April 25

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Well, at least we know the fire alarms work.)
• Research Report Draft
• Short Story

April 11

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?)
• Research Report Draft
• Begin writing your short story

Happy Easter!

April 4

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (While you are on the subway you scratch your ear, accidentally signaling to a member of a secret society that you are one of them.)
• Research Report draft (if necessary)
• Story
• Continue to develop your character
• Once you are comfortable with your character begin sketching out the general idea for your plot---what happens.

March 21

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (You were thrown into the volcano as a sacrifice.  The volcano spit you back out.)
• Work on your research report.  Some of you may be able to turn in your rough draft next week
• Any late or missing work

March 14

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (S/He looked into the mirror and did not see any reflection....)
• Informal Essay Draft (If necessary)
• Continue working on your research report.  (You should be writing this week!)
• Begin to create bibliography (This part of your paper will go through drafts as well!)

The MLA link on the side of the page will help you as your create your bibliography.  The list on the left of the page will help you navigate how to cite a particular type of source.  One quite helpful tool is the "Citation Machine" at the top of the page.  This is a helpful tool; however, it is not foolproof.

March 7

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting ("Can someone please explain why I was assigned this mission?")
• Final draft of Informal Essay
• Continue work on research report
• Begin work on your bibliography by keeping track of your sources.  Bring your sources to class next week, and/or email me a list of your online sources, so we can work on formatting your bibliographies together!

February 28

Homework

• Writing Minutes 
• Freewriting (I would have won the race had it not been for that boy and his obsession with mashed peas.)
• 2nd or Final draft of informal essay (Activities or Survival) if necessary
• Continue gathering resources and taking notes.

February 14

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting
• 2nd Draft of Informal Essay (Favorite Activities or Survival)
• Continue with your research paper
• Choose Subject
• Ask questions
• Gather sources (this step is on-going as you take notes)
• Read a simple source (An encyclopedia is a good choice)
• Brainstorm topics
• Choose your topics
• Begin taking notes

February 7

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting ("I'd just like to know how you got the car on the roof.")
• Final Draft of King Tut Essay (if necessary)
• Survival Essay (if necessary)
• 2nd Draft of Favorite Activities OR Survival essay (your choice)
• Begin preparing for a research report.  
• Choose a possible subject
• Begin gathering resources

January 31

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (There are 800 penguins running around my front yard!)
• Final Draft of Expository, Descriptive, OR Narrative Summary (If necessary)
• 2nd Draft of informal essay (Your choice of Favorite Activity or Survival)
• Compare & Contrast essay

January 24

Because of the slippery roads yesterday, co-op was cancelled.  Use your writing time this week to continue working on previous assignments.  Please check the gradebook (you and/or your parents should have been sent a link) for missing assignments---especially Writing Minutes!  Any completed writing can be emailed to me.

January 17

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (When I went to get the results of my blood test, I was told the results were classified.)
• Final Draft of King Tut essay (if necessary)
• Survival Essay
• Compare & Contrast Venn Diagram

January 10

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting ("I demand to speak to a human!" he shouted.)
• 3rd Draft of the King Tut Essay of your choice (if necessary)
• Informal essay (You have been pushed out of a helicopter into the wilderness.  You have three items in your backpack.  What items do you have, and how do they help you survive?)