Out of Her Mind -- Musings on Education and Life

we heart found poetry (word cloud made using wordart ). At the end of a unit in my high school English class, I have students create and present thematic found poetry.  I am sure you can vary this activity in numerous ways; I look forward to you sharing your implementation/ideas with me and other readers.  Recently, I have been using found poems in the following ways: 1.  Near the first day of class, I introduce the concept of found or cut up poetry by using a sample text we have read together in class (can be a shortish excerpt or excerpt(s) chosen for this purpose).  Students are told to write down interesting words and phrases that they hear/see (depending on the modality in which you present the information) with the understanding that these words will later be used to write a thematic poem on the work that was read.  They are to record a minimum of 25 words and phrases, and I am sure to encourage them to write down at least 10 phrases.  Then,...

What Is Comprehensible Input? Comprehensible Input Is… Communication made clear --it’s all about comprehension-- & Can be achieved by: --enunciating --speaking more s-l-o-w-l-y --reducing the complexity of speech with simple sentence structures (subject-verb-object)   “You circle the answer” NOT “Circle the correct answer.   Only choose one.   Eliminate some answer choices” –at least not for beginners OR CONFUSION ensues! --avoiding idioms --paraphrasing (say it another way) --repetition --oral and written directions (crystal clear expectations) modeled, step-by-step --teaching homographs & homophones, synonyms & cognates --using multimedia, gestures, body language, pictures,  & objects --previewing material --providing graphic organizers, taped texts, & sentence strips Comprehensible input is --repeated exposure --in a variety of ways --in a variety of contexts ...