12-15 November and Homework for Break

Monday was a holiday to celebrate Veteran's Day!

Tuesday, 13 November, writers gave their toasts in class.

Thursday, 15 November

The prompt for the day was: "As rare as sun in November...."

Writer's who could not toast on Tuesday, toasted today.

We heard several pieces of Morbid fiction that have not perviously been shared.

Writers began by making a list that described who they are.

Mr. Zartler began the next unit with the following notes:

College Essays a form of the Personal Essay

A personal essay is a kind of a self-portrait. By telling a story, and also sharing objective facts the author shows what kind of person he or she is, and attempts to engage the reader in thinking about an event, issue, or thing in a new way. By examining some aspect of the world that anyone might experience, but showing that examination from a personal point of view, the author tries to help the reader connect the idea being examined to the rest of the world. Also the author may reveal him or herself to the reader – particularly in an college application personal essay.

The college essay is a special case. In a college essay you want to “put your best foot forward.” However you want to avoid the clichés and common pitfalls that the situation invites  (see reverse). An art professor, who I hate, but who is pretty smart used to say, “One way I judge a self portrait is by whether or not I would want to have dinner with the artist.”  He meant that when he looked at a self-portrait he was looking to see if it revealed something interesting about the artist. You HAVE HAD interesting experiences and thoughts: babysitting you little brother; talking with you grandma; sitting on a swing…. You probably have not devised an elegant solution to the problem of world hunger. Yet you have good friends, people who have known you and seen you do dumb things and learn from them. Take a risk: show yourself!

A Personal Essay Should:

ü  Essay reveals something about the author

ü  Essay prompts the reader to think through asking questions; challenging assumptions; and introducing and examining multiple perspectives

ü  Essay grabs the reader’s interest

ü  Essay contains interesting language including imagery, vivid descriptions, specific (rather than general) words; Essay employs the elements of story telling

ü  Essay is passionate with evidence of author’s knowledge of the subject

ü  Essay is presented in a careful, complete, and mechanically polished way.

ü  Essay avoids repetition

Think about SOAPS + Claim when considering your essay. Your essay should have a Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Speaker, and a Claim.

HOMEWORK: Writers are to write two pages on one of the following topics, or one page on two of the following topics:

Describe any personal hardships or barriers you’ve had to overcome and explain how they affected your education.

In the context of your life experience describe your understanding of differences, how this awareness was acquired, and how it has affected you.

What motivates you?

Who is your role model?

What is your favorite book and why?

What is significant either negative or positive that has happened to you and why was it significant?

Who do you consider to be a role model and why?

Are there things that humans should not know?

What makes you feel alive?

What character in a book that you have read can you relate to best?  How do you see yourself in this character?

Discuss some issue of local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you’ve taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and it’s impact on you.

Describe your room and relate it to you personality, interests, and dreams.

How have you taken advantage of the education opportunities you have had to prepare for college?

Tell us a talent, experience, contribution, a personal quality you have to bring to the school.

What is the point of a high school education?

Tuesday/ Thursday 6-8 November

Sorry for the late blog entry.
This week we've been working on developing Toasts that are due in class on Tuesday, 13 November. On Tuesday students received a handout with instructions and a variety of advice about toast style and structure.

We established the the ritual format for a toast is:
State the purpose of the toast
Thanks the hosts
Tell an anecdote (story) that illustrates the reason for the toast
Make (state) the toast.

On Thursday students were to bring a rough draft of their toast. The toast should be between one and two minutes long.

On Thursday we reviewed the state scoring guide for speaking, and then reviewed videos of toasts that were done well (or not) and analyzed what was done well and what not done well.

Finally students worked in groups to get feedback on their own toasts, and to begin revising these toasts for Tuesday.

Here are links to some of the toasts we reviewed:
Gets some of it just right

Many things NOT to do.

Bad job.

Strengths and weaknesses

Well done.

One more we didn't get to.

REMEMBER: Toasts due on Tuesday!

Tuesday, 30 October, 2012

Class began and ended with writer's sharing their morbid fiction and receiving positive feedback from their peers.

Writers made a list of things that they are grateful for. Writers shared their lists, and wrote down items they heard others share that they also were grateful for.

Writers wrote about how and why they are grateful for one of these things.

The list and writing done from the list is the beginning of the next two units. This month writers will be creating a toast, a short speech of gratitude or thanks, and will begin working on a personal essay (the kind written for college applications).

Monday, 29 October, 2012

Class began with the prompt, "It was a dark and stormy night...."

Next writers worked on a self-evaluation of their morbid fiction. Topics addressed in the self-evaluation are:
What I liked about my story:
Writing techniques that I used well:
The story needs improvement in:
The grade I deserve for this piece of writing:

All writing to the above prompts should include the question stem, and a detailed explanation of "why" including evidence from the story.

While writers share their stories other writers take notes on aspects of the story or lines of the story that they like. These may be borrowed in future writing assignments, and are being used to provide positve feedback to the authors.

Thursday, 25 October

Mr. Zartler checked on the homework of bringing a typed draft to class.

Class began with a two part prompt:
What I fear
What I don't fear

Writer's then choose one of the items from their list for personal or fictional writing. Many were shared.

Next we read a piece by Annie Lamott Sh**** First Drafts, and discussed her suggestions for successful writing.

Students presented their Writing Down the Bones project. Grades are now posted. Anyone without a grade should see Mr. Zartler immediately.

Next writers analyzed their current draft of the morbid fiction. When writers could not come up with ways to address weaknesses on their own, the class and Mr. Zartler helped them problem solve.

Morbid Fiction pieces are due on Monday.

Tuesday, 23 October

Class began with students presenting Writing Down the Bones projects. Each student then choose one of the presentations as a prompt. After sharing writing the class had a lesson in properly editing of dialogue. This assignment was turned in so should be completed by all students who missed class.

Writers then discussed what kinds of feedback they needed to help them revise and improve the morbid fiction piece that is due on Monday. Ideas included feedback on the elements of story telling; feedback on pacing and variety; the balance of scene and summary. Some writers wanted feedback on questions such as, "What stays?" "What goes?" "What feels right?" "What's missing?"

Writers had time to conference with randomly assigned partners.

Monday, 22 October

Homework:
Finish reading Edgar Allen Poe's "Masque of the Red Death."

Then looking at your current draft of your morbid fiction piece, choose a passage to revise the setting description, or to add setting description. Bring the draft and the new writing to class on Tuesday.

In class we began reading Poe's "Masque of the Red Death."

The prompt today was to write a dialogue. There was a short lesson on how to properly edit and present dialogue. The key rules for editing and presenting dialogue are:

Begin an new paragraph (don't forget to indent) each time the speaker changes.

Use quotation marks to indicate the exact words spoken.

Set off the quotation from the tag using a comma or other appropriate punctuation mark:

     "Hi," said Tom.
    "Hello," replied Julie. "Do you think it will rain today?"
     Tom looked up at the sky, then down at his bare feet. He thought about how miserable it would be to get wet in his brand new silk shirt. "I certainly hope not!"
     "Me neither." Julie smiled and walked away.