Diary of a Middle School ELAR Teacher: August 2011

Monday, August 29, 2011

Back to School Dance

Middle School will be having a Back to School Dance - More details coming soon.

Middle School students working hard on the Back to School Dance Banners.

8th Grade - Myths- The story of Icarus and Daedalus

Daedalus and Icarus

Daedalus was the greatest engineer in all the Mediterranean.

King Minos of Crete was the greatest king in all the Mediterranean, but he had a big problem. He had disrespected Neptune, the god of the oceans, and, in return, the angry god had given him a monster for a son: The flesh-eating Minotaur, with the head of a bull and the body of a man.

Minos had to find a safe place to keep this dangerous monster, and so he sent for Daedalus.

By the time the wise old engineer arrived on the island with his son, Icarus, he had figured out a solution to the king's problem: A great stone maze, the Labyrinth, that would act as the monster’s home.

The people of Crete would be safe because the Minotaur would never be able to find his way out. And the Minotaur would be safe, because nobody could ever find his way in.

When the Labyrinth was completed, it was everything Daedalus had promised, and everything Minos had wished for.

In fact, as far as the king could see, there was only one security flaw in his new building: Daedalus.

In his bed at night, Minos lay awake and worried. Daedalus had designed the Labyrinth; that meant he knew its complicated twists and turns. Daedalus could betray Minos and give away the secrets of the maze.

Daedalus assured King Minos that even he could not find his way in and out of the Labyrinth, but the king did not trust his word.

He had Daedalus and Icarus put into the Labyrinth. If Daedalus knew the way out, he reasoned, the guards at the doors would capture him before he could escape. And if he truly could not find his way out, well, so much the better.

And so Daedalus and his son took up their residence in the maze, and Daedalus truly could not find a way through the twists and turns of the Labyrinth. But that did not mean he couldn’t find a way to escape from the king’s trap.

He studied the birds of the air as they flew over the Labyrinth, and he began to gather their feathers. Fortunately for him, he had been imprisoned with all his tools and the materials he had used to build models of the Labyrinth.

And so, alone with his son in the maze, Daedalus began to plan his escape.

Over several months, he carefully built two sets of enormous wings, with harnesses, one set made to his measurements, the other designed just for Icarus. And he covered the wings with feathers, held in place by bees wax.

As the project took shape, young Icarus became more excited. He watched the seagulls each day as they whirled and glided overhead, and imagined himself flying among them.

His father sometimes saw him standing, gazing up at the birds, and once again would say, “This is not a game, my son. It is serious business. If I thought we could live here, I would never risk our lives like this.”

Icarus would nod, and promise his father to take their escape seriously. But then he would see another bird soar high overhead, and his thoughts would soar with it.

Finally, the day came when Daedalus put the final touches on the two great pairs of wings and climbed with them to the top of the Labyrinth’s walls.

He slipped into his own harness, helped Icarus into his, and then fastened all the straps tightly.

“Listen carefully,” he warned his son. “Follow me closely, because I have charted a course that will take us to safety.

“And, as you follow me, do not fly too high,” the old man went on, “for the sun is hot and will melt the wax that holds the feathers to your wings. But do not fly too low, or the moist air of the ocean will gather on your wings and make them too heavy to fly.”

They stepped from the wall, opening their wings, and the wind carried them upwards. Daedalus steadily moved his arms to keep the great wings flapping at the right speed.

But when he looked back, his eyes filled with horror. Icarus was flying in circles, looking first at the ground below and then up to the clouds above. Daedalus called to him, but the boy paid no attention.

Then, as his father watched helplessly, Icarus began to climb higher and higher into the air, laughing and circling joyously. And as the boy flew closer to the sun, Daedalus saw what his son did not: One feather after another, floating in the air behind him, as the wax melted and the wings began to fall apart.

At last, Icarus felt the change in his wings, but it was too late. A great cloud of feathers came off in the middle of the blue sky and the boy plunged down, down into the wine-dark sea that bears his name to this day.

And a sad old man slowly flew on to safety. When he finally landed, Daedalus built a temple to Apollo and put on its altar the great wings that he would never have the heart to fly with again.

http://www.weeklystorybook.com/weeklystorybook/2009/09/daedalus-and-icarus.html

The Melting Point of Wax by Thrice
Icarus' (Son) Point of View

I've waited for this moment
All my life and more
And now I see so clearly
What I could not see before.
The time is now or never
This chance won't come again
Throw caution and myself to the wind.

There's no promise of safety with these secondhand wings
But I'm willing to find out what impossible means.
A leap of faith.

Parody of an angel
Miles above the sea
I hear the voice of reason
Screaming up to me
"You flew too high, for now you're too close to the sun
Soon your makeshift wings will come undone"

But how will I know limits from life if I never try?

There's no promise of safety with these secondhand wings
But I'm willing to find out what impossible means.
Climb to the heavens on feathers and dreams
Because the melting point of wax means nothing to me.
Nothing to me
Nothing to me

I will touch the sun or I will die trying.
Die trying.

Fly on these secondhand wings
Willing to find out what impossible means
Climb to the heavens on feathers and dreams
Because the melting point of wax means nothing to me
Nothing to me
Means nothing to me
Miles above the sea.

Daedalus by Thrice
Daedalus' (Father) Point of View

I stand on the cliffs with my son next to me
This island our prison, our home
And everyday we look out at the sea
This place is all he's ever known

But I've got a plan and some wax and some string; some feathers I stole from the birds
So we leap from the cliff and we hear the wind sing a song thats too perfect for words

But son, please keep a steady wing
And know your the only one that means anything to me
Steer clear of the sun, or you'll find yourself in the sea

Now safely away, I let out a cry
"We'll make the mainland by noon"
But Icarus climbs higher still in the sky
Maybe I've spoken too soon

But son, please keep a steady wing
And know your the only one that means anything to me
Steer clear of the sun, or you'll find yourself in the sea
Won't you look at your wings
They're coming undone
They're splitting at the seams
Steer clear of the sun, for once wont you listen to me?

Oh Gods!
Why is this happening to me?
All I wanted was new life for my son to grow up free
And now you took the only thing that meant anything to me
I'll never fly again, I'll hang up my wings
Oh Gods!
Why is this happening to me?
All I wanted was new life for my son to grow up free
And now you took the only thing that meant anything to me
I'll never fly again, I'll hang up my wings
Oh Gods!

8th Grade Mythological Creatures

This week our 8th graders are studying Myths. Our assignment today was to break into pairs, and create a Mythical Creature. Step # 1: Fold a blank piece of paper in half (hamburger style). Step # 2: Partner #1 will create the upper half of the body. Step # 3: Partner 2 (without looking at partner #1's drawing) will create the lower half of the body. Step #4: When both partners are finished, they will open up their paper and reveal the creature they created. Step #5: Both partners will work together to color their creature, name it, list their likes and dislikes, where it lives, and any special powers it may have.

Name: Merbird
Food: All things McDonalds
Habitat: Land and Water (salt/fresh)
Special Ability/Power: Hypnotizes people with its feathers.

Name: Xaphora
Likes: Flowers, Plants, Children, Animals
Dislikes: People, Cities, Pollution
Special Ability/Power: She can grow anything, anywhere, and she is a shape shifter.

Name: Yecking
Habitat: Oogie Boogies Mansion
Likes: Fish and Skeletons
Dislikes: Goldfish
Special Ability/Power: Summons water and fire.

Name: Unasoris
Likes: Rainbows and candy
Dislikes: Children
Habitat: Under people's beds.
Special Ability/Power: Shoots beans and its belly button hypnotizes people.

Name: Mersky-Two Face
Habitat: Lives in the clouds and sleeps on rainbows.
Likes: Pizza, babies, his mermaid girlfriend, swimming, food, birds, soda, and candy.
Dislikes: Littering and Pollution
Special Ability/Power: Has two faces, swims 100,000 MPH, can hold his breath for one hour, and whoever he is around will rub off on him.

Name: Snangel (Goddess)
Habitat: Lives in a Diamond Castle made out of awesome-cotton-candiness
Likes: Bagels, bangles, and her dog named Rango.
Dislikes: Snakes and Angels (which is ironic because she is half of both)
Special Ability/Power: She can make charm spells, able to change her appearance (but likes the original look) makes things ugly/beautiful, has a poisonous bite, and she gets power from the sun.

Name: Teticx Hexddd Equinix
Habitat: She lives in an ice Volcano.
Dislikes: Her stubby legs.
Special Ability/Power: She shoots fire out of her tail and ice out of her hands (which she always has hidden under her sleeves).

Name: Charlie
Habitat: Charlie lives in the trees from North Africa
Likes: Peanuts, boats, chocolate, and texting.
Dislikes: Cheese, green stuff, and country music.
Special Ability/Power: Hopping, and flying to the moon.

7th Grade - Figurative Language PowerPoint

Students and Parents: This is the exact PowerPoint we used in our 7th grade class to learn Vocabulary Terms/Examples dealing with Figurative Language.

http://www.infusion.allconet.org/webquest/PowerPoints/FigurativeLanguage.ppt

Vocabulary Terms

Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Alliteration
Assonance
Onomatopoeia

Monday, August 15, 2011

Top 20 Teacher Blogs

Below is a link to the September/October 2009 Scholastic Instructor Magazine titled, "Top 20 Teacher Blogs." If you are still having trouble figuring out how the whole blog thing works, or you are simply looking for new ideas, products, etc.; some of these should be very helpful to you. Happy Blogging and enjoy! :)

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3752562

The Teaching Palette: Perfecting the Art of Education

I stumbled across the following blog while trying to find new ideas for art integration in the learning environment, and this is what they strive to do:
Our blog is authored by art educators for art educators. We aim to provide a collaborative and resourceful forum where art specialists of all levels can explore professional topics that impact our subject area - from classroom management to tools and techniques to integrating music. We also provide valuable teacher resources and product reviews. Join the conversation by contributing content or comments. Follow the dialogue by subscribing to our site via RSS or email.

I highly recommend following The Teaching Platte's Blog found below:

http://theteachingpalette.com/category/blog/

The Teaching Palette is a blog dedicated to the teachers who constantly work on perfecting the art of education. The heart and purpose of this site is to provide an environment where the love and knowledge of art education will be advanced.

Our goal is to provide a collaborative forum where art specialists of all levels can explore professional topics that impact our subject area. Our “big three” content specialties include 1) classroom management, 2) music + art integration and 3) teacher-authored product reviews.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Open House - Thank You

I would like to take a moment to thank all of the families that came to SASIC for Open House. It was a pleasure meeting all of you, and remember, if you have any questions please email me: tsinclair1031@gmail.com . If you were not able to attend, or you did not pick up your syllabus and supply list; they can be found on the right side of my blog under "Pages".

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Puzzle Project: We All Fit In.

One of our first projects for both 7th & 8th grade will be titled: We All Fit In. Each student is given a large piece of foam poster board, cut in the shape of a puzzle piece, on which he/she has to make a collage showing his/her life, interests and souvenirs. Many students add old photographs, pictures cut from magazines, drawings, little items from home, etc. to illustrate themselves. When they finish their puzzle piece, they have to stand up in front of the class and tell us about all the things on their collage. The students will then work together to complete their puzzle (7th & 8th grade will be two separate puzzles). I will make a piece as well - after all, I am a part of this class too. :)

Make Music Anywhere

I want students to be inspired to make music/art anywhere they are. It may be a book they are reading, an image they see in the clouds, a tree stump, or a broken door (like the videos below), the possibilities are endless. Incoming students: on the first day of school feel free to bring any form of art that has inspired you, or that you have created . Your participation will help myself and other students get to know you during the first week: All About ME.