Shameless Plug: Teaching ACES

 Never fear, fellow teacher - your question of the day is just a scroll below!

Teaching ACES step-by-step

You are using these questions to help prepare your kids for the reading comprehension multiple choice questions, but do you have a solid plan for getting them to answer the constructed response section?  If not, consider below:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/XET-Teaching-ACES-for-Constructed-Responses-12163122

ACES provides a formula for students to think about when formatting a constructed response or short answer question. It is the basic structure for organized writing and is often used to set students up for larger works that will require thesis statements and paragraphs. It is also often used on state testing.

The poem "Ozymandias" is used to break down each component in each lesson.

Teaching this basic structure can be time consuming and irritating for both student and teacher. This pack aims to alleviate some of that stress on both by scaffolding the process and having students practice one element at a time, building upon previous lessons until all elements are mastered.  It can be done in a series of four days or less, if needed, but I prefer to teach this one day a week over four weeks.

After going through the example, students get a chance to practice each part ( lesson one is only A, lesson two is A and C, lesson three is A, C, and E, and the final lesson is A, C, E, and S.

The primary text is "Ozymandias" by Shelley and students will practice on each section using passages from "Fire and Ice" by Frost, The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis, Dune by Herbert, and Invisible Man by Ellison.

Each lesson has a student worksheet to let them practice with a small reading passage.

I created this last year for use with my inclusion class and it worked wonders.  It made it where they could grasp what we were asking for and by breaking it down into chunks, they were not overwhelmed.  I have an honors class this semester and will be using it with them as well.

The Stars and Stripes

Read the first stanza from "The Star Spangled Banner."

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

According to this stanza, where is the flag?

a. flying proudly over the fort
b. flying proudly over the land of the free and the home of the brave
c. destroyed by a bomb that burst in mid air
d. the author doesn't know where the flag is




















Scroll down for the answer.




___________________
See that question mark at the end of the stanza?  The author is asking if the flag is still up.  Therefore the correct answer is d.


~

Somebody Saaaaaaave Me!

 Read this panel from Amazing Spider-Man #162

In this issue, what literary device was writer Len Wein using for (what he thought) was a humorous effect?

a. onomatopoeia
b. visual imagery
c. graphic contrast
d. allusion












Scroll down for the answer.



______________________
a., b., and c. are incorrect.  While all three of these literary devices are used in this panel, none of them drive the humor.  Make sure the answer fits ALL of the question.  A partially wrong answer is a completely wrong answer.
d. is correct since it is a take off on the old Superman cartoons where he would often say, this looks like a job for....(take of glasses, rip off shirt, and say in a deeper voice) SUPERMAN!
Bonus points to anyone who knows what the title is an allusion to.

What's Sacred to You?

Read this excerpt from All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque:

"Good God, what is there that is sacred to me?- such things change pretty quickly with us."


What is this passage an example of?

a) allusion
b) tone
c) metaphor
d) external conflict














Scroll down for the answer.

________________________________

a) allusion isn't the answer because nothing famous is referred to
b) Tone is the answer because the character's response is very disillusioned and depressed
c) metaphor isn't the answer because you aren't comparing one thing to another
d) external conflict isn't the answer because the two characters aren't in conflict here



Thanks to the ultra smart Miranda from Mrs. Stamey's class for this question.  Based on the quality of this question, I'm sure she is a die hard Carolina fan!  Go Heels!

Yum!

When the cannibal showed up late for dinner, they gave him the cold shoulder.


The above is an example of:

a. dramatic irony
b. pun
c. irony
d. metaphor







Scroll down to see the answers








_____________________________________

The correct answer is b. pun since there is a play on the words "cold shoulder."

Caps for Sale

Read the following passage taken from the book Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina:

Once there was a peddler who sold caps. But he was not like an ordinary peddler carrying his wares on his back. He carried them on top of his head.

First he had on his own checked cap, 

then a bunch of gray caps, 

then a bunch of brown caps, 

then a bunch of blue caps, 

and on the very top a bunch of red caps.

He walked up and down the streets, holding himself very straight so as not to upset his caps. As he went along he called,

“Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!”

In the above passage, what does the word "upset" mean?

a. tip over
b. make someone sad or irritated
c. to stand straight up
d. to move fast




















Scroll down for the answer.
















_____________________
a. is the correct answer

b. is incorrect - you didn't read, did you?  Whenever the EOC asks you what a word means and it seems to be an easy word - watch out.  Many easy words have multiple meanings.

Did You Ever Think as a Hearse Goes by....

 Read the following passage from Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and answer the question:

Mr. Vandemar, on the other hand, simply walked. It was too consistent, too steady and inexorable a walk to be described as a stroll: Death walks like Mr. Vandemar.

Which literary device represents Death?

a. allusion
b. hyperbole
c. tone
d. personification

Scroll down for the answer.

________________


Answer: D - one of the clues that alerts the reader of personification is that sometimes the thing personified will be capitalized (like Death here).  This is not always the case, but when you see something like Death or Time capitalized, then think personification.

Thanks to Ms. Parsons for this question!  I was trying to come up with some clever thing to say about Death and her class, but nothing really seemed to work (they were all either cheesy, morbid, or both), so... :(