Today we... Got back our questions from our discussions about "Everyday Use." We explored the subject of our next paragraph...characterization...and will be using the following prompt to generate our ideas for that paragraph about Alice Walker's short story: We talked about characterization and what we needed to remember from our PowerPoint to guide our writing: Then, as a class, we generated lists of adjectives describing the three main characters from the story. Any of these characters and adjectives could be the basis for our paragraph on characterization. HOMEWORK: Come to class tomorrow with a rough draft of your characterization paragraph!
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PLOT PARAGRAPHS DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD.
Today we... Picked up the questions we generated for the short story "Everyday Use" on Friday. In our groups, we tried to answer all our questions. If we couldn't answer the questions, we needed to speculate as to why, or come up with possible answers. We looked at the quality of our questions: do the answers to the questions give us a deeper understanding of the story? Why or why not? Do we perhaps need to generate new questions? Write down the answers to all of your questions and prepare to turn them in at the end of class. Since our paragraph about this story will be on characterization, start categorizing the characters. Homework: none! Today we... Took our third vocabulary quiz, and then began our fourth set of new words. HOMEWORK: Finish your plot paragraph if you haven't already done so. Final, hard copy due at the beginning of class on Monday.
[NOTE: Plot element paragraphs will be due on Monday, September 29 at the beginning of class. Hard copies in correct format, please.]
Today we... Read a new short story, "Everyday Use," by Alice Walker. As we read, we kept in mind everything we know about characterization (protagonist/antagonist, flat/round/static/dynamic characters, internal/external conflict, etc.). We also wrote down three comments we had about the story (for example, things we noticed, comparisons to other things we have read, etc.), as well as three questions. Homework: Study for the vocabulary quiz tomorrow. Again, plot paragraph is due on Monday. Learning Target: Today I will assess the writing of my peers by participating in Writer's Workshop.] Today we... participated in Writer's WorkShop, going over our paragraphs about plot elements. We received detailed feedback from the two other members in our small groups and began revision. [Remember, participating in WWS is part of your grade and the experience can not be recreated if you are absent or unprepared.]
Mrs. Hopkins checked off on our Vocabulary Homework #3. We went over proper formatting for formal writing, and Mrs. Hopkins did a dramatic reading of a fascinating document that covered all contingencies. That document can be found below.
Today we... Briefly went over a handout on embedding quotes in order to effectively use CDs in structured writing. Click the following link for the handout: Embedding CDs. We then sat in rapt fascination while Mrs. Hopkins did an astoundingly exciting and compelling call-and-response presentation on characterization (how we learn about characters). Actually, we didn't just sit there, we eagerly participated and realized we know a lot more about characterization than we thought. The presentation on characterization is in preparation for our next short story and paragraph that we write for our paragraph portfolio. HOMEWORK: Type up your final draft of your plot paragraph and print out three copies to use during Writer's Workshop tomorrow.
Learning Targets:
Today we... Found a third partner to critique our rough 2-chunk paragraph, providing blow-by-blow feedback for each sentence, following the values of the chunk check. This evaluation was written on a separate sheet of paper, and will be turned in with all drafts for a grade. Upon receiving our feedback, we began revision of our paragraph. The paragraph needs to be final and typed, with three copies in hand, by Wednesday, in order to participate in Writer's Workshop, a formal peer-evaluation activity. Homework:
MLA Format Example
Today we... Took our second vocabulary quiz, and then began our third set of new words. Homework over the weekend: None!
Today we...
Immediately swapped our chunks from yesterday with a different partner for a fresh perspective. After our peer reviews we shared with the class as a whole the best piece of feedback on our writing we have received over the last two days. We then delved into expanding that one chunk into two chunks, for a full-on paragraph! Two-chunk paragraph worksheet. Homework: study for the vocabulary quiz tomorrow! Today we... Solidified the topic sentence for our paragraph about plot elements by using the following formula: We then spent some time going over the text and working on writing one chunk for this paragraph using the following template (which includes an AMAZING chunk check list).
We then swapped chunks with a partner, who read our chunks, went through the chunk check, and advised us on how to revise and improve our writing. If we had time, we began work on our second chunk.
Mrs. Hopkins checked off our Vocabulary homework. |
AuthorMrs. Hopkins is your favorite teacher ever! Archives
June 2015
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