December 7

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (You accidentally kill the hero and must embark on an adventure to complete his quest.)
• Expository Essay Draft #2 or Final Draft
• Compare and Contrast Draft

November 30

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (It was 10 a.m., and the sun had still not risen.)
• 2nd Draft Expository Essay
• Compare and Contrast Essay

Note:  From now on it is likely that different students in the class will have slightly different assignments.  For example, this week some of you still need to complete the second draft of your expository essay, while others of you turned that in on the 30th.  If you have to complete your second draft this week do it before beginning your compare and contrast essay.  If you have finished your second draft, begin your compare and contrast essay this week.

November 16

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Thanksgiving was a little different this year....)
• Second draft of your expository essay (unless I still have your first draft)
• Outline your compare and contrast essay

November 9

Homework

Writing Minutes
Freewriting (Heroes are not born; they're made. Welcome to Heroes Incorporated.)
Venn diagram and outline for comparison and contrast essay (Be sure you choose two subjects which have enough in common to be compared and contrasted as well as enough information or attributes to compare or contrast.)

October 26

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Create a new season)
• Use your outline to compose a 5 paragraph expository essay on the topic of your choice.

October 19

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (I got lost in an Egyptian pyramid.)
• Begin working on an expository essay on the topic of your choice.  Aim for having your outline finished by next week.  Bring what you have to class.  We will have time to work through your essay next week.

Class Review

Steps for writing a single-source essay

• Choose subject 
• Ask questions 
• Gather and skim source (a textbook, your library, or a good internet site (no Wikipedia) are acceptable sources.)
• Brainstorm topics (at least 5)
• Choose topics (Choose three.  These will be your body paragraphs.)
• Take notes (Read your source and organize the information---using key words---into your chosen topics.)
• Write (remember to mark your dress-ups and openers!)

October 12

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Describe the days of the week as if they are people.)
• Use your outline to write a 5 paragraph essay about sharks.  I will be looking for your dress-ups, openers, and topic/conclusion sentences.

October 5

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (The picture of the trunk)
• Prewriting only for Shark Essay (If you absolutely HATE sharks, you may choose another fish or animal.)  Try to skim your source, brainstorm and choose your topics, create your outline, and read your source and take notes in 45-60 minutes.  Don't worry if it takes longer, but that should be a goal you're aiming for with a 5 paragraph essay.

Class review 

This week we reviewed dress-ups and openers.  Dress-ups are specific words included in each paragraph to help create vibrant writing.  In each paragraph you should intentionally choose one verb, one adjective and one adverb. Make sure that you pick a great word not just an ordinary word. Use a thesaurus if it would be helpful, but be careful not to choose a word that is new to you.

Dress-ups

Strong Verb
A verb can show action, show being, help another verb to create shades of meaning, or link a noun to an adjective. Your strong verb will nearly always be action verb. Here’s an example of a sentence with a “boring” verb, and one with a strong verb.
Grant ran to catch the bus.
Vs.
Grant sprinted to catch the bus.
Notice that the meaning of the sentence is not drastically changed, but there is more information given with the strong verb. While sprinted does mean that Grant ran, it also suggests that he ran quickly and for only a short distance.


Adjective
 And adjective is a word which describes (modifies) a noun.  A quality adjective is an interesting adjective which usually has more meaning.  For instance,


The bright firefly flew away.
Vs.
The luminous firefly flew away.


While each of these sentences says the same thing the word luminous is much more interesting and descriptive than bright.


Adverb

                    An adverb is a word that describes (modifies) a verb, and adjective, or another adverb.                            Adverbs usually end in “ly.” Let’s look at an example of this too.

The fox mentioned how pleased he would be to hear the crow sing.

Vs.

The fox casually mentioned how please he would be to hear the crow sing.

                   Again, the second sentence is both more interesting and more informative. I will give you                       a list of good adverbs to help you.  The list is not exhaustive, but it is a good place to start

Openers

Good writing uses a variety of different sentence styles to keep a reader’s interest and create compelling prose. The easiest way to make sure that you are using an assortment of sentence styles is to start sentence differently.

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.

Adverb Opener

Not surprisingly, and adverb opener means that you begin your sentence with an adverb.  The list you received last week should help you think come up with some good adverbs.  Adverb openers are marked at the start of the sentence with a number 3.  Check out these examples.

Unhappily David shivered under the tree.

Calmly the triumphant tortoise placed his foot over the finish line.

Here's a student example of a paragraph with all three dress-ups and openers marked.

     2In Japan, marketers are preparing a major sales campaign in which grown women can actually “be” Barbie.  Releasing a new line of dresses and underwear, accessories and nightwear, the trademark owners expect a huge response and a sizable profit.  1Women twenty to thirty years old will probably pay big bucks to sport the unmistakable, hot-pink Barbie logo on their tanks and tees.  Their fantasies will come true!  Since Barbie was introduced in 1959, she has been as popular in Japan as in the U.S.  3Sadly, this marketing effort may instigate a new epidemic of anorexia because if the Barbie doll were really and adult woman, she would have a 17” waist! 

September 28

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Sometimes they would leave and come back to find the room had been rearranged.)
• Add a excellent introductory and concluding paragraphs to your Maya essay

September 21

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Time travel was all fun and games until one of us got lost.)
• Use your outline to compose the three paragraph body of your Maya essay.

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 an outline for a 5 paragraph expository essay.  Use the source given to you in class.

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 an essay (whatever you think an essay is) about any topic you choose (This can be fiction or non-fiction, serious or humorous). I am not expecting you to complete your pre-writing and an entire essay; my design is to determine how far you can get in your writing process in the 150 minutes you have been given.  Your essay, or part of an essay, will be graded simply pass (you turned it in) or fail (you didn’t turn it in). 
• Writing Expectations can be found here.

January 5

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Draft of Essay (Unless I am editing your draft this week)
• Short Story Draft
• Outline for Informal Essay
• Freewriting ("I wish I was _____________.")