The Essay--learning about organization First Quarter, Sept-Nov
Week 1: Sept 8-11
Monday: Labor Day No School
Tuesday: Introduction to the room, the rules of the room, the website, the quarter system, etc.
Wed: Microsoft Word: header and auto-date Each typed assignment must have a header with an automatically updating date. (Greenlee)
Writing Territories: This assignment will create an idea bank that will be used throughout the year. These pages of ideas are things that interest you; you should write for yourself, not just for the teacher. Find topics and purposes for your writing that are important to your life, to who you are, and who you want to become. (Atwell, Lesson #1). We will also examine different genres required in writing class this quarter.
"Problems make good subjects." Donald Murray, columnist, writing teacher
"We have discovered that writing allows even a stupid person to seem halfway intelligent, if only that person will write the same thought over and over again, improving it just a little bit each time. It is a lot like inflating a blimp with a bicycle pump. Anybody can do it. All it takes is time." Kurt Vonnegut Jr., author
Friday: Thinking on Paper: Planning Sheets This lesson is for planning and dealing with "writer's block". Thinking on paper is more productive than staring into space. Make a list of possibilities, then choose. (a longer lesson--Atwell, #16)
[G]ood topics for writing were not usually the hugest ones the kids could think of. I knew that topics like "my family" or "childhood" or "love" or "success" were most likely not going to be successful for student writers. Randy Bomer, Time for Meaningpg 71
Week 2: Sept 14-18
Each Monday, all hour, I will guide students step by step through an assigned essay. The purpose of these essays will be to teach young writers to develop depth of detail by using solid examples.
Early in the year, if students are unable to complete it within the hour, I will allow them to turn it in Tuesday morning. Later, I will ask for it to be done in one class period. This is excellent way for you to hone writing skills, and it's also good training for standardized tests.
Thurs: Prewriting Begin an essay using Mr. Burke's "Main Idea Organizer", a sort of advanced version of Ms. Allen's four-square pre-writing sheet. (Burke, Lesson #20)
Thurs: Prewriting
Week 3: Sept 21-25
Tuesday and Wed: We will continue to evaluate the focus and depth of detail of stories: Tues "Baseball" and "Spelling"
Thurs: Begin an essay using Mr. Burke's "Main Idea Organizer", a sort of advanced version of Ms. Allen's four-square pre-writing sheet. (Burke, Lesson #20)
Tues-Fri, for the first part of class, we will continue to read and evaluate the focus and depth of detail by reading and discussing stories written by students. This will take up about fifteen minutes at the beginning of each class Tues "Redwoods" and "Fox and the Pond" Wed "Earth" and "Zeena" Thurs "Outdoor School" and "Dusty Books" Fri "Animals" and "Animal Survival" How to narrow your topic Focus & Detail PowerPoint (press F11 first)
Friday: Write an effective introduction (Burke, Lesson #30)
Monday:
Six Traits and the Rubric Introduction to the Rubric and the Six Traits of Writing: focus, detail, organization, sentence fluency, word choices and conventions
Tuesday: The Familiar Place In this week's assignment, students will describe a familiar place. Each student should be learning to ask the sense questions: sound: Is it noisy? Is there music? Are people talking? Do you hear birds? Is there a sound of water? Smell: Breathe the air of the place - what is it like? What odors does it have? Can you smell something cooking? Is there something to taste? Touch: Feel the air - is it hot, cold, humid/stuffy? Is there a breeze? Touch something with your fingers - hard? Soft? Feathery? Leathery? Sight: Look around the place - what do you see? Try to get as many sense impressions as you can. Audience: This class; Publishing: You may be asked to present it from the podium.
Willis, Meredith Sue. Deep Revision: A Guide for Teachers, Students, and Other Writers. New York: Teachers and Writers Collaborative, 1993. pg. 6
Dept of Detail in Fiction As a class, we will discuss these examples which show how a simple sentence can be expanded to show detail. Included in this document is a pair of exercises in which each student will receive a single sentence which they must expand with detail. See this example of how to do the assignment. Knott, William. The Craft of Fiction. Reston, VA: Reston Publishing (Prentice-Hall), 1983.
Assignment 1 for Week 3: the place poem. Click on the link below and scroll down to #8. Gardner, Traci. Traci's Lists of Ten. http://tengrrl.com/tens/. Place Poem: To write a place poem, choose a place that you remember well and want to share with others. Follow this format: 3 adjectives: cool, quick, smooth an abstract noun: beauty a participial phrase: flowing swiftly downward 2 prepositional phrases: over the edges of reality 2 participial phrases: compelling sighs, falling water the place's name: You can format your poem anyway that you like. Use more punctuation or less. Change the line breaks. Align the words with the margin. Use capital letters, play with the arrangement of the words on the page, and so forth. Be creative!
Assignment 2 for Week 3: the childhood place. Click on the link below and scroll down to #9. Gardner, Traci. Traci's Lists of Ten. http://tengrrl.com/tens/. Childhood Place: Think of an important place or event from your childhood. Write a fictionalized story about a child who goes to this place or this event as a children's book for someone about the same age that you were when you were in the place or involved in the event. Your story should show how you thought and felt about the place or event as a child. Your reader has never been to the place you are describing, so you will need to use specific, concrete details which make the place vivid and your perspectives clear. Because you're writing fiction, your details don't have to stick to the actual truth. For example, you could weave two or three memories about the place together into one story. You could make up things about the place if you're not sure of all the details. You could write what you wish had occurred. However, be sure to choose a place that you are comfortable talking about and sharing with other people. Don't dredge up memories that you don't want to deal with. If you're having trouble writing about a childhood place, talk to me and we'll find an alternative with which you do feel comfortable. Up Six Hills : Students will take a very plain story of a bike ride "Up Six Hills" and add details to it. (Greenlee)
Lessons for Week 4
Quotation Marks
Assignment 1 for Week 4 Choice 2: Story from Painting: Create a story based on one of the following paintings below. Choice 1: Castle Top;
Assignment 2 for Week 4: Letter to Your Future Self What will you be like ten years from now? Will you have the same friends and interests? Will you look back and laugh at your hopes and fears from today? Write a letter to your future self to capture who you are right now. (Greenlee) An Article About Future-Self LettersAn Examplethe site
