Out of Her Mind -- Musings on Education and Life

Nature Poems Today, go outside and get your hands and feet dirty!  Look beneath a rock, examine the roots of a tree, or dig through soil and write about whatever you find lurking there: maybe you see ants working, perhaps you are alarmed by the coating of pollen, maybe you are enchanted by the juxtaposition of nature and man's creations.  Feel the sun on your face, the air on your skin.  Rejoice, and write about nature. Your Assignment:   Go outside and write a nature poem.  There are no word limits.  You will have 15 minutes outside for this writing activity. Remember to engage all of your senses.   This poem does not have to rhyme.   Be creative!  Try a concrete poem (written in the shape of your subject). Also, remember to write using figurative language--you know, all of those elements you normally have to analyze literature and poetry for: alliteration, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, rhythm, ...

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 ...