Agenda, April 30

Due Tomorrow: Bring yer book.

Unit 3: Setting and Character

1. Freewrite #19: Write from the point of view of someone younger than 5 years old.
2. Show, Don't Tell #1: Revise each of the following sentences in 1-3 sentences, focusing on the physical action: 1) He is stubborn; 2) She was surprised; 3) I lost control.
3. Pre-write #28: Six Word Memoirs
4. Pre-write #29: 20 Actions that might make a good poem
5. Work Time

Agenda, April 27

Due Today: Bring yer book.

Unit 3: Setting and Character

1. Pre-write #25, Continued: Character First Story Starter. Write three first lines for this character: one with action, one with description, one with dialogue.
2. Freewrite #18: Begin your freewrite with one of your first lines from PW #25.
3. Pre-write #26: Show, Don't Tell
4. Pre-write #27: Vivid Verbs
5. "Eleven," by Sandra Cisneros. Look highlight character details and vivid verbs.
6. Pre-write #28 (if time allows): Six Word Memoirs

Agenda, April 26

Due Today: Bring yer book.

Unit 3: Setting and Character

1. Reading time. Look for example of concreteness, speech, behavior, motivation, change, and symbolic associations.
2. Pre-write #23: Identify 3 character details from your reading. Include author, title, and page numbers.
3. Pre-write #24: What if?
4. Freewrite #17: Write from the point of view of a character who lives in your "what if?" world.
5. Pre-write #25: Character First Story Starter
6. Pre-write #26 (if time allows): Show, Don't Tell

Agenda, April 25

Due Yesterday: Packet 2, stapled in this order: Pink sheet, final, rough
Due Tomorrow: Bring yer book.

Unit 3: Setting and Character

1. Freewrite #16: Write from the point of view of a parent.
2. Pre-write #21: Notes on Character
3. Pre-write #22: What's in the bag?

Agenda, April 24

Due at the end of class yesterday:  Freewrites 8-15
It's Lab Day!
 
Unit 2: Structure: Beginnings, endings, middles, and laying the words on the page

1. Typing Time. Poets need to be done by 11:30. Be sure to follow the formatting directions (on the pink half-sheet of paper you received last lab day).
2. Reading time
3. Chinese Menu Stories

Agenda, April 23

Due at the end of class yesterday: Pre-writes 8-20:
Due Monday: Freewrites 8-15
Due by end of class Today: Teacher conference. Show me your rough. Talk to me about it.
Tomorrow is lab day / final draft day.
Unit 2: Structure: Beginnings, endings, middles, and laying the words on the page

1. Freewrite #15: I was ready ...
2. What Happened Next?
3. Foreshadowing
4. Work Time

Agenda, April 20

Due at the end of class today: Rough Draft for Packet 2 (two pages of fiction or two poems)
Due yesterday: Revision Exercise 1-3.
Due at the end of class today: Pre-writes 8-20:
Due Monday: Freewrites 8-16
Due by end of class Monday: Teacher conference. Show me your rough. Talk to me about it.
Tuesday is lab day / final draft day.
Unit 2: Structure: Beginnings, endings, middles, and laying the words on the page

1. Freewrite #: Silence is golden.
2. What Happened Next?
3. Pre-write #20: What happened next?
4. Foreshadowing
5. Work Time

Agenda, April 19

Due Friday: Rough Draft for Packet 2 (two pages of fiction or two poems)
Due Today: Bring a book
Due Today: Revision Exercise 1-3.
Due Friday: Pre-writes 8-19
Due Monday: Freewrites 8-16
Due by end of class Monday: Teacher conference. Show me your rough. Talk to me about it.
Tuesday is lab day / final draft day.
Unit 2: Structure: Beginnings, endings, middles, and laying the words on the page

1. Reading Time: Look for foreshadowing.
2. Pre-write #18: Write a well developed paragraph in which you discuss the structure of your novel. Be sure to include the author and the title. Underline the title.
3. Revision Exercise Three: Revise the following sentence three times without using any forms of the verb "to be" (is, am, are, was, were, be, been, being, and contractions that include those words): He's looking forward to tomorrow.
4. Pre-write #19: "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"
5. What happened next?
6. Work Time

Agenda, April 18

Due Friday: Rough Draft for Packet 2 (two pages of fiction or two poems)
Due Thursday: Bring a book
Due Thursday: Revision Exercise 1-3.
Due Friday: Pre-writes 8-19
Due Monday: Freewrites 8-16
Due by end of class Monday: Teacher conference. Show me your rough. Talk to me about it.
Tuesday is lab day / final draft day.
Unit 2: Structure: Beginnings, endings, middles, and laying the words on the page

1. Revision Exercise Two: Revise the following sentence three times without using any forms of the verb "to be" (is, am, are, was, were, be, been, being, and contractions that include those words): It is raining.
2. Pre-write #16: Desire, Obstacle, Action & Three First Lines: begin with an action; begin with a description; begin with a line of dialogue.
3. What happened next?
4. Pre-write #17: Mirror Poems.
5. Work Time

Agenda, April 17

Due Friday: Rough Draft for Packet 2 (two pages of fiction or two poems)
Due Thursday: Bring a book
Due by end of class Monday: Teacher conference. Show me your rough. Talk to me about it.

Unit 2: Structure: Beginnings, endings, middles, and laying the words on the page

1. Reading Time: Pay attention to beginnings and endings, and unusual formatting.
2. Freewrite #13: Write a story that ends in disaster.
3. Revision Exercise #1: The flood was coming. Rewrite this sentence once using simile, metaphor, or personification. Rewrite this sentence once using alliteration, assonance, or consonance. Rewrite this sentence once using a sensory detail.
4. Pre-write #15: Desire, Obstacle, Action.

Agenda, April 16

Due Friday: Rough Draft for Packet 2 (two pages of fiction or two poems)
Due by end of class Monday: Teacher conference. Show me your rough. Talk to me about it.

Unit 2: Structure: Beginnings, endings, middles, and laying the words on the page

1. Freewrite #12: Write a letter to a person who doesn't exist OR Write a letter to an idea.
2.  "The Third-Floor Bedroom," by Kate diCamillo. Once every two pages, write a sticky note where where you make an observation or inference (and explain it), ask a question that you don't know the answer to (and attempt an answer), or make a connection to another story, movie, or personal experience (and explain it).
3. "Distant Rain," by Shaun Tan

Agenda, Lucky Friday

Unit 2: Structure: Beginnings, endings, middles, and laying the words on the page

1. Pre-write #13: Opposite First Lines. List as many opposites as you can think of. Pick 3 pairs. Write a first line for each.
2. Freewrite #11: Begin with a first line from Pre-write #13
3. Pre-write #14: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburg. Write the story that fits each picture.

Agenda, April 12

Due Now: Personal reading book

Unit 2: Structure: Beginnings, endings, middles, and laying the words on the page

1. Reading Time: Pay attention to section breaks, beginnings, and endings
2. Freewrite #10: Begin with a first line from your book.
3. Pre-write #12: Great First Lines

Agenda, April 11

Due Yesterday: Packet 1, stapled in this order: Yellow cover sheet, final draft, rough draft with peer review. Make sure you assess your peer review.
Due Tomorrow: Personal reading book


Unit 2: Structure: Beginnings, endings, middles, and laying the words on the page

1. Any stray packets?
2. Freewrite #9: I promise(d) / I never promise(d)
3. Pre-write #11: Lining poems
4. Exquisite Corpse

Agenda, April 10

Due at the end of class today: Packet 1, stapled in this order: Yellow cover sheet, final draft, rough draft with peer review. Make sure you assess your peer review.
Please conserve laptop batteries! I need laptops for three periods today.

1. Basic Typing Directions / Typing Time
2. Personal Reading
3. Pre-Write #10: Picture Prompts, pt. 2. Pick any of the three handouts to work with, or continue the writing you completed yesterday.
4. Chinese Menu Stories

Agenda, April 9

Unit 2: Structure


Due tomorrow: Final Drafts (two pages of fiction or two poems), include rough drafts with peer review. We'll have laptops tomorrow.
Due tomorrow: Bring yer personal reading book.

1. How ya doin'?
2. Does anyone have any freewrites or pre-writes?
3. Freewrite #8: "We were searching for ..."
4. Pre-write #9: Picture Prompts, pt. 1