December 13

Homework

• 2nd or 3rd draft of summary (If I am currently editing your draft, then there is nothing for you to do until your edited second draft is returned. :-) )

Have a merry Christmas!  See you back in class on January 3!

December 6

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting ("You are the worst hero ever!")
• Finish the second draft of your summary if you needed extra time
• Begin writing about volcanoes.  Below is the outline we completed in class.  You may add to the outline, or change parts of the outline to include information you find more interesting.  :-)

I.  Location

   1.  same / area / earthquakes

   2.  "Ring of Fire" /  encircling /  Pacific Ocean

   3.  +125 / active / Indonesia

   4.  all / form / land / many / ocean

  (5).

  (6).

II.  Parts / Inside

   1.  magma / melted rock / below / surface

   2.  magma chamber / below / crust

   3.  central vent / channel / magma to surface

   4.  caldera / crater / mouth of volcano

  (5). some / secondary vent / magma

  (6).

III.  Effects

   1.  mudslides / from / steam

   2.  lava / ash / mud / cool / new land / mountains

   3.  Tambora / Indonesia / 1815 / 92,000 killed *

   4.  ash / chemicals / enrich / soil / fertile

   5.  sulfur deposits / rubber / fertilizer

   6.  source / geothermal / energy / ocean / ecosystems

*  You may wish to change this entry to something you prefer.

November 29

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Great!  Now I'm stuck.)
• 2nd Draft of Summary
• Read through your Volcanoes source to prepare for next week!

November 15

Homework

• Any late or missing work. (You can check the gradebook online. Let me know if I need to resend your link!)

 

November 8

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (What would you do with an empty town?)
• Turn your outline into a 3-paragraph summary of your book.  (Remember your dress-ups and openers!  Here is a grading checklist to help you. :-) )

November 1

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (There was a flash of shiny red ribbon.)
• Use your plot diagram to create an outline for a three paragraph summary of the book of your choice.  Only the outline is due this week.  The most difficult part of this week's assignment is to focus on main events and leave out the details, even though those details might be the part we like best about the story!  Our example is below.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I.

   1.  4 children / WW2 / country / mansion

   2.  playing / wardrobe / hide / Narnia

   3.  Mr. Tumnus / fawn / winter / Christmas

   4.  Edmund / Narnia / witch / enchanted

   5.  hiding / wardrobe / find / Narnia

II.

   1.  Mr. & Mrs. Beaver / prophecy / Ed / disappears

   2.  Ed / witch / children / find / Aslan

   3.  Santa / gifts / children

   4.  find / Aslan / deal / witch

   5.  witch / kills / Aslan / Ed / free

   6.  Peter / Narnians / prepare / battle

III.

   1.  morning / battle / begins

   2.  Aslan / alive / frees / stone / people

   3.  Aslan / kills / witch / Narnia / free

   4.  children / kings / queens / years

   5.  lamppost / wardrobe / home / children

   6.  tell / professor / believes

October 25

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (NASA receives a mysterious message from an astronaut that got separated from his spacecraft and flew off into space twenty years earlier.  He says he's at the edge of the universe.)
• Begin summarizing your novel
• Choose a novel (chapter book) you have read recently and enjoyed.  
• Fill in the plot diagram you were given in class to order the major events in your book. (You only have three paragraphs in which to summarize an entire book, so you are looking only for the big ideas!)  Here is the example from class.

October 18

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (The creatures had always been there.  It just took her a few years to realize she was the only one who could see them.)
• Summarize Jack and the Beanstalk.  
• Finish the outline (Below is similar to what we accomplished together in class. Sorry, I erased the board before taking a picture!)
• Use your outline to compose a 3-paragraph summary of the story.  Remember to use your dress-ups and openers!

Jack and the Beanstalk

I.  
   1. Once upon a time / 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.

   2.

   3.

   4.

  (5).

  (6).

October 11

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting ("I wouldn't do that if I was you. Dwarfs don't like McDonald's.)
• Write summary of "The Elves and the Shoemaker."  We completed the following outline in class.  (Remember to mark your strong verb, subject opener, and prepositional openers in each paragraph!)

The Elves and the Shoemaker

I.  

   1. long ago / shoemaker's shop/ shoemaker

   2. make / shoes / poor

   3.  cuts / last / leather / sleep

   4.  wakes / shoes / made

   5. sells / shoes / $

II.

    1.  $ / buys / leather

    2.  cuts / leather / table / sleep

    3.  wakes / shoes / made

    4.  continue / Christmas / shoemaker / wealthy

    5.  shoemaker / wife / curious

III.

    1.  hide / midnight / elves / clothes

    2.  wife / makes / clothes

    3.  watch / night / elves / clothes / sing

    4.  elves / leave / seen again

    5.  shoemaker / wife / happily ever after

October 4

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (The narrator was running late and just showed up to a story already in progress.  S/he doesn't know who the heroes and villains are or even what genre the story is.)
• Review story elements and plot graph.
• Find the story elements and pieces of the plot in The Elves and the Shoemaker.

Class Review

Story Elements

• Plot:  What happens in a story
• Character(s):  Who the story is about
• Setting:  When and where a story takes place.  The setting can be very specific (June 10, 2018 in New Gloucester, Maine) or general (Long ago and far away).
• Theme:  Ideas from the real world that are present in a story (We will not be focusing on this element this year!)

Plot (See Chart)

• Exposition:  Introduction to the characters and setting.  What is normal in the world of the story.
• Inciting Incident:  The problem is introduced.  The reset of the story is spent trying to solve this problem.
• Rising Action:  The characters try to solve the problem presented by the inciting incident.  Most of the story is rising action.
• Climax:  Often the most exciting part of a story.  The correct solution to the problem is presented.
• Falling Action / Resolution:  The problem is solved.  The characters actively solve the problem.
• Denouement:  The problem is solved and the characters resume their lives (assuming they survived the story).

  

September 27

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (We thought the employees in costume at the amusement park were only pretending.  We were wrong.)
• Create a keyword outline from your King Tut source.  You should have four short paragraphs outlined.  
• Use your outline to write (recreate) four short paragraphs about King Tut.* (Remember to use and mark one strong verb in each paragraph.  Also begin one sentence with the subject and another sentence with a preposition in each paragraph!)

Your outline should be set up something like this

King Tut

I.

   1.

   2.

II.

   1.

   2.

   3.

   4.

   5.

   6.

   7.

   8.

III.

   1.

   2.

   3.

   4.

   5.

   6.

IV.

   1.

   2.

   3.

   4.

   5.

* Write as much of this as you can with your 100 minutes.  Some of you may be able to finish everything, others of you may only get partly finished.

September 20

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Green mist swirled inside the only bottle among the empty jars.  The peeling label read, "Do not touch!")
• Finish your outline for the three Charlemagne paragraphs. (See below for what we did in class.)
• Write three paragraphs about Charlemagne from your outline.  Remember to underline one strong verb in each paragraph.  (You will have a total of three underlined verbs*** in your assignment.)

Charlemagne

I.

   1.  giant / man / history / stature

   2.  6'4" / unusually / height / time

   3.  powerfully / built / large / shoulders / chest

   4.  massive / build / curious / son / Pepin the Short

   5.  extended / kingdom / France / Germany / Spain

   6.

II.

   1.

   2.

   3.

III.

   1.

   2.

   3.

   4.  

***Need some help?  Here's a Verb Review to help you review verbs!

September 13

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting * (The last message from the starship was, "Let us drift.  It's for your own good."
• Use the outlines you completed for homework last week to create paragraphs.  Here's an example.

Pearls

1.  Oysters / food / pearls

2.  pearls / form/ object / sand / oyster

3.  causes / irritation

4.  secretes / mother-of-pearl-forming / substance / object / irritation

5.  layers / substance / pearl / formed

6.  Japanese / way / encourage / pearl / artificially

7.  3-4 years / pearl / form

becomes the paragraph:

     Oysters can provide both food and pearls.  Pearls are formed when an object like sand enters the oyster.  The sand causes irritation.  The oyster secretes a mother-of-pearl-forming substance which covers the object and prevents irritation.  After layers of the substance have covered the object, a pearl is formed.  The Japanese have cleverly discovered a way to encourage oysters to form a pearl artificially.  It usually takes three to four years for a pearl to be formed.

Statue of Liberty

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

becomes a paragraph that looks similar to

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.

*Complete Freewriting after all other assigned writing is complete.

September 6

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting* (Take out the book closest to you.  Open to page 55.  The second sentence on the page is your writing prompt.)
• Create keyword outlines form the two sources you chose (George Washington, Tarantulas, or Genghis Khan).  You do not need to write from your outlines this week!
• This is what we learned today:
  • 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.
  • Here is what we did in class:

Pearls

1.  Oysters / food / pearls

2.  pearls / form/ object / sand / oyster

3.  causes / irritation

4.  secretes / mother-of-pearl-forming / substance / object / irritation

5.  layers / substance / pearl / formed

6.  Japanese / way / encourage / pearl / artificially

7.  3-4 years / pearl / form

* Complete Freewriting only after you have finished the rest of your assigned writing.

August 30

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (It was then that I knew peanut butter was the solution to all my problems.) *
• Write for 100 minutes on any topic in any form.  (If you're stuck, you may use the Freewriting prompt above!)

*Complete Freewriting after your writing assignment if you still need something to work on to complete your 100 Writing Minutes.

April 26

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (You are trapped in a boring sitcom with an annoying laugh track.)
• Any late or missing work (Contact me if you have questions.)
• Knight Essay OR a 7-paragraph essay on the topic of your choice.  (You may choose to use your notes and outlines on knights to write an essay, or you have the option of writing on a topic of your choice.  To write on a topic of your choice you will need to gather three sources---they don't have to be long---and use them to take notes and create a master outline for a 7-paragraph essay.)

Note: Our last class will be May 17th.  Please have the rough draft of your essay turned in no later than May 10th.  The earlier you finish your rough draft, the earlier you will finish your writing work for the year. :-)

April 12

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (A ball of fire streaked through the morning sky. "Alert the dwarfs at once!"
• Any late work (Choice Essay, Winter Activities, Three Favorites, Dolphins)
• Outline your 7 paragraph Knights essay (Remember we divided Becoming a Knight into three sub-topics:  Page, Squire, Knight Ceremony.)

April 5

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (A senile old superhero goes out to fight crime.  None of the younger heroes respect him anymore, but all of the villains have a soft spot for him.
• Writing.  We are at that time of year where everyone is working on something slightly different.  Here is a list of the writing assignments you may need to do in order.  If you're not sure which assignments are for you, give me a call, email, text, Facebook message, Marco Polo, Snapchat, or whatever works best for you!
• Final Draft of Essay (If you still need to)

THEN

• Winter Activities Essay (If necessary)

THEN

• Three Favorite Things Essay (If necessary)

THEN

• Dolphin Essay (If necessary)

THEN

• Chimpanzee outlines.  The is ONLY a note-taking activity, and only to be done after you have completed your Dolphin Essay.  ONLY complete individual outlines for each source and use them to create a master outline.  IF, however, you do have time to write an essay from your master outline, I will use it as extra credit.

March 29

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (He had lived in this house his entire life, but now he was standing in a hallway he'd never seen before.)
• 2nd or 3rd (Final) draft of your essay on the topic of your choice. (Most of you have completed this.)

THEN

• Winter Activities and 3 Favorite Things essays (Some of you may only need to complete one of these, and most of you have finished them already.)

THEN

• Use your four note-taking outlines to create a master outline.  We began this process in class.  Use your master outline to write a 5 paragraph (3 body paragraphs from your outline, an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph essay on dolphins. Remember your dress-ups and openers!

Our writing steps

• Choose your subject
• Ask yourself questions
• Gather Sources
• Read a simple source (encyclopedia)
• Brainstorm topics (make sure you have extra!)
• Choose your topics
• Create an outline
• Take notes
• Make a master outline
• Write!

March 22

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting
• 2nd or 3rd (Final) draft of your essay on the topic of your choice. 

THEN

• Winter Activities and 3 Favorite Things essays (Some of you may only need to complete one of these, and others may have finished them already.)

THEN

• Complete your four note-taking outlines about dolphins.  Using one complete outline for each source is helpful even if there is no information on a certain topic from a given source.  The presence of the entire outline helps you, even subconsciously, keep in mind how the topic relates to the whole.  So, because you have four sources you will create four outlines with space for taking notes.
  
  
  Try not to copy unless you plan to use the words as a quote!  Instead, summarize the thought.  Keep track of the bibliographic material as you go; it will make writing your bibliography much easier later!

Our writing steps

• Choose your subject
• Ask yourself questions
• Gather Sources
• Read a simple source (encyclopedia)
• Brainstorm topics (make sure you have extra!)
• Choose your topics
• Create an outline
• Take notes
• Make a master outline
• Write!

DON'T PANIC!

Because we're working on a number of different projects, there will be extra time built into next week's schedule.  Write for 100 minutes this week and be prepared to finish up next week.

March 8

Homework

• Writing Minutes (There is a link to the file on your right.)
• Finish your Winter Activities essay
• 2nd draft of the essay you wrote on the topic of your choice
• IF you have finished your Winter Activities essay, and I know a number of you have, begin a second informal essay on your three favorite ___________.  You can write about your three favorite books, movies, meals, vacation spots, sports, or something else.  

1. Choose Subject (My Favorite ________________)

2.  Brainstorm topics 

3. Create Outline

4. Ask yourself questions and take notes (Who? What? When? Where? How? Why?  Remember, this         is an informal essay, so you are the expert source.)

5. Write (Remember your dress-ups and openers!)

Here is your checklist:

March 1

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (You live alone.  One day you come home and find a sword and an old, leather-bound book on your coffee table.)
• 2nd Draft of your essay on the topic of your choice.  These are the essays I edited and discussed with you last class.
• Finish your Winter Activities essay (Do not worry if you run out of time before you finish this.  Some of you will have plenty of time to finish this essay while others may need a bit more.  Write for 100 minutes then stop.  :-) )

This week's weather report shows the potential for ANOTHER storm on Thursday.  If SEEDS is canceled this week, you do not get a week off.  Instead check the website and your email for next week's assignment and any information you may need to complete it.  I will post the class's assignment here, and email individuals as necessary.

February 15

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Everything was covered in ice---even the people.)
• Complete Winter Activity Outline and begin writing IF you feel comfortable.  You may choose different topics than the ones we chose in class.

Here's the outline we began in class:

I.  Skiing / Snowboarding

   1.  Lost Valley / Small Mountain / Auburn

   2.  tricks / 360 / wacky worm

   3.  eating / lodge / fries

   4.  favorite / trail / ________________

   5. difficulty / marked / ______________

   (6.)

II.  Snowmobiling

   1.

   2. 

   3.

   4.

   (5).

   (6).

III.  Ice Fishing

   1.  

   2.

   3.

   4.

   (5).

   (6).

February 8

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Try to finish your 5 paragraph essay on the topic of your choice.  Remember your steps!

Choose a subject

Ask yourself questions

Gather source

Skim source

Brainstorm topics

Create Outline

Read source & Take notes

Write 

To review, a 5 paragraph essay includes three body paragraphs (the information part of your essay that you write from your notes), a conclusion paragraph, and an introductory paragraph.  Take a look here, if you need a reminder about introductory and concluding paragraphs.  Each paragraph needs all its dress-ups and openers, and your three body paragraphs need topic and concluding sentences.  Please email, text, or call me if you're having difficulty!  :-)

February 1

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting ("Why are you here?"  "I promise I won't cause trouble this time."
• Story Summary (if necessary)
• Begin writing a 5 paragraph essay on the subject of your choice.  You are not expected to have the essay written by next week.  You should be aiming to have all the pre-writing finished this week.  Here are the steps to follow.
• Choose a subject
• Ask yourself questions
• Gather source
• Skim source
• Brainstorm topics
• Create Outline
• Read source & Take notes
• Write (Next week)

January 25

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (You have the ability to freeze time.  When you do, everyone freezes too.  One day you freeze time, but when you look out your window, you see someone walking around.)
• Summary Draft #2 or #3 (if necessary)
• Pyramid Essay (This should have all five paragraphs:  three body paragraphs, each with a topic and concluding sentence, an introductory paragraph, and a concluding paragraph; all your dress-ups and openers; and a lead.)

January 18

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Write about what you saw in the water.)
• Final Draft of Summary (if necessary)
• Pyramid Essay
• Finish outline
• Write 3 body paragraphs with dress-ups, openers, topic and concluding sentences
• Write a concluding paragraph
• Write an introductory paragraph

(Note:  Not everyone will have time to finish this essay this week.  Write for 100 minutes and stop.  Those of you who write more quickly---you know who you are---spend your time revising what you have written.)

January 11

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Write about a black horse, a red truck, and an old man.)
• 2nd or 3rd draft of your summary
• Pyramid essay (Get as far as you can.  Most of you will probably not have time to finish this.)

January 4

Due to the impending storm, there will be no class tomorrow, January 4.  Please use your time this week to work on a second or final draft of your summary (if possible) and/or any late or missing work!

See you all on the 11th!