Class Minutes: Monday, March 29th

We warmed up with the Old Key poetry prompt, which examines the difference between romantic and realistic diction. Then, we continued to watch Stranger Than Fiction while Mrs. Wall conducted portfolio interviews.

Class Minutes: Tuesday, March 25th

Mrs. Wall did a journal check at the start of class. Then, we wrote a personal metaphor poetry warm-up. For the remainder of the period, students worked on either:
a. organizing four-pocket portfolio for interview
b. finishing poetry paper bag book (due. Thursday)
c. writing in response to the new journal prompt

Class Minutes, Friday, March 19th

We created our four-pocket writing portfolio and signed up on the posted calendar for our third portfolio interview. We continued to work on our poetry books, but no due date has been set. Inquire and explore journal entries are due on Tuesday.

Wednesday, March 17th- Happy St. Patrick's Day

We worked on our imagist poetry paper bag books.

Class Minutes: Monday, March 15th

Today we organized our portfolios with new work that was handed back. Then we read Helen Keller's essay, Three Days To See, and an article about the relationship Dicken's experienced between writing and walking. To conlude, we went on a sensory walk on the school grounds, completing a question sheet. The focus was imagery and the sensory experience.

Class Minutes: March 9, 2010

Because Mrs. Wall is in Mexico, we have a subsitute, Ms. T. Our sub introduced imagism, a poetry movement that took place in the early 1900's in the United States and England. This type of poetry draws traditions from Japanese Haiku, focusing on precise words and concrete details to describe the poem's subject. They allow the words to speak for themselves; to speak for the images presented. These poems are straightforward and precise with a deeper meaning. We read "The Red Wheelbarrow," by William Carlos Williams, as well as "In a Station of the Metro," by the same poet, and "The Lonely Land," by A.J.M. Smith as examples. We were also asked to choose crayons from a box and write imagist poems based on the colour of our crayons. Then, we wrote the poems on a large poster in the same crayon, and Ms. T stapled it to the wall.

Class Minutes, Wednesday, March 3rd

We discussed the characteristics of sentimental vs. authentic writing. We read sample poems and discussed their strenghs and weaknesses, classifying them as either sentimental or authentic. Then, students selected a sentimental greeting card caption and recreated it by writing an authentic poem. The poems where then exchanged and your partner read your poem and completed the peer response form.

Class Minutes, Monday March 1st

Today we started a poetry unit with a look at some humorous analogies. Then we wrote 5-10 sniglets, sharing our favourites with the class. We ended by writing a response to a synectic in the form of a free verse poem, which was handed in at the end of the period.