Mini-Task

After listening to and viewing the provided song lyrics, Claim (identify evidence of figurative language and literary devices), Name (provide the appropriate term), and Frame (analyze the meaning of the example and how it impacts the meaning/tone of the writing) the evidence of figurative language the writer uses in the song.

4-Student thoroughly cites evidence from text, labels it as the appropriate type of figurative language, determines figurative meaning, and thoroughly analyzes author's purpose for using that type of figurative language to shape meaning and tone.

3--Student cites evidence from text, labels it as the appropriate type of figurative language, determines figurative meaning, and analyzes author's purpose for using that type of figurative language to shape meaning and tone.

2--Student attempts to cite evidence from text, attempts to label it as the appropriate type of figurative language, attempts to determine figurative meaning, and attempts to analyzes author's purpose for using that type of figurative language to shape meaning and tone.

1--Student cites minimal evidence from text, attempts to label it as the appropriate type of figurative language, makes minimal determination of figurative meaning, and makes minimal/no attempt to analyze author's purpose for using that type of figurative language to shape meaning and tone.

1.  Introduce writer's craft by having students compare the artists' techniques of the two paintings ("American Gothic" and "Scream") in the attached Analyzing Writer's Craft PowerPoint.

2.  In their writer's notebooks, have students do a quick-write their comparison of the artists' techniques in a format of their choice (T-Chart, Venn Diagram, comparative paragraph, etc.) and explain the impact of each on the viewer. 5 min.

3.  Share/Discuss comparison of artists' techniques and discuss impact of each on the viewer.

4.  Explain to students that writers make intentional choices in their writing to impact readers.  As writers, we must "read like a writer" and notice the effective techniques of other writers.  ( see attached PowerPoint) 

5.  Have class discuss some of the choices that writer's make (word choice, page layout, structure, text features, etc.)  Explain the categories of Writer's Craft from the PowerPoint.

6.  Explain to students that they will be analyzing the writer's craft of a song as a model to learn how writer's use figurative language and literary devices to impact the meaning and tone of their writing.

7.  Distribute "Analyzing Writer's Craft: Figurative Language & Literary Devices" cheat sheet (what students love to call it--even though they helped create it) to students. 

8.  Allow 3-5 minutes for students to review terms/definitions ((We have previously learned each of these devices, and students have helped create this worksheet with examples from a text they have read in literature circles earlier in the year--see the attached example using Freak the Mighty.)

9.  Distribute copies of Beyonce's "Halo" song lyrics.

10. As a model, use the first line of the lyrics "Remember those walls I built..." to distinguish between literal and figurative language.  Is Beyonce known for traveling around the U.S. in a hard hat with bricks and mortar, physically building walls?  No?  So underline "walls I built" as an example of figurative language--it can't be taken literally, the meaning is different from the literal denotation of the words that are chosen.

11.  Discuss the meaning of "walls I built" and how the literal meaning differs from the figurative meaning.

12.  Have students listen to the rest of the song, continuing to underline examples of words/phrases that cannot be taken literally and any literary devices that they notice.  (I always use lyrics videos, whenever possible, so students are concentrating on the words, rather than looking at Beyonce's glitzy wardrobe sparkles and fabulous moves.)

13.  Now that students have "Claimed" evidence, play the song again, giving them the opportunity to "Name" each piece of evidence with the appropriate terminology for figurative language or literary devices.

14.  Discuss evidence and terminology labels.

15.  Distribute copies of the "Analyzing Writer's Craft 3 Column Chart".

16.  I Do:

Using the "Remember those walls I built..." example, show students how to work their evidence from the song through the Analyzing Writer's Craft (Name/Claim/Frame) 3 Column Chart...

• "Claim" evidence in Column 1:(walls I built)
• "Name" with literary terminology in Column 2: (metaphor)
• "Frame" with author's purpose/impact on reader in Column 3:  (author wants to show the reader that she has been hurt before and has built emotional walls to protect herself from being hurt again)

17. We Do:

Have students provide another example of figurative language or literary devices from the song and work through the Name/Claim/Frame 3 Column Chart together as a group.

18.  You Do:

Allow students to work in partners to continue identifying, naming, and explaining the author's meaning/purpose of the figurative language and literary devices used in the lyrics.  (I always play the song again quietly as they are working.)

19.  Discuss findings and reasoning with class.

20.  Exit Slip:  Have students summarize their learning about author's use of figurative language and literary devices to impact meaning and tone from this mini-task in a CER response in their writer's notebooks. (Depending on discussion times, this may become an entrance slip for the following day.)

*CER=Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (mini-task can be found in CoreTools Curriculum Library.

Instructional Notes:

*After practicing analyzing writer's craft with a few songs, I then have students move on to more complex prose or poetry--whichever is focused upon in the module.

* I also have students keep their Writer's Craft sheets in their Writer's Toolkit (a 3-prong folder with sheet protectors).  We come back to these sheets for specific revision strategies in their writing.  Rather than just saying "Be more specific" or "Add more details", students can be challenged to "Go back to your Writer's Craft charts and see how professional authors use figurative language, now try to naturally fit 3 examples of your own into your writing."  Using our Writer's Craft Charts also works extremely well during peer revision.

*This mini-task may be used at a variety of grade levels--just change the definition of terms "Cheat Sheet" to match the figurative language/literacy devices developmentally appropriate for students and change the "text" to a grade level appropriate example--I've adapted it from a 4th grade list, to a high school AP English list, to a college Lit list.

*Other mini-tasks on writer's craft in this series Analyzing Writer's Craft for...

• Text Features
• Text Structure
• Style
• Evidence
• Language of Film