The Good Rough Draft is Due Tomorrow!

Homework:
Pictionaries Unit 4
Good Rough Draft of the narrative essay

Today:
We reviewed the terms for the nouns unit.
We took and reviewed the nouns quiz.
We listened to the unit 4 vocabulary words.


What is a "Good Rough Draft"?  
I explain it to the students like this: hand in a piece tomorrow that you will feel comfortable getting graded on.  In other words, this draft is the best you can do.  It can be a little rough if it is hand written, but if it is typed, it should be perfect.  Now, what improvements need to be made for Friday?

This week
Over the next few days, we will be looking at introductions.  I will be asking the students to add a better introduction to their paper.

We will discuss dialogue and how to punctuate it.  We will discuss dialogue in more depth later in the year, but I will teach the basic idea.

I will also discuss how the beginning leads to the end. 

Finally, I want to give the students practice reading their pieces because I will be recording them on Friday and over the next week.  The oral reading should add to the piece, not take away from it. 

Here is the rubric for the narrative essay:



I will post the rubric for the oral reading in a day or two.  However, the reading grade is broken down like this:
D- the student just got up and read it, and the reading was lame
C- the student just got up and read it, and the reading was OK
B- it was clear that the student practiced and tried to use his voice to create interest
A- Well practiced with a loud, clear voice.  The reading was a joy to listen to.

Like I said, I will make a clear rubric soon.

October 19, 2011

Homework:
Good-Rough Draft Due Tuesday
Quick Noun Quiz Monday

Today:
Quiz Unit 3 (The scores are on HAC.)
I reviewed how to craft a narrative using five senses, dialogue, and thoughts.

In the honors classes, I read an edited version of a narrative by David Sedaris called "The Waiting Room."  He writes in an advanced style of narrative where he weaves many little anecdotes into a larger story.  He is great at using details like dialogue so you get a feel for the people he is discussing.  Plus, he has a great sense of humor, which comes across in his thoughts and asides.  I do not expect students to understand exactly how to write like him, but I wanted to expose them to how writing is crafted.

Vocab 3 quiz tomorrow.

Homework:
Sections 3, 6, and HB should make flashcards for unit 3.
All classes have a quiz on unit 3 Wednesday, tomorrow.

Today:
We reviewed the answers for the rest of the unit in the book.
I discussed the chart below.
I gave the students some time to do their own chart.
In some classes, we started the flashcards.

Explanation of the chart
A good narrative is not a long list of everything that happened.  It is not, "... and then... and then ... and then."  A good narrative moves the story forward in stages, but spends time on the details. What were people saying around you?  Can you describe the scene so we can experience it?  What thoughts did you have while the moment was happening? 

I had the students pick out the seven or so basic events in their narrative.  Then they were to add lots of details.  This is the example we did in class.  From it, I made up a story off the top of my head.  I take each row and read across before I go down.  This way, the story is not a collection of and then's.

Skeleton	5 senses (see, hear, feel, smell, taste)	Dialogue	Thoughts
The door to the bus opened.	People pushing See bus driver Shouting windows Tired	“I can’t wait to get home.” “Good morning.”	“This is one crazy bus!”
I walked up the steps, turned, and began to walk down the isle.	Students in rows Pushing through knees Smell feet Children screaming nervous	“I wonder what my teacher will be like.” “Turn the radio on!”	“Who am I going to sit with.”
I spotted a seat.	Writing on it Holes	“Please don’t sit next to me!”	“Why me?”
I sat down	Could not sit still Cold	“I am going to flame on you.”	“What the heck is he talking about?”

October 17, 2011

Homework:
Finish Completing the Sentence Unit 3
Flashcards due Wednesday
Quiz 3 Wednesday

Today:
I reviewed some of the Completing the Sentence
Then I discussed another model essay.  I told the students that they need an outline of their event for tomorrow.  I will be showing them how to add dialogue, thoughts, and the five senses to their essays.  They should be working on these at home as well.

The "good rough" draft is due next Tuesday.

Students whoul have an idea for their narratives for next week

Today:
I discussed the idea of crafting a narrative.  The crafting can only take place after a skeleton is created, like an outline.  It is the first, second, third, etc..  To that skeleton, we will be adding dialogue, thoughts, and the five senses.  We will also craft the intro so it leads to the conclusion.  So if a student does not have the basics to embellish, they will not be able to apply the lessons right away. 

I also explained that I am having trouble with my piece.  I have hit a roadblock.  The technique I taught them to deal with that is to put the piece down for a day or two.  My brain will work on the piece in the background.  Eventually, the solution will hit me.  If not, I will struggle with it later.  I have time.  Waiting until the last minute is not the best solution!  :)



Have a nice weekend.
-MrBoZ

October 13, 2011

Homework:
I taught lessons on choosing a topic for the narrative in many of my classes today.  Students must be thinking about their essays.  I cannot give them enough time to write their pieces in class.

October 12, 2011

Homework:
Choosing the Right Word Unit 3
I would also spend some time brainstorming for the narrative.

Today:
We reviewed the synonyms.
I taught a noun lesson, and we completed an exercise.
I explained how to get started on the narrative.
I reminder them that a narrative is more about the lesson than it is about the events. 

Here is one way to get started on the first day of seventh grade topic:

First day of seventh grade (or any other first day)

What you learned:

I thought it would be ____________________

It ended up being ______________

What was the lesson learned?

(List all the details of the day, or, if you can, focus on how the details met your expectations or did not meet your expectation.)

First

Second

Third

Fourth

Fifth

I am making a small change to gradebook.

Homework:
Synonyms Unit 3

Today:
We reviewed the unit 3 words.
I discussed a model piece for the narrative.
I gave the students the requirements for the narrative piece.


FYI-
I will be redistributing a few grades in the coming days.  It should not really affect things too much. I will move the words assignments into the classwork grade and change the percentages:

• Classwork: 60%
• Homework: 15%
• Quizzes: 15%
• Participation: 10%

Explanation:
This year, I have been trying very hard to structure my writing class differently.  I told myself that there must be a better way to teach writing.  Maybe there is, but I cannot get it to work in a 50 minute class.  The ideal class would have lots of writing time and look like a workshop.  What happens, though, is we must have a warm-up.  Then I review vocab.  Then I teach a small lesson.  Before I know it, the class is almost over. 

I will be going back to what I know works.  Sorry for any confusion.  I wanted to try something new, but why stress over something that is just not going to work?  Maybe I will try again if we ever go to block scheduling.

We have started narratives.

Homework:

• Pictionaries for Unit 3 vocabulary.
• (Section 6 parents, I sent home the vocab book purchase form.  Please return soon.)
• I did not see sections 4 and HB due to testing today.
• The rough draft of the narrative is due around October 25.

Today:

• We listened to the unit 3 vocab words.
• Then we read a sample narrative piece and discussed the first narrative writing tip: A narrative piece should be reflective and contain a lesson that you wish to share with the reader.  

Here is one suggested topic: 
Based on the essay we ready about the man who was not ready to be known for his speed eating ability, think about a time in your life when you realized there was something you did NOT want to be or become.  Likewise, you can discuss a time when you realized what you DID want to become.  Either is fine.

Please see the assignment page on my website for more details.

October 6, 2011

Homework:
None

Today:
We took the unit 2 vocab test.  Sections 4 and 5 took it as an open book test.    Sections 3, 6 and HB had some help. (I had my reasons.) I am going to enter the scores right after I publish this.

We continued to work on nouns.

Have a nice weekend.

It was nice to see the parents Tuesday night.

Homework:
All classes have vocab unit 2 quiz Thursday.
Sections 3 and 6 should have made flashcards for a homework grade. I checked the HB class's cards today.

Today:
We are halfway through the first marking period.  In all my classes, I discussed where we are going for the rest of the marking period.  In some classes the amount of writing needs to be adjusted.  In all classes, we will be studying grammar more often.  I am still working out the details.  Basically, I want to meet the needs of the students.  I want to do what will help each class the best.  I know it is vague.  Sorry.

I will make you aware of the requirements each week.  Stay tuned.  :)

Interims are being entered this week.

Homework:
Finish the Completing the Sentence Unit 2
Sections 3, 6, and HB can revise their 200 word pieces to increase their score.
Unit 2 quiz on Thursday, not Wednesday.

Today:
We have ended our first two writing pieces: a creative piece and a graded piece.  I would like to take a break this week and just do vocab and grammar, as well as share some of the work they have done.  We will start writing our words again next week when we study narratives.