Defend+or+refute+the+following+statement!

Great literature/novels make great films! Is this true? Is this not true? You should either defend or refute that statement in a paragraph format. You may choose a novel and a film of your choice and write out as much information as possible about the writer of the novel and the director of the film. Also, list as many positives and negatives of each example you choose.

Or--

Each person could choose a song and write a paper no less than a page about the cultural, social, and ethical values it promotes.

Or-- Write a paper no less than a page about, "What makes a good teacher?" Thus, the students will think about the qualities, attributes, teaching methods a teacher uses. Also, they could write how they would have liked their teachers (during high school, middle, or even elementary) to act.

// Hey, Nada, While these are all neat ideas, they do not address the teaching of language specifically. Please revise so that your many lesson addresses some aspect of language specifically. Creative writing is a little too broad of a concept and it doesn't address language specifically. Let me know if you'd like to discuss further. Best, Dr. Y //

Ok :) Thank you Dr. Young. I have altered it a whole lot. I plan to focus on adjectives and their use. Here is a draft of my mini-lesson:

Nada Wafa ECI 430 October 13, 2010

 Lesson Title: Exploring Adjectives

Context: Let's face it. No body likes to learn about grammar. Most teachers don't know how to find a way to teach it in a manner that the students will enjoy it. It is something that needs to be practiced on and on because students just don't find it interesting enough. While there are hundreds of books structured for teachers to teach students about grammar, it may be useful to use straight-forward, simple definitions to help the students clearly understand the meaning of a specific language aspect. One of the grammar usage I will be focusing on are adjectives. Simply, adjectives are words that modify or portray a noun or a pronoun.

Primary Instructional Objective and Related NC Course of Study Standard of MG LA:

Students will be able to......
 * Review the standard definition, understand, and analyze what adjectives are.
 * Find that adjectives help our language become more clear and that adjectives help a person while communicating to draw a picture and understand what they are trying to express.
 * Appreciate the role of adjectives in our language through their discussions when communicating with one another through written and oral communication with their peers.

In a 6th grade language arts classroom; they would cover:

Competency Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.
 * Demonstrating the different roles of the parts of speech in sentence construction.
 * Developing an awareness of language conventions and usage during oral presentations.

Materials/Technology Resources required:
 * Standard Dictionary
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Class textbooks
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Paper/Pencil
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Magazines
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Copies of passages from the novel being read in class
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Several slips of paper that include a sentence that has a simple subject + a verb

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Time: 90 minutes

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Instructional Procedure:

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Since we want our students to use creative writing through our language when they are describing details about a setting, people, or even things, it may be good for our students to initiate a connection with what they are learning creatively.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">This semester, I learned a lot about an intriguing way to teach students- have learning stations! I found that learning stations could be really effective in many ways. It could have the students learn more than one thing during one period. It would have the students interact with their peers. It would also release the students creativity in a proper manner.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Thus, to begin my lesson, students will have a ice breaker to answer in their journals as soon as they walk into the classroom. It will be a simple question, such as, “How do adjectives help us communicate effectively?” After a few minutes, the students will discuss their answers to the class. The students will be then introduced to the subject of adjectives. They will review the standard definition of an adjective and discuss the necessity of communicating effectively with the use of adjectives. Next, I will introduce to the students four learning stations that are drawn out across the room. There will be groups on each station, and there will be instructional sheets on each table. They should follow the instructions carefully. After everyone is divided into their groups, they will be assigned a station. The first station will identify adjectives by listening to themselves and their classmates speak, through the materials provided by the teacher, and by the students writing that will be produced toward the end. At the second station, students will play a game and divide themselves up into teams. Through this game, the students will be able to recognize the role of adverbs and adjectives in sentence structures. The third station will understand the use of communicating effectively with the usage of adjectives through writing and speaking. The fourth station would have the students identify what adjectives are through a creative piece that they will do.

<span style="font-family: Times,serif;">Details about each stations: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">In the first station, students will use a standard dictionary or their own textbooks to find the definition of an adjective. Then, they will answer a simple question on a separate sheet of paper; “Explain what adjectives do?” (They tell what kind [blue flag], how many [three kids], and which one [the cup]). Next, students will have three passages to read. The first passage will be from a story we are reading in class. The second passage will be from a newspaper article. The third passage will be from a important historical speech. After reading the materials, they have to circle all the adjectives they see. Then they will see if the adjectives identity which kind, or if they identify how many or if they identity which one. Next, the students will write a paragraph or two about the use of adjectives and how effective they are. They will share their findings with each other at the station. Next, they share their work with another student who will circle all the adjectives that are in their own writings as well.

<span style="font-family: Times,serif;">At the second station, students will play a game. The students will be divided into equal teams and there should be a team leader. The team leader will choose a slip of paper that has a sentence written on it. The sentences contain a simple subject and a verb (for example: The boy jumped). The group who has the slip tells the opposing team 4 adjectives that describe the subject. Then the opposing team tries to guess what the subject is. If the team gets the answer correct, they earn a point. Then there has to be a person who gives a clue to the opposing team, so they say some adverbs that describe the verb. If the team guesses that correct, they earn 2 extra points! If the team doesn't get the verb or the subject, the next team can steal a point by having one of their members give a clue to them! If they give a noun instead of an adjective or a verb instead of an adverb or even give extra description they will be disqualified from the game.

<span style="font-family: Times,serif;">At the third station, students will be able to identify adjectives in sentences as well as recognize the types of adjectives. On a sheet of paper on the table, they will find a list of movie titles and they will take out all the adjectives in them. Then they will explain how the adjectives make the titles more interesting. They will be able to define an adjective and say how adjectives are divided into three categories (what kind, how many, and which one). Next, they will write a simple story and they should leave spaces to put adjectives in later. They will share their stories with a peer in their team and have them fill in adjectives, and they should be as creative as possible. After they finish this task, they will see a list of sentences and they should identify the adjectives in those sentences, including what kind of adjectives they are amongst each other.

<span style="font-family: Times,serif;">At the fourth station, students will be able to make an adjective collage. Students will find a stack of magazines (change them, if necessary, when new students arrive to station) and they will choose a noun picture of anything they want. They could even draw a picture or cut it out of the magazine if they want. Next, they could each take their own magazine and find adjectives or write adjective words on their own and glue the adjectives all around the picture to make a collage!

<span style="font-family: Times,serif;">Evaluation: At the end of class, I will ask the class oral questions, such as:
 * <span style="font-family: Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">What is the definition of an adjective?
 * <span style="font-family: Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Tell us some adjectives
 * <span style="font-family: Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">What do the adjectives do to our own writings or speaking?
 * <span style="font-family: Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">What happens to our writings or even speaking if we don't use adjectives?

<span style="font-family: Times,serif;">Then, they will write a paragraph describing what they understood more about adjectives.

<span style="font-family: Times,serif;">Accommodations: Not Applicable

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">In Retrospect: Not Applicable

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Appendix of Materials Needed: Not **yet** available.

Here is an attachment of the above: