High School Students - Practical Professional Development

This page is dedicated to my students in the Upward Bound Program. Students, please visit this page anytime you have work to do for my class.

2022-2023 Academic Year

Course Syllabus

Culminating Project: Poetry (due May 2023)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h9_fx07jU2kzdiSkkGIqddHYzm1Xyd1-/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

May 6, 2023

Learning Goal: The students will design their Canva book templates and start transferring their poems over.

Warm-up: Log into Canva.com. View my sample poetry book: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFOdMC9hdM/6d91GQxubyh1N8yncDPf-Q/watch?utm_content=DAFOdMC9hdM&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

Lecture/Activity: Visit the Canva app or Canva.com and start organizing your book template. We will be publishing soon.

Homework: We already created accounts on Amazon Publishing, but in the event you have not…please have your parent create an account for you this week. Register for a free account on https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/. Your parent will need to set up all of your account and tax information so you can be paid from your sales.

April 22, 2023

Learning Goal: The students will design their Canva book templates and start transferring their poems over.

Warm-up: Class discussion

Lecture/Activity: Visit the Canva app or Canva.com and start organizing your book template. We will be publishing soon.

March 25, 2023

Learning Goal: The students will craft more poems to add to their poetry anthologies.

Warm-up: Spin the wheel to see which emotion you get.

Lecture/Activity: Watch this video that highlights poetry-related literary terms such as Imagery, Simile, Metaphor, Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance, Personification, Onomatopoeia, Hyperbole, and Idioms. Keep in mind that we want you incorporating these literary devices into your poetry, so pay close attention in order to use some of them in your poems today.

For the warm-up, you spun the wheel to get a certain emotion. For your class assignment today, I want you to think about a time when you felt that emotion (either in real life or while watching a show/movie). Write any type of poem that captures that emotion, and make sure to include at least one literary device. Here is the handout that has all of our literary terms/devices: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uDLGSbRNLKvgsfNLV67MrU0u4_r_7xRC/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Homework: Submit one of your poems for this funny poetry contest: Review the criteria for the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. https://winningwriters.com/our-contests/wergle-flomp-humor-poetry-contest-free. The deadline is April 1st.

March 4, 2023

Learning Goal: The students will craft more poems to add to their poetry anthologies.

Warm-up: Bookmark this resource that gives you definitions and examples for all of the types of poems we’re writing this year: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tPdGn9OADVx7kgv62FLT7O6z6SI1pbOaQpM0sNmNLGQ/edit?usp=sharing

Lecture/Activity: Today, we are writing one (or multiple) poems about various topics. Use the resource above to craft as many poems as you can during class time today.

February 18, 2023

Student and Parent Empowerment Conference

February 4, 2023

Learning Goal: The students will analyze poetry from the Harlem Renaissance Movement in order to understand how various literary terms are used.

Warm-up: Take out your notebook or laptop because you will be writing lots of notes today!

Lecture/Activity: Today, we are writing one (or multiple) poems about the Harlem Renaissance. We will watch a documentary, and I expect you to jot down notes while we’re watching it. Write down names, reactions, feelings or thoughts you have, etc. You can also write down questions. As the documentary plays, feel free to craft your poems right then and there. You don’t have to wait until the video is over because it will be playing for the entire class.

Homework: Write another poem for this funny poetry contest: Review the criteria for the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. https://winningwriters.com/our-contests/wergle-flomp-humor-poetry-contest-free

January 21, 2023

Learning Goal: The students will analyze poetry from the Harlem Renaissance Movement in order to understand how various literary terms are used.

Warm-up: Review the criteria for the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. https://winningwriters.com/our-contests/wergle-flomp-humor-poetry-contest-free

Lecture/Activity: Write more poems.

Homework: Add more poems to your project.

January 7, 2023

Learning Goal: The students will analyze poetry from the Harlem Renaissance Movement in order to understand how various literary terms are used.

Warm-up: Review the terms on our literary term packet. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uDLGSbRNLKvgsfNLV67MrU0u4_r_7xRC/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Lecture/Activity: Analyze poetry from writers from the Harlem Renaissance Movement https://www.chisd.net/cms/lib5/TX01917715/Centricity/Domain/1663/LH%20Text.pdf

Homework: Add more poems to your project.

December 17, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will review free verse, couplets, haikus, quatrains, clerihews, cinquains, limericks, and persona poems.

Warm-up: Show Prof. Dashiell the book cover you chose on Canva.

Lecture/Activity: Choose from any of the poems we’ve written so far, and write additional poems you can add to your book. Bookmark this Guide to Poems document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wOWBCKga5Gi6roFKmsqGkB69fmcOB_h1/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Homework: Add more poems to your project.

December 3, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will review free verse, couplets, haikus, quatrains, clerihews, cinquains, limericks, and persona poems.

Warm-up: Show Prof. Dashiell the book cover you chose on Canva.

Class Discussion:

How is school going?
What is going well at school? What would you like to see change?
How are your friendships going?
What is going well with your friendships? What would you like to see change?
How is your home life?
What is going well at home? What would you like to see change?

Lecture/Activity: Choose from any of the poems we’ve written so far, and write additional poems you can add to your book.

Homework: Add more poems to your project.

November 5, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will read poetry from other writers in order to incorporate those same skills and literary devices into their own poems.

Warm-up: Let’s use music to write poetry! Listen to this song in order to write a new poem. Feel free to close your eyes and vibe. As the song plays, write down the thoughts and feelings you have while listening to it. Let’s see what poetry we can make from music.

Lecture/Activity: Review literary term packet, and start integrating more literary terms into your poems. Also, let’s read other authors to see how they use words/literary devices to create poetry:

Langston Hughes (Harlem Renaissance writer): http://faculty.wiu.edu/M-Cole/Hughes.pdf

Homework: Copy all of the poems you’ve written so far into your Canva template.

October 22, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will write poems for their anthology: couplet, haiku, quatrain.

Warm-up: Write a limerick poem about any humorous topic.

Literary Term Packet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uDLGSbRNLKvgsfNLV67MrU0u4_r_7xRC/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Lecture/Activity: Types of poems- Cinquain, Clerihew, Persona Poem

Class Activity: Write a Cinquain, Clerihew, and Persona Poem. Try to incorporate as many literary terms as possible.

Project: Here is our final project for the semester: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h9_fx07jU2kzdiSkkGIqddHYzm1Xyd1-/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Homework: Design the cover of your book using Canva. Be prepared to show Professor Dashiell next class. Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldvCEutpYf8

October 8, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will write poems for their anthology: couplet, haiku, quatrain.

Warm-up: Get a marker and go to the board. Write a couplet (a two line poem that rhymes). Also, we will review the free verse and rhyme scheme poems you wrote last week.

Literary Term Packet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uDLGSbRNLKvgsfNLV67MrU0u4_r_7xRC/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Lecture/Activity: Understand rhyme scheme

Write a couplet, haiku, and quatrain poem.

Project: Here is our final project for the semester: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h9_fx07jU2kzdiSkkGIqddHYzm1Xyd1-/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Homework: Choose the template you plan to use for your book on Canva, and start designing it. https://www.canva.com/templates/?category=tACZChfZug8&filters=eyJBIjoiTUA3bkJPVl85eWJlQjZWUSIsIkE%2FIjoiQiJ9

September 24, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will write two poems for their anthology: free verse and rhyme scheme.

Warm-up: Watch Def Poetry Jam to get an understanding of free verse vs. rhyme scheme. Review the terms free verse and rhyme scheme in the literary term packet. Which one of these poems uses free verse, and which one uses rhyme scheme?

Literary Term Packet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uDLGSbRNLKvgsfNLV67MrU0u4_r_7xRC/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Lecture/Activity: Write 1 free verse poem and 1 rhyme scheme poem.

Project: Here is our final project for the semester: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h9_fx07jU2kzdiSkkGIqddHYzm1Xyd1-/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Homework: Register for a free account on https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/ (if you don’t already have an account). Also, go to the Canva app, and choose the template you plan to use for your book. Design the cover, and be ready to show Professor Dashiell during our next session.

September 10, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will download the Canva App and create a sample flyer as a training activity.

Warm-up: Visit Upward Bound’s Instagram stories and submit general questions the public may have about the program.

Lecture/Activity: Discuss the academic plan for the semester.

Here is our final project for the semester: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h9_fx07jU2kzdiSkkGIqddHYzm1Xyd1-/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Homework: None

Summer 2022

Syllabus/Course Schedule for Summer 2022

Hello to my 11th and 12th grade Upward Bound students. This is a general overview of our educational plans for the summer 2022 semester. This summer, we will take a content creator approach to learning. After learning various skills related to reading, writing, and critical thinking, students will create concept to teach these concepts to the world. See below for our weekly lesson plans.

Social Media Rubric: https://forms.gle/qBC9Ua2zFnNcuDQ4A

The BEST APA/MLA resource: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/resources.html

August 2, 2022

July 26, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will revise their academic essays and add scholarly source information during class.

Warm-up: View/grade peer’s social media video hw.

Lecture/Activity: Find scholarly sources and integrate that information into your essay.

Use my Bootleg Outline to organize your thoughts before writing any essay: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wDH4cdTNLVtffPCFvseMQ0eYJ9xF8vMX/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104707715455154843386&rtpof=true&sd=true

Homework: None

July 21, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will organize and draft an academic essay during class.

Warm-up: View/grade peer’s social media video hw.

Lecture/Activity: Choose and organizing an essay topic, and start drafting it during class using Google Docs.

Homework: Create social media content for any concept you learned during our lesson “Brainstorming/The Writing Process” You can use FB, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. You also don’t have to publish it if you don’t feel comfortable yet. You can simply save it as a draft and show me on Tuesday(Due 7/26/22). Feel free to tag me if you do post it! On TikTok and Instagram, I’m @professordashiell. On Twitter, I’m @profdashiell. Reminder: We discussed …. So, you can do your video this weekend on any of these topics. Submit your assignment by texting me your link, or you can submit your video here.

July 19, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will identify important characteristics of the brainstorming process in order to prepare for an upcoming essay.

Warm-up: View/grade peer’s social media video hw.

Lecture/Activity: Brainstorming lecture/discussion

July 14, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will annotate a scholarly/peer-reviewed article in order to synthesize higher-level information.

Warm-up: View/grade peer’s social media video hw.

Lecture/Activity: Read and annotate the scholarly article you selected last class. If you did not select one, use Google Scholar/PGCC Library to find one. Download it to your computer and email it to [email protected].

What is annotation?

Hypothes.is – a digital annotation tool for collaborative and ...

What things should you write down? I’m so glad you asked! Here’s a list:

Main ideas- Identify the main ideas by highlighting them and writing MI next to them. Remember that there is an overall main idea of the entire article and smaller main ideas of specific sections/paragraphs of the article.
Supporting details- Authors should support their main points with examples, facts, statistics, reasons, personal experience, etc. When they do, make note of it.
Questions- It is your job to ask questions before you read the article, while you are reading the article, and sometimes after you read the article. You can come up with a question at any point. Sometimes you will have to force yourself to come up with questions in order to stay engaged in the reading. Don’t forget to write your questions on the paper and look for the author to answer it.
Reactions- It is your job to write down your reactions to the things you read…even if your reaction is “Oh heck no!” or “That reminds me of Grandma.” Writing down your reactions help you connect with the article. This is especially helpful for topics you aren’t interested in reading about.
Make Connections– Write down any personal connections you have. (i.e. This is the year my Grandma was born…)
Vocabulary– When you find a big word that you don’t know the meaning of…circle it! Then, take it a step further by trying to guess what it means based on how it’s used in the sentence (context clues). Of course, you can always take a quick break to look it up on dictionary.com. Don’t forget to jot the definition down on the paper.
Anything else- Feel free to mark up or write down anything else you think will be helpful in helping you identify important details and synthesize important information in the text.”

Homework: Create social media content for any concept you learned during our lesson “How to Annotate an Article” You can use FB, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. You also don’t have to publish it if you don’t feel comfortable yet. You can simply save it as a draft and show me on Tuesday(Due 7/19/22). Feel free to tag me if you do post it! On TikTok and Instagram, I’m @professordashiell. On Twitter, I’m @profdashiell. Reminder: We discussed …. So, you can do your video this weekend on any of these topics. Submit your assignment by texting me your link, or you can submit your video here.

July 12, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will recall annotation skills in order to annotate a high-interest article.

Warm-up: Using Google Scholar or a library database, find a scholarly article that you’re interested in reading. Email the article to Professor Dashiell at [email protected] so she can print it for you for our next class.

Class Discussion:

—Do you have siblings, or are you an only child?

—What are the pros and cons of being a sibling/only child?

—Do you think the order in which you are born has an impact on your personality?

Lecture/Activity: Read and annotate the following article. You can chose to annotate it physically or digitally. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vZn3xCPb55WrVX7pStHnM0d68fvQX5rDFT6bqPh3IAI/edit?usp=sharing

What is annotation?

What things should you write down? I’m so glad you asked! Here’s a list:

Main ideas- Identify the main ideas by highlighting them and writing MI next to them. Remember that there is an overall main idea of the entire article and smaller main ideas of specific sections/paragraphs of the article.
Supporting details- Authors should support their main points with examples, facts, statistics, reasons, personal experience, etc. When they do, make note of it.
Questions- It is your job to ask questions before you read the article, while you are reading the article, and sometimes after you read the article. You can come up with a question at any point. Sometimes you will have to force yourself to come up with questions in order to stay engaged in the reading. Don’t forget to write your questions on the paper and look for the author to answer it.
Reactions- It is your job to write down your reactions to the things you read…even if your reaction is “Oh heck no!” or “That reminds me of Grandma.” Writing down your reactions help you connect with the article. This is especially helpful for topics you aren’t interested in reading about.
Make Connections– Write down any personal connections you have. (i.e. This is the year my Grandma was born…)
Vocabulary– When you find a big word that you don’t know the meaning of…circle it! Then, take it a step further by trying to guess what it means based on how it’s used in the sentence (context clues). Of course, you can always take a quick break to look it up on dictionary.com. Don’t forget to jot the definition down on the paper.
Anything else- Feel free to mark up or write down anything else you think will be helpful in helping you identify important details and synthesize important information in the text.”

July 7, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will analyze sources using Google Scholar and the PGCC library database in order to assess their credibility.

Warm-up: Do the same Google search you used last time (using the Advanced Search feature). Choose a source. Then, create an MLA works cited entry for it or an APA references entry for it. Use the resources I shared with you last week to create your full citation for that source.

Class Discussion:

What benefits do Google Scholar and a library database have over using regular Google?
Start thinking about how you want to craft your social media video homework.

Lecture/Activity: How to find credible sources using Google Scholar/library database…

Homework: Create social media content for any concept you learned during our lesson “How to Find Credible Sources.” You can use FB, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. You also don’t have to publish it if you don’t feel comfortable yet. You can simply save it as a draft and show me on Tuesday(Due 7/12/22). Feel free to tag me if you do post it! On TikTok and Instagram, I’m @professordashiell. On Twitter, I’m @profdashiell. Reminder: We discussed …. So, you can do your video this weekend on any of these topics. Submit your assignment by texting me your link, or you can submit your video here.

July 5, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will analyze sources on Google in order to assess their credibility.

Warm-up: Homework review. Please submit your assignments here: https://forms.gle/YoXxh79A9LvY35FA8.

Class Discussion:

Why is it important to vet our sources?
What characteristics are important to look for when deciding whether a source is credible or not?

Lecture/Activity: How to find credible sources using Google…

Homework: Create social media content for any concept you learned during our lesson. You can use FB, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. You also don’t have to publish it if you don’t feel comfortable yet. You can simply save it as a draft and show me on Tuesday(Due 7/12/22). Feel free to tag me if you do post it! On TikTok and Instagram, I’m @professordashiell. On Twitter, I’m @profdashiell. Reminder: We discussed …. So, you can do your video this weekend on any of these topics. Submit your assignment here.

June 30, 2022:

Learning Goal: The students will compare the rules of MLA and APA to determine their options of giving credit to sources.

Warm-up: The class will work together to create the social media rubric that will be used to assess student’s homework.

Class Discussion:

What is plagiarism?
How can it be avoided?
For MLA and APA, you need in-text citations AND a works cited/references page in order to avoid plagiarism.
There are two ways you can use information from other sources: direct quotes, or paraphrase it (put it in your own words).
For quotes AND paraphrasing…in-text citations AND a works cited/reference page is required in order to avoid plagiarism.

Lecture/Activity: Get one of the real textbooks from the front of the classroom. Also, pick up the APA rules handout and the MLA rules handout. Look up the rule for creating an in-text citation for the book you chose. Go to the board and write the APA version and the MLA version of that in-text citation.

Homework: Create social media content for any concept you learned during our MLA/APA lesson. You can use FB, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. You also don’t have to publish it if you don’t feel comfortable yet. You can simply save it as a draft and show me on Tuesday(Due 7/5/22). Feel free to tag me if you do post it! On TikTok and Instagram, I’m @professordashiell. On Twitter, I’m @profdashiell. Reminder: We discussed the difference between an MLA in-text citation and an APA citation. We also discussed plagiarism, what in-text citations are, and what a works cited/reference page is. So, you can do your video this weekend on any of these topics.

June 28, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will get to know each other and Professor Dashiell in order to plan the summer curriculum.

Warm-up: Sign up for Professor Dashiell’s text alerts.

Class Discussion:

What school do you attend?
What are your biggest pet peeves about your past English classes?
What did you like in your past English classes?
What careers are you interested in?
What do you want to learn in this class?

Lecture/Activity: We will become content creators this summer in order for Professor Dashiell to assess the student’s understanding of the skills/content taught in the class.

Homework: Reflect on our theme for the summer: “A Content Creator’s Approach to Learning…”

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Spring 2022

May 7, 2022

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Learning Goal: The students will analyze and synthesize a scholarly article in order to create and articulate original thoughts.

Warm-up: Register for a free account on Smore.com because we will use this site for next session’s project.

Project: Click here to view the project instructions for our May 9th next session. (due May 21, 2022)

Text: DeLamater, John, and William N. Friedrich. “Human Sexual Development.” The Journal of Sex Research, vol. 39, no. 1, 2002, pp. 10-14.

Lecture: Intro to MLA (how to avoid plagiarism by using MLA in-text citations and an MLA works cited page) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDGDUOi_92A&t=96s. Click here for MLA style guide.

Lesson: Begin working on project. You can work alone or with a partner. If you choose to work with a partner, make sure they plan to attend our last session on May 21st.

April 23, 2022

Learning Goal: The students will use annotation to engage in active reading by highlighting and marking up a scholarly text.

Warm-up: Register for a free account on Smore.com because we will use this site for next session’s project. Click here to view the project instructions for our May 9th next session.

Text: DeLamater, John, and William N. Friedrich. “Human Sexual Development.” The Journal of Sex Research, vol. 39, no. 1, 2002, pp. 10-14.

Lecture: Intro to MLA (how to avoid plagiarism by using MLA in-text citations and an MLA works cited page) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDGDUOi_92A&t=96s

Activity: Finish annotating the article.

March 26, 2022:

Learning Goal: The students will engage in college level active reading through the use of annotating a scholarly article.

Warm-up: Recall your top three intelligences (we took a test last class). How have you been using them in your high school classes, and what can you do to incorporate them more?

Text: DeLamater, John, and William N. Friedrich. “Human Sexual Development.” The Journal of Sex Research, vol. 39, no. 1, 2002, pp. 10-14.

Activity: Annotate article

What is annotation?

What things should you write down? I’m so glad you asked! Here’s a list:

Main ideas- Identify the main ideas by highlighting them and writing MI next to them. Remember that there is an overall main idea of the entire article and smaller main ideas of specific sections/paragraphs of the article.
Supporting details- Authors should support their main points with examples, facts, statistics, reasons, personal experience, etc. When they do, make note of it.
Questions- It is your job to ask questions before you read the article, while you are reading the article, and sometimes after you read the article. You can come up with a question at any point. Sometimes you will have to force yourself to come up with questions in order to stay engaged in the reading. Don’t forget to write your questions on the paper and look for the author to answer it.
Reactions- It is your job to write down your reactions to the things you read…even if your reaction is “Oh heck no!” or “That reminds me of Grandma.” Writing down your reactions help you connect with the article. This is especially helpful for topics you aren’t interested in reading about.
Make Connections– Write down any personal connections you have. (i.e. This is the year my Grandma was born…)
Vocabulary– When you find a big word that you don’t know the meaning of…circle it! Then, take it a step further by trying to guess what it means based on how it’s used in the sentence (context clues). Of course, you can always take a quick break to look it up on dictionary.com. Don’t forget to jot the definition down on the paper.
Anything else- Feel free to mark up or write down anything else you think will be helpful in helping you identify important details and synthesize important information in the text.”