September 28

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Sometimes they would leave and come back to find the room had been rearranged.)
• Create an outline for Hansel and Gretel

Remember!

Here’s what belongs in each section! 
I. Setting & Characters, Exposition & Inciting Incident

~ Who is in the story (internal & external

                  characteristics)?

~ When does the story happen?

~ Where does the story take place?

~ What is the problem that needs to be solved?

II. Plot & Conflict (Rising Action)

~ What happens next?

~ What do they think?

~ What do they say and do?

III. Climax & Resolution 

~ How is the problem solved?

~ What happens after?

~ What is learned?

Here's the example from Jack and the Beanstalk we created in class.

I.  
   1. OUAT (Once upon a time)/ England/ Jack/ mom
   2. mom / widow/ poor
   3. cow / milk/ sell
   4. trades/ cow/ magic/ beans
   5. mom/ throws/ beans/ window

II. 
   1. beanstalk/ morning/ clouds
   2. climbs/ beanstalk/ castle
   3. giant/ returns/ Jack/ hides/ gold
   4. steals/ gold/ home
   5. gold/ up/ beanstalk
   6. steals/ goose/ gold/ eggs

III. 
   1. up/ beanstalk/ steals/ harp
   2. harp/ cries/ giant/ awakes/ chases
   3. Jack/ down/ beanstalk/ yells/ ax
   4. chops/ beanstalk/ down/ giant/ dies
   5. Rich/ Jack/ marries/ princess

September 21

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Time travel was all fun and games until one of us got lost.)
• Read "Hansel and Gretel" and fill in a plot diagram from the story.  (Here is a file to use for those of  you who prefer typing.) Use the diagram we did for "Jack and the Beanstalk" as your example.  Below is an example from "Cinderella" as well.

September 14

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting ("I'm so sorry I can't give you a less dangerous solution.")  
• Do this if you need extra writing minutes 
• Create a keyword outline for Knights
• Use your outline to recreate the paragraph in your own words

For Review:

• Our first unit focuses solely on creating a writing outline.  You do not need to choose the words or decide on sequence.  Just like an artist copies famous works of art, we will be copying a good paragraph.  And just like the student-artist copies to learn, not to take credit for another’s work, we will use this unit to learn how to take notes, understanding that we’re not creating anything of our own.

• First, we read our paragraph.

• Second, we count the sentences and create that many entries in our outline

• Third, we read each sentence and choose the key words for that sentence. 

• We should choose 3-5 words (numbers and symbols don’t count toward the count!)

• We should choose only important words.  Words like the, and, it, to, etc. should not be considered key words.

• These key words are to help remind you about the content of the sentences.  Each person may choose different key words.

• Fourth, we use our outline to recreate the paragraph in our own words.  Try not to copy your source.  (Some sentences, however, are so short it is nearly impossible to create a different sentence.  Once we're writing our own thoughts the keyword outline will actually help reduce accidental copying.)

Here are some examples.

First the paragraph:

The Statue of Liberty    

     The Statue of Liberty is a huge monument.  It is located on Liberty Island, New York.  It is built of copper and extends hundreds of feet into the air.  The Statue of Liberty was given to the U.S. by France in 1884.  It is a symbol of friendship.  Over two million people per year come to see the Statue of Liberty.  This large monument to freedom is world famous.

The paragraph becomes this outline:

The Statue of Liberty

1.  huge/monument
2. located/Liberty Island/NY
3. built/copper/100s/ft.
4.  given/U.S./France/1884
5. symbol/friendship
6. 2 million/people/come
7.  monument/freedom/famous

The outline is turned back into a paragraph in my own words
     The Statue of Liberty is a huge monument. It was erected on Liberty Island near New York City. Made from copper, this gracious lady stands hundreds of feet high. Originally given to the U.S. by France as a symbol of friendship, the Statue of Liberty remains an American landmark. Today, over two million people visit the statue every year. The Statue of Liberty remains a world famous tribute to freedom.

September 7

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (The phone rings.  The voice on the other end says, "We need you again," and hangs up.)  
• Do this if you need extra writing minutes 
• Write a paragraph (whatever you think a paragraph is) about any topic you choose (This can be fiction or non-fiction, serious or humorous). Your paragraph will be graded simply pass (you turned it in) or fail (you didn’t turn it in). 
• Writing Expectations can be found here.