided to have them write two poems. These would be about people who influenced them positively–their ‘Morries’.
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In my American Seminar classes, the advanced 11th grade course on American literature, I did a mini-unit on Anne Bradstreet poetry. Continue reading
September 21: By this time, my English 10 students are up to page 60 in Tuesdays with Morrie. Perfect time to assign another journal. Continue reading
For one of the first major writing assignments in my English 10 classroom, I decided to have the students write a paper about three items that define them, ‘Who Am I/My Culture Paper’. This began as an assignment/mini-speech [to read more about that, click here]. Continue reading
To dig a little deeper and connect my Tuesdays with Morrie unit to Narrative writing, which my students have and will be doing for the remainder of the year, I decided to create a ‘Who Am I/My Culture’ Assignment.
To lead into this assignment, we had an in-class discussion about culture and what the characters, Morrie and Mitch, had to say about their personal cultures, American culture, and culture in general. Then we related these ideas to our personal lives and started brainstorming aspects of our personal cultures: family life, traditions, sports, music, heirlooms, etc. Continue reading
To direct my students in the Letter to [Author] Mitch Albom activity, I created an assignment sheet and a rubric, grading them on their ability to connect the text to their personal lives [narrative writing], use correct letter-writing format, content, and conventions/grammar. Continue reading
In beginning the Coach/Mentor Poem activity, a lesson in my Tuesdays with Morrie unit, I first had the students brainstorm about a coach or a mentor in their personal lives. I created a Brainstorming Worksheet to assist in their pre-planning for this assignment. Continue reading
During my clinical hours at Garner-Hayfield-Ventura High School in the fall of 2013, I created a rubric for a research paper in a 12th grade English classroom. I was very interested in this specific research paper because the student whose paper I was examining seemed deficient in several areas, especially for being a 12th-grader. I decided to create a rubric based off of her paper to learn more about the criteria I would assess as a future teacher, and what grade I would give this particular student. Continue reading
