The Amazing Gatsby Race - ENG 20-1

The 20-1 class completed their novel study on The Great Gatsby. Their video assignments were incredible and their hard work definitely did not go unnoticed. Today we had our Great Gatsby party where students got to dress up in their 1920s attire, munch on some snack food, and participate in a Gatsby-like spin on The Amazing Race. Basically, I placed the students in pairs and gave them clues to specific locations around the school. At those locations they'd have a question pertaining to the novel that they'd have to answer and in that same envelope would be a clue to another location. There were 20 questions in all and two roadblocks. Roadblocks are mini challenges that the students must complete before they are given the next set of clues. One roadblock had the students meeting Mr. Sherbinin in his office and re-enacting a scene from the novel (when Tom broke Myrtle's nose). If they didn't act it out to Mr. Sherbinin's liking then they'd have to try again! They all seemed to bring their A-game today as every group only had to perform once! Dallas Hines and Madison McGuigan came out on top winning by 13 seconds! Way to go, guys! Next we'll be watching the film and cruising into our holiday break. 

ELA 9B: The Painted Door

The 9s are deep into their short story unit and the runner-up story was The Painted Door by Sinclair Ross. Because there was so much argument over the interpretation and symbolism embedded in the story, I thought it would be a good piece to use in a modified think, pair, share type of activity. The students read The Painted Door as a class, were given questions to answer individually, and then they were put into groups to discuss their answers. Each question for discussion was placed around the classroom and they had 3 minutes per question to divulge their thoughts. They then had to write key points about their answers on each question so the next group could see their answers and agree or disagree. It was an activity that took a good chunk of a period to do, but it was well worth it. Students seemed to feel more comfortable sharing their answers when we came back together as a class as I heard responses from students that don't normally like to participate in a large group setting. They also found the activity helpful because not only did they discuss answers with their groups but they got to see the thought process of other groups as they added their answers to each sheet. 

The Great Gatsby Final Projects

The 20-1 class presented their re-enactments and music videos today. It was fantastic to see all of the hard work they put into their assignments! Check out a few of the awesome vids! What a great way to head into the holidays! 

McG, Melin, Raylene, Marti, Jade, & Fame

video above by Chandler, Shane, & Kaitlyn 

MacG, Dallas, & Goulet

The 9Bs Are "Hangin' Out"

 The 9s were collaborating with their partners wonderfully via Google Hangouts today. It was great to see them communicating in such a different way than they're used to. When interacting with each other this way, they have to process what it is they need to say to their partner to get the answers and responses they desire. Some got frustrated, but after a few moments of thinking, they typed out their thoughts and voila! their partner understood! Not only is this assignment great for them to work on their communication, but I have access to all of the stuff they're working on, I can Google Hangout with the groups themselves, AND help them edit their assignment along the way. It's working fantastically! Their creative minds have come up with some pretty impressive urban legends. Maybe you'll be hearing some of them through the grapevine soon! 

The 9Bs; Spreadin' Urban Legends

The 9Bs recently finished up their short story unit and voted Vanson Hamel's The Call short story as their favorite. I think it might have been the mixture of mystery and suspense in the story that they enjoyed most. Vanson's group (Jaxon, Shaelyn, Michael, & Branden) also did a fantastic job of recreating the story in video format and left their classmates wanting more! 

The Call, to me, seemed very similar to an urban legend I've heard many times over the years. You know, the one that involves a babysitter home alone with young children who keeps receiving strange phone calls and then the call gets traced and they're coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE! dun-dun-dun! Okay, you get it, and I'm also assuming that you've heard it before too. Right? Or the one with the man on the loose with the hook hand who almost kills the young couple who are hanging out on lover's lane. Those myth-type stories are the most popular urban legends being told these days and new variations of such stories are still being spoken of around the campfire or late at night at sleepovers. Spooky. 

The grades 9s' task was to create their own urban legend, explain its origin (what year/era did it come from), and create two other variations of it as well. Not only that, but they have to research their stories to see if it would even be plausible. As urban legends go, some have a bit of credibility to them which make them even more disturbing. The stories they have started to create are phenomenal and I'm excited to see and hear what they come up with. I have a plan as to what to do with their stories next, but you'll have to stay tuned. 

The students are allowed to be in partners, but there's a twist...they can't sit or work side-by-side. The partners must create their stories and presentations via Google and discuss their terms of action on Google Hangout. This way, students have to read what their partners are doing, edit each other's work, pay attention to the assignment at hand, and really take the time to communicate with their partner to ensure understanding. It's interesting to see some struggle at first but then get a sense of how they can communicate with their partner clearly and effectively as they work their way through their assignment. It's day two and already partners have divided up the work via Google Hangout, edited their presentations, and collaborated without even speaking face-to-face. How awesome is that?! I think it's fantastic. 

The Main Event

I stumbled across this video on YouTube (link below). It's refreshing to see and hear the words that I cannot, at times, seem to get out myself. It's a pretty accurate summary of how I feel about my career. School isn't all about the academics; it's about the real-life situations our students go through day in and day out. It's about teaching them how to cope, how to deal, how to strive, and how to survive. It's about helping to guide them along the way, informing them about issues that they don't quite understand, and helping them prepare for a bright future (that I intend on them having). I understand that not every student is going to write me an intellectual, mind-blowing, scholarly essay, and hey, that's okay. Different students strive in different areas of academics. To be honest, English class wasn't my favorite, mainly because I liked to write when the moment fancied me, not when I was told to. I get that. I get that not every student will find English class fascinating, just like not every student will want to sit through social class and hear about the Aztecs, or learn about the digestive system in science. It's okay. It's all okay. Again, school is not just about the academics, it's about building relationships and a positive rapport, and making a difference in the lives of the students that walk through our doors. But not only that, it's about letting them know that at this moment, even though they think algebra and essays aren't relevant, they are. That algebra and essays are more than just numbers and words; they contain a deeper meaning and more significance than they'll ever know. We're here to make sure that our students understand that the choices they make today are important. More important than they think.

What Students Really Need to Hear - Chase Mielke

The Great Gatsby Final Assignment

The ELA 20-1 crew is currently working on their final assignment for The Great Gatsby. They were asked to create either a music video (with original lyrics pertaining to the novel), or a movie trailer. These students are working so hard on their videos and I cannot WAIT to see the final products! They are all so creative and awesome in their own way! The pictures added to this entry are of one group going all out for their video! Keep it up, 20-1s! 
(No one was injured in the making of this video) :) 

Shadowing a Student - Part II

First read "Shadowing a Student - Part I" - posted November 24th
http://stacymoirkhs.blogspot.ca/2014/11/shadowing-student-day-1.html 

What an experience it was being Megan, the new grade 8 kid. I learned more than I initially anticipated I would. When I first went to administration with this wild idea, I wasn't sure what kind of response I would hear. When I received the supportive and jubilant "yes", I thought I was hearing things. But I wasn't. It was going to happen. I was going to be in grade 8 again. I wanted to make sure my second time around in 8th grade wasn't like the last (trust me, it probably wouldn't have been good - or very productive). 

What I noticed during my time in grade 8:

Takeaway #1: The majority of the time (roughly 70%) I was passively learning. I was half engaged, half checked-out. My SDADHD (self-diagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) kicked in around half-way through each class each day unless we were working on a project or I had some sort of research to do on the computer. I've never been the best auditory learner.  

This first takeaway brings me to inquiry work. Inquiry (in simplest terms) is making student-led, informative, engaging, and interesting lesson plans and units where the students take control of how they learn and how they present what they learn. I've been trying for the past year to really incorporate inquiry in every unit I have. The students feel more involved, more engaged, and they're participating because they have work to do to get the end product. It's awesome. It truly is. Check out the rest of my blog to see what kind of inquiry-based projects I conjure up for my students (specifically grade 9 as they just finished a large short story unit led by their decisions and unique voting process) I know that not every student learns the same way; we're all different. Some are auditory learners (learn by listening), others are visual like myself (learn by seeing charts or watching videos), and others are kinesthetic (like to move around and learn through hands-on activity). Inquiry works well and hits all of these learning styles in some aspect. I know that there are times in ELA when there will be teacher-led lectures, but I need to try and keep it to a minimum; for their sake and mine. 

Takeaway #2: I was confined to my desk 90% of the time. Wow. My rear-end was sore. 

We sat a lot. A lot! I know my ELA class can be quite motionless if we're reading, writing, or having an open discussion , but it doesn't bother me, of course, because I'm the one moving!

They have to be mobile at least once. Even for 5 minutes. Something as simple as doing “think, pair, share” where they get up from their desk and walk to the other side of the room to get their partner, or setting up questions on the wall and having them roam from one to another to discuss with their partners or groups. It’s so simple! Get them out of their “jail cell” every once in awhile. I do this occasionally during teacher-led lessons, but definitely not enough.

Takeaway #3: 8 periods is A LOT to transition between throughout the day. 

All in all, 8 periods slammed into one day is a bit overkill. That’s 8 classes working on 8 different things (some days). By noon I felt an overwhelming feeling of sympathy for these kids. It’s only noon and I’ve had 4 different classes with 4 different things going on or 4 different assignments to work on or multiple handouts. Now, it’s nothing we can change right now (it’s our schedule) BUT if we're ever given a say, please take this into consideration. I think I'll be a bit more lenient on the kids who forget what we did the day before (even though I write on the board about it everyday) because let's face it, they've had 7 other classes to attend to besides my own. What makes mine so special?

Takeaway #4: They don't have time like we think!

Again, it comes down to time.

The theme of my grade 8 experience could've been: "I aint' got time for that!"

I didn’t have time for anything: to go to the bathroom, to get a drink, to get to my class on time, to work on my assignments, OR as a teacher, I don't have time to get a deep-thinking, well-organized, or thoughtful discussion in during the opening, middle, and end of my lesson. I just don't.

So, when a student asks to use the washroom, it’s okay. Let them! I looked forward to PE class, not only because I got to play basketball but because I had enough time to use the washroom!

When a student leaves a binder or other materials in another class, don’t freak out - hey, it happened to me! (I left my pencil case in ELA class and was late for math!)

Be patient if they don’t remember what you did the day before - they had 7 other classes besides ELA. It's okay if the grade 7s don't remember simple and compound predicates the second you ask them. It's okay! It really is!

Takeaway #5: Make it memorable.

When I asked students (who I was specifically shadowing these two days) which class they found to be the most memorable, they both said the last class we had (block 7 before I interviewed them). When I asked why that class, they simply said, "Well, because we just had it."

Okay, fair enough. Someone once said that people will remember the first thing you said and the last thing you said. What does that mean to me as an educator? Start off my class with a hook and end with a strong close. I don't want to feel like I'm wasting time making my lessons when students, at the end of the day, are just going to forget what we had just done the moment they walk out of my classroom. Ouch. Okay, I know what I need to do with my class: Make it stand out. Make it interesting. Make it engaging. Make it memorable.

These takeaways are the things that I can take into consideration to enhance my classes for not only myself but for my students as well. I need to remember that I’m not an entertainer (neither are you). I did not get a bachelor’s degree in drama & entertaining teens, but what I can do is make my classes memorable in some capacity for these kids so at the end of the day they won’t forget that they did, indeed, have english class at some point in the day. I need to be patient as they're busy too. I need to remember that, at times, they're forgetful and they will ask what happened in class yesterday and that they WILL forget their binder or pencil in their locker (as long as it's not a habit, we'll be just fine). Inquiry-based lessons are key (in my opinion) to making lessons appealing, stimulating, thought-provoking, and most importantly, memorable! 

I am so thankful and so extremely lucky that I have administration and colleagues who allow me to do things like this. It's incredible! These are just a few of the insights I found when shadowing grade 8s. I could go on and on about my experience. I truly could. I thought I had a good idea of what it was like to be a student, but seeing and doing what I did through a different perspective was insightful to say the least. It was meaningful and motivating. I am truly refreshed.

Who knew being in grade 8 would teach me so many things?! Now, what about high school...(to be continued?)

Drum Rolllllllllllllllll...

The winning short story is...

The Call

Vanson Hamel, a grade 9 student, chose The Call to present to her group members. Once her story was chosen in her group, they then had to recreate the short story in video format, present the story to the rest of their peers and "fight" for it to win the best in class! They must have done a fantastic job because Vanson's short story won (and may I add it won by a landslide). Way to go, guys!

Now it's my job to do some work. I had to find similar short stories to have the class read and analyze. It was no easy task. When I first heard Vanson's group describe their story, I was reminded of those ominous and mysterious urban legend stories - you know, the kind you hear around the campfire and give you nightmares for weeks. That kind.

I found some frightening short stories to share and I cannot wait to delve deeper into our short story unit. Their final project will consist of the students creating their own urban legend, getting into groups and choosing the best one to recreate in video format. Exciting stuff is happening in the 9B class. And people say English is boring.....



The 9s Fight For Top Story! - The Final Voting Process

Okay, so the 9s don't actually fight like the title of this blog entry portrays, but the 9s DID have a class today where they essentially had to "sell" their story to their classmates during an intense question and answer period. 

Each group (which consisted of the group members for each remaining short story) ask the other groups questions about their stories in order to come to final decision of who they would vote the "top story". 

Some questions posed were: 

- What story (out of the 5, besides your own) did you vote as the best? Also, tell the class why we should vote for YOUR story over the story that you liked most. 

- What story did you like the least? Why shouldn't that story win?

- What is the genre of your story? Why would we find yours the most interesting out of everyone elses'? What sets yours apart?

- What would say is the main theme of your story? 

- Honestly, would you vote for your story to win if you were able to? Why or why not?

Those were some intense questions which put a lot of groups on the spot. It was awesome!

The top story will be used in our short story unit. I will take the winning story, find 2-3 more short stories that coincide with the winner (in either theme or genre) and create a short story unit. So far it's looking like I'll have to find some more suspense-type literature to feed the students' appetite for mystery as their votes seem to be swaying towards "The Call" (Vanson's story). 

I'm so impressed with how far the groups have come in terms of how deep they delved into the questions and discussions in their groups and how well they worked with one another. Even after someone's story was voted out, there was no time (or room) for pouting and each group member helped out until the bitter end. I'm excited to see who the 9Bs vote as "top story"! We'll be collecting the final vote tomorrow morning!

Great work, 9s! It's been a pleasure! Check out some pictures from their question and answer period today!

Shadowing a Student - Part 1

I am well aware of how amazing my administration and colleagues are here at Kitscoty High School, and they lived up to their remarkable reputation this past week as I went into the classroom as a grade 8 student named "Megan". Megan is my grade 8 persona. She likes One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer and can't wait to hit up the Taylor Swift concert in August! I really tried to delve deep into my character and the kids noticed how little I swayed from being my grade 8 self. By the end of the day, without skipping a beat, they were calling me by my alias and asking me questions about my "old school" and hometown. It was a great day! Not only was my research insightful, but I got to work on my relationships with students that I don't get to teach this year, which is quite the bonus! 

When I first started looking into the idea of shadowing a student, I never thought that I would actually be allowed to execute such an unusual idea. Recently, I came across an article of a veteran HS teacher who, when approached by her principal, had the opportunity to shadow two students with differing educational backgrounds for two days to see their school experiences through the students’ eyes, giving her a better understanding of the “process” of school and its encumbrance on students these days. I found it intriguing as she gave some incredible feedback of her involvement in the program. The more I looked into a research idea like this, the more my ears perked up and my excitement propagated.  

She wrote (excerpt):

 I have made a terrible mistake. I waited fourteen years to do something that I should have done my first year of teaching: shadow a student for a day. It was so eye-opening that I wish I could go back to every class of students I ever had right now and change a minimum of ten things – the layout, the lesson plan, the checks for understanding. Most of it!

My task was to do everything the student was supposed to do: if there was lecture or notes on the board, I copied them as fast I could into my notebook. If there was a Chemistry lab, I did it with my host student. If there was a test, I took it. 

The author goes on to talk about the changes she would make in her own classroom and provides examples of things other teachers could do to prevent the lethargic, monotonous, tedious days that students drone through day in and day out. This teacher who shadowed her own students is not the only one to do so, nor will she be the last. I read another piece about a graduate student shadowing students at the high school and post-secondary levels to write her doctorate. She listed some of the same insights as the previous teacher I mentioned; students were anxious, indolent, and passive for the majority of their class time and she needed to find a way to fix it. She became the student to become a more intellectually productive teacher. 

As I become more and more passionate about my career and my choices as a teacher, these types of exploration and inquiry opportunities become important, significant, and most certainly worth a shot. Even though I graduated high school a decade ago, I still feel a huge gap between myself as a student and students these days. Yes, the drama and complex psyche of a teenager is still there, but what is it like to be a student; and I mean a full-fledged, inert, and accomplished student? I wanted to know. 

Day 1 as "Megan", the grade 8 student:

I worked on the Pythagorean Theorem in math class, discussed the 3 Gs in European exploration in social, and learned all about osmosis and diffusion in science. I even dusted off my old trombone skills and "played" along with the rest of the 8s in music. It was a busy day and I can't wait to share my insights with everyone when my research is complete. I have one more day of shadowing left and I definitely look forward to it! I don't want to give away too much just yet regarding my findings, so hold tight! 

 

The Outsiders: Character Analysis (ELA 7)

The grade 7 class was placed randomly into groups with each group given a specific character to keep track of throughout the novel. As we read, the students write down information about their character; their personality and physical traits, relationships, conflicts, or any important events they're involved with. Today we started placing the information we have thus far on our character posters. As we read, students can add what they have to their posters for the class to see. 

KHS Read: Short Story Edition Presentations!

The 9s have their top 5 stories and have been working zealously on their group presentations and iMovie trailers. 

The top stories are: 

All Summer in a Day (chosen by Caroline Evans)

The Use of Force (chosen by Tim Finucane)

The Painted Door (chosen by Dallan Keichinger)

An Angel in Disguise (chosen by Paige Laycock)

The Call (chosen by Vanson Hamel)

During the presentations, students took notes and wrote down their initial thoughts on the presentation themselves (from information provided to the performance of the presenters) and the final product of the iMovie trailers. They were given 5 questions to discuss with their group members about the presentations and stories and will decide which short story will win their vote to be crowned this semester's KHS Reads: Short Story Edition champ! 

The winning short story will be read as a class and will be the starting point of our short story unit. I will find 2-3 more short stories that tie into the winner in either theme or genre. I cannot wait to complete our voting process. Here are some pictures from the presentations! 

The Great Gatsby - The Roarin' 20s!

The English 20-1 class started reading the novel The Great Gatsby this week, but before we opened any books we looked back at what was called "The Roarin' 20s". 

The Roaring Twenties is a term used to refer to the 1920s in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom, characterizing the decade's distinctive cultural edge in many major cities during a period of sustained economic prosperity, including New York City, where most of The Great Gatsby is set. French speakers called it the "années folles" ("Crazy Years"), emphasizing the era's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism. 

The spirit of the Roaring Twenties was marked by a general feeling of discontinuity associated with modernity and a break with traditions. Everything seemed to be feasible through modern technology. At the same time, jazz and dancing rose in popularity, in opposition to the mood of the spectre of WWI. As such, the period is also often referred to as the Jazz Age. 

What the students did was research subjects pertaining to the 1920s and the novel and created a visual for the class. Some of the topics were: the author and film adaptations, characters, symbols, the american dream, the jazz age, and flapper girls. I think the 20-1 class did an incredible job and came together as a cohesive unit to make one spectacular (and informational) visual! 

(Roarin' Twenties info from Wikipedia)

Focused on Film! - ENG 20-1

As we delve deeper into our film study unit, the 20-1 class is hard at work perfecting their presentations of their own film analysis. As stated in a previous blog post, the students had to pick a film from the drama genre that ties into our semester's theme of the human condition. From action-packed films such as Braveheart, to romantic book adaptations such as The Fault in Our Stars, the students have chosen quite a variety of films to analyze and discuss. The themes of each vary, but they're all somehow related to the human condition. Because the students got to choose the film  for this assignment and really take it on as their own to discuss and represent, they're invested in making their presentation memorable and interesting for their peers. Each student seems to have a passion for the movie they picked, and I cannot wait to see their finished products! 

KHS Reads; Short Story Edition - ELA 9

The grade 9 class has just started their KHS Reads: Short Story Edition assignment. The students were given the task to find their own short story to read, analyze, and write a synopsis for. They had to find their own short story in order to work in groups where they would share their synopsis and try to persuade their group members into believing that their short story is worthy of being read as a class.

Their assignment will have them discussing their short story and the stories that their peers have found. They will analyze each one and have a voting process that will eliminate group members’ short stories daily until there is only one story standing within the group. We have 5 groups within the class, so when each group finds their top story, that group will make a new synopsis to share with the entire class and the voting process will begin again! It’s a new and exciting unit that has the students taking ownership of “their” story. It’s a great way to have them share several different stories and themes in a short amount of time.

What does the winning short story and student receive, you ask? Pride, of course, and the feeling of ultimate domination! 

The winning short story will provide a start to our overall short story unit.  Last year's winning story was Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. From that, we had a class theme of "A guilty conscience can never be overridden" and we chose other short stories that coincided with that theme and surrounded our short story unit around that theme.

 All in all, each student read at least 6 short stories (3 from their own group and 3 from our winning unit theme). That's a lot of reading and a lot of discussion! 

One of the things I adore about this unit is that the students get to pick their stories, "fight" for their lives in their group, grasp an understanding of theme and discuss what it is about our winning short story that garnered enough attention to be crowned the best! 

This assignment will take the greater part of two weeks and I will keep you updated on their progress!

I can't wait to hear your discussions and see who the big winner will be! Good luck, grade 9s! 

Life is Beautiful for the 20-1s

My ELA 20-1 class just finished viewing the film Life is Beautiful, starring Roberto Benigni (1998).

In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish bookkeeper named Guido starts a fairy tale life by courting and marrying a lovely woman from a nearby city. Guido and his wife have a son and live happily together until the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank. - IMDb Summary  

Throughout the film, the students were given questions to discuss between viewings. We watched 4 parts of the film, with the questions being specifically related to that viewing day. I wanted to show the students the evolution of the film, from the tone to the mood to the costumes and lighting. They were introduced to the use of different camera angles and how they add to a film’s tone as well. It’s been an interesting unit with hearing their thoughts on the film and how they were wavering on whether it’s a light-hearted film or an absolute tragedy. The bonus is that even though the film is in Italian and subtitled for them to read, by the second viewing they hardly noticed that they were reading dialogue the entire film. It’s been an awesome unit thus far.

They now have an essay assignment that they have been working on and they will also be introduced to a film analysis assignment on Monday that I hope they enjoy as much as my ENG 20-1 class enjoyed last year. Their film analysis assignment states that they have to choose a film from the drama genre that would fit with our semester’s theme of “the human condition”. They have to analyze their film and discuss the actor’s portrayals, cinematography, theme, symbols, music, and motifs. I'm excited to see what films they choose and their completed projects! I'll keep you updated on those projects (including the assignment handout and PowerPoint slides we went over)!

Watch the movie trailer below! AND Roberto Benigni’s acceptance speech at the 1998 Oscars (It won Best Foreign Film, Best Original Score, and Roberto Benigni, actor and director, won Best Actor; beating out Edward Norton AND Tom Hanks).

The 9s "Find" Poetry

The grade 9 ELA class have been working on their Found Poetry assignments which have them "finding" their own poem within a set of song lyrics that they find interesting. When we started our poetry unit, we spent a lot of time discussing theme, tone, and mood, and interpreting various types of poems, including "My Papa's Waltz" which got the class in a bit of a heated frenzy when we tried to decipher its meaning. The agitation and friendly arguments made me smile because the students were quarrelling about POETRY! How awesome. 

In their assignment, they had to chose lyrics that were interesting and maybe had some sort of meaning to them. The key was to make a new found poem using the words from the lyrics in order, and they couldn't add or alter words from their lyrics to make their new found poem. Another thing they had to keep in mind was that they had ensure that their new found poem had a different theme and tone than the lyrics they chose. In their assignments, they have to contrast the theme and tone from their song lyrics to their new found poem. Quite the task, indeed (but they're definitely up for the challenge)!

Before introducing their assignment, I showed them a poem of my own. I didn't mention that I had "found" it, but we simply discussed its meaning, theme, and mood. 

She loves me

But can’t stand to see me

Try to fight the feeling

Alone.

The thought is killing me

You think you’ve got it

There’s nothing at all

Nothing is forever

Denial.

You don’t want me here

Don’t make me break.

After we discussed the poem, I showed them where I got it from:

After the confusion subsided, they thought it was "cool" that you could do that. I explained that even simply taking words from an upbeat song that have a negative connotation, placing them in order, and tweaking the punctuation by italicizing words or adding emphasis with an exclamation mark can make all the difference.

I cannot wait to see and read the end results! Check out the students hard at work trying to "find" their new poems!