Building a Better Argument (Debate Lesson Plan)

This source: http://factchecked.org/lesson-plans/    

Second resource: http://thankyouforarguing.com/

Summary

Whether it’s an ad for burger chains, the closing scene of a “Law & Order” spinoff, a discussion with the parents about your social life or a coach disputing a close call, arguments are an inescapable part of our lives. In this lesson, students will learn to create good arguments by getting a handle on the basic structure. The lesson will provide useful tips for picking out premises and conclusions and for analyzing the effectiveness of arguments.

Objectives

In this lesson students will:

• Discover the basic terminology of arguments.
• Learn strategies for reliably distinguishing between premises and conclusions.
• Explore the differences between arguments and explanations.

Key Terms

• Argument: A conclusion together with the premises that support it.
• Premise: A reason offered as support for another claim.
• Conclusion: The claim being supported by a premise or premises.
• Explanation: A statement or set of statements designed to show why something is true rather than that it is true.

Background

Logic has been a formal academic discipline for almost 2,500 years now. The Greek philosopher Aristotle first systematized formal logic in the 4th century B.C.E., and university logic courses teach Aristotelian logic to this day. For much of western history, logic was one of the three legs of the trivium (or the classical curriculum, which consisted of grammar, logic and rhetoric). With the growth of more specialized disciplines and wider curricula in the 20th century, formal logic got lost in the shuffle. In its place, philosophers began formulating courses in what we now call critical thinking, or informal logic. Formal rules and the reduction of sentences to things like ∀x∃y[Ax ⊃ [(Qx ∨ Rx) ⋅ Sy]]
are reserved for university logic courses. Critical thinking deals with ordinary language arguments, offering us tools for assessing those arguments without the need to learn complicated sets of rules for turning sentences into formal symbols.

Instructions

Make enough copies of student handouts #1 and #2 so that each student can have one. Have enough blank 3×5 index cards on hand to pass out to everyone at the start of Exercise #3.

Materials

1. Monty Python, “The Argument Clinic”
2. Student handout #1, Finding Premises and Conclusions
3. Student handout #2, Argument Examples
4. Teacher handout #1, Argument Examples

Exercises

Exercise #1 – Identifying Arguments
To the teacher: Students cannot really begin to analyze arguments until they become good at recognizing them. Many students are not very analytical to begin with, so they will require some help in identifying (a) that something is an argument and (b) what the various parts of the argument actually are.

Most of what appears below also appears in condensed form on student handout #1 (except for the section on implied premises and conclusions), but you should go over it with your students. They can follow along on paper.
Pass out student handouts #1 and #2, Finding Premises and Conclusions, and Argument Examples. We then begin with some basic technical vocabulary.

Premise: a reason offered as support for another claim
Conclusion: the claim being supported by a premise or premises
Argument: a conclusion together with the premises that support it

So, to take the oldest example in logic, one that Aristotle used in teaching at his Academy:

1. All men are mortal.
2. Socrates was a man.
3. Therefore Socrates is mortal.

The three lines taken together constitute an argument. Line 3 is the conclusion. Lines 1 and 2 are premises. Now, there are a few important things to remember about arguments. First, arguments can be either really short (like the one about Socrates) or they can be really long (most op-eds are extended arguments; lots of books are really long extended arguments). But really long arguments will usually be broken down into series of shorter ones.
Second, it’s important to remind students that “argument,” as it is used in critical thinking, is not the same as what they have with, say, their parents when they stay out too late. A humorous (and pretty effective) way to make that point is to show the old Monty Python skit, “The Argument Clinic.” That skit also makes the point that having an argument doesn’t mean that your argument is any good. An argument might be such that its premises are false or irrelevant to the conclusion, or that they fail entirely to support the conclusion.


But before we can analyze arguments, we have to identify them. That, in turn, means identifying the premises and the conclusions. There are several strategies for doing so. The easiest is to examine the text for clues.

Unfortunately, not all arguments will contain these helpful indicators, which means that we need some backup strategies. Another useful tool is paraphrasing, or taking a complicated argument and rewriting it to help us see what the claims really are. And finally, a really useful method is what one could call the 3-year-old approach. Read a sentence and ask, as 3-year-olds are inclined to do, “Why should I believe that?” Look at the rest of the passage and see if you can find anything that looks like an answer to the why question. If you find an answer, then the answer is a premise and the original claim (the sentence about which you asked why) is a conclusion. Repeat the process for each claim.
There is, unfortunately, one small complication. Not all arguments have all of the claims stated explicitly. Sometimes there are implied premises or conclusions. Consider the following argument:

You spilled it. Whoever makes the mess cleans up the mess.

What is clearly implied here is the conclusion: You clean up the mess. Now consider the following argument:

You should not eat that greasy hamburger. It is loaded with fat.

Again, there is something implied, but this time, what’s implied is a premise: You should not eat anything that is loaded with fat.
Finally, it is important to remember that sometimes arguments can have more than one conclusion. Look at the following argument:

Since yesterday’s editorial cartoon succeeded in making the mayor look silly, the cartoonist must have finally regained his touch. And the mayor probably won’t be reelected.

This argument can be thought of as having two different arguments in it. We can analyze it in the following way:

Premise: Yesterday’s editorial cartoon succeeded in making the mayor look silly.
Conclusion: The cartoonist has finally regained his touch.

And

Premise: Yesterday’s editorial cartoon succeeded in making the mayor look silly.
Conclusion: The mayor probably won’t be reelected.

Exercise: Look at the arguments on student handout #2, Argument Examples. Have the students identify the premises and the conclusions for each argument. Students can work individually or in small groups of 3 to 5 students. Ask the students to pick out which premises support which conclusions. After students have completed the task, have them report on their answers. Tell students to:

1. Remember to check for premise indicators (since, because, for, given that) and for conclusion indicators (therefore, consequently, so, thus).
2. Keep in mind the 3-year-old method. Read each statement and then ask “why?” Statements that answer why questions are premises. Statements that are supported by other statements are conclusions.
3. Finally, remember that sometimes premises and conclusions can be implied. In other words, sometimes the speaker/writer will assume that the reader can fill in the missing piece(s) of the argument.

Exercise #2 – Arguments and Explanations

To the teacher: Some statements look a bit like arguments but aren’t. In particular, the difference between an argument and an explanation can be tricky. Both answer the question “why?” but do so in different ways. The premise of an argument answers the question, “Why should I accept this conclusion?” An explanation, on the other hand, takes the conclusion as a given – as a fact about the world – and then offers a story about why that particular thing is the case. This exercise will help students learn to distinguish the two.

There are some who will tell you that everything really is an argument for something. In fact, one popular composition textbook is titled “Everything’s an Argument.” There’s just one problem with that claim: It’s false. The idea behind the “everything’s an argument” movement is that we always are trying to persuade someone of something. So when I explain something to you, I’m really trying to convince you that what I‘m saying is true. When I say that a picture is beautiful, I’m trying to convince you of its beauty, for instance. There may be something to this as a method for teaching writing, namely, when we write, we should be aware that we’re always trying to get the reader to do something, even if it’s just to share our point of view for the moment. But from the point of view of the logician, not everything is an argument. Remember our definition of an argument:

Argument: a conclusion together with the premises that support it.

Not all passages are of that sort. Sometimes we try to convince a person that something is true. Other times we want to explain why something is true. So we might contrast an argument with an explanation:

Explanation: a statement or set of statements designed to show why something is the case rather than that it is the case.

Consider the following exchange:

Ms. Jones: You didn’t turn in your homework, Katie.
Katie: My cat ate my homework.

Here Katie is offering an explanation for why it is that she failed to turn in her homework. Note that she is not trying to convince Ms. Jones that she failed to turn in her homework: Both Katie and Ms. Jones agree that Katie failed to turn it in. Instead, Katie is trying to tell Ms. Jones why she failed to turn it in. Katie is offering an explanation, not an argument. But now consider a similar exchange:

Jason: Why did I fail this course, Mr. Smith?
Mr. Smith: You didn’t turn in your homework, Jason.
Jason: My cat ate my homework.

Jason’s sentence is identical to Katie’s, but Jason’s sentence is best understood as offering an argument. Jason is claiming, implicitly at least, that he shouldn’t fail the class because his cat ate his homework. Although Katie’s and Jason’s sentences are the same, they are doing two entirely different things. In other words, it is Jason’s intentions that make his sentence an explanation. To determine what a passage is doing, we will often have to go beyond the words themselves and ask ourselves instead what it is that the author is trying to accomplish.
Exercise: Arrange the chairs in the class into a circle. Give each student a 3×5 index card. On one side of the card, students should write either an argument or an explanation. On the other side of the card, they should write “argument” or “explanation” (whichever is appropriate to their particular example). When everyone has finished writing, have students pass their cards to the person to their right. Students should read the card and decide whether they are reading an argument or an explanation. Have the students continue to pass their cards to the right until they have read all the cards. (Alternatively, this activity can be done in small groups of 5 students each, with the activity ending after all the members of the group have shared their cards.)
After students have read all the cards, collect them and discuss the examples with the class. Students may find it frustrating that critical thinking doesn’t always provide clear-cut answers. But remind them that life is often complicated, and our language reflects that messiness. It may be unclear whether an example is an argument or an explanation. In such cases, one can look at the various possibilities. One can, for instance, say things like: “If this is an argument, then it’s a good (or bad) one because ____,” or, ”If this is an explanation, then it is a bad (or good) one because ____.”

Correlation to National Standards

National Social Studies Standards X. Civic Ideals and Practices Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic.
Essential Skills for Social Studies
Acquiring Information
A. Reading Skills
1. Comprehension
2. Vocabulary
B. Study Skills
1. Find Information
2. Arrange Information in Usable Forms
C. Reference & Information-Search Skills
2. Special References
D. Technical Skills Unique to Electronic Devices
1. Computer
Organizing and Using Information
A. Thinking Skills
1. Classify Information
2. Interpret Information
3. Analyze Information
4. Summarize Information
5. Synthesize Information
6. Evaluate Information
B. Decision-Making Skills
C. Metacognitive Skills
Interpersonal Relationships & Social Participation
A. Personal Skills
C. Social and Political Participation Skills
Democratic Beliefs and Values
B. Freedoms of the Individual
C. Responsibilities of the Individual
National Mathematics Standards
Process Standards
Reasoning and Proof Standard


National Educational Technology Standards
Performance Indicators: All students should have opportunities to demonstrate the following performances.
2. Make informed choices among technology systems, resources, and services.
7. Routinely and efficiently use online information resources to meet needs for collaboration, research, publication, communication, and productivity.
8. Select and apply technology tools for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning.
Information Literacy Standards
Information Literacy
Standard 1 assesses information efficiently and effectively.
Standard 2 evaluates information critically and competently.
Standard 3 uses information accurately and creatively.
Social Responsibility
Standard 7 recognizes the importance of information to a democratic society.
Standard 8 practices ethical behavior in regard to information and information technology.
Standard 9 participates effectively in groups to pursue and generate information.
English Language Arts Standards

• Standard 1 Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary work.

• Standard 3 Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

• Standard 5 Students employ a wide range of strategies as the write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

• Standard 6 Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.

• Standard 7 Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

• Standard 8 Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

• Standard 12 Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

SOURCE: http://factchecked.org/lesson-plans/

About the Author

Joe Miller received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He is a staff writer at FactCheck.org, a project of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center. Prior to joining FactCheck, he served as an assistant professor of philosophy at West Point and at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where he taught logic, critical thinking, ethics and political theory. The winner of an Outstanding Teacher award at UNC-Pembroke and an Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant award at the University of Virginia, Joe has over 10 years of experience developing curricula. He is a member of American Philosophical Association and the Association for Political Theory.

Where I'm From - Guided Free Verse Poetry

Where are you from?
If you don't know where you're from, you'll have a hard time knowing where you're going.
We need to understand our roots to know our place in the world and our understanding of the world. The prompts in the template below have a way of drawing out memories of the smells of attics and bottom-drawer keepsakes, the faces of long-departed kin, the sound of their voices you still hold some deep place in memory.

The WHERE I'M FROM Template

I am from _______ (specific ordinary item), from _______ (product name) and _______.
I am from the _______ (home description... adjective, adjective, sensory detail).
I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail)
I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).
I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one).
From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another).
I am from (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.
I'm from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).
From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member).
I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).

ππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππ
A beautiful poem by George Ella Lyons called "Where I'm From." inspired this exercise*1
*1 A copy and paste of the link is recorded below.


The poem lends itself to imitation and makes a wonderful exercise of exploration in belonging. This template has been used in a writing assignment at the Campbell Folk School in North Carolina.
I'd like to suggest that you give it a try.  You'll be surprised that, when you're done, you will have said things about the sources of your unique you-ness that you'd never considered before. What's more, you will have created something of yourself to share--with your children, spouse, siblings--that will be very unique, very personal and a very special gift.
There used to be examples @  Fragments From Floyd of how others have told where they are from. But it is not there any  longer. Here is one example and more follow (including George Ella Lyons')
 
SOURCES and resources:
Where I'm From
H/T to Lisa @ AWTY
A Home Schooling Notebook
Fragments From Floyd

EXAMPLES:

Where I’m From ~ Fred First ~ November 2003
I am from the peaceful banks of a creek with no name; from JFG, toast and blackberry jam and home-made granola.

I am from "a house with double porches," a room filled with good ghosts and creek laughter in the mornings before first light.

I am from Liriodendron and Lindera, butterfly bush and mountain boomers

I am from Dillons and Harrisons, Betty Jean and Granny Bea-- frugal and long-lived, stubborn and tender, quick to laugh. Or cry.

I am from a world whose geography my children know better than I, from a quiet valley where I am the proprietor and world authority of its small wonders.

From barn loft, secret passwords and children who can fly if they only try.

I am from oven-baked Saran Wrap and colds caught from jackets worn indoors.

I am from pire in the blood Baptists, from the cathedral made without hands, the church in the wildwoods, the covenant of grace.

I'm from the Heart of Dixie, son of Scarlett O'hara. From War Eagle, Wiffle, UAB and PT, from Walnut Knob's blue ridge and the soft shadows of Goose Creek.

From a "fast hideous" dresser and a home body from Woodlawn, from a grandfather I never knew that I can blame for my love of nature and my stubbornness, they tell me.

I am from fragments, the faint smell of wood smoke, and familiar walks among trees I know by name, from HeresHome and good stock. A man can hardly ask to be from more.

	Local Learning: Poetry and Sense of Place Where I'm From by George Ella Lyons I am from clothespins, from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride. I am from the dirt under the black porch. (Black, glistening it tasted like beets.) I am from the forsythia bush, the Dutch elm whose long gone limbs I remember as if they were my own. I'm from fudge and eyeglasses, from Imogene and Alafair. I'm from the know-it-alls and the pass-it-ons, from perk up and pipe down. I'm from He restoreth my soul with a cottonball lamb and ten verses I can say myself. I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch, fried corn and strong coffee. From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger the eye my father shut to keep his sight. Under my bed was a dress box spilling old pictures, a sift of lost faces to drift beneath my dreams. I am from those moments- snapped before I budded- leaf-fall from the family tree. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Where I'm From" appears in George Ella Lyon's Where I'm From, Where Poems Come From, a poetry workshop-book for teachers and students, illustrated with photographs by Robert Hoskins and published by Absey & Co, Spring, Texas, 1999. The book can be purchased at www.absey.com. The poem is reprinted with permission from the author and the publisher. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ms. Lyons is the author of picture books and novels as well as poetry for children. She is available for school and conference presentations. See visitingauthors.com for more information.	Louisiana Voices by Summer 2000 Institute participants All: We are Louisiana voices Northern Voices: A patchwork quilt Southern Voices: A spicy gumbo Central Voices: Crossroads connecting All: We are Louisiana voices Sally I am from hands pushing into dark, rich soil on the bayou's bank I'm from slapped hands humiliated, ridiculed punctuating the forbidden French language I am from blistered hands holding hammers not plows in New Iberia, Ibeia, the Queen City. Christine I am from the second migration away from the roots of Spanish moss Evangeline oaks Bayou Teche I return to the land of Arceneaux, Broussard, Maraist, Lake Peigneur I am deeply rooted in the Grand Marais the sugar cane, the traiteur, and the loup garou the Iberians of Ma Louisiane. Martha I am from the North and the South, A steel magnolia, Easily bruised yet Strong and bold. Maria I am from bayous of gumbo water. From Angelle, Alceé, Marie, A-ma, A-pa, Ma-Maw, and Paw. And Mama saying, "The years may come And the years may go, But there will always be a Babineaux." Cindy I am from everyday bridges Of ageless cypress and muscadine vines Crossing time and Bayou Teche. Danette I am from swift running racehorse legs, Sprinting to buy Lea's infamous pies, Cool creek water chilling the bones Of any brave soul who dares to intrude. Cindi I am from my Grandma Stype, long gone, The keeper of ponies, chickens, and "wooper" dogs. Dixie I am from the death scent of wild rabbit, dove, and quail in my father's hunting vest. Jo Lynn I am from the watermelon thump parades, Rainbow Girls and air-raid drills. I'm "A Daydream Believer" Who "Can't Get No Satisfaction." Brenda I am from the aroma of Community Coffee, small hands serving Grandfather his morning cup on the back porch, oak trees behind us. Angi I am from the circle oaks Where I stand as gusts of warm winds Gather up my every hair And make a dancer of me. Kim I'm from the Smith and Meaux branch, Coffee milk and coush coush Oilfield sweat and pennies pinched From hand-me-downs, From garfish balls and from boiled eggs in gumbo. Wendy I am from the slow moving waters Of Atchafalaya week-ends, Dripping from fat full moons, Fitted piece by piece Into the quilting frame Stretched across the pinewood floor Upstairs Where the sun is best Where everything is clear. Gayle I am from store-bought dresses and handmade quilts. Sandy I am from "Je vous salue Marie, pleine de grace" and "Notre Père, qui est au ciel..." from "Et cum spiritu tou," "Ora pro nobis" and "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa." Vicki I am from pine trees, magnolia leaves, Sugar cane and cotton fields crisscrossing Bayou Boeuf From fishing holes and barbeques From a sense that He is in charge. Sally I am from calloused hands soothed in the earth of backyard gardens, cultivating tomatoes, okra, sweet corn I am from celebrating hands passing a good time squeezing accordions fingering fiddles peeling crawfish holding a bourré hand I am from protective hands pushing offspring deeper into the city spreading fingers to allow glimpses to the past I am from reaching hands replanting roots reweaving threads of a rich heritage I am from Acadian Hands Claire I am from bayous of Fiddles, accordions, and the fais - do - do. All: We are Louisiana voices Northern Voices: A patchwork quilt Southern Voices: A spicy gumbo Central Voices: Crossroads connecting All: We are Louisiana voices.

Introductory to Poetry - Full Lesson Links

This is a compilation of 27 29 (so far) poetry lessons. Most of it comes from a teacher in Tennessee who put together an wonderful Poetry curriculum. I used her template and edited her lessons. I have saved the links to her lesson pages as explained in number 4. My edited versions are linked, as described, also.

1. Introduction here  with links to general poetry knowledge quiz & resources 
2. Most of these poetry lessons include a lesson plan for teacher.  
3. The word lesson (on left) is linked back to A Home School Notebook 
4. The title of the lesson (on right) links back to the original source

Readings from Old English Poetry	Poetry Pages
Poetry Aloud	Barry Spacks Reads Aloud
PBS Poetry Site	A free Rhyme Internet Site

Lesson 1........Figurative Language for the student

Lesson 1 .......Lesson Plan for Figurative Language

Lesson 2........Famous Poems and Poets for the student

Lesson 2 .......Lesson Plan for Famous Poems and Poets

Lesson 3........The Art of Poetry for the student

Lesson 3........ Lesson Plan for the Art of Poetry

Lesson 4........Review

Lesson 4 .......Lesson Plan to review

Lesson 5........Puns for the student

Lesson 5........Lesson Plan for Puns

Lesson 6........Idioms for the student

Lesson 6 .......Lesson Plan for Idioms

Lesson 7........Alliteration for the student

Lesson 7 .......Lesson Plan for Alliteration

Lesson 8........Personification for the student

Lesson 8........Lesson Plan for Personification

Lesson 9........Onomatopoeia for the student

Lesson 9........Lesson Plan for Onomatopoeia

Lesson 10......Hyperboles

Lesson 10......Lesson Plan on Hyperboles

Lesson 11......Imagery

Lesson 11......Lesson Plan on Imagery

Lesson 12......Proverbs

Lesson 12......Lesson Plan on Proverbs

Lesson 13......Descriptive words: Now Say That Again

Lesson 13......Lesson Plan on Descriptive words

Lesson 14......Introduction of Poetic Writing

*Teachers should monitor and present lesson 14 from the student page.  Depending on how a teacher is sequencing lessons, this lesson could be presented first, or postponed until the end of the study of all poetic elements, or it might be repeated throughout the poetry study.  

Lesson 15......Theme in Poetry

Lesson 15......Lesson Plan on Theme

Lesson 16......Purpose in Poetry

Lesson 16.....Lesson Plans with Purpose as the focus

Lesson 17......Mood in Poetry

Lesson 18......Form in Poetry

Lesson 19......Haiku

Lesson 20.....Acrostic
Lesson 20.....Lesson Plan on Acrostic Poetry

Lesson 21.....Couplet

Lesson 22.....Quatrain

Lesson 23.....Limerick

Lesson 24.....Free Verse
Lesson 25...Where I'm From (guided Free Verse)

Lesson 26.....Cinquain
Lesson 27.....Other Types of Poetic Forms

*Teachers should monitor and present lesson 25 from the student page.  Depending on how a teacher is sequencing lessons, this lesson could be presented after lesson 14,  postponed until the end of the study of all poetic elements, or it might appear anywhere  throughout the poetry study.  It would also make a good review of poetry types, elements, and patterns.

This includes a review of  limericks, haiku, emotional poetry, ballads, and photograph poetry.
A poetry booklet to illustrate different types of poetry could fit here.

Lesson 28.....Words and Music

Lesson 29.....On-line Quiz over Poetry

PBS Poetry page

Some Other Ideas for Evaluation (Rubric)

Tennessee and National Standards

Answers to Worksheets
source:  http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/spotlight.htm

Magnetism Lesson

SCIENCE and GEOGRAPHY 1-21-10


Physics - Lesson 29 Magnetism 
 
Chinese Compass and HowStuffWorks - How Compasses Work
Earth's Magnetic Field
Engines of Our Ingenuity #613 William Gilbert
Engines of Our Ingenuity #1613 Faraday and Magnetism
Compass Quiz

Lesson 26 - Cinquain

Cinquain Poem

First: Create a CINQUAIN POEM in a word doc. (pronounced "cin-kain"- a diamond-shaped poem with 5 lines)
Line 1: Write a noun.
Line 2: Write two adjectives describing the noun on Line 1;
Line 3: Write 3 words ending with -ing (action words) that describe what the noun on Line 1 might do;
Line 4: Write a phrase describing the noun on Line 1; and
Line 5: Write a synonym of the word on Line 1.
Example: "My Wonderful Mother"

Mother
kind, helpful
caring, loving, sharing
- a special person in my life
friend

Second: copy and paste an appropriate image into your doc.
Third: Ask the teacher check your poem and then you may print and take your poem home.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
note: Objectives of this lesson are

• to teach the class how to write a cinquain poem (TSW create a *cinquain poem)
• to teach copying and pasting an image (TSW demonstrate how to copy and paste an image)
• and to enjoy creating a valentine for a loved one

* A cinquain poem is a diamond-shaped poem with 5 lines (Incorporates oral, analytical thinking, reading and writing skills)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Winners - Cinquain Poetry

Cinquain Poem: pronounced "cin-kain"- a diamond-shaped poem with 5 lines 

My 5th graders wrote cinquain poems today. Here are two that stood out! These students followed directions, were thoughtful in their writing and worked diligently to finish in the alotted time frame.

Cassie's poem

Victor
feisty, playful
eating, playing, sleeping
- a special cat that's always there
friend


Jordan's poem

Dragons
enormous, strong
flying, fire-breathing, eating
- a creature that never was
snake

reference:
From Apol and Harris's article ("Joyful Noises: Creating Poems for Voices and Ears." Language Arts 76.4 (March 1999): 314-322)

• This exercise is a scaffolding experience that "leads students beyond a superficial encounter to a deeper understanding and appreciation of poetry".
• Through writing their own cinquain students can more easily move from simply reading poems to analyzing poems and, ultimately, composing their own poems that match the format.
  
• This lesson is one way to build interest in poetry is by using magnetic words to create original poems. 

A Home Schooling Notebook
Spot Those Turns

Lesson 24 - Free Verse

Free verse is just what it says it is - poetry that is written without proper rules about form, rhyme, rhythm, meter, etc. The greatest American writer of free verse is probably Walt Whitman. His great collection of free verse was titled Leaves of Grass and it was published in 1855

In free verse the writer makes his/her own rules. The writer decides how the poem should look, feel, and sound. Henry David Thoreau, a great philosopher, explained it this way, ". . . perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." It may take you a while to "hear your own drummer," but free verse can be a great way to "get things off your chest" and express what you really feel.

Here are some examples:

Winter Poem

by Nikki Giovanni

once a snowflake fell

on my brow and i loved

it so much and i kissed

it and it was happy and called its cousins

and brothers and a web

of snow engulfed me then

i reached to love them all

and i squeezed them and they became

a spring rain and i stood perfectly

still and was a flower

Lyrical Lesson: Free Verse

1. Write a paragraph or paragraphs entitled "Who Am I?"

2. Go back and break the paragraph into lines

3. As you do this revise the lines until they look, feel, and sound right to you.

4. Complete a self-portrait to reflect the "real" you. Scan the picture into your

document. Your teacher will show you how.

5. Use the optic camera and read your poem aloud and save it on the computer.

Optional Lesson:

1. Take your web and ideas about the different cultures (from Lesson 2).

Choose one idea from the web (beliefs, custom, clothing, environment or traditions). Write a paragraph a on this topic.

2. Break the paragraph into lines or stanzas, if you want to express more than one idea.

3. Use a magazine or your own original artwork to illustrate your idea.

4. In your class, compile the same cultures together to form one large poem.

SOURCES and resources:

Lyrical Lessons
A Home Schooling Notebook 

Lesson 23 - Limericks

A limerick is a five-line poem written with one couplet and one triplet. If a couplet is a two-line rhymed poem, then a triplet would be a three-line rhymed poem. The rhyme pattern is a a b b a with lines 1, 2 and 5 containing 3 beats and rhyming, and lines 3 and 4 having two beats and rhyming. Some people say that the limerick was invented by soldiers returning from France to the Irish town of Limerick in the 1700's.

Limericks are meant to be funny. They often contain hyperbole, onomatopoeia, idioms, puns, and other figurative devices. The last line of a good limerick contains the PUNCH LINE or "heart of the joke." As you work with limericks, remember to have pun, I mean FUN! Say the following limericks out loud and clap to the rhythm.

L1 (3 beats "a")     A flea and a fly in a flue

L2 (3 beats "a")     Were caught, so what could they do?

L3 (2 beats "b")     Said the fly, "Let us flee."

L4 (2 beats "b")    "Let us fly," said the flea.

L5 (3 beats "a")     So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

-Anonymous

You will soon hear the distinctive beat pattern of all limericks. The rhythm is just as important in a limerick as the rhyme. Try completing this limerick.

(3 beats "a")     There once was a pauper named Meg

(3 beats "a")     Who accidentally broke her _______.

(2 beats "b")     She slipped on the ______.

(2 beats "b")     Not once, but thrice.

(3 beats "a")     Take no pity on her, I __________.

Lyrical Lesson: Limericks

1. Practice the rhythm of limericks by clapping you hands or snapping your fingers.

2. Think of some funny names, places, or situations.

3. Using the a a b b a 5-line form, write an original limerick.

4. How would you illustrate the page if your poem was published in a book of limericks? What types of art would you use?

SOURCES and resources:

Lyrical Lessons

A Home Schooling Notebook 
A DOZEN HOW-TO TIPS FOR BEGINNERS  (NOT kid friendly)

EXAMPLES & LAGNIAPPE

There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, 'It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!'

by Edward Lear 

Limericks have been around for quite a while and most likely had their beginning in Ireland, perhaps originating as drinking songs in the local Irish pubs.

A limerick is composed of five lines, with lines one, two and five being longer than the third and fourth lines. That seems easy enough. However, there are strict rules that must be followed in the construction of these lines. The keyword is metre (meter). In a sense, the metre is the beat or the rhythm of the line.

TIP #1   There is an easy way to remember the metre.

Recite out loud the first line of the old Christmas classic, 'Twas the night be-fore Christ-mas and all through the house. In this line you can hear the compelling beat: da da DUM. This unit of the beat is called a metrical foot but, unlike the Christmas poem, a limerick contains three metrical feet in lines one, two and five, and two metrical feet in lines three and four. Hence:

da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
     da da DUM da da DUM
     da da DUM da da DUM
da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM

TIP #2  The rule is, you must stick to this metre in the composition of your limerick.  

The metrical foot, da da DUM, is called an anapest, and, as has been said, there are three anapests in the first, second and fifth lines and two anapests in lines three and four. From an anonymous writer comes this example:

Said an ape as he swung by his tail,
To his off-spring both fe-male and male;
     "From your off-spring, my dears,
     In a cou-ple of years,
May e-volve a pro-fess-or at Yale.

TIP #3  There are exceptions to this rule! 

There is the option of making the first foot an iamb, which is da DUM. Thus, a line could have one iamb and two anapests. For example, There once was a man from New York. I have written the follow, using an iamb at the beginning of lines one, two and five. Lines three and four begin with anapests.

A din-o once said to his friend,
I think that our kind will soon end.
     Ev-o-lu-tion it's called,
     But it seems to be stalled,
Un-less there's a monk-ey to send.

TIP #4   There is another exception.

The metrical feet at the end of the lines of a limerick can contain an extra "quiet" syllable, as in da da DUM da. For example, There was once a young man from Mount Vernon. However, when this is done, each of the matching lines (i.e., one, two and five or three and four) must also end in an extra unaccented syllable.

"There's another exception to the limerick rules:  A limerick, being primarily a humorous verse form, may violate any rule if its text states or implies a reason for doing so." Tom then offers this classic example:        A young meter-reader named Peter        While looking around for a meter               By a leak struck a light               Then he rose out of sight.        And as anyone who knows anything about poetry can plainly see, the        explosion also destroyed the meter. Tom then add this one:        There was a young man from Ft. Bend        Whose limericks tended to end               Suddenly. Finally, Tom offered this one of his own:        A certain young man from St. Louis        At rhyming was no good at all.               He tried and he tried               But he had to give up        'Cause this was the best he could do.                       Tom Digby                       Who hangs out with his witty poetry and prose at http://www.well.com/~bubbles/

TIP #5    If a limerick does not flow easily when read out loud, something is probably wrong

The easiest way to find the error of your ways and to get back on the proper metrical track is to do what I have do. Bold the accent word or syllable... da da DUM.

TIP #6  You will never get away with writing a limerick that does not rhyme.

 The last word of lines one, two and five must rhyme with each other, and so must the last words of lines three and four. It is an aabba pattern, and there are only rare exceptions.

My girlfriend had put on my sweater,
The one with my big high school letter,
     And it then seemed to me,
     And I'm sure you'll agree,
On her it looked quite a bit better.

TIP #7    There are exceptions to this rule also.

 While here are strict guidelines about rhyming that are adhered to by compulsive limericks writers, many of these rules are ignored in the writing of "recreational" limericks.

There once was an old man named Cohen,
Who cut off the foot of Tim Bowen.
     Now it wasn't that hard,
     For Tim slept in the yard,
And Cohen clipped Bowen while mowin'.

Remember... Just because two words look the same does not mean they rhyme. Rhyme is not found in what we see, but in what we hear. Be careful when choosing your end rhymes, for there are some words with more than one pronunciation.

        To my ear, this next limerick could be a "near" or "slant rhyme" depending upon your accent. You decide.

There once was a fellow named Jerry,
Who sought to write limericks for Mary.
   Perplexed, our dear poet
  With E-How's help wrote it.
And Mary he later did marry.

TIP #8   There is a tradition regarding the opening line of a classic limerick.

The classic standard for a first line is to use it to identify a character, as in "There once was a fellow named Jake," or "A silly old man they called Ned" (each of these opening lines has one iamb and two anapests).
Another use of the opening line is to identify a location, as in "There once was a gal from New York." Again, the meter is a single iamb, followed by two anapests. A limerick by Stephen Cass, published in the book The Penguin Book of Limericks, begins with a line having three anapests as it introduces both a character and a location.

A psychiatrist fellow from Rye
Went to visit another close by,
     Who said, with a grin,
     As he welcomed him in:
"Hello, Smith! You're all right! How am I?" 

TIP #9 A good limerick must be clever.

• The classic limericks starts with the introduction of a character, or identifies the location of an event or both within the first line, the next line might be used to identify a characteristic, an occupation, or some other feature of the character. 

• The next two lines are a set up for the final line. 

• A limerick is like a clever joke, holding the listeners' attention and then surprising them with the clever twist or turn in the punch line, that will be dealt with in more detail in the next section.        

Limericks often do not follow the "rules" regarding first and last lines as presented above. Rather, some are used to express a thought, communicate a greeting, or celebrate an event. These "recreational" limericks are less bound by the need to build to a surprising climax. Rather than bringing a hardy laugh after a convoluted tale, some limericks will prompt a smile after an easy or sentimental journey.
  
 It was a change of season that prompted a clever limerist, who uses the pen name Cap'n Bean, to send me the following Fall greeting.

The autumn's a colorful blur,
And the thousands of leaves will deter
     A lawn that's kept neat
     When you rake to the street,
And the wind blow 'em back where they were.

 There was nothing dramatic, shocking or compelling about Cap'n Bean's playful tale of a common Fall occurrence. His metre was perfect (as his always is) and the final line brings a smile. Cap'n Bean often inspires me to send one back on the topic he has picked. Thinking of Fall and the gathering of the colorful leaves lead me to respond.

How I love when the leaves change their hue,
For when all of the raking is through,
     I'll take just a while
     And Jump in the pile -
There's a kid in me, just as in you!

TIP #10   Some of the best limericks make clever use of the double-entendre.

A classic example of a double- entendre (kid style):

Why was 10 afraid of 7?  Because Seven "eight' nine. When read out loud it sounds like 7 ATE 9!  The double-entendre is with the word 8/ate. It can mean two different things. Right away you can see that homonyms can be a fun way to play with words in a limerick.

 

TIP #11  Good limericks often end with a bang. 

A twist, a punchline or an enexpected ending work well. It is fun to use a  spoonerism, which The American Heritage Dictionary defines as "An unintentional transportation of sounds of two or more words." The dictionary uses as an example the line, "Let me sew" you to your seat"  as a distortion of "Let me show you to your seat." 

TIP #12   Always remember, no one has ever gotten rich from writing limericks.

There once was a man with a yearning,
So he came to me looking for learning,
     But I set his head right,
     Said, "Write only at night,"
For you'll need your day job to keep earning."

Lesson 22 - Quatrain (kwah-train)

HEY!! Does anybody have a quarter? What's a quarter have to do with this type of poetry? Well, a quarter is 1/4 of a dollar. The word quatrain comes from Latin and French words meaning "four." See the connection? The quatrain is a poem or stanza of four lines. It is a very popular form of poetry. Famous poets like William Blake and T. S. Eliot used quatrains. Read these examples:

The Tyger

by William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

 

The Mountain

by Donna Brock

The mountain frames the sky (a)

As a shadow of an eagle flies by. (a)

With clouds hanging at its edge (b)

A climber proves his courage on its rocky ledge. (b)

Did you notice that a quatrain is formed by two rhyming couplets? Easy! This pattern is called a a b b. The first line rhymes with the second (sky and by) and the third line rhymes with the fourth line (edge and ledge). Other quatrain patterns are a b a b,

a b b a, and a b c b.

Lyrical Lesson: Quatrain

1. Choose a theme that you recently heard in a song.

2. Brainstorm ideas for purpose and mood.

3. Add descriptive words and phrases (This would be a GREAT time to use

figurative language!).

4. Write two joining couplets that "paint" a complete word picture. Proofread.

Revise.

5. Design an album cover that would best illustrate the theme of your quatrain.

SOURCE and resources:

Lyrical Lessons

A Home Schooling Notebook  

Lesson 21 - Couplet

You know a couple means two. So a couplet is a pair of lines of poetry that are usually rhymed. We think the idea of the couplet came from the French and English. There are lots of ways to write different types of couplets. Couplets can also be used to "build" other poems, but we'll get to that later!

We are going to use a couplet for a "play on words," or a word game. This type of couplet is called a "terse verse." 

Here's the way you play,

"If turkeys gobble,

Do Pilgrims squabble?"

"If cars go zoom,

exhaust smoke will plume!"

"If the phone rings,

hope then still clings."

You've read the examples. We know you can outdo them! 

"If the ball's in your court. . ."

Lyrical Lesson: Couplets

Write five terse verse couplets. Choose your best one. Pair it with a humorous illustration.

SOURCE and resources:

Lyrical Lessons

A Home Schooling Notebook 

Lesson 20 - Acrostic

The word acrostic if formed from the Greek word acros (outermost) and stichos (line of poetry). You can even find acrostic in the Bible in a book called the Psalms. The acrostic is a poem where the first letter of each line form a word when you read them looking downward. A very complicated acrostic would have the last letter of each line forming a separate word as you read downward, also. But let's take one step at a time and concentrate on simple acrostics. Follow the directions for completing your own.

Lyrical Lesson: Acrostic

1. Write the first name of someone you admire.

2. Think about how to describe that person and what they mean to you.

3. On scratch paper, write out your ideas. Proofread. Revise.

4. Using a word processing program, type the letters that will form your

acrostic (The person's name). Make your first letters a different color

than the rest of your poem. Also capitalize them and use bold function

on the tool bar of your processing program.

5. Use your cursor to align the rest of your poem.

6. Proof read. Use spell check. Revise.

7. Find or draw a picture of the person you described to illustrate your

acrostic.  

SOURCE and resources:

A Home Schooling Notebook

Lyrical Lessons

Lesson 19 - Haiku

Haiku is a poetic form and a type of poetry from the Japanese culture. Haiku combines form, content, and language in a meaningful, yet compact form. Haiku poets, which you will soon be, write about everyday things. Many themes include nature, feelings, or experiences. 

The most common form for Haiku is three short lines. 

The first line usually contains five (5) syllables, 

the second line seven (7) syllables and

the third line contains five (5) syllables. 

Haiku doesn't rhyme. A Haiku must "paint" a mental image in the reader's mind. This is the challenge of Haiku - to put the poem's meaning and imagery in the reader's mind in ONLY 17 syllables over just three (3) lines of poetry! Check out some Haiku at Haiku Salon (see Lesson 2 for the link).

HAIKU EXAMPLES

The Rose

by Donna Brock

The red blossom bends

and drips its dew to the ground.

Like a tear it falls

A Rainbow

by Donna Brock

Curving up, then down.

Meeting blue sky and green earth

Melding sun and rain.

Keep losing temper,
Which saint am I to pray to:
Anthony or Jude?

--Tim FergusonI found this wonderful haiku over at Ironic Catholic by way of Patch o' Dirt.

Jesus lifted up,
Broken, bleeding on the cross.
My Lord and my God!

Nadja, author of Patch o' Dirt

Here I am again.
Why do confessionals not
Have revolving doors?

Nadja, author of Patch o' Dirt


I love November
'though, no colors in Texas
They are in my heart
by Peggy Cortez 

Copy, paste and print.  Mark the syllables with your pencil. If you are having trouble figuring out how many syllables, try clapping out the words, or putting your hand under your chin and counting how many times your chin goes down. If all else fails, get a dictionary! :)

Now its your turn to write a haiku. Pick your favorite sport. That sport will be your theme. Decide: 

1) For what purpose will you write?

2) What mood do you want to convey?

Think of the images, descriptive words, and figurative language that best describe that sport (remember sounds, smells, sights). Jot them down in web form or as you think of them. Then the final step is to experiment by putting your ideas on the Haiku "skeleton" - 5, 7, 5 (syllables) and 3 lines.

Look at your poem, check it for correct syllables and lines. Now, for the real test . . . .  read it ALOUD. Does it really paint a clear picture? Share your Haiku with someone else. Listen to his or her critique of your poem. A critique is when someone tells you the strengths and weaknesses of your work. DON'T GET MAD. LISTEN to the suggestions. Revise your work. Remember, the BEST writers are REWRITERS!

Fill in the seven syllable line.

Green elms in the woods

_______________________________

Standing tall and proud

Fill in the two five syllable lines.

___________________________

The petals bend to the earth

___________________________

You are ready to look at your theme from Lesson 15 and try it in Haiku form!

Hand write an original Haiku.

Choose a font and type and that adds to the look of your Haiku. 

Revise. 

Finish by illustrating your poem. 

SOURCE and resource:

Lyrical Lessons

A Home Schooling Notebook