SENIORS: Work on finishing your Slam poem; not only do you need to have it written, but you also need to annotate it for everything on the rubric (pun, alliteration, consonance, assonance, perfect rhyme, slant rhyme, internal rhyme, and 4 of the following: metaphor, simile, personification, irony, hyperbole, or allusion).  Presentations will be on Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6.  Everyone needs to be ready on Wednesday.  I'll start with volunteers and then randomly call names.  If you tell me you're not ready, you'll lose 100points.  You still need to present, but you'll have to wait until everyone else has had an opportunity to present.  We're only doing this for 2 days; so if we run out of time, and you haven't presented, you're out of luck.  I will not listen to any presentations at any other time other than that Wednesday and Thursday.  So the smart thing would be to present on Wednesday; then you can be a relaxed audience member on Thursday.  The choice is yours.
BRING YOUR TEXTBOOKS ON MONDAY; WE'LL HAVE A FEW MINUTES TO GO TO THE LIBRARY TO RETURN THEM.  KEEP THE TEXTBOOKS YOU'LL NEED FOR FINALS.
 
SOPHOMORES: We started the News Article poem.  Find a news article from printed media that interests you and use it as inspiration for a poem.  Here is the rubric: Proof of article attached to poem--20 points; Paints a mental picture with imagery--20 points; Strong verbs and precise nouns--20 points; Effective line breaks and stanzas--20 points; Personification and metaphor or simile--20 points.  BRING YOUR TEXTBOOKS ON MONDAY; WE'LL HAVE A FEW MINUTES TO GO TO THE LIBRARY TO RETURN THEM.  KEEP THE TEXTBOOKS YOU'LL NEED FOR FINALS. 

SENIORS: Still working on the final draft of your slam poem. Presentations will be due on June 5th and 6th.  Everyone must be ready to go on the 5th. I'll start with volunteers and then randomly call names; if you tell me you're not ready, you'll lose 100 points.  You will still need to present, but you'll have to wait until everyone else has a their first chance to present.  If we run out of time, you're out of luck; I will not hear any presentations after school, during lunch, or before school; you lose those points.  IMPORTANT DATES: Friday, May 31 I'll be doing a notebook check (Word List of 100 words, Look Around Poem, "Louder Than a Bomb" notes, one Freewrite, 3 What Are You Doing warmups, and one Alliteration warmup) Monday, June 3 we'll be returning textbooks to the library (keep books you still need for finals). Finally, the deadline for the Slam Poem final draft is June 4.  If I don't see your poem before you present, you DON'T present.

SOPHOMORES: We started work on sonnets.  See me for the handouts.  Your Sestina and Slam poems were due today.  Keep working on your word list until you get to 100 words (real words, not "hat, cat, bat" words).

SENIORS: By now the rough draft of your slam poem should be complete; now work on making sure that you have the following: Written (100 points), At least 30 seconds long when spoken (100 points), 4 literary devices (choose from metaphor, simile, personification, irony, hyperbole, and allusion) correctly identified (100 points), 1 pun correctly identified (50 points), 1 example of each (alliteration, consonance, assonance, perfect rhyme, slant rhyme, internal rhyme) correctly identified (100 points).  Remember, if you memorize your poem, you get an EXTRA 100 POINTS!  Huzzah!

SOPHOMORES: We had a guest speaker today, so you get a short reprieve.  Your slam poem and sestina are now due first thing tomorrow, unless you want to share it with me tonight through googledocs.  If you are not sending me the work electronically, have the hard copies of your poems ready to hand to me at the beginning of the period.  REMEMBER: make sure you identify everything you're supposed to have in your slam poem (check the rubric).  If you can't find your rubric, make sure your slam poem has the following (which means annotate): metaphor OR simile, personification OR irony, one pun, perfect rhyme, slant rhyme, internal rhyme, alliteration, consonance, and assonance.  Your poem needs to be long enough so that, IF you were to present your poem out loud, it would be at least 20 seconds long (it can be longer).

SENIORS: You had the choice of working on your slam poem or your senior exhibition.  Good luck to all of you!

SOPHOMORES: You worked on your Sestina or your Slam Poem.  Both are due at the BEGINNING of the period on Tuesday.

SENIORS: We discussed the rubric the panel will use for your exhibition; it's on the school website, so give it a look so you'll how you will be graded.  The rest of the period was used for you to work on your exhibition or your slam poem.

SOPHOMORES: We watched Love Poem from a Toothbrush to a Bicycle Tire by Sarah Kay; the purpose was to pull out the puns and personification and to notice that not all slam poems have to be full of sturm und drang.  The rest of the period was used for working on either your Sestina or your Slam Poem, both of which are due first thing on Tuesday.

SENIORS: We began work on your slam poem; by now you should know your topic and have a general idea on what you want to say.  We also did a 5-minute freewrite to get your minds going. Tomorrow we will practice your answers to the panel questions for your presentation on Thursday.  We spent some time on these questions several weeks ago, so you should find your answers in your notebook.

SOPHOMORES: We got started on the SESTINA, a special kind of poetry made popular by 12th century troubadors.  See me for the handout. We also did a 5-minute freewrite to get your minds going. Both the slam poem and the sestina will be due on the Tuesday we return from Memorial Day.

SENIORS: We watched Rudy Francisco's Love Poem Medley; the transcript of that presentation is on the back of Shooter.  Annotate for the same things you're annotating for Shooter.  Both assignments are due Monday.  Make sure you're still adding words to the word list in your notebook; you should have 45 by now.

SOPHOMORES: We started brainstorming your slam poem.  To get started, make separate lists of things that make you ecstatic, depressed, and perplexed.  Pick one idea and brainstorm it.  Tomorrow, the annotation of Shooter is due.  Continue to add words to the word list in your notebook; you should have 45 by now.

SENIORS: We finished Louder Than a Bomb; as a class, we discussed what was pulled from the documentary and the poem I Wanna Hear a Poem.  The new assignment is annotating Lamar Jorden's Shooter poem.  See me for the handout; this assignment is due this Friday.  Remember, you should be adding to your word list in your notebook; by now, you should have 40 words.

SOPHOMORES: We finished Louder Than a Bomb; as a class, we discussed what was pulled from the documentary and the poem I Wanna Hear a Poem.  The new assignment is annotating Lamar Jorden's Shooter poem.  See me for the handout; this assignment is due this Friday.  Remember, you should be adding to your word list in your notebook; by now, you should have 40 words.

SENIORS: We are continuing with Louder Than a Bomb.  If you're having trouble finding examples, or if you've been absent, clips of the documentary can be found on Youtube.

SOPHOMORES: We are continuing with Louder Than a Bomb. If you're having trouble finding examples, or if you've been absent, clips of the documentary can be found on Youtube.

SENIORS: We started watching the documentary "Louder Than a Bomb," taking notes on the influences, subject matter, and word choices of the student poets.

SOPHOMORES: We started watching the documentary "Louder Than a Bomb," taking notes on the influences, subject matter, and word choices of the student poets.

SENIORS: Put your completed "Look Around" poem in your notebook (for a later notebook check).  We discussed the differences between perfect and slant rhymes; also the differences between alliteration, consonance, and assonance.  Your HOMEWORK for Monday is to annotate "I Wanna Hear a Poem" for stanzas, alliteration, consonance, assonance, puns, perfect rhyme, slant rhyme, simile, and metaphor (one example of each will do).

SOPHOMORES: Put your completed "Look Around" poem in your notebook (for a later notebook check).  We discussed the differences between perfect and slant rhymes; also the differences between alliteration, consonance, and assonance.  Your HOMEWORK for Monday is to annotate "I Wanna Hear a Poem" for stanzas, alliteration, consonance, assonance, puns, perfect rhyme, slant rhyme, simile, and metaphor (one example of each will do).

SENIORS: We worked on two poems today which will be collected tomorrow.  Also, we watched an interview of Eminem, learning how he collects and uses words for his raps.  Make sure you are collecting 5 words a day on a list in your notebook, and bring a Xerox copy of a page from a fiction book on Thursday.

SOPHOMORES: Come see me for the handout that deals with the poetry work we did today.  Also, we watched a 60 Minutes interview with Eminem in which we learned about how he collects and uses words for his raps.  Wednesday, I will do a notebook check, looking at the 10 words you should have collected by then.  For Thursday, remember to bring a Xerox copy of a page from a fiction book.

EXTRA FRIDAY POST FOR SOPHOMORES: I'm getting questions about what you should do with your copy of Night.  I'm telling Mrs. Cooper that you need it until Monday (May 6).  If you still need it after that, then you'll need to see Mrs. Cooper and get a renewed return date.  Don't forget to read the Friday blog post that is just underneath this post.

SENIORS: Your query letter is due today.  Make sure you share it with me through googledocs.  In case you have forgotten, my email address is jbgardham@gmail.com.

SOPHOMORES: Your synthesis paper is due today, or you can share it with me over the weekend.  In case you have forgotten, my email address is jbgardham@gmail.com.

ALL STUDENTS: Due to CST testing, today's blog is the same as yesterday's blog.  See you all on Friday!

SENIORS: Your query letter is due at the end of the period on Friday, May 3.

SOPHOMORES: Continue writing/revising/editing your synthesis paper.  It is due at the end of the period on Friday, May 3, or you can share it with me over the weekend.