Middle School English

Film Unit

For this summer

PURPOSE: In addition to providing an opportunity to practice clarity and thoroughness in writing, students are made aware of some of the subtle non-verbal messages in common social situations involving hand touching.

Digital Story Telling

Expository Writing

What is Expository Writing? Exposition is a type of oral or written discourse that is used to explain, describe, give information or inform. The creator of an expository text can not assume that the reader or listener has prior knowledge or prior understanding of the topic that is being discussed. One important point to keep in mind for the author is to try to use words that clearly show what they are talking about rather then blatantly telling the reader what is being discussed. Since clarity requires strong organization, one of the most important mechanisms that can be used to improve our skills in exposition is to provide directions to improve the organization of the text.

Film Unit Resource

Unit 1: Child Labor Resource

Photographs: Lewis Hine

Poetry Unit 3

Some of my colleagues might really frown on this, but I've found that poetry is an obstacle for many students because they lack a basic technique for making sense of it. They've heard all about the sound and the rhythm and the imagery and all that good stuff. And yeah, yeah, that's important, but it has to come later. It has to come after you figure out what the darned thing means in the first place. Contrary to what you might think, you already have the skills to do that. Here are three quick tips that might take the mystery out of reading poetry.

Mary Howitt poem to go along with the YouTube Video

Poetry Performances Playlist

Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions The following resources reflect Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe's Understanding by Design model of "backwards design". Use the collection of articles, explanations and standards to transform our standards into essential understandings.

Here is the site we were just looking at. . .

Essential Questions

Sharon Creech's website

This is a page dedicated to William Carlos Williams, a poet who had an immense influence on the course of 20th century poetry. He wrote in varying style and technique and was often radically experimental. His work is fresh and clear, rejecting sentimentality and vagueness. It also reflects emotional restraint and heightens the sensory experience with articulated common speech. Williams's work inspired many poets and many generations to follow. His work is both easy and enjoyable to read.