PACE: Getting Ready for the Next Chapter of PACE

Today, I'll be learning how to operate the new lighting arrays in the auditorium and forum.  These are exciting things but pull me away from you.

Here's the thing.  Last class?  I took most of those 40 minutes to lay out the work that needs to happen before we transition to our next work in PACE.  We'll be unpacking writing standards next week and starting out essay.

Today, you have time.  Time. Time. Time.  

• Time to blog.
• Time to put the finishing touches on projects.
• Time to finish the graphic organizers for the poetry unit.
• Time to write your project reflections -- that must be completed before I assess the project -- a paragraph on product, paragraph on process, and a paragraph on outcome.

Treat those paragraphs just like you have been your thinking about standards and authentic understanding.  If I just write three sentences because that's what makes a paragraph, have I truly reflected on what I've created? If you treat it like busy work, it becomes busy work.  If you  treat it like a meaningful look at your experience making and creating and understanding, it becomes helpful.

Ask yourself: 
Do I really understand figurative language now? How they convey meaning and ideas?  Can I identify specific types of figurative language (hyperbole,  metaphor, personification, etc.)

Do I really understand repetition & rhyme? How they add emphasis?  How they affect the language of a poem in important ways?  

Do I really understand diction and how choosing a particular word can affect a reader?  Can influence meaning?  Have I demonstrated this in my product and have I explained it?

You folks have come so far 2nd Quarter.  Really.  I've been so impressed with everyone these past two months in terms of investment in their thinking.  (Blogs... not so much.  AND... we're righting that ship!  Yes!)

Today is a big deal. Take advantage.  Tuesday we share projects, start MUGS work & unpack writing standards.

HOMEWORK

Blog: 3+ posts
Req'd Post: Create a "What If 2014" list for yourself.  Check out my model in the right sidebar.

Complete: Poetry/Music Projects.  Think about what we talked about the other day with design. Making a finished complete project.

Complete: Graphic organizers.

Complete: Three reflective paragraphs on your poetry/music project: product, process, outcome