Today’s focus with sixth graders was on figurative language. The class activity was song/music based, where students were asked to look up different (previously selected) songs and find examples of figurative language. This was a computer activity. Students downloaded a google document, which was a Double Entry Journal. They put the song title, example of figurative language and then filled out a ‘What I Inferred’ column with what they thought the example was saying.
After looking at four different examples: ‘Sledgehammer’ by Fifth Harmony, ‘Cruise’ by Florida Georgia Line & Nelly, ‘Red’ by Taylor Swift, and ‘Firework’ by Katy Perry, the students were able to choose a song of their own. After choosing, they added the title, example, and inference to their Double Entry Journal and then posted the video and their example to a class discussion board, called Padlet.
During this time I walked around and assisted students. I was able to listen to songs with them, ask them questions, and help them reach conclusions about figurative language through questioning and prompting. It was so fun to see how the students’ brains were listening and analyzing. By connecting something English/reading related to contemporary music, I think students were able to have more fun and get more involved.
For the eighth graders, the focus was on making a pros and cons list, in order to prepare for their upcoming research papers on a contemporary issue. Mrs. Sopko explained that students had done poorly in really researching an issue in depth, so activities leading up to the paper would help to strengthen their skills.
The period started off by reading a short piece out loud, then as a class, finding the pros and cons of the article—the reasons behind the argument. In a previous class, the students had found facts and examples. Today was all about the overarching reasons.
After the class modeling, the students were either in partners or individual, looking to find the pros and cons of a new, longer article. After about 15 minutes, (during this time I walked around and helped to scaffold students towards finding reasons rather than facts), we met as a whole class and discussed what we found. For me, it was helpful to see how their minds were working and reading to find reasons rather than facts. This seemed challenging for some.
Overall, today was a good day, but I’m definitely excited to get more engaged and participate more from the teacher end in the classroom.