Teaching the Poem Fog

Teaching the Poem Fog

Key Components	Activities
	Before (H.W. from Session One)	After (Session Five)
Pre-Reading Activity	Discuss what is fog\cat-characteristics	Predictions inferences : fog- wetness\inability to see cat: cleanliness\ agility
Basic Understanding	Read poem get to a first level of comprehension .	LOT questions about the content.
Analysis and Interpretation	Thick or thin fog\fogginess Cat feet: partial or the whole cat	Hots: use of cat & fog as similes   Application to ones life – partial\whole Metaphorical usage
Bridging Text and Context	Connection between lifestyle of poet and our poem	Same.
Post-Reading Activity	Have you ever been in a fog? What happens when you feel foggy? Have you ever had a cat as a pet? Short writing task on above	Generating  possibilities Life comes and goes etc.
Reflection	Did you like the poem? Why or why not?	Synthesizing What did you learn from this poem about yourself – does it change you in any way?
Summative Assessment	none	Application to your own life Comparing  \ contrasting

Quick as a Cricket book review for teaching

Audrey Wood, Illustrated by Don Wood Quick as a Cricket 

https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Cricket-Childs-Play-Library/dp/0859533069/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492659860&sr=8-1&keywords=Quick+as+a+Cricket

1982 Child's Playground

Summary: This is a rhyming story about a young boy who uses similes to compare himself with insects and animals around him. Examples include, “I'm as cold as a toad, I'm as hot as a fox, I'm as weak as a kitten, I'm as strong as an ox.”. The boy concludes by stating that if you add up all the diverse characteristics you have him!

Recommendation for Parents: This book is invaluable for celebrating a child's developing a sense of self awareness. It reinforces the child's understanding of rhyming and introduces him or her to similes. The colorful chalk drawings aid in the child's decoding of words as well as overall comprehension of the story. Each page allows the parent(s) and child(ren) to discuss emotions and their facial expressions. The picture book also teaches opposites, such as “sad”, “happy” and “loud”, “quiet”.


Recommendation for Other Teachers: Quick as a Cricket is an excellent book to read to English language learners because the large, beautifully colored pictures complement the text well. As you read the book, you can stop and ask questions such as “What makes you happy?” and “What animals do you compare yourself to and why?” You can discuss the use of the simile and then have the kids create their own. The can create their own picture book by writing and illustrating new similes. Then they can share their work with partners or to the class as a read aloud as you have demonstrated. Personal note: I enjoy reading this book because everyone can relate to at least one of the pages. It also shows that if someone is strong, they can also be weak. The facial expressions also act as a descriptive force in defining what a word means. For example, to have a scrunched up forehead and piercing eyes means to be mean while wiping sweat off a face with a hand means “hot”. I also embrace the idea that each person is a culmination of many different characteristics. 

Reflection on Black English.

Reflection on Black English.

by Rachael Orbach

I didn’t know that Black English really had a structure!  Even though the Black kids from the Center of Los Angeles were bussed into our suburban school, and I had to study with them, I heard them talk, but never really paid attention to their  speech per say.   We were not friends even though  they were in the same class.  

It was really surprising that Black English, has its own grammar like the word “Be”  and that when it comes in a sentence.  It reminds me a bit like how Spanish is.  If you say “Vou estas bien”, it could be a complement, or not.  “He be good,” means that the boy is good, and is always good.  But, “He good,” is only for right now.  This could be a compliment or not.  

Sometimes when Black children speak, it almost seems like another language, the way that words are accented and run together.  This is different from American English, and it makes it difficult for Blacks and Whites to integrate.

Letter substitutions like   “dem,” instead of “them,”  are also interesting. Do Black children get mixed up when they get to school?  How do they reconcile the way they are taught to read compared with the way they speak?  This may be the reason that Black children in the United States get behind in reading and writing.  

Anger Close at Hand

Anger Close at Hand

The Gemara cites the possuk, "Anger rests in the heart of the fool."  (Kolelet 7:9) The Dubna Maggid explained by means of a story.   A person who runs a store separates his products into two types.  The products that are constantly asked for are kept close at hand,  while the products that are seldom purchased are kept on a high shelf, out of reach.  So too, the fool keeps his anger close at hand, since it is always in use.  The wise man, however, keeps his anger out of reach, taking it out only at the rare times when it is absolutely necessary. ( Ohel Yakov).

1. What are the action words in the paragraph?   Circle them.

2.What are they called? _______________________________

3. What tense are they in?  ___________________________

4. Write the nouns:

___________________________________________________

4. Write the adjectives: