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.