In-Class Activity, Apr. 27: Limericks

Objective:


(C) given the history of limericks, and the guidelines of how to compose them,

(A) the ENG300 students

(B) will get together in groups of 2-3 and compose a limerick on their own and post it on this blog,

(D) having used the correct rhyme pattern (AABBA) and rhythm.

Haiku and Grammar

Haiku reflects human nature and is supposed to be an intuitive experience. A persons feelings should be directly connected to the haiku.

The phrase structure is the most important in haiku grammar.

Most people think that the universal structure of a haiku is the 5-7-5 form. It's grounded on the prosodic grammatical nature of Japanese language. It's a Pythagorian misconception that the numerology is real.

The form of the haiku depends on the nature of the phrase construction of the language in which the haiku is written.

The haiku structure is geared towards expressing feelings and not to explain logical concepts.

Beacause the seasons in Japan are different from the western seasons, the feelings expressed about them are going to be different than if someone who lived in the west had written them.

A sentence has a propositional structure and by breaking that structure down in haiku, the poem becomes even more abstract and intellectual, which is not what a haiku should be.

There are three modes of being, Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness. Firstness is the quality of feeling or suchness. It's a positive qualitative possibility. Secondness is the being of actual fact; like what's happening then and there. Thirdness is the being of law that will govern facts in the future.



Did you read anything in the article that you didn't know about haiku's before? Did reading this article make you want to try writing a haiku?

P.S. Here's a "grammar haiku"!

In-Class Activity on Apr. 24th: Tom Swifties

Using Adverbs Abundantly -- "Tom Swifties"

After today's Readability Presentation and after taking the last survey of our class (about Alzheimer's & Grammar), we are going to work on our last grammar topic of the semester: the overuse of adverbs!!!!

First task (everyone on his/her own):
Go to the following website and learn what "Tom Swifties" are.


Task 2:

Get together in groups of 3-4. Go to the following webpage. Your group's task is to create a 5-item test for another group that this group has to solve. Get the emails of the other group's members, and email them your quiz. The group that solves most of the 5 items it gets from another group wins!! You need to retype the Tom Swifties that you find on the webpage, but you leave out the last word, i.e., the pun, for the group to fill in the blank. Don't invent them yourself yet!!!

Examples:

1. How do you start a model-T Ford without a battery?" asked Tom _____________ .

(answer: CRANKILY)

2. "I have to wear this cast for another six weeks," said Tom _________________ .

(answer: DISJOINTEDLY)

3. "I'm shocked," said Tom _____________________ .

(answer: ELECTRICALLY)


You should select sentences that people are able to guess when they think hard.

EMAIL me your 5-item quiz (with solutions). Only one per group, please! Indicate your group members names in this email (because you'll all get participation points for the quiz).


Task 3:

Now, invent 1-3 Tom Swifties on your own!!! Publish them as a comment to this blog. If you work in groups, indicate all your names on your blog entry. If you can't finish in class, do it as homework for Monday, Apr. 27th.

Another planned languge: Klingon

Due Date: Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
______________________________________________

Please post your comments about the Klingon language (another "planned language," next to Esperanto....) on this blog!

Prompt was on Livetext. Here's the reading again.

Good/Better/Best

Hello 6th graders! Today's mini lesson will be over comparative and superlative adjectives.Examples: good/better/best and bad/worse/worst.

Engage- The class will be engaged while we watch a school house rock video over comparative and superlative adjectives. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obQzaU5FN7Y&feature=related

Explore- The students will explore what they have learned during the mini lesson in a game created using comparative and superlative adjectives.

Expand- The class will be given a hand out with the adjective usage rules and we will look at examples together.

Explain- I will explain the difference between comparative and superlative adjectives.

Evaluate- The class will be split up into 3 groups for the game. This evaluation is different because there will not be a quiz. If they can answer the game questions right then I will know they learned what they needed to. The group with the most points will win candy.

E-search- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHad_GVnpgQ click on this link and watch this video for homework. Make sure you have a piece of paper and a pencil ready. Follow the directions in the video by comparing the objects using comaparative and superlative adjectives.Due date is the next class period.

Links to our WebQuests

1. Shaya Barnett: 1920's Slang

2. Courtney Shelby: Drug Slang

3. Dana Stute: 1920's Slang

4. Danielle McCarty: 1920's Slang

5. Jordan Glodich: Prison Slang

6. Ashley McGillis: Prison Slang

7. Chris Lacy: Baseball Slang

8. Sam Jolly: 1960's Slang

9. Angela Wille: Prison Slang

10. Stephanie Schofield: 1960's Slang

11. Eric Yearian: Basketball Slang

12. Laura Melfi: 1960's Slang

13. Heather Schultz: 1920's Slang

14. Logan Malloy: Basketball Lingo

15. Michara Canty: 1920's Slang

16. Liza Tressler: 1960's Slang

17. Rosalind Whitley: The Language of Fashion

18. Lila Adkins: Prison Slang

19. Stefani Pittman: Prison Slang

Mini Lesson: That vs. Which

This lesson is for 10th grade students.

Engage: The students will be engaged in this lesson by viewing a short video featuring Jane Straus discussing some rules of THAT vs. WHICH.

Video 1

Video 2


Explore: Students will explore the usage of that and which and their relationship to restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses.

Explain: I will explain to the class the correct way of attacking THAT and WHICH. 

Expand: Along with the grammar guidelines, sentences of examples will be used to help understanding. 

Evaluate: The class will finish the lesson with a quiz in order to evaluate their comprehension.

E-Search:  Students will be asked to write six sentences for homework; three using the correct form of that and three using which.

Mini Lesson on The Apostrophe

Engage: The students will be engaged by viewing a video about the use of the apostrophe.

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-use-an-apostrophe

Explore: The students will explore the correct and incorrect ways to use an apostrophe.

Explain: I will explain to the students that oftent times, people missuse the apostrophe. I will also explain ways to remember the correct uses, and also how to proofread for apostrophes.

Expand: After the rules of the apostrophe are examined, specific examples of correct and incorrect uses will be given.

Evaluate: Once the students have learned the rules, they will take an online quiz about the use of the apostrophe. We will do this activity as a class.

E-Search: For homework, the students will be expected to go back to the online quiz, and take Level C. They will print out their results and bring them to class the next day.

Mini Lesson: Semi-Colons & Colons

Mini Lesson is for 11th grade students.


Engage: The students will be engaged in this lesson by viewing an introductory video on the topic at hand.

Video

Explore: We will explore the many different uses and rules for incorporating these two punctuation marks into sentences.

Explain: I will explain to the class the correct/incorrect ways of using semi-colons and colons through examples.

Expand: In addition to the rules, specific examples pertaining to the rules will be given in order to enhance comprehension.

Evaluate: Once informed, the class will take a quiz covering the basic rules and functions of the colon and semi-colon. We will do this activity as a class.

E-Search: After the quiz, students will be asked to complete homework, covering the rules of semi-colons and colons.

Mini Lesson: Tenses

 This lesson is for 6th grade students. 

Engage- I will ask students how many tenses they know. Then students will watch a short video on tenses to get their attention. Students will be introduced to the basic meaning behind each tense (past, present, and future).

VIDEO

Explore- We will explore the different rules of each tense, and when each tense should be applied. 

Explain- I will explain each of the twelve tenses. The uses and forms of of each tense will be explained to the class through examples on the power point.

Expand- Students will take an online quiz as a class on tenses. This allows for student participation to make sure students understand each tense.

QUIZ

Evaluate- To help students further understand tenses, for homework, they will be asked to write five sentences using five different tenses.

E-search- For homework, students must also go online and research one tense. After they have collected as much information as they could, students should create a short story. This story should be eight to ten sentences, and be written in the tense they researched. 

Esperanto: The Language You Weren't Supposed to Know Exists

Esperanto: The Language You Weren't Supposed to Know Exists

Esperanto (n) a planned international language which has been taught and learned for over a century, but which has been beat down from schools by the Man.

Esperanto's purpose served to free learning from the inconsistencies of European languages, and subsequently had "language awareness effects, including awareness of linguistic inequality, linguistic structure, and the sociocultural functions of language." Through the results of experiments after WWI, Esperanto is also considered "modern Latin", a language for other languages to build upon that tied it all together. Studies in Manchester, England revealed that not only did learning Esperanto aid the process of learning other languages, learning one year of Esperanto was the equivalent of learning four years of French, and also had a positive, propadeutic effect on their knowledge of English. Similar results were found on a broad range of languages. Granted, there are various limitations that apply to these findings that apply to most scientific studies.

Esperanto is distinguishable from other languages through its small number of rules and morphemes which "allows students to freely employ both convergent and divergent forms of reasoning, and thereby stimulates linguistic confidence and creativity." The language is built to stress multilingual awareness. 

It all sounds good, so why didn't/doesnt the language flourish?

Esperanto experiences the same prejudices as AAE and American Sign Language. Teachers also play down suggestions that it might lead students to question existing linguistic hierarchies, but this is exactly what the language is designed to do. 

What do you think of Esperanto? 

Have you heard of it before? 

Should Esperanto be taught in schools? 

Does the world, centuries later, still need an international language or has English taken this role, as the article suggests in its conclusion?

It is argued that the fact that Esperanto lacks a culture is a hindrance? Is it?