Summer SAVY 2017, Session 2/Day 1- Playing with Words (Rising 1st)

Posted by morganr1 on Monday, June 19, 2017 in SAVY.

These amazing authors are off to a strong start playing with words. As we investigate figurative language, we have already begun exploring adjectives, hyperbole, alliteration and idioms. Figurative language appeals to the senses. Creative writers have an awareness, curiosity and wonder as they use words to create sensory images of ordinary things. We analyzed various passages to discover which of our 5 senses the author is using to “paint a picture with his/her words”.

We began developing our analytical and interpretive skills by reading My Dad, and enjoying an interview with the author, Anthony Browne. You might enjoy watching this interview with your young author. We became enthralled, rereading the book after the interview and noting so many subtle messages in the illustrations.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zywvoPkEUX0 We discussed hyperbole as ‘extreme exaggeration’.

The figurative language in My Dad was a fun segue to considering the many idioms in Many Parts. The giggles were delightful. Your authors were enthralled with the literal interpretations of these confusing, common phrases. Tomorrow we will collaborate to illustrate a few idioms of our own.

The homogenous aspect of SAVY courses is a joy. It was fun to begin getting to know each other while learning about the richness descriptive adjectives can add to our writing, I love how confident these young learners were in our class already, taking academic risks to share their ideas, observations, and questions. This was particularly evident as we tried to make connections to Carl Sandburg’s imagery in his poem, The Fog.

We are exposing these young authors to advanced language arts content; but we are also guiding their understanding to go deeper. This week we will explore similes, metaphors, homophones, hyperbole, idioms, adjectives, and onomatopoeia words. We use Socratic questioning to guide students to make connections and develop analytical and reasoning skills. An understanding of figurative language will help them with reading comprehension as well as giving them an interesting voice as authors.

Our course objectives:  identify, analyze, and use figurative language; analyze and interpret literature; explore the concept of change as related to language

It is an exciting week to learn and grow together. Thank you for sharing your wonderful authors with us.

Mrs. Pfister