SuccessLink Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Friday, September 3, 2010

Great Teaching Ideas

lesson & unit viewer

What are they saying? Put it in your own words!

published on: 12/9/2008

Contributing Teacher(s): Brenda Mays

Subject Area: Communication Arts/Reading/literature

Grade Range: Middle Grades (6-8)

Materials Needed:

Andy Griffith CD with "What it was, was football" track
The story "Raymond's Run"
The story "Mrs. Flowers" by Maya Angelou
The story "Conductor of the Underground Railroad"
Instructions for "Hit or Miss Vocabulary Game"

Objective:

Students will identify and explain literary techniques and figurative language in nonfiction text, emphasizing jargon, dialect, slang, and other sound devices previously introduced.

Essential Question: Interpret the meanings of colloquialisms, slang and dialect.

Instructional Strategy: Infer, Predict, and Find Evidence

Process Standards:

Goal 1.5 comprehend and evaluate written, visual and oral presentations and works
Goal 2.4 present perceptions and ideas regarding works of the arts, humanities and sciences
Goal 3.5 reason inductively from a set of specific facts and deductively from general premises
Goal 4.1 explain reasoning and identify information used to support decisions
Goal 4.6 identify tasks that require a coordinated effort and work with others to complete those tasks

Content Standards:

Communication Arts 3. Reading and evaluating nonfiction works and material (such as biographies, newspap...)

G.L.E.:

CA - Re - 3 - B - 08
(Reading, Develop and apply skills and strategies to comprehend, analyze and evaluate nonfiction (such as biographies, newspapers, technical manuals) from a variety of cultures and times, Literary devices, Grade 8.)

Time Allowance: 5 days to teach essential vocabulary and learn to identfy examples; Unit can be on-going throughout the year

Technological Resources:

Andy Griffith CD with "What it was, was football" track
The story "Raymond's Run"
The story "Mrs. Flowers" by Maya Angelou
The story "Brer Possum's Dilemma"
Instructions for "Hit or Miss Vocabulary Game"

Extensions:
Hit and Miss Vocabulary Game

Integration:
Review other stories you have read that have colloquialisms, slang and/or dialect in them and teach them seperately instead of together.

Differentiation:
You can find these stories on CD and have students listen and stop it every so often to complete the 3 column chart.

Assessment:
See Lesson

Description: Students will learn the meaning of colloquialism, dialect and slang. They will then identify these things in 2 nonfiction pieces of literature and put it into their own words.

Classroom Component:

Hit or Miss Directions

Goal: To have students review academic vocabulary terms in a different way. This activity meets step six of the academic vocabulary process.

Supplies:

Hit or Miss template
List of academic vocabulary terms
chips/tokens to cover squares

Directions:

Hand out Hit or Miss template to students. Write the selected vocabulary words (in this case, you could use examples of colloquialisms, dialect and slang along with those 3 vocabulary words) on the board or on the overhead so students can copy the terms.
Students place the selected words on the game board anywhere they choose. There should be more blanks on the template than there are words to be used.
To play the game, the teacher or game leader should choose a coordinate from the game board. Example: “D4”.
If a student has a word recorded in “D4” they should indicate that to the teacher or game leader in whatever fashion has been designated (standing up, saying “Whooo”, etc.)
The teacher or game leader should then call on a student to reveal the word that was written in the chosen coordinate. The student would then have to give the description of the word. This description should match what was written on the academic vocabulary template that was completed during class.
The teacher or game leader would then have to indicate to the student whether or not that was the correct answer.
If the student was correct they cover or mark out that square on the game template. NOTE: If any other student also had the exact same word in the exact same coordinate (Example “D4”), they would also cover or mark out that square because the correct description has been given.
At this point, the teacher or game leader could call on another student who had a different word in that coordinate (“D4”) and follow the same process, or the teacher or game leader could call out a different coordinate to find other words.
Keep following the same process until you have determined a winner. The students will hear the same definitions to words over and over again, therefore getting the multiple exposures necessary to make it part of their working vocabulary.

NOTE: As you play, students will have the same word that has already been called in a different coordinate. This is what you want to happen so that students can use previous knowledge to give the description of the word again. It is all about reinforcing and having fun!

Winning:

Play to black out -- one student will have all of the squares that they put words in covered or marked out. This may take more than one day.
If time is short, set a limit such as the first person to have 5 words covered, etc.

Follow-up:

The questions at the bottom of the game board can be processed after playing Hit or Miss. For example, students could write down the words they knew well and the words they still need to work on.

Hit or Miss

5
4
3
2
1
	A	B	C	D	E	F

1. What words do you understand well?

a. ______________________________ b. ______________________________

2. Which words do you need to work on?

a. ______________________________ b. ______________________________

Term: _____________________________My understanding: I 1 l l 2 l l 3 l l 4 l

Describe:

Draw:

Term: _____________________________My understanding: I 1 l l 2 l l 3 l l 4 l

Describe:

Draw:

Literary Analysis

R3B: Colloquialism, Dialect, Slang

Literary Techniques (nonfiction)

4	In addition to exhibiting Level 3 performance, assessment displays in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught in class.
3.5	In addition to Level 3 performances, student demonstrates in-depth inferences and applications with partial success.
3	While reading grade-appropriate nonfiction texts, the student demonstrates an ability to analyze and respond to literature by: Identifying and explaining colloquialisms Identifying and explaining dialect Identifying and explaining slang The student exhibits no major errors or omissions.
2.5	Student exhibits no major errors or omissions regarding the score 2 elements and partial knowledge of the score 3 elements.
2	The student exhibits no major errors or omissions regarding the simpler details and processes, such as: Identifying colloquialisms Identifying dialect Identifying slang However, the student exhibits major errors or omissions in the Level 3 score.
1.5	Assessment displays PARTIAL KNOWLEDGE regarding the simple details and processes, BUT major errors or omissions regarding the complex details and processes are present.
1	WITH HELP, the student demonstrates partial knowledge of some of Level 2 elements and some of the Level 3 elements.
.5	WITH HELP, the student demonstrates partial knowledge of some of the simple—but not complex--details and processes.
0	Even with help, no understanding or skill demonstrated.

GLE(s):	R3B—Literary Techniques (nonfiction); Identify and explain literary techniques and figurative language in nonfiction text, emphasizing jargon, dialect, slang, and other sound devices previously introduced.
Academic Vocabulary:	Colloquialisms, dialect, slang
Description of Activities/Strategies (embedding vocabulary in instruction)	Materials Needed
3 column notes on colloquialism, dialect, slang (word, definition—paraphrased, picture) Go around the room and have students give an example of a colloquialism, dialect and slang (randomly give them which one they have to give) Revisit the story “Raymond’s Run”; as a class, identify examples of colloquialisms, dialect and slang Listen to “What is was, was…” by Andy Griffith; students will identify examples of slang, dialect and colloquialisms	Andy Griffith CD	Examples from "Raymond's Run" play the dozens, hands on her hips all salty, with his clumsy self, something for real like that, baddest thing around = slang Nowadays, concrete jungle = colloquialism I'm so burnt, we too busy= dialect
Read: “ Mrs. Flowers” --Stop CD every so often to identify slang, dialect and colloquialisms throughout the story together; pair share examples --Create a 3 column chart that includes the colloquialism on the left hand side, translation in the middle, and a modern day colloquialism on the right hand side together	Soft Literature Textbook	Examples from Mrs. Flowers: sopped around the house, mother wit, yes, ma'am, had the good sense =Colloguialism
Read “Brer Possum's Dilemma” Have students identify slang, dialect and colloquialisms throughout the story Create a 3 column chart that includes the dialect on the left hand side, translation in the middle, and a modern day colloquialism on the right hand side together Discuss charts in groups of 3 and be prepared to share out to class	Hard Textbook Notebook Paper Whiteboard	Examples from Brer Possum's Dilemma: feller, ol', a-doin, 'imself, a-callin', you's= dialect back in the days =colloquialism

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For additional information contact :
Brenda Mays
Maple Park Middle
North Kansas City 74
(816) 413-5700
EMAIL: bmays@nkcsd.k12.mo.us