Double check the details

This is a story of something that happened to me when I first started teaching in Wyoming. The year was 2009. And I was teaching middle school ELA. Before I get into the store I need to give a little bit of background information. Teaching writing, especially to middle schoolers is not really an easy job. The students really don’t have any writing skill and they don’t really want to work for any writing skill, and so everything is a big chore. Too kind of help mitigate this I allow students to choose any topic they want as long as it’s appropriate for school. If they don’t know if it’s appropriate for school or not they are supposed to contact me. I have found that allowing students to pick their own topics means that they spend a little more time writing about it because they’re interested in it. However, this does come with some pitfalls

On with my story. . . Wyoming has a lot of ranchers. It’s no secret. And a lot of these students are in my program because it’s a virtual program so ranching kids aren’t spending hours on school busses each day. They grew up on the ranch. They were expected to help with the ranch and having an online school instead of brick and mortar seem to help a lot of families out. I, however, was new to Wyoming. I had only lived in Wyoming for about a year and was still getting used to this more rural type of community. One of my students, who really struggled with writing, asked if he could write about ranching. I said “Of course you can, but you really need to narrow down this topic because ranching is quite broad.” He came back and said well can I write about cattle? I said of course you can but again that’s a very broad topic. What are you going to write about about the cattle? Then he asked if it would be appropriate for school to write about AI. Even though this was only 2009, and AI was not as ubiquitous as it is now, I said, of course you can write about AI that would be super interesting. I personally did not know what artificial  intelligence and cattle had in common, but I figured well why not let him go with this. I did not ask him to define what AI was. I made the assumption that AI would be artificial intelligence. This was an up-and-coming technology in which we were seeing AI being used with predicting text spellcheck getting a lot better that type of stuff. Imagine my surprise when I read his essay on AI artificial insemination. This was a good lesson on the importance of defining technical language. I learned more about cattle AI, artificial insemination, and that one paper that I have ever needed to know in my entire life. 

Couple of lessons from this particular incident. First of all this student wrote an in-depth paper on AI, as in-depth as a middle schooler could do. He was very excited about his topic. He even was able to use part of his research for his 4 H beef project. Because his uncle and father were ranchers, I allowed them to be part of his research, so he had to interview both of them, which went above and beyond the regular requirements of this paper. Second of all, it just reinforced me on how little we teachers know about all aspects of our students. This kiddo was just not some student in my eighth grade English class and that’s it. This kiddo, as all of my students, has more to him than just being a student. And although I was a little grossed out about the topic, I really appreciated how much time and effort went into that particular paper. After that particular assignment, this student wrote more for me then I ever expected him to do so. He had found his voice through this his passion, which was cattle. And finding that passion is more important than any topic that I could’ve assigned to him. The last lesson I learned was to make sure I totally understand what the technical languages prior to giving my OK for a paper, although I still would’ve given the OK, even if I knew he was going to be talking about artificial insemination and cattle instead of artificial intelligence.

Why schools need to be rebanded.

Schools need to be rebranded because they are no longer just places of education. Teachers no longer just teach. Principals no longer exist; they’ve been replaced with the term administration. Administration means to administer, not to guide, support, or create institutions of learning. Parents no longer support traditional education of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Schools get blamed for issues that they have no business even being involved with, including, but not limited to, cyberbullying that occurs off-campus and not on school devices, physical altercations that occur off-campus, gun violence, and mental health issues that occur off-campus. Schools need to be rebranded as social service centers where families receive social services, and education is part of that.

Teachers are being asked to be counselors, social workers, and nurses. Wouldn’t it be better if schools were actually funded and staffed with counselors, social workers, and nurses? Then teachers could actually do what they’ve been trained to do and love to do: TEACH!! I’ve been a teacher for almost 30 years. I was trained to teach literature and writing. I was not trained to determine if a student is struggling with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, gender identity, or eating disorders. I was barely trained on how to recognize physical abuse. I am not trained to identify mental abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or any other type of abuse that might be occurring. As a teacher that’s been teaching long enough, I have discovered how to do this, but it’s not anything that I got trained in, so it’s usually just going on my gut. And even though I feel that my gut has good instinct, I cannot tell you if the student sitting in my class is going to commit an act of violence against themselves or others, or if they’re just going to be moody and broody. This is not healthy or fair for students, and it doesn’t help them. Students need access to real mental health professionals. Counselors, therapists, psychologists are the people who should be identifying these issues. These people go to school and have hours upon hours of training and research. They are the ones who should be working with the students at the school to help them. Teachers are not equipped to do this! We hear all the time that there is a mental health crisis with our students, yet no one is willing to fund any meaningful programs to help these students. Society just blames teachers, the same people who are not trained in these specific mental health areas. If schools were rebranded as social service centers, then funding could change to allow the centers to have access to mental health professionals to help these students. This would help not only those students who need the help but also teachers because they would have a professional person to go to get help for these students.

Schools have also become pharmacies as well. So many students are on so many different medications that it is impossible for teachers to keep up with all of them. I know teachers who have had to keep student medication in their desk for asthma attacks, allergy attacks, as well as other purposes. I’ve also known school secretaries who’ve had to be the ones to dispense them. These people are not health professionals! All my time in teaching, I’ve only worked at one school that had a nurse on duty for more than three hours a day. When a child gets sick at school, who’s taking the temperature? Who’s deciding whether or not that kid needs to go home? Not a healthcare professional nor a teacher or a secretary. This happened to me personally when my own child was sick at school and the secretary decided that she was not too sick to come home. Luckily, I worked at the school in a different wing, and another teacher told me how sick my daughter was. I went right over, saw that she needed to go to the hospital, and promptly took her. Schools need to have full-time nurses on campus from the time the school opens until the time the students leave. Accidents happen, medication needs to be dispensed, and students get sick. The school nurse does more than just sit around waiting for something to happen. They also have to deal with other health issues. They provide a valuable resource for health issues, including Covid, STDs for high schoolers, students with hygiene issues, keeping up with the latest vaccines, and making sure that students are in compliance with required vaccines. If schools were rebranded as social service centers, then possibly nurses could be funded for schools. The school nurse just isn’t someone who sits around. Nursing is a verb, and nurses work hard at school. A nurse works hard to make sure that the school stays healthy so students can be in class learning.

Schools also need social workers. Not just one that works. Maybe part-time but full-time social workers. Students are coming to school with tons of home issues that teachers just can’t deal with because they are not social workers. In addition to dealing with the obvious issues of abuse and neglect, social workers help in so many ways. For example, I have had students ask me questions like how do I get a driver's license, how do I vote, how do I apply for jobs, or where do I even look for jobs. A social worker would be able to help these students with these types of questions. I know they may seem minute and benign, but these are issues that I know my high schoolers are dealing with. Social workers also can help families that are in crisis from lack of food security homelessness. Issues that schools are already trying to deal with right now without social workers. Teachers are not social workers.

In order for teachers to be successful in classrooms with students, schools really do need to be rebranded as social service centers. They are already expected to provide these types of services, so why not call them what they are: social service centers? If they were called social service centers and perceived to be social service centers, then maybe our students would be getting adequate physical, mental, and emotional support so that they can learn the skills that they need to have because teachers would no longer have their times divided; it would be solely focused on working with students teaching students content that the students need to have to prepare for our students for the 21st century.

Creating Community Virtually

Hey teachers - are you struggling to create or to continue community during this time of isolation?  I totally get it!!  I have been a virtual teacher since 2009 and creating community virtually can be very challenging.  But this is not impossible.  Here are some activities that my team have implemented that have helped to create community virtually over the great state of Wyoming. 

Before I get into the activities, I do have some suggestions for some prep tech.  Powerpoint is my go to for all of these activities - I love Powerpoint to make showcases.  Also, I find that making the Powerpoint into a video that is 2-5 minutes long is very effective.  I personally like Screen Cast O Matic.  But there are other video creators out there.  YouTube has become my best friend.  Creating my channel was super easy.  Even better - YouTubeSafe!  After creating my video, uploading it to YouTube, I can put the url into YouTubeSafe so that there are no ads or inappropriate material that can pop up.  

Pet Parade
Every year, usually at the beginning of the school year, we have what is called the Pet Parade. Who doesn’t love pets??  What I do is send out an email to all of my students asking for pictures (no more than 3) of them with their pets.  I generally ask the students to send in a the pictures as a JEPG, with the names of the pets.  You can extend this out and have the students write a few sentences about their pets.  I generally send out 3 email reminders over the course of 7 days so that students have time to get pictures.  Copy/paste into Powerpoint; create a movie; send out the video.  This is a great way to connect home to school. 

Craziest Place to do School
This is a great activity.  I have the students send in either a picture or a description of where they are doing school.  Some students share their desks.  Some students share their dining rooms.  Some students share really strange places - like one student did his schooling in a tree house.  The teachers share as well.  One teacher had to do school outside of McDonalds for the free wifi because the internet was down.  You never know what you will get.  Again, I sent out 3 email reminders over the course of 7 days. Copy/paste into Powerpoint; create a movie; send out the video. The students seem to enjoy the different places where other students are doing school.

Inspirational Quotes
This is one of my favorite activities.  I have the students send in their favorite quotes that have inspired them.  You can have them explain why the quote inspires them, but I generally don’t.   I have the students send in their inspirational quotes with a citation.  I then put the quotes into Powerpoint and then go to my other favorite site - Google Images - then find images that match the quote.  I then make a movie and send it out. 


I hope that these ideas help you to continue to create community in your classrooms. I also hope that this helps your families to focus on some more fun activities.  Please reach out to me if you have questions or have other ideas about engaging students to create community virtually. 

Using Cowoy Ethics to Teach Theme

I don’t know about you, but my 7th and 8th graders REALLY struggle with finding theme. They think theme is something that an author will state right out, not something that they have to infer from character traits. This year I took a different approach to teaching theme.

Some back story! Our music teacher, Jennifer Schultze, is THE LADY that hosts our weekly middle school assemblies. She sets the foundation for our middle school culture. Last year, Mrs. Schultze introduced us to Cowboy Ethics. That got me thinking. Instead of having the students guess how they are living the Cowboy Ethics, why not have real life experience with them? That got me thinking even more: Why not use the Cowboy Ethics to teach theme? Which got me thinking even more: How am I going to do this? I contacted Mrs. Schultze about this since Cowboy Ethics is her thing. She was totally onboard and supportive. We brainstormed and bounced a few ideas around, and then off I went to teach how character traits develop theme in literature by using Cowboy Ethics.

8th Grade

My 8th graders were starting a unit called Voices and Viewpoints. This unit is part poetry and part speeches. I introduced the Cowboy Ethics with the first lesson. We read “The Rainy Day” and “Invictus.” I gave the students the theme “Live Each Day with Courage” and asked them how they saw theme in the two poems. They picked up on that one pretty easily because both poems are straightforward with this concept. Next set of poems were “We Real Cool” and “The Negro Speaks of River.” I again gave them the theme “Some Things Are Not for Sale.” This one they struggled with a little more, but they still seem to understand how Brooks and Hughes were talking about culture. I started second guessing whether this was a good idea. Then we did “Mending Wall,” which was the AHHH – THIS IS WORKING moment. I again gave them the theme “Talk Less, Say More.” The students jumped on that one and had lots of examples of how Frost illustrates barriers in communication.

The second part of Voices and Viewpoints is speeches: “The Gettysburg Address,” “Vice-President Johnson’ Memorial Day Address,” and “I Have a Dream.” For the first two speeches, I again gave the students the Cowboy Ethic that is illustrated and had the students tell me where they saw it. But, when I got to “I Have A Dream,” I changed up things. On the exit ticket, I listed all of the Cowboy Ethics and asked the students “Which one of the Cowboy Ethics do you think Dr. King Illustrates? Why?” Here is a cross section of my students of the answers I was given.

I think that Dr. King uses all of the cowboy ethics well. but the one that standout to me the most is to live each day with courage. because he never stopped trying each day and he had the courage to make the change that he did in the world.
A little bit of Remember some things are not for sale, some Know where to draw the line. The things that are not for sale are the ideals of freedom that our forefathers put in place, knowing where to draw the line is remaining civil.

Do what has to be done, because Martin Luther King JR. is saying that the Negros need to have equal rights.

I think he uses "Live each day with courage" and "when you make a promise keep it." Blacks need to be courageous to get the rights that they were promised by the Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation.

I was thrilled to see how the students were able to apply the Cowboy Ethics to infer Dr. King’s message of hope for the future.


7th grade

My 7th graders were starting a unit called Irony. This unit has 3 short stories that illustrate irony, and the writing assignment is for the students to write a fictional narrative. Part of this unit is to understand the elements of a short story and how characters develop theme. I have found that 7th graders are pretty lost when trying to infer theme. This year, we used the Cowboy Ethics to describe the characters. When we read our first story of the unit “Charles,” I asked the students how the main character takes pride in his work. This helped the students to focus on what the character was doing. I did the same thing with “The Gift of the Magi,” the second short story, but this time I asked how Della illustrated “Do What Has to be Done.” Again, it helped the students to focus on what the character was doing. Then we did “The Necklace, the third short story. On the exit ticket, I listed all of the Cowboy Ethics and asked the students “to tell me which of the Cowboy Ethics Mathilde illustrated and why. Here is a cross section of my students of the answers I was given.

Mathilde illustrates "do what has to be done" because when she loses the necklace she does her own housework and does the things her maid would usually do for her.

Finish what you start. She bought a necklace at her cost but she still paid of the debt. It took her ten years but she finished.

the cowboy ethic of When you make a promise,keep it because she made a promise to her freind that she would return the neckles and even though she had to be in poverty for 10 years she kept the promise still

I was thrilled to see how the students were able to apply the Cowboy Ethics to infer the irony of the situation.
After we finished reading the stories, the students had to write their own fictional narratives. Developing theme is one of the objectives. This year, I gave them the Cowboy Ethics and said that they needed to pick one of the Cowboy Ethics as their theme. There seemed like there was a collective sigh of relief from the students because they were not left to their own devices to figure out a theme.

In conclusion

All in all, I feel that Cowboy Ethics is a concrete way to help the students see how characters develop theme. The Cowboy Ethics were the questions that the students needed to know to find character traits. It helps them to see past the physical part of the characters to the motivations of the character. Because the students could see the motivations of the characters more clearly, they were able to start to understand how the characters develop theme.


Owens, James P, and Brigtte Leblanc. Cowboy Ethics: What Business Leaders Can


Learn from the Code of the West. Skyhorse Publishing Company, Incorporated,

2015.

So what is it like to be . . . a good teacher

So what is it like to be . . . a good teacher I have taught in all sorts of educational programs. I have done public rural high school, public urban elementary school, charter school, elite private school, and virtual public education. I have taught kindergarten - college age students.I have taught in three states and a US territory. Regardless of when or where I was teaching, I would get the same question “So what is it like to be . . .” fill in the blank. The answer is - it is the same as teaching anywhere else.

My favorite time to answer this question was when I was teaching kindergarten-3rd grade at-risk reading in the mornings and college freshman English in the afternoon. When I was asked what is like to switch from little kids to adults, I answered nothing - college freshmen and kindergartens are about the same: both are really excited to be at school, both think they know everything, and both are a little afraid to leave mom. The only difference was size - kindergartners are a bit shorter. My second favorite time to answer this question was when I was teaching middle school English online. I started in virtual education in 2009, which most people could not even imagine how to do online education with kids. My answer that question was not much - I put in just as many hours for virtual education as I did for brick and mortar. I still had the same issues of motivation, attitude, SPED, helicopter parents, late work, etc. I still had to have lesson plans aligned to standards, sit through staff meeting, deal with interesting policy and procedures, and administer standardized testing. The only difference was communication with families and I could wear jeans everyday since students didn’t see me below my neck I communicated a lot more with parents and students in virtual education - more calls, more email, more lessons - than I ever did with brick and mortar students.

One thing that I have learned from all of the different places I have taught is that a good teacher is good regardless of the environment. According to Rob Jenkins, there are eight traits that make a good teacher good. Good teachers are good nature, are professional without being aloof, seem to enjoy what they are doing, are demanding without being unkind, are comfortable in their own skin, are tremendously creative, and make teaching look easy (2016). According to Marie Orlando, a great teacher respects students, creates a sense of community and belonging in the classroom, is warm and accessible, sets high expectations for all students, has his/her own love of learning, is a skilled leader, can “shift gears,” collaborates with colleagues on an ongoing basis, and maintains professionalism in all areas (2013). Although, I do agree with these lists, I think that it takes something more. It take blood, sweat, tears, time, patience, thick skin, strong stomach, and forgiveness to be a good teacher. Forgiveness being one of the most important attribute(https://tinyurl.com/forgivenessinteaching ). A good teacher knows his/her students to be more than a butt in a chair and name in the gradebook. A good teacher knows how to balance and use breaks for recharging. A good teacher smiles even when there is nothing to smile about. A place does not make good teacher. People make a good teacher.

So what is it like to be a teacher in . . . like a teacher anywhere else - rewarding!


Jenkins, Rob. “What Makes a Good Teacher?” What Makes a Good Teacher?, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 31 May 2016, www.chronicle.com/article/What-Makes-a-Good-Teacher-/236657. https://www.chronicle.com/article/What-Makes-a-Good-Teacher-/236657 

Kerr, Rachel. "Teaching - ULTIMATE Practice of Forgiveness." Dr. Rachel Kerr's Classroom, 28 Apr. 2017, tinyurl.com/forgivenessinteaching.

 Orlando, Marie. “Nine Characteristics of a Great Teacher.” Nine Characteristics of a Great Teacher, Faculty Focus: Higher Education Teaching Strategies from Magna Publication, 14 Jan. 2013, https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/philosophy-of-teaching/nine-characteristics-of-a-great-teacher/

The More Things Change . . .

I am third generation teacher.   My grandmother was a teacher in a rural one-room school-house in Illinois. My grandmother had a 30 year teaching career, which was unusual for a woman of her generation.  My mother was a home economics teacher in a huge city public high school until she had children; her teaching career was a few years, which was more typical of a woman from her generation.   I am a virtual teacher; I teach middle school Language Arts online, which seems unusual to many teachers in this day and age.  I started teaching in 1995 and still going strong. During my career, I have come to learn about that old adage - the more things change, the more they remain the same.

We have a lot of “new” terms in education - differentiated instruction, full inclusion, collaborative learning, etc.  that my grandmother would never have even heard. Even if she had heard of them, she would probably have given me THAT LOOK that told me that all of this was crazy and just let her teach.  However, Grandma really did have to incorporate all of these “new-fangled" methods of teaching in her everyday classroom in her one-room school house..  

Differentiated Instruction

According to Carol Tomlinson, “Differentiated instruction and assessment (also known as differentiated learning or, in education, simply, differentiation) is a framework or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing different students with different avenues to learning (often in the same classroom) in terms of: acquiring content; processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and developing teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of differences in ability” (2001).  This is considered standard best practice in today’s classroom. Every child should have access effective instruction that will help him/her learn best.  

Grandma had to do this every day.  Every child in her classroom would have been at a different reading level and a different math level. There would be no possible way that her first graders would be doing the same work as her fifth graders.  Her expectations and lesson plans would be different for most every child in her classroom.  

I have to do this as well.  The reading level in my typical classroom can range from 3rd grade level to upper high school level.  There is no way that I can have all students doing the same work at the same level.  It is not only impossible, it is also inappropriate.  

Full Inclusion and/or Mainstream

“Under the inclusion model, students with special needs spend most or all of their time with non-special needs students. Inclusion rejects the use of special schools or classrooms to separate students with disabilities from students without disabilities. Schools with inclusive classrooms do not believe in separate classrooms. They do not have their own separate world so they have to learn how to operate with students without special help.” (wikipedia).

Grandma taught prior to the enactment of PL-94-142 The Education for All Handicapped Children Act. And back then, the most severely handicapped children did not go to school.  However, she would have had students with learning disabilities in her classroom.  She used to talk of students who were “slow learners but hard workers that school just was not their strong point” and students who “just could not sit still no matter what.” Although she may have never had to attend an IEP meeting, she would have had to include those students in the everyday classroom making accommodations for their learning.  

I have never taught without full inclusion or mainstreaming.  When I started teaching in 1995 in my first school district, my district went to full inclusion in the classroom.  I have always had multi-leveled classrooms with students with IEPs.  In my virtual classroom, I have a higher percentage of SPED students than ever had in my brick and mortar classrooms.  I participate in IEP meetings several times a month and have daily contact with the SPED teacher.  Grandma would not have had that support; however, she would have been the one responsible for making sure that her students would have the skills they needed to be successful when they left school.

Collaborative Learning

According to Cornell University, “Collaborative learning is based on the view that knowledge is a social construct. . . Collaborative learning can occur peer-to-peer or in larger groups. Peer learning, or peer instruction, is a type of collaborative learning that involves students working in pairs or small groups to discuss concepts, or find solutions to problems. This often occurs in a class session after students are introduced to course material through readings or videos before class, and/or through instructor lectures” (2017)

In a one-room schoolhouse, Grandma would have had to use collaborative learning.  She would talk on how she would get several students started on a lesson, then they would work together quietly while she got the next group started.  She would also talk about how she paired older students with younger students, especially if both students needed to work on similar skills.  It seems to me that one room schoolhouses were the original collaborative learning classrooms.  

In the virtual platform, collaborative learning is organized a bit differently. We group students together and put them together in their own “rooms.”  The students still have to work together, discuss the project or problem, and develop a project together.  

The big difference between Grandma’s One Room School House and Virtual Education?

Tools and support -  tools are the big difference between what Grandma did and what I do.  I have a computer, internet, Excel to track data,, Google, more tools than what I know what to do with. Grandma didn’t have Google to rely on. She had textbooks and her own knowledge and wits. I have more specialists - the SPED teacher, the tech teacher, the data analysis lady.  Grandma had herself, her institution, her grade book and her students' parental support.  

So really - not much has changed in the way of education.  We have different terms, but good teaching is just that - good teaching doing what is best for students so that they are ready for their real world when they graduate.

My classroom

Special Thanks to the Prophetown, IL Historical Society for the pictures of my grandmother.  

“Collaborative Learning: Group Work.” CTI - Collaborative Learning,

www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/engaging-students/collaborative-learning.html.

“Inclusion (Education).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Oct. 2017,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclusion_(education).

Tomlinson, Carol (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Differentiated

Instructions provides access for all students to the general education curriculum. The

method of assessment may look different for each child, however the skill or concepts

taught is the same. Classrooms (2 ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and

Curriculum Development. ISBN 0871205122.

My Wonderful, Fabulous, Incredibly Awesome Way to teach theme - Using Children's Books to Teach Theme

My Wonderful, Fabulous, Incredibly Awesome Way to teach theme.  

I love Judith Viorst’s stories.  Alexander is the best character!!! And I love using her books in my middle school classes.  Now I have seen lots of other teachers use children’s books before, but I don’t always see how the children's’ books are used to teach the literary analysis skills that students need. As I have stated in my previous blogs (How to use character charts https://tinyurl.com/y6uxzhvp), literary analysis is starting at younger ages, and I notice that my middle school students are just not ready for this type of activity (Kerr, 2017).  The other aspect that I have noticed at conferences and professional development is that many other language arts teachers approach teaching literary analysis and figurative language like a scavenger hunt or guessing game when students, especially younger students, don’t fully understand exactly what they are to be doing.  Again, I feel that I need to tell students exactly what they need to be doing and how to do it in order for them to understand what is expected (Kerr, 2016).

One of the hardest part of analysis that students must do is to find the theme of a piece of literature and how the theme is developed by figurative language.   The working definition that I use is that theme is the universal message that the author is trying to portray. In order to a universal message, the students need to be exposed to different pieces of literature that would have the same theme.  This is where Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst comes into play. I use the story to help the students understand different figurative language before I introduce them to finding the theme poetry.  My students are to analyze “The Rainy Day” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Both of these pieces have the same theme - everyone has bad days.  And both pieces use about the same figurative language to develop the theme.  In my video, I go into great detail on how I teach this lesson.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y9Z0M_U3ok

Here is the shortened version.  

First I read the story to the students.  Then I give a copy of the story to each of the students so that they can mark it up.  I also provide a copy of the chart of figurative language that we will be examining.

By doing this, the students know exactly what figurative language to look for.  I also provide the definitions for the students so that everyone has the same working definition.  We generally do this as a class together.  So when we are finished, everyone should have chart that looks like this:

By filling in the chart, the students will have not only the figurative language, but also the textual evidence that supports the figurative language.  In my video, I go into more explanation about how to fill this out.  

Next, I give the students another empty chart for “The Rainy Day.”  Again, I give them the figurative language and definitions so that they know exactly what to be looking for while analyzing.  Please note that the figurative language is exactly the same -  I didn’t change anything.  This is the hard part because most pieces of literature don’t have exactly the same literary devices. But I feel that it is really important the the students have the same literary devices for the first few times in trying to figure out theme. They also have a the poem available to mark up.

After we finish reading the poem, the students, in small groups, find the examples and effects created.  We then compare them as a whole class so that the students will have a chart that will look like this:  

From here, the students can do a compare/contrast analysis of the two pieces of literatures, an analysis of how authors use hyperbole or repetition, or how mood is developed.  They can then do the writing on their own because they have their charts finished.  My video goes into more detail about how I pull the lesson together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y9Z0M_U3ok

I really like this process because the students are lead through the process of finding the figurative language and literary devices in order to find theme.  They are also able to connect themselves to this particular theme and see how different authors develop it.  Once students can see the basics of literary analysis, they are more comfortable and confident in finding the theme in other pieces of literature and being able to support how the theme is developed through the use of figurative language and literary devices.  

Resources:

Auman, Maureen E. Step up to Writing. Longmont, CO: Sopris West, 2003. Print.  

Character Analysis. Dir. Rachel A. Kerr. Rachel Kerr. YouTube, 13 June 2017. Web.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjbBW2LjqJE

https://www.google.com/search?q=literary+analysis+definition&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Kerr, Rachel A. "Just Tell Students What You Want and How You Want It Done.”  https://tinyurl.com/tellstudentswhatuwant. N.p., 17 Feb. 2016. Web.

"Literary Analysis: Using the Elements of Literature." Literary Analysis: Using Elements of  Literature. Roane State Community College, n.d. Web. 13 June 2017. https://www.roanestate.edu/owl/elementslit.html .

"The Value of Literary Study." UW Stout, n.d. Web. 13 June 2017.  <http://www.uwstout.edu/english/lit_study.cfm>

Urquhart, Vicki, and Dana Frazee. Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me, Then  Who? 3rd ed. Denver: McRel, 2012. Print.

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