SAVY 2019: Session 5, Day 2 – Witty Wordplay (Rising 1st/2nd)
Our day began with a discussion about systems. We learned that all systems have parts/elements, inputs, outputs, boundaries and interactions. As a group, we used a familiar topic, the school cafeteria, to identify parts and elements found in a cafeteria. We were able to create a big list including tables, chairs, utensils, food, trays, workers, refrigerators, ovens, trash cans, and more. Tomorrow we will go back to our systems cafeteria model and see how to identify inputs and outputs.
Next we began analyzing systems of language. First we looked at sentence strips that had words that were all mixed up, and we had to rearrange them to make sense! These mixed up sentences made us giggle. As a class, we discussed how hard it was to read sentences that were mixed up with the end word at the beginning and many other word mishaps! We came up with rules for writing sentences including capital letters at the beginning and punctuation at the end, making sure words are arranged to make sense and several others. We also looked at words that were missing something to help us identify the word, “words” such as strm, grnn, pncl, etc. We realized we could guess how to make these letters into words by adding vowels because they only had consonants. So we added vowels as best we could, but realized that there could easily be word confusion unless we had all of the correct letters in place from the beginning. We are quickly understanding that language is a system and in fact has several sub-systems.
After reading the poem, The Missing Homework, out loud several times, we identified some writer’s systems of techniques that can be used when writing poetry. We noticed stanzas, and that they are used to help get an emotion across or make a real statement, repeated words as well to make an impression of feeling or trying to get the reader’s attention, rhyming patterns (A,B.C,B), and use of exclamatory punctuation. After this lesson, we all settled down to write poems for almost an hour. After lunch, we created a stage in the classroom and everyone presented their poems as professional speakers! This was very special and it made everyone feel appreciated. We realized that we have a lot of talented writers in our class!
Then, we learned another writer’s language system technique called Alliteration. After reading a very silly book with a plethora of words with the same beginning letter, we dove in to write on our own using this writer’s technique. Tomorrow we will write more in this manner and much more! We are really enjoying our writing time. Our universal concept this week is systems. Our overarching question is: How do writers use specific systems of techniques that enhance their writing in order to achieve a purpose or convey a message? We are also working hard to study writer’s craft to enhance our writing.
More fun with Witty Word Play tomorrow!
Karen Tyson
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