Healthy Relationships

Today we had a presentation from S.A.S.S. on healthy relationships.  So that means we will go over our typed rap drafts tomorrow - don't forget to bring them in!

Also, I've put my top three choices for your class' haikus...vote on your favorite!

Poetry Terms

Check off these terms...the first three you Must include...then identify ten of the remaining.  There are a few more (at the bottom of the list) that we will go over on Monday.

Pun
Verbal Irony
Allusion

Imagery
Full Rhyme
Assonance
Consonance
Alliteration
Oxymoron
Symbolism
    Metaphor
    Simile
Repetition
Enjambment
End-Stopped
Internal Rhyme
End-Rhyme
Hyperbole
Onomatopoeia
Refrain
Personification
Sibilance
Slant Rhyme
Denotation/Connotation

More Work on Rap Battles

Today we met our partners again and went over the first half of the rap battles, the boast.  This is where you boast about your accomplishments and why you are famous.  It is important to revise to include sound devices such as assonance, consonance, and alliteration, along with full rhyme and repetition.

You might find http://www.rhymer.com/ helpful to find rhymes.

Remember, the more specific, factual evidence you can include, the better off your raps will be.

Tomorrow we are talking about the second half of the battle, where you must "diss" or discount your opponent's boasts, proving that you are superior to them.

Homework:  Your second half of your battle is due tomorrow.

Haikus and Poetry Terms

Today, periods 6, 7 had to take the vocabulary quiz.  The rest of us were introduced to some basic poetry terms in preparation for tonight's assignment (and later the rap battle).

Imagery- creating a strong picture with words, usually involving sensory details.

Haikus - traditional Japanese poetry involving strong imagery and heavy symbolism.  It is three lines, 5-7-5 syllables per line, involves nature and a season.

Examples: (these are both translated from Japanese, so the syllables don't match)

The old pond
A frog jumps in -
The sound of water


No sky
no earth - but still
snowflakes fall.


Symbolism:  Having a thing (object, season, or color) represent some bigger idea.
       Metaphor: two things compared using a form of "TO BE"
       Simile: using "like" or "as" to compare two things.

Oxymorons: when you place two "opposite" things close together to show their contrast

Enjambment: when a line of poetry does not end in end-punctuation (periods, colons, or semicolons)

End-Stopped:  when a line of poetry does end in end-punctuation (periods, colons, or semicolons)

Homework:  Reply to the post on Edmodo, submitting a haiku of your own!

Puns and Vocab

Today only periods 1, 2, and 5 met.  We shared the puns we came up with (see video in prior post) and then took the vocabulary quiz.  It seemed to go quite well!

I may have mentioned that there will be a new video tonight, but alas, there is none.

Homework:  None

Periods 5, 7 - be sure to study for vocab quiz and have your pun ready!

Vocabulary Flash Cards for the Blizzard!

So, you have no school today...how about review your vocabulary for Monday's quiz?

Full and Half-Rhymes

The human brain is a pattern finding machine...it even tries to create patterns when there aren't any.  Rhyming are repeating sounds...and poets use these repeating sounds to form a pattern...which are therefor pleasing to the ear.

Have lyrics from a song ever gotten stuck in your head?  There's a reason for that, it has either a half-rhyme or a full rhyme or both in it!

Full Rhyme:  when the endings of two or more words sound the same.

                    rhyme, time, crime, dime, slime....all end with an "ai" sound and and "em" sound.

Half-Rhymes: when one part of two or more words sound the same.  There are three kinds of half-rhymes:

• Alliteration: When two or more words begin with the same sound.

                    Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Pepper

• Consonance: When two or more words share a consonant sound in the middle or ends of the words.

                    In basketball, I gave Mike the smackdown! 

• Assonance: When two or more words share a vowel sound in the middle or ends of the words.

                    We have a meeting every spring season. 

Now, in poetry, full-rhymes and half-rhymes show up in two paces:  at the ends of lines or within a line.

End-Rhyme:  When a rhyme happens at the ends of two or more lines of poetry.

Internal Rhyme:  When a rhyme happens within a line of poetry.

Puns

Homework:  Reply to the Edmodo post for music lyrics and identifying alliteration, consonance, or assonance.  For tomorrow, watch the above video.

Epic Rap Battles and Vocabulary

We briefly touched upon the start of our next unit, which are Epic Rap Battles of History and Literature.  To do this, you need some poetry skills to become good rappers.  You will need to watch the below video to learn three of these terms.

The rest of class today we spent practicing lesson one of the iPad vocabulary unit.  The app is called Brain Snacks SAT, if you want to practice at home.

Homework:  Vocabulary quiz by Friday.  Watch the above video for one more checkin assignment.