E.+Portfolio

Table of Contents Because the Form of Words Matter Page 1 Language Awareness Page 2 Argument and Form: The Last Piece of Chocolate Page 3 Varieties of English Page 4

Overview I found all these activities very fun! I did however find it was difficult to decide if I was a spider or a fly. I believe this would be a fun activity to do with children of all ages. It can be simplified for younger classes to accommodate for them. I found the most interesting one to be a poem and prose about a simply grocery store item. We have all experienced (parent or not) children wanting to know what certain things are. And it’s not every time we feel comfortable telling the child what it is. I love listening to children ask funny questions and hearing the parents response. This activity really made me think about literacy and language very much. I enjoyed having to come up with the different ways of saying something. And I believe children will find this fun as well.

Because the Form of Words Matter
 * 1) Okay son that is toothpaste, that’s what we use to clean our teeth. We do not swallow it because it will make us very sick.

Silly toothpaste, thou art sticky! That whiteness shines On that itchy stick That tingles my mouth so   Has now cleaned thy mouth The scrubbing bubbles, And thy toxic taste Makes thy stomach ache. Children will find my poetry more interesting mostly due to the fact that it is entertaining. Who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh, not to mention in today’s time when someone uses the words like “thy” and “thou” we all giggly just a little.
 * 1) The Gooie Toothpaste
 * 1) I believe that my poetry is much more effective. Children will find it funny because of the language, however, I feel like it gets the message across. The difference is that in my prose I simply said what toothpaste was and that if you swallow it, it will make you sick. I know that it will not make you sick but I know we don’t want our children going out eating all the toothpaste.

Language Awareness If language was a web, I would be a fly. I have a tendency to get caught up in the “language” of language arts. I have a hard time writing correctly and comprehending reading others writings. I get very nervous in the web of language. If I had it my way, I would be a spider so I could be in control and not be nervous.

Argument and Form: The Last Piece of Chocolate 16 year old: Why? Why not is Prez or prisoner? Me: Brit is da best! She deserves it Lawyer: The prez is the prez, you ain’t gonna give it 2 him? Me: Nope. Give it 2 my grl!
 * 1) My best friend Brittany is the best friend ever! She has done so much for me in my life and I think she should get this last piece of chocolate. This prisoner has not done a thing to help our community or anyone else for that matter and as for our president, well I really don’t think his health will allow him to eat it.
 * Me: Plz this piece of choco needs 2 go 2 my bff Brit
 * 1) Text message is so hard to understand sometimes. Not only that, but you can’t get the context from what the message is supposed to mean. I could have been screaming out that my best friend deserved this candy, but by text message you would have no idea. I believe that stating my case normally is the most effective just because you and infer the tone and context better. However, I believe that the text message form is more fun because children can understand it just as well, because that is the way they talk.

Varieties of English
 * 1) “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20.14)
 * 2) “Don’t be a flusie” (Standard English text message)
 * 3) “Do not have relations with someone other than your significant other” (Standard English Language)
 * 4) All versions mean the same thing. However as you can tell, the context is completely different. The first is very old English, the second today’s ‘ghetto’, the third simply stating what the first says but in today’s terms. In today’s times many people are very blunt with how they say things. So our example B. is saying what many people want to say even though they can’t really say that to someone’s face even though we know they want to. All meanings are straight to the point and I do not see how anyone could take them out of context.