1. Clayton Smith
  2. English 11
  3. Students: Due to the nature of my school, many of the students are accommodated, many read and write below their grade level, and many are not strongly motivated to apply themselves academically.
  4. Objective: Students will be able to determine the denotation and connotation of a given word or phrase as used in a grade level text.
    1. Students who struggle with the assignment will be given "connotation helpers" based on the words in the poem. These helpers will include vocabulary words used in multiple situations where their connotations change, and students will have the opportunity to match vocabulary words to similar uses.
    2. Students will initially be given a glossary that suggests connotations that may be applicable.
  5. Objective: Students will be able to revise the word choice of a given passage from a grade level text in order to express a different tone or target a different purpose.
    1. Many students will feel that they are unable or ill-prepared to read texts at grade level. For our first Elizabethan sonnets, students will be provided with a glossary and syntax guides to help them unravel the meaning of the sonnet. The first glossaries we use will use the words as used in the sonnet, later glossaries will use the words' dictionary entries, with only the proper definition. The next glossary will include all definitions in the word's dictionary entry. The final sonnet will be accompanied by an appropriate dictionary rather than a glossary.
    2. The "I Do It" section of the lesson will begin with demonstrating how to break the sonnet into its structural parts (quatrains/couplet, or quatrains/octet/tercet/sestet) to help to determine meanng based on organization.
    3. The "I do it" section will also include a demonstration of how to break the sonnet into discreet thoughts (sentences and/or clauses). The first sonnet the students are given for group analysis (You Do It) will have these structures marked for them. The second will not, but the teacher will be available to assist students who need assistance in finding and marking clauses.
    4. Students will also be given example texts targeted to the audience their group is revising for, so that they can see what appropriately targeted text looks like.