Thursday, January 26, 2012

Literature Circles Presentations

Tuesday and Thursday this week were dedicated to Literature Circle Presentations.  Please make sure you have filled out a peer/self evaluation form (see link at side if you are missing this) for your group members' and your own contribution to the project process.

Also, we spent time at the end of each class reviewing approaches and ideas for working with the narrative writing prompts.

You will be writing your final narrative in Tuesday's class next week.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Literature Circles Final

Friday's class was the Literature Circle individual final.  If you missed the class, you are responsible for setting up a time with me to make up the assignment. 

Group presentations begin on Tuesday, and your narrative will be written in class on Tuesday January 31st.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Final Presentation Planning Day

Today, I announced that Voice of the Mind, Cariboo Hill's annual writing contest, has begun!  Get your prose and poem entries to me before Feb. 10th.  There are big prizes to be won!

Groups were given today's class to finalize presentations for next week.  This is the last block of class time that will be dedicated to planning.

Presentation dates are as follows:

  • Jan. 24th: City of Thieves (Parco's group), The Watchmen, Will Grayson, Will Grayson
  • Jan. 26th: Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet, A Thousand Splendid Suns, City of Thieves (Ashyana's group)

Remember that your Lit. Circle individual final occurs on Friday.  Make sure you have your book with you.

I returned Lit. Circle assignments and peer/self assessments today, as well.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Collaborative Narratives

A reminder that dialogues are due!  I still have not received them from everyone....

Today, we wrote "collaborative narratives."  Students worked in groups of two or three, to write narratives prompted by a photo.  In the first round, groups wrote an outline for the narrative.  Then, each group received a new photo/outline from another group and continued to round two.  Round two was writing a beginning, round three was for rising action and climax, round four was falling action, and the final round was for writing a conclusion.  I will read the narratives tonight and share the most successful ones in class on Wednesday.

Wednesday is your Lit. Circle group's final day to plan for your presentation.  Friday is your Lit. Circle individual assignment, to be completed in class.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Criteria for SUPER AWESOME Narratives

I handed back the narratives that were written last week, and we generated a master list of criteria for SUPER AWESOME narratives.

Then, I handed out a worksheet on rules for dialogue, with an opportunity to practice adding punctuation and changing capitalization when using dialogue.  We went over this in class.

Finally, I asked students to create a short dialogue, with a goal of either developing character, developing conflict or advancing plot.  Obviously, be aware of all punctuation/capitalization rules when writing this dialogue.  The dialogue is due next class.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Literature Circle Projects

Today, I handed out the information regarding the Lit. Circle group presentation.  Groups will present on either Tuesday January 24th or Thursday January 26th.

Lit. Circle groups met to discuss the chunk they read over winter break, and after discussions occurred, students completed peer and self evaluations about the discussion process.  Evaluations were submitted today, unless you need more time to complete it.  If so, please bring it for Tuesday's class.

Groups chose the next chunk of reading, and circles will meet next Thursday.  This will be the second to last meeting.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Welcome Back!

I hope you had a restful, fun-filled break.  Congratulations on the food drive win!  You make me proud.  And, you make me a champion.

Today, I shared some of the titles of good books I read over break.  The best ones were Trash by Andy Mulligan, Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan, Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford, I Will Save You by Matt de la Pena, and Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King.  All of these books are available from our school library.

After we talked about books, I handed back the "show, don't tell" writing samples students completed before the break, and then the class wrote narratives about their break.  These narratives will help me identify the components of narrative writing we still need to address in class, and provide good practice for the Composition section on the government exam.