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.