The Sounds of Silence

So, it has been 2 years and no blogging.  So sad. 

But I really - REALLY - want to get back to it because I have new ideas on what to blog on. 

This blog was created to put out the random stuff in my brain then it took a turn to craftiness.  Now I would like to see if I can squeeze in some school stuff.  It will just become an entire plethora of informations - a virtual font of wisdom.

But I can not just go blog about the new stuff unless I give some background info on where this came from and where I have been.  Short but sweet - busy family, teaching school, then go overboard on conferences to go to then I start my National Boards - I am a crazy person.  Family - kids growing like weeds - but we have had fun - last March we went to Walt Disney World.

So why do I feel the need to blog again.  Well, it is a creative outlet - which I desparately need, but I hope to help people by posting ideas to my blog and then on to PINTEREST. 

I am in the final phases of my portfolio for my national boards.  I am a 5th grade teacher of math and science, but the only category that fits this is Middle Childhood Generalist.  So this means I have to teach and write about not only math and science, but social studies and writing.  I write in my class, but this is like a horse of a different color.

I saved the worst for last and that is the narrative writing.  I can teach it, the problem is I do not want to, but I have to, so I am.  The kids know about vivid language, setting, plot, similes, and metaphors.  But I have to write about what I taught them.  I did not teach them this- their language teacher did, but I can't just lie.  So I let my brain do some wondering and came up with an idea.

Friday night a friend posted lots of videos on Facebook.  One had the lyrics to the Sounds of Silence.  This is one of my favorite songs, so I used my super-power and rewrote the 1st verse and commented back.  Well, this lead to my singing this song for the next 24 hours.  Yesterday, I realized that there sure was a lot of vivid language, personification, symbolism, and conflict in this song.

Soooooo, I had found my lesson.  Simon and Garfunkel!  I copied and pasted the lyrics in a word doc.  Added all the literary devices that I could find beside the verses and came up with a plan.

I am posting my mini lesson on this here.  Yet, I will also explain it now.

In class we have been talking about how I am going to read all of these stories and that I would hope they would be fun to read.  I know that my students will return a book to the library if it is not a good read.  So we have talked about how to make your writing fun to read - adjectives, etc.

Well, rough drafts are due tomorrow and I will read them tomorrow night, but I know I will not find as much vivid language as I would like.  This is were Simon & Garfunkel come in.

I have rewritten the song in bare bones boring (alliteration!) words.  I will read it to them and ask them if it was enjoyable.  I am sure I will get some "no's".  Then I will contrast it with reading of the lyrics 1st.  Students will close their eyes and use imagination.  Then another discussion will follow.

Lastly, the song will be played.  Our stories are not in rhyming verse, but I think they will get the picture.

If this has peaked your interest, try out Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here."  This whole song is paradoxial.

The Firm even used an oxymoron (neon darkness) in one of there songs.  The video is posted here.   The song title is alliteration.  I also like it because of Jimmy Page.  (Another day, another blog)

And then if you really must have something else - try a little Otis Redding.  "These Arms of Mine" has lots of personification.  And as a side note - Willie and The Poor Boys (which also had Jimmy Page in it) did a cover of the version.

Well, I have to stop this or it could go on forever, but I think you see my train of thought.