MCA Day

Today was a long day. In 1st and 3rd we began the hour with silent reading and then worked on analyzing and writing simple, descriptive poetry.

6TH HOUR: DON'T FORGET REFLECTION AND OUTSIDE READING BOOK TOMORROW!!

Check back tomorrow for more specific discussion of the April 14/15 poetry activity as well as a more specific description of homework for this week.

Monday the 13th

PERIODS 1 &3: BE SURE TO BRING OUTSIDE READING BOOK AND WRITTEN REFLECTION TO CLASS TOMORROW!!

Today we took a final practice test for the MCA's which start TOMORROW!! Then, we returned to "White Man's Burden" and used it to review some poetic terms.

PERIODS 1 &3: BE SURE TO BRING OUTSIDE READING BOOK AND WRITTEN REFLECTION TO CLASS TOMORROW!!

Homework: Get your outside reading book and write the written reflection for tomorrow (if you're in perios 1 & 3) or Wednesday (period 6).

PERIODS 1 &3: BE SURE TO BRING OUTSIDE READING BOOK AND WRITTEN REFLECTION TO CLASS TOMORROW!!

Get plenty of rest tonight so you can do your best on the test!!

PERIODS 1 &3: BE SURE TO BRING OUTSIDE READING BOOK AND WRITTEN REFLECTION TO CLASS TOMORROW!!

Friday

On Friday we did key word notes with the poem, "White Man's Burden," by Kipling. I have copies on the side table (they're blue).

The only homework is to work on finding an outside reading book and write the written reflection on it (see assignment on Edline) for Tuesday, 4/15 (per. 1 & 3) or Wednesday, 4/15 (per. 6).

Poetry Prep

Poetry term 4-squares were due at the beginning of the period today. After I checked them, we went through each term, one-by-one, discussing it and sharing examples of it. You are responsible for all 29 poetry terms:

1.Alliteration
2.Assonance
3.Consonance
4.onomatopoeia
5.End rhyme
6.couplet
7.Meter
8.accent
9.Rhythm
10.Scansion
11.Rhyme scheme
12.Stanza
13.Caesura
14.cacophony

15.simile
16.metaphor
17.oxymoron
18.personification
19.tone
20.mood
21.figurative language
22.Irony
23.Imagery
24.symbol
25.Connotation
26.Denotation
27.Hyperbole
28.Speaker
29.theme

After the poetry terms we briefly analyzed a poem.

Homework: work on choosing and acquiring an outside reading book (due next Wednesday!)

More MCA?

Yep. Today we reviewed the answers to the practice test. Major lesson for the day: take your time, going back and forth between questions and text to be sure that you understand the question and are choosing the MOST APPOPRIATE answer.

Tomorrow we'll do more with poetry. Homework: Create a four-square in your notebook with the following information:

Upper left square: Image

Upper right square: Find the definition of the term in the context of poetry and cite your source

POETIC TERM IN CENTER

Lower left square: Synonyms or a paraphrased
definition (use your own words)

Lower right square: Write an original line of poetry to illustrate the poetic term or find an
example of the poetic term in the poems already studied in class.


I assigned poetic terms. If you were absent, complete your four-square for the following term: alliteration

The MCA, continued

I began the hour by reviewing the test vocabulary (see previous post). Then, we spent most of the hour taking portions of a sample MCA test. Tomorrow we'll go through the test, question-by-question, to see how you did and try to understand the questions and justifications for the correct answers.

After the sample test, students began working on reading Elie Wiesel's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech and writing test questions from it. This work is due tomorrow.

**If you were absent, you need to pick up the homework--2 yellow sheets--from the side table in the classroom upon your return to school.

THE MCA

Today we began our preparation for the MCA exam. We discussed test-taking tips, and covered the following vocabulary:

Fact = known to exist; a truth
Opinion = a personal view
Main idea = main point of the text
Supporting Ideas = the information that adds details to the main idea
Definition in Context = words that precede or follow a specific word, usually influencing its meaning
Point of View = the way things are viewed or believed
Infer = to hint; imply; suggest
Tone = a particular style or manner of expression
Mood = the atmosphere or prevailing feeling
Figurative language = words that create vivid pictures in your mind
Connotation = associations that the word calls to mind
Irony = surprising contradictions
Imagery = descriptions that re-create sensory experiences (e.g. sights, sounds, smells, tastes)


If you were absent, you must choose two words from the list above and create two four-squares on a piece of loose notebook paper (front and back). Your squares follow this format:

Upper left square: Draw an image Upper right square:
with which you associate the word Definition in your own words


Center: Word and definition
(from above)

Lower left square: synonyms Lower right square: create a test
question about Night that uses the
word

Absent (4/6) students: Submit your 4-square vocabulary tomorrow.

All students: you are responsible for the above vocabulary!!