Orpheus the Lyrical

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Orpheus the Lyrical
Online Game for
Figures of Speech Vocabulary Review

Six Traits of Writing

Ideas
Main idea (gist) is clear, supported, and enriched by relevant evidence, anecdotes, and/or details. Details are relevant, revealing; quality details go beyond obvious and are not predictable

Organization
Organization enhances and showcases central idea; order of information is compelling, moving reader through text. Thoughtful transitions clearly show how ideas (paragraphs) connect throughout entire piece.

Voice
Author speaks directly to reader in a unique, compelling, and engaging way that delivers purpose and topic. Commitment to topic is strong; author’s passion about topic is clear and compelling.

Word Choice
Vocabulary is powerful and engaging, creating mental imagery; words convey intended message in precise, interesting, and natural way. Words are precise and accurate; author’s message is easy to understand.

Sentence Fluency
Sentences have flow, rhythm, and cadence; are well built with strong, varied structure that invites expressive oral reading. Varied sentence beginnings add interest and energy.

Conventions
Author uses standard writing conventions effectively to enhance readability; technical errors are few and only minor editing is needed to publish. Word count is within range; grammar/usage, spelling and punctuation are correct and contribute to clarity and style.

Sample Blogs

Molly's Mystery Journal

Dimitri's School Blog

Cierra's Blog

Knowledge is . . .

"Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave." 

-- Frederick Douglass

Just Because Poem

"Just Because" poems ask you to describe yourself in the first line of the poem.  The next three lines in each stanza tell what you are NOT.  The final line restates the first line and adds a tag that will direct the reader to do something.




SAMPLE FORMAT:

1. Just because I'm . . .
   a.
   b.
   c.
2. Just because I'm . . .
   a.
   b.
   c.
3. Just because I'm . . .
   a.
   b.
   c.
Just because I'm . . .
ADD TAG LINE

______________________________

Just because I'm an only child
   I'm not pampered
   I'm not shy
   I'm not proud

Just because I'm an only child
   It doesn't mean I'm lonely
   Selfish doesn't describe me
   And, I'm not spoiled

Just because I'm an only child
   I know I'm not perfect
   I can't always be the best friend
   I'm not a nerd

Just because I'm an only child
Let me be me.

Picture Poem

View a photo or drawing.

• Name four emotions you feel as you view the picture
   
• Name three things you see and say something you notice about each
  
  
• Use a simile to describe something the picture reminds you of
  
  
• Ask one question that comes to your mind -- either about the picture or about the experience of writing this poem
  
  
• Create a title that captures the overall GIST of the moment

Calligram: Shape Poem

Shape or "concrete poetry" is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying meaning as the words themselves. There really aren’t any "rules," so a shape poem could simply be one word . . .

D i v E r s i T y !

There is a special shape poem called a calligram. This poem takes on the shape of the subject it is written about. For example, a poem about love might be written in the shape of a heart.

Create a calligram by writing an ode to a particular object. (tear drop, heart, flower, car, shoe, backpack, tree, bird)

I Sail

by Jon Parsons

i

sailsail
i
sailsailsailsail
i
sailsailsailsailsailsialsail
i
sailsailsailsailssailsailsailssailsailsail
i
sailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsail
i
sailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailssailssasilsailsailsailsailsailsail
i
i
as the ship was heading into a storm the captain said 

sometimes you can do everything right and still lose
and though it may seem that the race is finite
it's only one lap around the track
only an again

.

First Line to Last Line

Create a poem by starting with the first line -- then fill in the blanks that lead to the last line.


Line 1   My mother once told me
Line 2   ___________________
Line 3   ___________________
Line 4   ___________________
Line 5   ___________________
Line 6   I take back everything I've said.

Rhyming Couplet

Couplet poems are one of the shortest forms of traditional poetry and have been around since the fifteenth century. The couplet has a single stanza of two lines. Typically, the pair of lines will rhyme and have the same meter. They make up a unit or complete thought.


Examples:

Lightening, thunder, all around
Soon the rain falls on the ground

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
-- Shakespeare

You say today is... Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!
-- Shel Silverstein

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

______________________________

01. Rhyming Couplet - Finish the Phrase

You make my heart sing and dance

Mind your own business my friend

Really? Are you kidding me?

From sun up to sun down

This I know, for certain, to be true



02. Rhyming Couplet - Topic Brainstorm


Write 5 words that you associate with [a tree]
List all of the rhyming words you can think of
Use your list to brainstorm a couplet

Young Me - POV

Craft a poem from the point of view of YOU as a young child -- using the following formula:

some sound you recall hearing (personification)
some place you were often in (metaphor/simile)
something you often felt like (imagery)
something you imagined was true (repetition)
something you wondered (parallelism)
something you miss (hyperbole)
something about writing this poem (simile)

Pantoum

The pantoum comes from Malayan poetry.  The Western version of the pantoum is a poem of indefinite length made up of (sometimes rhyming) stanzas that have four lines.  The formula comes in where lines 2 and 4 of each stanza are repeated as lines 1 and 3 of the following stanza.


Food Mood

Craft a basic, two-stanza pantoum that is an ode to the food you love most. Use poetic devices (repetition, rhyme, alliteration, simile, etc.) to describe your favorite food and why you love it so much.


example:

ice cream is so delicious
warms my heart with its cold
yummy, dreamy, choco-licious
icy taste so milky and bold

warms my heart with its cold
chocolate, silky and slick
icy taste so milky and bold
it's good 'till the last lick, lick, lick

.

Haiku Poetry

Haiku [俳句] are short poems that use sensory language to capture a feeling or image. Generally, haiku poems emphasize simplicity and directness of expression. They are often inspired by an element of nature, a moment of beauty or a poignant experience. Many of these poems feature the unexpected juxtaposition of two ideas.

A traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables -- often written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Haiku poetry has evolved over time, however, and most poets no longer adhere to this structure.

Show, don't tell. Haiku are about moments of objective experience, not subjective interpretation or analysis of those events. It's important to show the reader something true about the moment's existence, rather than telling the reader what emotions it conjured in you. Let the reader feel his or her own emotions in reaction to the image.

An old silent pond . . . 
A frog jumps into the pond.
Splash! Silence again.

_______________________

Into the Woods Haiku
Key Words 

Imagine you are in the woods. Write a list describing four things you see, hear, feel or sense in some way. Use key words from your list to craft a haiku.

LINE 1   Five syllables
LINE 2   Seven syllables
LINE 3   Five syllables
_______________________

Simile Haiku

Think of a special person you love or deeply respect. Write a haiku comparing this person to something, someone or some other experience.

LINE 1   Five syllables
LINE 2   Seven syllables
LINE 3   Five syllables
_______________________

Oxymoron Haiku

Think of a life lesson or truth about the world that presents a contradiction in logic. Write a haiku highlighting this paradox or contradictory truth.

LINE 1   Four syllables
LINE 2   Five syllables
LINE 3   Three syllables
_______________________

Onomatopoeia Haiku

Think of a particular moment in time. Write a haiku using the sounds associated with that experience.

LINE 1   Three syllables
LINE 2   Four syllables
LINE 3   Five syllables
_______________________

Season Haiku

Think of a season or particular time of the year. Write a haiku describing the experience.

LINE 1   Four syllables
LINE 2   Six syllables
LINE 3   Three syllables
_______________________ 

Today Haiku

Think of a few particular moments in your day so far. Write a haiku describing your experience.

LINE 1   Four syllables
LINE 2   Three syllables
LINE 3   Three syllables
_______________________


Video: Kent Foreman - Epiphany Haiku

Video: Sonia Sanchez - On Haiku (10:20)

"I Am" Poem

I Am

[Stanza 1]

I am (three special characteristics you have)

I wonder (something you are curious about)

I hear (a real or imaginary sound)

I see (a real or imaginary sight)

I want (a wish or desire)

I am (repeat the first line)

[Stanza 2]

I pretend (something you pretend to do)

I feel (a feeling about something)

I touch (something you touch)

I worry (a worry that is real to you)

I cry (something that makes you very sad)

I am (repeat the first line)

[Stanza 3]

I understand (something you know is true)

I say (something you believe in)

I dream (a dream you actually have)

I try (something you make an effort to do)

I hope (something you really hope for)

I am (repeat the first line)

First Line to Last Line

Line 1   My mother once told me
Line 2   ___________________
Line 3   ___________________
Line 4   ___________________
Line 5   ___________________
Line 6   I take back everything I've said.

Good Rhymes

Fill in the blank:


Good  ______
Good times
Good  ______
Good rhymes
Good  ______
Good ends
Good  ______
Good friends
Good  ______
Good facts
Good  ______
Good acts
Good  ______
Good rhymes
Good  ______
Good times

"I Don't Understand" Poem

• Begin the poem with "I don't understand . . ."
• List three things you do not understand about the world or about people.
• Name the thing you do not understand most of all.
• End the poem with an example of something you DO understand.

 

Personification Poems

• Spring POV

Write a personification poem from the point of view of spring using the following formula:

something you hear (onomatopoiea)
something you remember (repetition)
something you feel (simile)
something you see (repetition)
something you're certain of (hyperbole)
something you truly wish (repetition)
something you love (rhyme)

• Mirror, Mirror

Think of a particular mirror in a particular place. Imagine you are that mirror and write a personification poem describing your thoughts, feelings and experiences.

•  Personification List Poem

Think of the place you were in at a significant or particularly meaningful moment in your life.

Speak as that place personified. Describe yourself and list what you see, what you hear -- what you experience.

• Four Things About the Moon

Write a personification poem that lists four things about the moon's thoughts, feelings or experiences.



.

School Pictures

School Pictures

Imagine yourself in a particular room, office or hallway of the school. List and describe the quality of four objects in that place.

Recipe for Love

Recipe for Love

Write a poem describing qualities of the perfect love of your life, using the format and phrases a food recipe.

The "I Can't Write a" Poem

Compose a poem using the following formula:

I Can't Write a Poem.

Forget it. No can do.

Excuse #1

Excuse #2

Excuse #3

Sad to say, but true,

I can't write a poem for you.

_____________________________
example by Corey Bruce:

I Can't Write a Poem
Forget it. No can do.
Poetry sucks and it’s stupid.
I am not creative.
Poetry is still stupid.
Sad to say, but true,
I can't write a poem for you.

List Poem 1

Choose one repeating phrase to define your topic, then list related items or thoughts.

example:

The world would be a better place if . . .?

Ode Poem

An "ode" is a poem about one specific thing that you think is truly amazing and praiseworthy.


For your poem topic, pick one belonging that you love or one item you find very useful. Using similes and metaphors, write an ode to the item without ever actually naming it.

example:

Soft as air,
Fresh as the sun
You are my daily morning star
With you
Every day is begun

Light as prayer
Like a moonbeam
You bring each of my evenings
On you
Every night do I dream

[Ode to my pillow]

Diamante Poem

A diamante poem has seven lines that follow this sequence:
Line A: Topic A (must be a noun)
Line B: Two vivid adjectives that describe Topic A
Line C: Three interesting “-ing” action verbs that describe Topic A
Line D: Two concrete nouns about Topic A and two about Topic G
Line E: Three interesting “-ing” action verbs that describe Topic G
Line F: Two vivid adjectives that describe Topic G
Line G: Topic G (must be a noun)

example:

                   Light
              Clear, brilliant
     Glowing, shining, revealing
Mirror, candle . . . Whisper, shadow
   Deepening, sleeping, shrouding
                Black, quiet
                  Darkness

2013-2014: Knowledge is Power

What is Urban Literacy?

Urban Communications Literacy is textual intelligence that includes the realm of the cultural and the socio-physical. It is a framework based on both a broad definition of text as "any vehicle through which individuals communicate with one another using the codes and conventions of society" and a description of literacy as, "the ability to think and reason like a literate person within a particular society." Along with the artifactual, documentary component to popular culture, Urban Literacy contemplates communication of popular culture’s ideal component – ideas, values and attitudes – as well as everyday life and language. Key among the multiple literacies included in the Urban Literacy framework would be: Functional (Practical) Literacy, Academic Literacy, Critical Literacy, Cultural (Civic and Community) Literacy and New Media (Techno) Literacy.

The central purpose of this course is to expand urban learners’ foundational literacy skills in all areas of communication arts. Reading, writing, listening, speaking, discussing, using language, understanding literary concepts, understanding media, using technology and employing research skills will be applied to help students build on their abilities to become creative and critical thinkers.

Enduring Understanding:

Knowledge is Power

Fall 2013: We Are Our Stories

Spring 2014: Reading the World

"We tell ourselves into being," author Salman Rushdie once remarked. "I think that is one of the great reasons for stories. I mean, we are the storytelling animal. There is no other creature on earth that tells itself stories in order to understand who it is."

In other words -- we are our stories.

In this two-term, techno-connected language arts learning plan, grade 11-12 urban learners plug into core concepts of storytelling, media literacy and language. They read and respond to multiple works of nonfiction, narrative, poetry and dramatic literature, including Oedipus the King and Othello. Learners link to a strategy for critically approaching digital and multimedia text.

Through consideration of larger questions about freedom, destiny and identity, students also develop awareness of a dynamic that makes literature a tool of cultural, political and personal empowerment able to shape history, change social attitudes and create identity.

S.O.U.L. Focus
Success Opportunity for Urban Learners:

Along with refining reading and writing skills, urban learners must develop the higher-order thinking -- critical literacy -- and multimedia skills that empower them to comprehend, critique, create and communicate ideas in today’s techno-connected world.

Q2 - Pre-Tests

Pre-Test 5

passcode: destiny

Pre-Test 6

passcode: fate 

Six Traits

• Ideas
• Organization
• Voice
• Word Choice
• Sentence Fluency
• Conventions

Download Jim Burke's 6 Traits Rubric

Download a simple, student-friendly 6 Traits Rubric

Jim Burke assesses the Six-Traits writing rubric to be "a powerful road map and the tools needed to improve not only writing but also the teaching of writing."

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From Fun With Writing . . .

Ideas & Content
As you begin your paper you generate ideas.  Your ideas and content are the reasons for writing a paper.  Every paper should convey a message and be easy to follow. 

Organization
Organizing your ideas helps a reader move through your paper in a meaningful way. 

Voice
Your voice is what gives your writing personality, flavor and style.

Sentence Fluency
Fluent writing has rhythm.  Sentences vary in length and structure.  It is easy and pleasurable to read aloud. 

Word Choice
The specific words that you choose create images, capture a reader's attention and make your story memorable.

Conventions
When the first draft is finished it is time to start editing for conventions.  These include spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalization and paragraphing.  Proper use of conventions make your story easy for others to read.