LESSON TWO: Rollin’ on the River:  Identifying Jargon

LESSON DESCRIPTION

This lesson focuses on identifying jargon in poetry, prose and nonfiction.

GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS

o              R2B  The student should be able to identify and explain figurative language, particularly jargon, in poetry and prose. CA2, 1.5, 1.6

o              R2C  The student should be able to identify and explain figurative language, particularly jargon, in nonfiction.  CA3, 1.5, 1.6

LESSON MATERIALS

Sources of Literature

o        Selections from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/7193)

Supplies 

o        Overhead, chalkboard, Smart Board, NotePad

o        T-chart graphic organizer

o        Index cards for cooperative learning activity

o        Lesson Two Formative Assessment Scoring Guide

Handouts provided

o        Lesson Two Formative Assessment Prompt

Words to know

o        jargon

o        graphic organizer

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Students read an excerpt from a passage by Mark Twain and use a t-chart to identify from the text examples of jargon and explain what each example means.  Scoring guide provided.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

1.              Open this lesson with a review of what students already know about figurative language. This should include what figurative language is in general as well as why writers use figurative language. Students define, identify and explain examples of a simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, and imagery. This review may take place as class discussion, or utilize a worksheet or activity asking students to identify examples of these various kinds of figurative language.

2.              Using Think-Pair-Share, students share their knowledge of words and phrases particular to computers, including how computers work, the language people use when they talk about computers, and the language people use when working on computers. Each pair should record the computer words and phrases on one side of an index card or piece of paper. After each group has several responses recorded, give each pair an opportunity to share their ideas with the class. Record those words and phrases on the board for class discussion, or one student from each pair can do this.

3.              Discuss the words and phrases recorded, consulting various sources as needed to define/explain those accurately. (Note students may be able to determine or at least guess at what some terms mean based on context clues provided, but they may have to consult a dictionary or other source to determine the meanings of others.) Explain that the words discussed are examples of jargon. (Write the term jargon and its definition on the board, overhead, Smart Board, NotePad, etc., then students copy it into their notes.)

4.              Brainstorm other topics/areas that make use of jargon (examples include education, medicine, weather forecasting, etc.) and some specialized words associated with each.

5.              Working in pairs or small groups, students re-read the passages (excerpts from Two Ozark Rivers) from lesson one and make a list of jargon (geological terms) used in the passages. (Possible responses include the following:  igneous, primeval, watershed, rhyolite, granite, primordial, Precambrian, Cambrian, particulates, silicified, strata, Upper Cambrian, Ordovician, and sedimentations.)

6.              As students share their work with the class, adjust their word choices as necessary and make a master list of the jargon terms on the blackboard, overhead, Smart Board, NotePad, etc. Then discuss how the use of terms like these affects readers’ understanding of the text. Students should realize that to make sense of text using jargon they can apply context clues strategies as well as chunking unfamiliar words to look at their roots and affixes, but it may be necessary to look those words up in a dictionary.

7.              For the formative assessment, to practice identifying and explaining jargon, students read excerpt(s) chosen from chapter two of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain. To support the unit’s theme, explain that this is a book about a boy’s life on the Mississippi River. Begin or support students with a discussion such as the one in the questions that follow. Then each student completes a t-chart to identify terms related to boats or boating and explain or define what each term means. (Allow students access to dictionaries for this activity.)  Scoring guide provided.