December 17

Each of you have done a fantastic job completing all your homework well and on time.  Because of that, you have no homework to complete during Christmas break. :-)

December 10

Homework
   -Writing Minutes
   - Freewriting (I took a wrong turn on the Yellow Brick Road.....)
   - Third draft of your 5 paragraph essay
   - Use the four categories we discussed today in class and make sure that the main character in your fairy tale has all four dimensions.  Bring your story to class next week!

November 5

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (The seven dwarfs were in my closet....)
• 5 Paragraph essay on the topic of your choice.  (See the post for October 29 for the grading sheet!)

October 29

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Snow White raced by me....)
• Finish Ancient Rome essay (If necessary)
• Begin 5 Paragraph essay on the topic of your choice.  The rough draft will be due November 12.  (Use your writing steps!)
• Dress-ups:  Strong verb, Quality adjective, and Adverb
• Openers:  Subject and Prepositional

October 22

Homework

• Writing Mintues
• Freewriting (Trapped in the Great Pyramid!)
• Ancient Rome Essay
• Add an introductory and concluding paragraph (your essay will now be a total of 5 paragraphs--1 introductory paragraph, 3 body paragraphs, and 1 concluding paragraph.  (See below for help and your grading sheet)

October 15

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (I was a WWI flying ace)
• Begin writing process for Ancient Rome (You will have two weeks to complete a finished essay)
• Remember your dress-ups (strong verb and quality adjective) and openers (subject and prepositional)
• Include a topic and a conclusion sentence in each paragraph.

October 1

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Science experiment)
• Use your outline to compose three paragraphs about Gettysburg.  Remember to underline a strong verb and a quality adjective, and to mark one sentence with a subject opener and one with a prepositional opener in each paragraph.  

Subject Openers
Subject openers are probably the easiest opener to use. This just means that the subject (and any modifying adjectives) comes first in the sentence. Subject openers are marked at the start of the sentence with a number 1. This helps you keep track of which openers you have used, and let’s me know as I grade what openers were intentional. Examples of subject openers are,
David shivered under the tree.
The six brown mice shivered under the tree
Both of these sentences have a subject opener because the sentence begins with the subject or its modifying adjectives.



Prepositional Openers

Like its name, a sentence with a prepositional opener begins with a prepositional phrase. Use the accompanying list of prepositions to help you. Here are some examples of prepositional openers:
In the late afternoon, David shivered under the tree.
Up above the village, Peter sat and wondered how to relieve his boredom.



This is the grading checklist for this assignment :-)

September 24

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting
• Create an outline for the Civil War using the source you were given in class.  (If you need a better copy of your source, please let me know, and I will send one to you.)

September 17

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Write a poem about your breakfast.)
• Use your outline to write two paragraphs about the Middle Ages.  Remember to underline one strong verb and one quality adjective in each paragraph.

September 10

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Suddenly my arms became tentacles....)
• Use your Middle Ages source to create an outline.  Use your Ancient Greece outline as an example.  This is your first time through for almost all of you.  Just do your best, and we will work though your outlines in class on Thursday! 

Just in case you forgot, here are our steps

• choose subject (Middle Ages)
• ask questions (What do you want to know about the Middle Ages?)
• skim source (In general, what material does your source contain?  Look at the first paragraph, the first sentence of each paragraph--if your source is short--and the final paragraph
• brainstorm topics (Your outline needs only two topics, so brainstorm at least three possible ones)
• choose topics ( Choose 2)
• take notes (Read your source thoroughly.  Decide if the information belongs in Topic I, Topic II, or doesn't belong in your outline at all)

Your writing outline should look similar to this

I.  Topic I

1.

2.

3.

4.

(5).

(6).

II.  Topic II

1.

2.

3.

4.

(5).

(6).

September 3

Welcome to Writing II!

I'm looking forward to a fun and challenging year.  Here are some things that might help you this week.

Homework

• Writing minutes
• Write about your secret identity as a super hero.  (This assignment is intentionally vague as the intention is to assess writing level, style, and preference.  Without specific criteria all completed assignments will be given a passing grade.)

 You can find and review class writing expectations here.

May 14

Homework

• Research report (if necessary)
• Persuasive essays—1 using supporting arguments, 1 using counterarguments (if necessary)
• Use your outline for 3+ page persuasive paper and begin writing.  (Remember to create a bibliography!)

Please note:  All report cards will be mailed as soon as possible.  Before I can give you a report card you will need to complete a final draft of your persuasive paper (and/or other assignments).  Some of you may need extra time, and that’s OK.  Any missing/incomplete/in-progress work can be emailed to me anytime.  As soon as I receive your final assignment, I’ll send your report card as soon as possible!

May 7

Homework

• Research report (if necessary)
• Persuasive essays—1 using supporting arguments, 1 using counterarguments (if necessary)
• Use your outline for 3+ page persuasive paper and begin writing.  (Remember to create a bibliography!)

April 30

Homework

Homework

• Research report (if necessary)
• Persuasive essays—1 using supporting arguments, 1 using counterarguments (if necessary)
• Choose a direction for 3+ page persuasive paper and develop a rough opinion statement.
• Continue collecting resources and develop an outline

April 16

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (A recipe for invisibility)
• 5 Paragraph persuasive essay using counterarguments 

April 9

NO! NOT A SNOW DAY?

Snow days afford us an opportunity to catch up on assignments.  This week please finish

• Research report (if necessary)
• Persuasive essay (if necessary)

Feel free to email any assignments once they’re completed.

April 2

 

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Frankie the world’s fastest slug)
• Research Report
• Persuasive Essay (if necessary)

March 26

 

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Finish this AFTER your outline and notes!)
• Continue working on research report (if necessary)
• 5 paragraph persuasive essay (Use the topic your researched for your report, and develop an opinion statement BEFORE you begin your outline or writing.)

March 19

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Continue working on research reports
• Try writing a piece of propaganda
  • What is propaganda?  Simply, it is an unfair argument.  The writer (artist, director, creator) is attempting to sway their audience through ONLY an emotional response or by using faulty evidence.  Propaganda is not a measure of the validity of an argument; it can support a position which is either true or false.

March 12

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting ( And so the adventure began….)
• Continue working on research reports
• Propaganda:  Depending on time, try writing a piece of propaganda or find a piece of propaganda to share with the class.
• What is propaganda?  Simply, it is an unfair argument.  The writer (artist, director, creator) is attempting to sway their audience through ONLY an emotional response or by using faulty evidence.  Propaganda is not a measure of the validity of an argument; it can support a position which is either true or false.
• Here’s an example of propaganda based on emotional response:  “Scrap Happy Daffy” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIlLEcjxv7w
• Here’s an example of propaganda based on faulty (in this case intentionally false) information:  “Hitler Gives the Jews a City” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgbvcKRvbFo  

                                                    (While the first video (film at the time) supported a cause we would likely agree with and the second one we would absolutely not, because of the style both would be classified as propaganda.)

March 5

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Continue working on your research report!

February 26

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Last night the toaster moved)
• Continue working on your research report

February 12

 

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting
• Rough draft of your research report

January 29

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Fix the following paragraph.  Add your dress-ups and openers.  You may also change the sequence and make other improvements.
  Louis XIV built Versailles. He liked the arts and liked to dance. Anne of Austria ruled for 8 years when he was too young. He died in 1715. He canceled the Edict of Nantes and made being a Huguenot not legal. Versailles took 47 years to finish. He fought lots of wars. When his mom ruled there was a revolt, and he had to leave the city, and it collapsed, and he wouldn't let it happen again, and he reorganized taxes and laws. He was the most powerful ruler in Europe. When he was older he became more strict. He was called the Sun King.
• Continue working on your research report.  Your notes should be just about finished, and you should be able to begin writing.

January 22

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting
• Continue working on your research report.  You should be nearly finished taking notes by next class.

January 15

 

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (…and the volcano erupted….)
• Continue working on 5 page research report
• Finish concept outline (if necessary)
• Continue gathering resources
• Create notetaking outline and begin taking notes

January 8

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting
• Begin work on your 5 page research report.  You should have a concept outline (one with just your topics) ready for class
  • Choose your subject
  • Ask yourself questions
  • Read a simple source (encyclopedia)
  • Brainstorm topics (make sure you have extra!)
  • Choose your topics
  • Create an outline
  • Gather sources
  • Take notes
  • Make a master outline
  • Write!