It’s in a Look Reading facial expressions to understand emotions

Instructions First looks are powerful. Often times in movies the audience can perceive the character’s intentions,

emotions or true self from a look. In this project we are going to explore what makes these looks powerful and necessary for character development, and what components make them powerful.

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Students will begin by discussing in small groups which emotion they believe is most powerful; many conclusions may be draw such as: love, hate, desire, grief, happiness etc.

Once each student has identified an emotion that they believe is the most powerful they will be instructed to explore this emotion Students will find at least four examples of a picture that captures this emotion and make a collage. (See example on the next page.) After students have found these pictures they will analyze the pictures and come up with a small writing piece that explores these emotions. This

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can be formatted in several ways such as a poem, paragraph, letter, inner dialogue etc. Yet the focus is to capture the moment without directly stating it. Students will then do a one-minute presentation in front of the class showing the picture collage and sharing at least one portion of their writing assignment.

Rationale- The purpose of this writing assignment is for students to begin understanding how to capture an emotion without merely stating it, such as saying, “He was sad, or she saw him and fell in love.” This assignment focuses on the Idea behind

Kacey Parks Mentor Text Project

Westley- The Princess Bride

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Noah- The Notebook Ilsa- Casablanca

Annie- Sleepless in Seattle Augustus-The Fault in Our Stars

Writing Sample- Love at First Sight (Students can analyze looks in many ways, I am doing an example of an inner dialogue a character may have when they experience love at first sight)

“It’s as if the whole world stopped turning, and you realize that you never had an understanding of anything before now. Like you were asleep and now you have woken up not just from a dream, but into a whole new reality. Standing there in front of you, you cannot help but be entranced. How has your entire part life passed before you and you never realized how much you have never really emotion until now? You cannot help but stare because you are afraid to blink, because they may disappear right in front of your eyes, because how can they be real? Everything you have known before fades away and you cannot help but let a corner of your mouth crinkle, because you realize your life has changed forever, from this moment forward you are going to spend the rest of your life trying to find a way to understand how this beautiful person has existed and how you can be as near to them as possible.”

emotion and introduces students to a deeper depth of creative writing. This will motivate students to write because they can analyze well known characters from movies, books, magazines, TV shows etc. The students are able to take something familiar and go deeper, the writing is also open-ended so it provides a large amount of student choice. Therefore the assignment is scaffold based on student interest.

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Instructions- Breaking the norms of poetry, is

always fun. In Levine’s book Forgive Me, I Meant to Do it, the premise is poetry that falsely apologizes for a well-intended problematic situation.

Students will be instructed to think of a problematic situation that has happened in either a: fairy-tale, movie, book, or their own personal life. The student will then craft a poem that begins with the title: This is just to Say, parameters for the poem include- three stanzas which are four lines long, the first stanza states the offense, the second describes the effect of the offense, the third begins with a Forgive me and includes a false apology. (See the next page for an example) A picture needs to be included as well (drawing is encouraged but not required!)

The students will create a one-page false apology poem and then the entire class will have their poems bound and have a false apology book, which the teacher will read out loud and keep as a class text. This book will be enjoyed for years to come.

Crafting Unapologetic Poetry

Rationale- The purpose of this assignment is to have students experiment with structure and craft. Guided by this accessible text, students will be able to mimic the author’s style of writing. This is to help introduce craft and style as students may have never tried to copy a type of writing before. The book is full of different examples of how to use “dark humor” and false apologies. Students are obsessed with sarcasm and this book lends itself perfectly for this assignment as it will attract high interest.

The assignment is scaffold because students may write short or long stanzas, pick their own subjects and have a model. Visually inclined students will be able to include their own drawing, and poetic students will be able to stretch their wings!

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This is just to say

I have stolen

your phone

and hacked your

social media

and the memes

about you

have gone

viral

Forgive me

you lied

and I’m not sorry

the whole world knows it

Example from the book

Student Example

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Mementos as Text

Students will study theme based on the Novel- Chopsticks. The novel captures sequences a story through the means of mementos.

Instructions- After studying the book Chopsticks, students will be instructed to use pictures to create a story. The students will first create a list of theme possibilities. The students will then make a collage of 5-8 mementos that capture their theme without specially stating it. These mementos need to be put into a sequential story for. After the collage has been made students will reflect on their collage. Answering the questions- why they chose each picture, how they contribute to a theme, in in what ways could the story change if the pictures were re-ordered, other themes that could be concluded, real life examples of how story is told through pictures etc. Students would write a one-page paper about these observations.

Rationale- The idea behind this project is introducing theme to students. Often times the most powerful ways we connect to text is through visuals. This is an introductory activity, I would use it for any

writing class that is working on identifying theme. The focus of this project is on Idea and Structure. Students are working on telling a story through visuals. This targets story structure and has students analyze what makes up a story, how sequencing effects it, it also have students work on identifying theme. The theme statements and story ideas allow the student to see how a story can be told in many different ways, depending how an author wishes to reveal it. This assignment is scaffolded as once again it allows student choice and is highly visual. There is not one “right” answer therefore comprehension will be judged by one right answer. (Please Note the following examples are to mimic an actual high school student’s work, therefore, the sentence structures are a little more casual to be authentic.)

Student example- (Generating ideas portion)

Theme possibilities- I want to do a theme on friendship, and how friendships end and begin, how friendships are made or how the can last beyond hard times. I know that some friendships start because of hard times, and others end because someone moves or because someone dies. I also think adding a quote or showing something that has a meaning without directly stating it. Yeah I think that is something I would like to do.

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Student Example

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Student Writing Example (One page reflection)-

I decided that I wanted to examine the theme of friendship in my collage. A good friend is hard

to find and sometimes those friendships end because of someone moving away or even worse if

someone dies. That is why I put together this collage because it shows the theme of how death can take

away a friendship or everything can change in an instant. I used two cats and the silhouette pictures of

friends for people to see how close the two friends where. I also used the tattoo because it shows how

deep of a friendship and how loyal the two girls where.

The three pictures: the skid marks, the cell phone dialing 911, and the death certificate give of

an example of what happened to one of the friends, that she died. I then picked the picture of the bear

sitting on the road because it tied into the car crash, because it shows that the bear is a symbol of the

friend waiting for her other friend to return. The last picture is a quote because it shows how much the

girl misses her friend and how she wants her friend to return and how lucky the after life is to have her

friend. Overall these pictures tell a story of how in one minute someone important to you can be taken.

I think the story could change if I reordered them. If I started with the car crash and then the

quote on loneliness, then maybe I would change it to the lonely teddy bear and then the picture of the

girls and the cats, and last I would end with the tattoo picture. I think this could definitely change the

story because it would start with a tragedy, however, there is hope because a new friend comes along.

Then I think the theme would be something like “There is hope after death, or life after death.” Maybe

that would be a more positive theme, then “Everything can change in an instant.”

One of the things I have been thinking about is how Facebook is kind of like a real collage of

pictures. (Real as in of real people, I know they are not printed.) Facebook tells a story and it now says

that you have a timeline, so you can look back through and see a story. There are not always captions

on pictures but sometimes there is. I was looking through one of my friend’s Facebook the other day

and I realize how much they had changed. My friend she has gone through a lot, she had a boyfriend

she really liked in high school but then he broke up with her for some other girl. I saw that she went

from being really happy to really depressed. She had deleted most of his pictures but there were still

some in there that she missed.

To me that is really sad because now she has all these piercing and tattoos (which is totally cool

but I know she did them because she is sad) and dyes her hair blue. She likes a lot of anime now and

she also draws a lot which is cool because at least she is doing that. It made me think of it would have

changed if she met Derek now instead of later and even if they had dated. I guess her theme could be

the question “Is it really better to have loved and lost then never loved at all?” These projects made me

think about that a lot. Maybe we should do one about Facebook sometime, for the theme of our lives.

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When Zooey Deschnel was seventeen years old, she was outraged by an article written in the magazine VOGUE. She therefore wrote a letter to an editor (see below). When scanning the Internet or browsing the pages of there is times when something jumps out at you that demands a respond in protest. For this assignment you will find an article, statement or ideal that contradicts your opinion and demands a response. The response will be in a letter to the editor and express your opinion and how the entity can remedy their actions.

Rationale- Students are surrounded by controversy, and sometimes they are called to take a stand. It is important that students need to learn how to respectfully state their opinion without slamming someone who takes an opposite stance to their own. The writing assignment follows idea and structure; students will be writing a letter (as in a letter to the person or letter to the editor) stating the reasons behind their complaints and/or suggestions. This activity is scaffolded based on choice and who they are writing to. Therefore, the context and knowledge will be accessible to the student as he or she will be writing to someone or about something on their level of comprehension.

Writing letters to express opinions

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Dear Miley Cyrus,

Why would you be in denial about the influence you have as a role model? You of all people should understand how much it means to kids to have someone positive in their lives. I applaud you for wanting to grow up and prove that you are not limited to a certain stereotype, yet you have gone to far. At one time when you were on television, parents would feel safe to let their kids watch, now even adults have to censor when they search your name online. (Quite frankly, it took me a long time to find an appropriate picture of you and for the most part I was disgusted by what I saw.) As a middle school teacher, I hear my students sing your lyrics and try to imitate the way you twerk, it is very dismaying to see

inappropriate standards acted out because you portrayed them.

I understand that values and standards are different for everyone, yet there comes a point where an outfit or lifestyle goes from edgy, to downright inappropriate. It is a shame to see that you have fallen so far from upholding standards. You may not want to be a role model, but you are living in denial. Millions of children and teens base their standards off of what you do and say, whether you want them to or not. You have the right to live in whatever manner you please, yet as a public figure, I urge you to show some respect and modesty not only for your young audience, but also for yourself. You are not on the cusp of a sexual revolution; you are merely proving that you don’t know how to be authentic, real, and powerful without being a cheap sell-out. My advice is to pick a role model like Zooey Deschnel, Emma Watson, Jennifer Lawrence, Drew Barrymore, Beyoncé etc. Model yourself after these strong independent women who refused to be categorized and marginalized. They rose above their stereotypes. Embrace the fact that you are a role model and have a great influence over millions of people. I am not telling you to change who you are or deter you from a journey of self-discovery; I am just asking that you respect yourself and your audience. You are valuable and loved, and you don’t need to stoop to low standards to prove that you are fascinating and talented. Please be considerate of your young audience, but most importantly to yourself. Wishing you the best.

-Kacey Parks

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Bring back the Fads! A Persuasive piece

Trends come and fads go…but the memories remain forever in our hearts and on the Internet. Yet what about a fad that was gone too soon? Do you miss your Tamagotchi pet? Is your greatest ambition to still be slimed on Nickelodeon? Has Napster left a hole in your heart that can never be replaced by Spotify? Now is your chance to petition these beloved trends and fads back into existence!

Instructions- Write a one to two page persuasive paper that proves the necessity of bringing back a fad or trend. The intended audience is to the generational masses. The persuasive paper must include a: claim, two-three pieces of evidence/reasons, a counterclaim and a conclusion. This follows a general persuasive essay structure.

Rationale- The purpose of this mentor text is to have students take a look at socially relevant subjects and use them as themes in a persuasive paper. The Idea behind the paper is to challenge the reasoning behind fads and following a Persuasive essay structure. This paper will challenge the student’s ideals behind what rationale thought looks like, trends become popular (sometimes for no apparent reason) and defending the comeback of a trend will teach students how to analyze a (sometimes ridiculous) position on a subject. Formatting it as an essay persuasive essay structure will be good practice for students in preparation for state-testing exams. Practices will be scaffolded, a graphic organizer/outline will be provided for students who need additional support in setting up their essay structure.

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Long before social media overtook daily life, there was one friend that stood above the rest. He understood the importance of being there for everyone, no matter who you are. Tom was an inspiration to us all and provided us with a virtual place where we could be ourselves. MySpace is a vital part of everyday life and it needs to return to its rightful place at the top of the social media chain.

As a society we need to return to a place where we could categorize and communicate without the necessity of blocking Farmville and Candy Crush requests. MySpace offered a place where we as a society could display our personalities with colorful page backgrounds and a short about me section that one could instantly understand what a person was all about. Friend requests were simple and exciting, there was the unnecessary pressure of having to follow someone, and the idea of a “newsfeed” was non-existent. If you wanted to see what someone was up to, you would have to find them directly by clicking on their picture.

We should return to a simpler time. With MySpace you didn’t have to wonder where you stood with someone, because you knew exactly where you ranked in his or her top 8. Now with the ambiguity of having hundreds of “friends” it is impossible to see how important you are to a person, the rankings are non-existent. When your friends did something that was meaningful or hurtful to you, the rankings would show your true feelings. This kind of transparency is lost when using other Social Media sites, as the ambiguity and frivolousness of likes is nothing compared to comments that can be made on untagged MySpace photos.

Some may say that MySpace has run it’s course and it cannot keep up with the times. The followers, likes and new feeds are more important. However, one has to consider the ever-growing database of music that MySpace has become known for. YouTube is nothing compared to the vast amounts of music that MySpace offers. Up and coming artists have a venue to display their music and share their talents. Dedicated listeners have a place to explore newfound beats and musical genius.

MySpace is the foundational social media venue that has allowed our world to connect in beautiful and meaningful ways. Other Social Media venues have sought to surpass this great foundational pillar, yet they always fall short. MySpace should return to the greatness is has and will always possesses and the people of the world need to recognize it.

Student Example-

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Kid President’s-Guide to being Awesome How to create an Awesome How-To-Guide

A positive individual, nine-year-old Kid President has produced a guide to being “awesome”. In a world where positivity is highly needed, Kid President along with various celebrities offer advice on how to make more enjoyable and ultimately “awesome”.

Instructions- Create a short, one page how-to-guide with at least five steps explaining a procedure. Each step needs to identify something practical a person can do to achieve the goal. Include at least one visual. Focus on a subject that is meaningful to you, it can be silly or serious.

Rationale- A how-to-guide is an example of an informative text. Presented in an accessible way we are going to focus on the structure and craft of a how-to-guide. Students will be able to write about something that is applicable to their own life, and break down the necessary task of sharing these steps. Students will have to analyze the various portions of a text and present it in a straightforward manner, this process is great for scaffolding and differentiation because students will pick their own topics and write out a step-by-step guide. Students will be able to choose their own vocabulary and what portions of the process they deem necessary.

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How to be an underpaid Psychiatrist in 10 Easy Steps-

1) Determine a place to apply for your practice.

2) Apply to the establishment.

3) Receive 1-2 weeks of training to be adequately prepared

4) Smile and talk to your clients when they present their demands

5) Work quickly and efficiently in order to meet the demands of the client

6) Recognize that you are an essential part that client’s day and be ready to advise

them at any time of the day during business hours

7) Expect client’s multiple visits

8) Realize one day that you are actually a barista not a psychiatrist

9) Adjust your life accordingly

10) Continue to make quality espresso drinks and understand that although you have

not received the training, the problems of some customers and demands for coffee

will always be a two-for-one package.

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Craigslist-it! Using humor and sarcasm in advertising

Instructions- Craigslist is infamous for it’s advertisements that go beyond basic description. Littered with quick quips and poetic genius, the ordinary or unwanted soon becomes valuable must-haves and memorable musings. In this activity students will view (appropriate) craigslist ads (see below) and in turn write an advertisement in attempts to sell something useless or undesirable. The advertisement needs to be at least two paragraphs long and attempts to mimic a humorous or sarcastic tone. Do not worry about perfect structure, this is craigslist after all. Rationale- This mentor text focuses on the idea of writing a witty advertisement. We live in an age where often the most effective way to sell something is through humor and/or sarcasm. This would be activity would give students a chance to explore creative writing through a high interest activity. Students will be able to choose what they write so the activity will be scaffolded as student can write at least two paragraphs but would not be limited by that number.

Free Cello (Online Example) So my sister gave me this cello a couple years ago. It's a nice cello. Actually, it's a great cello. It's probably the best cello, but I don't really know much about cellos. Also the neck snapped off. Of the cello. So it's really more like 3/4's of a cello, but the other 1/4's still there, it's just not attached. It's kind of like you're getting two cellos, only one of them doesn't have a body and the other doesn't have a neck. But if you stand them up next to each other it's like old times. You could probably fix it with like some music glue or something like that. She also gave me a cello bag that I can give to you too, now that I won't have a cello. It's a really nice cello bag. You can fit everything in it. Actually, there might even be a bow in the bag, I'm not sure. I don't want you to think that there's 100% a bow in the bag. It's way over there, I can't check right now. But if it's in there it's yours. If you're like me and you don't know how to play the cello then you could use it as a coin bank. It's hollow and there are two S's on the front that you could drop the coins through. Then when it's filled up you could drop it off of your roof or carry it around like a change purse. Ooh, in the cello bag. It'd be like a cello purse. I'd do it but I'm moving across the country and it won't fit in my car. What else could you do with it. You could saw the front off and use it as a sled. Or give the neck to a baby as like a wizard stick for Christmas. Totally give this cello to someone for Christmas. Or Hanukkah. Please come get it. I'm in Echo Park. I'd actually go somewhere to meet you if wherever we're going is a cool place. Like the desert or something. I'm 90% certain the bow's in there.

• Location: Echo Park • It’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

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Student example

Bike Stash $3/obo Never in the history of known America, has a literal portray of facial hair been so elegantly crafted. Ladies and Gentleman this bike stash is a must have for all.

You may not have known that your bicycle was missing an essential portion of it’s identity, yet

your bike, deep down, knows that out there somewhere other non-motorized dual wheel vehicle transporters are whirling around with elegant handlebar mustaches.

DO I EVEN NEED TO EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS ACCESSORY?! How have you have lived this far without thusly adorning your primary form of transportation? Bearded hipsters and hairless twenty-something’s will both stare in envy as your proud steed of vehicular strength determination and sheer spokemanship zooms past every barber and hair trim establishment in town. You will be that being who proudly declared the mustaches are an equal right to any and all animate or inanimate objects alike.

Substantially donated from a commune of Wookies through the fair-trade association, the bike stash’s fur will protect both your handlebars and your whiten knuckles as you careen through the streets of your substantially conscious town.

You may be asking how I can part with this an accessory of rarity? I, as a conscientious member of society, realized I cannot solely wield the power of this bike-stash and that its power must be shared with another. Therefore for a fraction of the cost that I paid this lovely addition to any bicycle is only $3. That is right 12 quarters, 30 dimes, 60 nickels, 300 pennies or a variety of forms of payment are acceptable. This fur tattoo of the god’s is on a first come first serve basis, good luck and may you "wheel" the power of the mustache with pride.

• Location: Corvallis OR, Local Boys Parking Lot • It’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

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A Monster Calls Working through grief and loss through writing

A Monster Calls is an accessible text written for young readers and is visually engaging with its ink illustrations. Yet, the subject matter is one that even adults have trouble coming to terms with. It’s theme: how to let go by holding on. Students will go on a journey with Connor as he comes to terms with the impending loss of his Mother.

Instructions-

Everyone will experience grief at one point in his or her life, and some people are utterly unprepared for it. Many students will experience the slow process of letting go by having someone in their life succumb to a terminal illness such as cancer, or perhaps quickly, such as the loss of someone in a car accident. Either way, grief can manifest in many forms.

In this writing project students will have the option of honoring someone they personally have lost, whether this is a friend, relative, community member, or pet. However understandably when talking about death, it may bring up a variety of emotions. Therefore, you also have the option of choosing a fictional character instead. Fictional characters can hold a powerful influence over us, and invoke very real emotions. This character can be from a movie, television show, video game, or book (this can be from a text we have read this year, or an outside text).

How you choose to honor your individual is up to you, as long you produce something in written form and that it is well meaning and it is apparent that you put effort into it. Please include at least one visual.

Rationale- I believe that teachers are not merely instructors of subjects; they also prepare students for life. Therefore, this is a great writing to prepare students for loss, grief and moving forward. Focusing on Idea, the writing assignment lends itself to multiple venues for students to write. Students will be able to tackle a difficult subject in a manner that is safe, yet allows for vulnerability if the students wish. Grief is a very real emotion that can overtake someone’s life, yet we do not often teach students how to cope with it. This lesson provides a lot of open-endedness and choice and suitable for high amounts of differentiation and scaffolding practices.

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Student Example

The Birds Still Sing

When I first saw you, it was through the eyes of a baby

Reaching out, tiny arms, to grasp gentle hands

Soothed to sleep by an off-tune lullaby

I blink and turn to you for shoes to be tied

Dashing away to play, running back to be consoled,

a scraped knee, bandaged by a well-practiced nurse

School pictures line the walls

You laugh in the kitchen watching us play

Often joining us, never too old for times of make believe

You always took time to listen to the birds sing

Braces come off slippery teeth

The cookie you made never tasted so right

Your quiet joke finally receives its long-deserved laugh

“They were mean to me Grandma”

“I feel like I will never fit in”

You comb my hair like you used to long ago

Car keys are placed in shaky hands

I grip the steering wheel backing out

You wave goodbye from the window in the familiar way

You always took time to listen to the birds sing

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You forgot the milk at the grocery store

Then the shopping list

Your keys

The car

How to drive

(Grandpa was no longer there to help you)

You forgot

The cookies you made

The jokes you once told

The faces in the pictures that lined the walls

Someone else began to tie your shoes

The words in the lullaby were now hummed

Your gentle hands reached out now to be held

I saw you with new eyes

Yet even then, you always the took time to listen to the birds sing

It takes over slowly, the creeping fog of the mind

I have never hated something more

Two diplomas on my wall

A third on the way

Your house lays empty

I visit you and of course you smile

Gentle hands reaching out, grasping mine

I bend down to tie your shoes

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We share a cookie

I tell the joke, you don’t remember funny

or how to string words together

Yet we both stop to listen to the birds sing

I stopped being angry that one day

You were too peaceful

Tears laid us both to rest

I still take time to listen to the birds sing

Your song is always in it

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Green Eggs and Ham Introduction to poetry structure

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Poetry can be confusing, confounding and downright boring for the new poet! So let us take our poetry back to the source, the Dr. Seuss can fix our poetry ailments.

Instructions- Dr. Seuss crafts a majority of his books in rhymed couplets. However, this is not a craft often practiced in everyday life.

Therefore we are going to be mimicking this practice via an excerpt (see below) from the book Green Eggs and Ham. You will modify the poem to fit your own theme. Format-ask a question, followed by a couplet, then another question followed by a couplet, then a final statement that resolves the poem.

Rationale- This writing selection is perfect for introduction to poetry with a focus on rhyming couplets. The Craft and Structure of this piece focuses on format, and allows the students to explore poetry structure. As a part of the scaffolding process, these poems will be first attempts, final work will look like a work in progress (such the student’s example below). Overall it is an accessible way to start recognizing poetry structure and craft.

Student example-

Do you like coffee or tea?

I do not like them, you can see

I do not like them, just let me be!

Would you like them in a mug?

I would not like them in a mug

not in a mug, nor with a hug

I do not like coffee or tea

so leave me alone set me free!

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