February 5, 2008

Homework:
Pictionaries 1-10 unit 9
Bring in a picture for the project

Today:
We reviewed the schedule for the week.
We discussed unit 9 vocab words 1-10.
We began practicing for the next writing piece.

I will take some time soon to make a page to fully explain the next writing piece. In short, we will be practicing a skill called "exploding the moment." The next piece will not be a narrative, but it will focus on a writing technique that should be used in narratives.

Students this age are starting to write in a more mature writing style. When they were younger, narratives tended to have a bed to bed quality; they tell you everything that happened in order. More mature writers are reflective and play with time. They slow down certain moments to give sensory details and thoughts, making the moments linger. The narrative become less about the moment and more about the writer and how he has grown. By limiting the piece to 300 words and a 30 second moment, I am trying to get the students to be as descriptive as possible in a short space.