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Today we read a "poem" called "Beasts of England." Students worked in pairs, looking up unfamiliar vocabulary and figuring out what the main messages of the poem were. We discussed when do you look up a word in the dictionary and when do you just figure it out from context. In one instance, the dictionary did not have a definition. Mangel wurzel. Because this was the last two words in a list that included "wheat and barley, oats and hay, / Clover, beans, and mangel wurzel" we determined from context that it must be a kind of edible crop. An internet search determined that it is a root crop, pictured above.

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We drew farms for homework over the weekend and today got to compare the commonalities and differences in what people think of when they think of a farm. Lots of red barns, cows, and pastures, and green crops. Will Animal Farm in the book look like the farms of our imaginations?

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We don’t just read to learn in the Unit, but also work on learning to read. This means thinking about what it means to be a strong reader and actively learning, practicing, and honing reading skills. We discussed this in class before beginning the novel.

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We read chapter one together and discussed who the characters were and how to track them on a note sheet. We also marked vocabulary words and went to look up definitions after reading.

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We discussed what note taking looked like, and how to add more information following reading. We also reviewed what CONNECTIONS are. Part of the review included VOCABULARY and students were asked to pick one of their words, illustrate it, then act it out.

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Goals of drawing and role playing vocabulary:
-REVIEWING WORDS: and not just by looking at them on paper.
-MOVEMENT: Getting up and moving around is not only healthy, it will help people learn in a different way and hopefully remember the words more effectively.
-RISK TAKING : Being able to get up and act silly in front of your peers is important. It requires trust and self-confidence. I was impressed by how well people were able to take on this challenge and make it fun.

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Pics of Acting and Drawings - CLICK picture to see more pictures.

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Pics of Acting and Drawings - CLICK picture to see more pictures.

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Sorry my phone died so I did not get to take pictures of everyone. :-(

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Old Major's Speech: Powers of Persuasion

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Old Major's Speech: Powers of Persuasion

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We re-read the speech Old Major gives to the animals. Students did a text search, looking for examples of Ethos (Why trust the speaker?), Pathos (How does the speaker evoke emotions?), and Logos (How does the speaker provide logical arguments?). Students also looked for repetition, rhetorical questions, and figurative language.

This not only taught students to search for examples from texts, and to think about how to craft persuasive arguments. Will they use these skills with parents and teachers? Time will tell.

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Caitlin Leverenz Mother’s Notes Milk Life TV Commercial Ad

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Milk Mustache Campaign Super Bowl XLVII TV Commercial with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

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Friday Agenda - The Class that Will Change Your Life (read below)

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Friday Agenda - The Class that Will Change Your Life (read below)

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We spent the day thinking about the meaning of propaganda. We talked about how it works, where people experience it, and how it might effect us. I told the students, "Today's class will change your life." How? It will help students see the techniques and manipulations that advertisers use every day to convince us to buy their products. They learned that this happens everywhere: TV, movies, news outlets, social media. They also learned that the cool-looking person sitting in the café typing on a computer? Possibly an actor being paid to look cool and work on a specific type of computer, or drink a particular type of drink. We watched a variety of MILK ads, and analyzed the ways the marketing was happening. Not only is there Pathos, Ethos, and Logos in action, but they sell direct ideas such as "milk will make you an Olympic athlete," as well as not such direct ideas such as "if I drink milk I might be as happy as that happy family in the video," or "wow - that person has a perfect house and perfect relationship with his daughter, so I should drink milk too." I included links to the videos we watched below. Trigger Warning: the last one uses words such as "mammal udder juice" and "liquid cow teat spray" among others. Students loved it. Students will now see ads with a new understanding of the ways they are being manipulated by advertisers and companies. They will also think about the choices being made when it comes to sets and actors - what does that say about our society values?

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If Milk Commercials Were Honest - Honest Ads