Transcript Welcome to Jamie Dickerson’s 6th Grade Composition/Tech

Welcome
to
Jamie Dickerson’s
6th Grade
Composition/Tech
Classroom
Jamie Dickerson
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Has been teaching for eight years
Has a SPED/Language Arts background
Teaches (2) Adv. Comp/Tech Classes
Teaches (3) Composition Classes for
students with LD, BD, & ESL
• She uses the 6+ Traits for Effective
Writing
Picacho Middle
School
Demographics
06
Asian/Pacific Islander
3
Black
3
Caucasian
Hispanic
Native American/Alaskan
51
193
4
Sum: 254
07
Asian/Pacific Islander
3
Black
8
Caucasian
Hispanic
Native American/Alaskan
48
171
2
Sum: 232
08
Asian/Pacific Islander
3
Black
5
Caucasian
Hispanic
Native American/Alaskan
72
201
2
Sum: 283
Sum: 769
Poetry Unit
• Mrs. Dickerson conducts a two week poetry unit
in which she teaches the students different
forms of poetry.
• The students learn Free Verse, I am From..,
Ode’s, My important poem, etc.
• I chose to teach a lesson on Limericks.
Here is a sample of one of the student’s limerick:
Limerick by Taylor Hargrove
I am blond.
I tend to fall in a lot of ponds
Sometimes I drown
Or I might even frown
Of that I am not very fond.
Limerick Lesson – Calligram Lesson
Reflection on Poetry Unit
In teaching poetry, as in all writing, the technical aspects of the poem are really of
secondary purpose; good writing is honest writing (Kirby, Kirby, & Liner, 2004 pg.
148). The students in Mrs. Dickerson’s classroom seemed to enjoy writing poetry, but
as in many classrooms, there were some students that were not too thrilled.
They did enjoy learning how to write a limerick because most students get it! They
understand rhythms and the limerick is a short poem to construct. Kirby, Kirby, &
Liner write that poetry grows much in the same way and through the same processes
that prose does. They also suggest that students should be given a choice on
whether to write poetry or write prose.
What I learned from working with Mrs. Dickerson and the students during this poetry
unit is:
• Students were not given the opportunity to read any published poetry.
• There was no relevance on why they were learning to write poetry.
• Once the unit was over and they turned in their final poems, that was it!
• The unit was not tied to any specific lesson on voice, language, audience, or
connected to literature.
• In order for this unit to be relevant, the unit needs to be tied to what the students will
be learning next.
Persuasive Essays
The following unit that Mrs.
Dickerson introduced to the
students is their persuasive
writing unit.
In this unit, Mrs. Dickerson
uses what I describe as the
LCPS version of WebCT.
The students have been
reading different essays online and Mrs. Dickerson
has a list of questions that
students must answer
about the essays.
http://moodle.lcps.k12.nm.us
Questions
Student Response
Reflection on Persuasive Unit
• Although they have only started this unit, I
believe that the students will learn much from it.
• They are reading persuasive essays.
• They are learning the different parts of an essay.
• They are responding to pertinent questions.
• They are using a computer based program to
respond to different essays.
• Because of my rhetoric and composition
background, I am thrilled to see students
learning persuasive writing.