Beyond Book Reports:

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• Beyond Book Reports
• Using technology and Drama to Share and Celebrate
  Literature in the Classroom
• Freyja Bergthorson
• Loudoun County Public Schools
• English SALT, Farmwell Station Middle
• Freyja.Bergthorson_at_lcps.org

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Nature of the Beast(middle / HS students)

• Highly social
• Need movement
• Easily bored
• Must be monitored
• Pacing
• Desire for fun and recognition from peers
• May not value English as area of study
• Desires options / choice
• Naturally curios / inquisitive (at school?)

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Nature of the Beast(middle / HS students)
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Nature of the Beastand English Instruction

• May not value English
• Satisfied with literal (reads good enough)
• Needs a reason to care about English
• Reading and writing are silent, sedentary, and
  individual activities (aka boring)

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Overview

• Poetry Performance Project
• Audacity The Bells
• Lyric Project
• Trailers / choices
• Movies
• Theater Games
• Literature Circle Groups
• Shakespeare Out Loud
• Illuminated Poetry

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Formative Assessment and Project Work

• Teacher monitors corrects misconceptions
• Peer discussion of content
• Product develops communication skills (21 Century
  communication)
• Active engagement of students with content

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Poetry Performance Project

• Guided practice
• Group
• Teacher
• Engagement
• Formative Assessment
• Emphasis on academic skills
• Memorization (a first)

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Poetry Performance ProjectProcess

• Students
• Select poems
• Analyze apply literary terms (SOL)
• Create academic and creative presentation
• Teacher -
• Teach skills for group (explicitly)
• Formative assessment walk the room

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Student Examples

• Oranges
• Sonnet
• Eldorado

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Playing with Sound

• Poes The Bells mood, sound devices, voice
• Support SOL objectives
• Sound devices / figurative language / voice
• Focus on authors craft and purpose
• Student engagement

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Process

• Whole Class / complete table
• Listen to reading identify type of bell sound
  / stanza
• Identify mood supporting word choices / stanza
• Deeper meaning / theme
• Group work 20 minutes

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Student Samples

• 2010 6B online
• O Captain, My Captain

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• IVHear the tolling of the bells-Iron
  Bells!What a world of solemn thought their
  monody compels!In the silence of the night,How
  we shiver with affrightAt the melancholy meaning
  of their tone!For every sound that floatsFrom
  the rust within their throatsIs a groan.And the
  people- ah, the people-They that dwell up in the
  steeple,All AloneAnd who, tolling, tolling,
  tolling,In that muffled monotone,Feel a glory
  in so rollingOn the human heart a stone-They
  are neither man nor woman-They are neither brute
  nor human-They are GhoulsAnd their king it is
  who tollsAnd he rolls, rolls, rolls,Rolls

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• IVA paean from the bells!And his merry bosom
  swellsWith the paean of the bells!And he
  dances, and he yellsKeeping time, time,
  time,In a sort of Runic rhyme,To the paean of
  the bells-Of the bellsKeeping time, time,
  time,In a sort of Runic rhyme,To the throbbing
  of the bells-Of the bells, bells, bells-To the
  sobbing of the bellsKeeping time, time,
  time,As he knells, knells, knells,In a happy
  Runic rhyme,To the rolling of the bells-Of the
  bells, bells, bellsTo the tolling of the
  bells,Of the bells, bells, bells, bells-Bells,
  bells, bells-To the moaning and the groaning of
  the bells.

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• O Captain! My Captain! O CAPTAIN! my Captain!
  our fearful trip is doneThe ship has weather'd
  every rack, the prize we sought is wonThe port
  is near, the bells I hear, the people all
  exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the
  vessel grim and daringBut O heart! heart!
  heart!O the bleeding drops of red,Where on the
  deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.O
  Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the
  bellsRise up--for you the flag is flung--for
  you the bugle trills For you bouquets and
  ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores
  a-crowdingFor you they call, the swaying mass,
  their eager faces turningHere Captain! dear
  father!This arm beneath your headIt is some
  dream that on the deck,You've fallen cold and
  dead.My Captain does not answer, his lips are
  pale and stillMy father does not feel my arm,
  he has no pulse nor willThe ship is anchor'd
  safe and sound, its voyage closed and doneFrom
  fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with
  object won Exult, O shores, and ring, O
  bells!But I, with mournful tread,Walk the deck
  my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.

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Introduction to Poetry I ask them to take a
poemand hold it up to the lightlike a color
slide or press an ear against its hive. I say
drop a mouse into a poemand watch him probe his
way out, or walk inside the poem's roomand feel
the walls for a light switch. I want them to
water-skiacross the surface of a poemwaving at
the author's name on the shore. But all they want
to dois tie the poem to a chair with ropeand
torture a confession out of it. They begin
beating it with a hoseto find out what it really
means.
Billy Collins
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Lyric Project

• Music is poetry
• Apply poetic terms analysis to song lyrics
• Connects school learning to real world
• Student beg to do this project
• Value of sharing projects (how to do this
  efficiently)

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Student Samples

• Fireflies
• Hungry Like the Wolf

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Book Reports / Trailers

• Importance of choices
• No summaries
• Critical thinking
• Writing skills reinforced
• Group options
• Grading
• Homework they WANT to do!

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Student Examples

• The Hand
• Drew, Nick, Thomas song
• Emily Luis 451
• Nathaniel 451
• Giver trailer Phil James
• Giver Soundtrack Arens
• Giver trailer Alison Taylor
• Body Biography

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Literature Circles

• Student choice for books
• Grouping
• Reluctant readers and
• Clear objectives monitoring
• Allow for differences / choices
• Self peer evaluation of progress
• Daily MVP

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Student Projects

• Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie

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Value of Video Analysis

• Students record presentations analyze their
  efforts
• Reflective process to improve performance
• Video group analysis
• Select focus (general area for improvement)
• Identify strengths

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Theater Games

• The Doctor is in
• Tableau
• Dumb Show (Shakespeare)
• Reduced performances
• See additional resources

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Importance of Peer Feedback

• Immediate, valued, treasured, raises the bar,
  improves climate
• Quick Easy Ways to give feedback
• MVP
• Post-it
• Project guest sheet
• 2 stars and a wish
• Discussion

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Illuminated Text
New idea power point manipulation of text to
imaginative new form of communication
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Handouts

• Web site - http//cmsweb1.loudoun.k12.va.us/509125
  612142226/site/default.asp
• E-mail freyja.bergthorson_at_lcps.org
• Group Support Materials
• Poetry Performance
• Instructions
• Rubrics
• The Bells
• Table web link
• Lyric Project
• Lit Circles Project
• 451 Project choices
• Body Biography

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Its all about
Student Engagement!
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• Fun Extras!
• Kiplings If
• Lost Generation

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• Freyja.Bergthorson_at_lcps.orgfbergthorson_at_msn.com