Teacher Kathy's Corner: poem

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Cows, Sacagawea and "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?"

I. ROOT 詞根 : “duce “ lead, bring
1. Reduce 減少；減小；降低；縮小 The plane reduced speed as it approached the airport.當飛臨機場時，飛機減慢了速度。
2. Seduce勾引；誘姦
3. educate教育，培養 The form says he was educated in Africa. 表格上顯示他在非洲接受教育。

II. IDIOM 成語:

1. “Lick your lips” 垂涎欲滴地期待 He licked his lips at the thought of all that money. 一想到那麽多的錢，他就有些迫不及待了。

2. “Fly into a rage” 勃然大怒 I asked to speak to her boss and she just flew into a rage. 我要求跟她的老闆談話，結果她勃然大怒。

Now draw the literal and idiom's meanings.

III. Vocabulary for "A Life-Saving Cow" (Vocabulary Review Games)

1. Herd (v.) 趕成一群，放牧 A old woman was herding the goats up the mountainside. 一位老婦人正在山坡上放牧山羊。

2. Trunk樹幹
3. Knock out (v.) 擊昏（某人）；使（某人）不省人事 She hit her head on the ceiling and knocked herself out. 她的頭撞到天花板，昏了過去。

4. Lick (v.) 舔，舐 He licked the chocolate off his fingers. 他把手指上的巧克力舔乾淨了。 She licked the stamps and stuck them on the parcel. 她舔了一下郵票，然後貼在包裹上。

5. Manage to (v.) 成功做到，順利完成（尤指困難之事） [+ to infinitive] Did you manage to get any bread? 你弄到麵包了嗎？

6. Rage (v.) 激烈進行；猛烈發作；肆虐 The storm raged outside. 屋外暴風雨大作。

7. Noon- 12:pm, 正午；中午 We used to ski before noon then take a long lunch. 我們過去經常在中午之前滑雪，然後悠閒地吃午餐。

8. Red Cross紅十字會 The Red Cross is/are supplying medicine to the earthquake victims. 紅十字會正在向地震災民提供藥物。

Reading 2: Sacagawea 薩卡加維亞

薩卡加維亞肖肖尼印第安人婦女，曾背負幼兒，隨劉易斯與克拉克遠征隊跋涉蠻荒，進行考察。薩卡加維亞是肖肖尼族印地安人。1800年，當她才12歲大時，被希達察族的印地安人抓走，1804年被賣給或輸給了一位法裔加拿大籍的設陷阱捕獸者及商人夏博諾，成為夏博諾的其中一位妻子，兩人育有一子讓·巴蒂斯特。維基百科出生： 1788 年配偶：圖森·夏邦諾

(Vocabulary Self Study)

Vocabulary:

Native American美洲土著居民，印第安人, Pacific Ocean,__________, raid突襲；突擊, prisoner犯人，囚犯, trade交換；改換，更換, slave奴隸,

gamble賭博，打賭, dialect方言，土語，地方話 interpreter口譯員 expedition遠征；探險，考察 valuable 有用的；重要的；有價值, explorer勘探者；考察者；探險者

Extra Links:
Sacagawea Trivia Quiz
Lewis and Clark Expedition: National Geographic
Sacagawea Word-o-Rama
Sacagawea Audio lessons-PBS

Reading 3, ABAB Poem: The Purple Cow by Gelett Burgess

I never saw a Purple Cow,
I never hope to see one,
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one!

Reading 4, Poem: “I’m Nobody! Who are You?” by Emily Dickinson

Vocabulary: nobody沒有人，無人, too也，還,

Pair一對，一雙, 一對, advertise, 登廣告，做廣告，宣傳；公佈；徵聘

dreary, 沈悶的，單調乏味的，令人沮喪 public, 民眾的，大眾 bog泥塘；沼澤

I’m Nobody! Who are you?

I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody too?
Then there's a pair of us? Don't tell!
They'd advertise, you know!

How dreary to be somebody!
How public – like a frog –
To tell one's name the livelong June
To an admiring bog!

我是無名小卒！

我是無名小卒！你是誰？
你也是無名小卒嗎？
那我們是一對囉？別說！
你知道他們會大肆宣傳！

當個重要人物多麻煩！
暴露於公眾 -- 像隻青蛙 --
在漫長的六月將自己的大名
報給仰慕的沼澤聽

Answer:

1. How do you think the writer feels?___________________________________

2. Have you felt this way before? When?________________________________

______________________________________________________________

3. Why is it better to find someone who feels the same?

4. Who is “they” in Line 4?___________________________________________

5. Why would it be dreary to be “Somebody”?____________________________

Do you agree with the writer?____________________________________

6. How are frogs “public”?___________________________________________

7. How are people like frogs?_____________________________________

8. This poem is an example of a ____________ poem.

a. ABA b. ABCB d. AABB

9. This poem is about_______.

a. being unknown and private is better than being famous

b. frogs are disgusting

c. Somebodies are better than Nobodies

d. It’s better to be humble, rather than proud

10. Make a poem mood ring.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am making time to teach Thanksgiving to all my classes, because it’s one of my favorite holidays and because teaching kids to say “thank you” and be grateful is always a good lesson. Also cultivating gratitude makes us more positive and developing optimism in the classroom according to neurologists increasing student motivation and creates better problem solving skills. (See "Cultivating Optimism.")

In my K1 Kindergarten, their English is very basic, so if I can have them saying “thank you” in English, I will be happy. I want to teach them a little chant to the tune of 'Frere Jacque', “I am thankful/I am thankful/ Yes I am/Yes I am/ Thankful for my Mommy/Thankful for my Daddy/And our food/ And our food- all with corresponding body movements of course.

In my Elementary school science class, we recently studied Motion, but they didn’t learn about inertia, so I found this Amazing Turkey Egg Experiment to teach them about intertia. We can even do a dance called ATurkey Names Bert, if we have an extra minute.

For my Elementary Reading classes I will take a day or two this month to teach the kids the basic story of Thanksgiving and the main vocabulary words. I want them to do some kind of simple writing activity that both reinforces proper grammar and gets them thinking about gratitude.

They will also make a craft, a Thankful Tree. I will also teach them a simple poem/song, sung to the tune of Ode to Joy. I will show them some videos and see what kinds of questions they have.

For my ESL junior high kids I will devote a week to Thanksgiving and have them learn the more difficult vocabulary words and readings. I also want them to do some basic writing exercises that encourages them to think about why being grateful is important. If my highest level class (G8A) can have a conversation on the political aspects of Thanksgiving, the historical plight of Native Americans, I will be one grateful teacher!

For both my Junior High and Elementary kids I want them to learn how to say thank you in different languages. I will have the elementary kids make a poster called, “A World of Thanks.”

I want to teach the kids how to watch a video, how to listen for information, the main ideas and details and how to take notes.

Vocabulary for Video Learn American Holidays:

(Thanksgiving Food Vocabulary here)

1. To mark- to show

2. Winter solstice- shortest day of the year, December 22

3. Retailer- a person or company that sells goods

4. Extent- degree, amount, limit

5. Feast- large and high quality meal

6. To round out- make bigger, more complete

7. To stuff oneself- overeat, eat as much as possible

8. Pilgrim- someone who travels a long distance

9. Plethora- large amount

10. Fete- party

11. To opt- choose

12. Crisp- fresh, refreshing “The crisp autumn air”

13. Diversion- an act to change someone’s attention away from, distraction

14. Uniquely- unlike any other

15. Concept- general idea

16. To span- reaches, extends

Notes for Video:

Thanksgiving is ____________ of the most celebrated holidays. It marks the __________ of the ____________ season; the weeks leading up to ____________, Hanukah, Kwanza and the Winter Solstice. For r_______. Thanksgiving begins their _________ season. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4^th ________ of N___________.

Questions:

1. Which president made Thanksgiving a national holiday?

2. What other countries celebrate Thanksgiving?

3. What is the traditional Thanksgiving feast?

4. Where does the traditional Thanksgiving feast come from?

5. What did the European pilgrims and Native Americans east on the first Thanksgiving?

6. What sport is watched in the US on Thanksgiving?

7. Is there a day in your country when you give thanks?

8. Is there a day in your country when you have a feast with family?

9. Why might celebrating being thankful important?