We had a very full hour and a half for this, our penultimate class period. April 30 is National Poem in Your Pocket day, so I gave them a sheet with a pocket shape for them to write their own original poetry on. (Some students used these poems for our Poetry Jam, later in class.)
Following our Quick Write, the students took their Grammar Final. Similar to the Mastering the Comma Review that they handed in last week, this was a "commas only" test. They worked diligently to finish these. I've graded most of them, and they all did well. Hopefully, they can confidently consider themselves "Masters of the Comma."
The remainder of the class time was spent on our Poetry Jam. A cross between a Poetry Slam,for which students write their own original poems, and Poetry Out Loud, for which the choose for a selected list of poems. Both of these events are competitive poetry presentations. The students were divided into teams; each student gave an individual presentation. The other teams then scored the "players" using a rubric that divided the presentation into the following areas: level of difficulty, memorization, physical presence, and dramatic voice and articulation. Players received an extra 2 points if the poem was an original.
After we worked out the kinks of the scoring method -- adding & averaging then adding and averaging again -- we had a good solid round of presentations. We had a mix of serious, light-hearted, and original poetry. Even those who dislike poetry were good sports and gave good readings. We have two teams who will participate in the "Play Offs" at the beginning of class this week. For this round, I will provide the poetry.
This Thursday is our final week of classes for the CHAT school year. I have 3 items on the agenda for this week: a short reflection paper as the Quick Write, the Poetry "Play Offs," and a final exam for the students. This exam looks a lot like a bingo game, complete with prizes. Students may bring refreshments to share.
Assignments for our last week:
-- Bring in any missing homework
-- For those in presenting poetry, warm up your presenting voice.
Links for this week:
Class Notes
Blessings,
Mrs. Prichard
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