Lesson A

 

Today, students reviewed parts of speech (articles, adjectives, nouns, adverbs, verbs, prepositions, and pronouns) in order to create Mad-Lib-inspired poems in groups.

Students then watched Sarah Kay's Ted Talk

They listened to her two poems for the things that made them effective, including dramatic pauses, and enjambment

As per Sarah's talk, students created a list of 10 things they know to be true.

Students also received a set of poetry terms (in two forms).

For Monday:

- Students must create a poem, using at least one of the topics on their list. It must be 10+ lines long, and include at least one simile or metaphor. THIS ASSIGNMENT SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN TEAMS, AND BROUGHT INTO CLASS IN HARD COPY

Lesson 82

 

Students came in and got right to work - many also came to tutorial this morning to work on extensions, or find the perfect quote.

Today's was the final class for drafting  - Next: Poetry!

Congratulations to everyone who handed in their writing today 💗

 

Lesson 81

 

Students continued their writing work - this was #1 of  2 blocks allotted to finish their good copies.

Only students who missed peer edit work were permitted to take their writing to the Writing Lab yesterday, as we are in good copy, not edit, mode.

Tuesday's block will be the last one for writing - those who need more than one block of time should attend tutorial Monday and/or Tuesday to ensure they have enough!

Lesson 80

 

Students did thorough peer editing work today.

Those who did not complete their writing in advance of today's class will not have found it nearly as beneficial as those who had a draft ready to go. 

There are two blocks of final drafting to come - that is it - what is on the page at that point is what will be marked. 

The one student who missed the peer edit is welcome to attend the writing lab to have that done - no further editing will be done in class. 

Lesson 79

 

 Second day of drafting - peer edit on Wednesday!

Anyone who did not have a complete draft at the end of today's block is expected to attend tutorial tomorrow - AND WEDNESDAY IF NECESSSARY

Lesson 78

 

 Students spent today's block drafting, and will spend the next block doing the same. 

Anyone looking for extra assistance is welcome in the writing lab at lunch, and all are always welcome to tutorial for extra time or assistance. Please note: The writing lab is not a space for those who simply need extra time to write.

 

 

NOTE: In case it has been unclear to anyone, phones should all be in backpacks. We are not using phones during class for any reason, unless specific individual permission is granted. If you  have your phone out during class, including on your lap, in a book, or under you on your seat, you will be picking it up at the office at the end of the day.

Lesson 76

 

Students handed in their theme webs - those who put some effort into them will certainly find them beneficial in the writing to come. 

We discussed issues with AI use in trusted publications, and society writ large, via this article about the Chicago Tribune.

We used the notion of buying food locally to talk about  how to go about organizing either the points in a paragraph, or the body paragraphs in an essay.

Students who did not receive proficient on their previous formal paragraph will be writing another formal paragraph for The Marrow Thieves. 

Those who received proficient or extending are welcome to write a paragraph, or to stretch and write a 4-5 paragraph essay. 

Reasons to write an essay:

• You feel you have mastered the paragraph, and would like to stretch further.
• You already felt confined by the paragraph form, and need more space to fully express your ideas.

Reasons to write a paragraph:

• You still need to work on mastering the form.
• You suspect you will not have the time you need to write a full essay, due to outside commitments. 
• ***You sometimes struggle to ensure clear, linear thought on the page and/or your ideas are good, but your expression still needs refinement/clarity.

Students have basic outlines to take home over the weekend - while there should not be entire paragraphs/essays written on these in tiny font, they should come back with arguments and evidence ready to go next class.

Those planning on writing a theme-based essay should pop in for tutorial to run ideas/theses past me as needed. Monday is also fine for that!