Academic Vocabulary

 

I

Lesson created for Miss Reiman’s 7th Grade Language Arts

March 2015

Sarah Engström

 

Objectives:

Students will be reintroduced to elements of formal writing, to be used in the upcoming poetry unit; which include words and concepts to analyze and write poetry of their own.

 

State Standards Addressed (Introduced)

• R3.1 Apply knowledge of word origins, structure and context clues, and root words, and use dictionaries and glossaries, to determine the meaning of new words and to comprehend text. I. Vocabulary Development 1. Use word parts to determine root words, prefixes, suffixes, compound words

• R3.6 Analyze basic rules (conventions) of the four genres of fiction (short story, drama, novel, and poetry).

 

Materials Needed:

• Unit 5 Academic Vocabulary Worksheet

• Textbook, pages 448-451

 

By the end of the Lesson, Students will be able to:

• Define Imagery, Figurative Language, Connotation 

• Recognize Memorials as a type of literature, and their function

• Connect the poem "The Names" by Billy Collins to its historical significance

 

By the end of the Lesson, Students will have:

• Been exposed to the academic vocabulary needed to discuss poetry

• Gone through an initial read of the poem “The Names” by Billy Collins.

• Begun searching for different types of imagery in the poem.

 

Plan of Attack

• Read the directions of the Academic Vocabulary Worksheet (Side A)

  Notice that the directions do NOT ask students to look it up in the dictionary, or their phone but to create one by themselves.

• Instructor reads a term, and then the sentence. Students discuss this sentence to determine the definition.

• As a class, write a usuable definition of each literary term.

  For the example of skinny vs slender, it was interesting that many students felt the word slender was more negative, because of the rise of the popular spooky figure, Slenderman.

  Instead of writing 3 sentences for B.2, write only one. (Since they only provided 1 line)

• Pass these worksheets back in, because we will continue working on them another day.

• Read “The Names” by Billy Collins. Discuss the historical context, and the type of poem.

  While Instructor reads aloud, have students follow along with their finger. (this is a good way to assess student engagement.) If the instructor has to turn a page, make sure that you hear 20 other pages turning. If you do not, it is appropriate to mention to the class “Hey, I just had to turn to page. If you did not, you are not following along.”

• As you read, have students begin to look for different imagery techniques used in the poem. (They can begin filling out the imagery worksheet that goes along with the reading.)

• This lesson will be continued the next day. (There will be a practice test, but it is not necessary to tell students this now, since it will cause unnecessary panic.)