12/19

Today we will discuss the difference between plot mapping and digging as a means of approaching a story. I will have a powerpoint for this.  You will then be given time to choose a method and write a scary story.  IF you have no ideas of your own, feel fee to use the following ideas.

1. It was a very dark and stormy night . . .
   
2. I knew there was something funny about that house the minute I stepped foot into it . . .
   
3. She seemed like such a sweet old lady. Who would ever believe that she was really . . .
   
4. It was weird. One day our teacher just . . .
   
5. It looked like a plain, old milkshake to me . . .
   
6. All of the sudden I was trapped!
   
7. If they weren't in such a hurry, they wouldn't have taken that short cut through the cemetery . . .
   
8. No one was ever really sure what was going on down in the new kid's basement . . .
   
9. One night, I looked out the window and I saw the neighbor...
   

10. Sometimes I think my friend has strange powers. Every time he's around... 

11. It was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced! It was a regular old Thursday afternoon. I was walking home from school and as I passed the old abandoned house on the hill, I heard the beating of drums. I knew I should’ve kept walking. I should have gone straight home. But my curiosity got the better of me. I took a deep breath and .....
 

12/17-12/18

We worked on Author posters and on presentations on those stories and what we wish to emulate.  I also collected notebooks on Monday.

12/11

Today we worked on rereading the text we have chosen as the mentor text.  This assignment was explained and the written part started by some.  I collected notebooks and checked not only the IW from last week but also yesterday's work from class.  If you were out, you should plan on turning this in tomorrow.

Monday 12/10

Sorry I am out today.  It's a regular Barf-o-rama at the abode.  Please begin writing in your notebooks with an eye for  a piece of fiction you will focus on bringing to a final draft.  In order to get started click on one of the links below and use the picture as a jumping off point to tell the story behind the picture. You will have 3 independent writes due next Monday and I will collect your notebooks tomorrow.

12/6

Last day of close reading worksheets.  Many of you had the opportunity to pen your only IW for the week.  This will be due on Monday.  Have a great weekend!

12/4

Today I turned back notebooks and then we spent the rest of the period working with short stories.  I handed out close reading worksheets for each of three short stories you have chosen. In your notebooks, you wrote the names of the  short stories you have chosen and the authors of each.

12/3

Today we continued the hunt for short stories--see links on my 11/30 entry.  Tomorrow will be hat last day to hunt, Wednesday you will be given time to complete close reading worksheets and Thursday you will unpack the one text you choose to mimic.
There will be just one independent write due on Monday.

11/30

We are on the hunt for short stories that we like personally.  In class today we spent time leafing through anthologies and a few checked out the NY times site here.  Another site to look at is this list.
Here is blog post with 25 favorite short stories listed and most are linked.

11/29

We are going to reread "No Face" today and complete the close reading activity.

Tomorrow we will begin our hunt of short stories.  If you want head start check out some of these. (only the ones without the blue locks!)

Wednesday 11/28

Good Morning.  Here are a few prompts to get you started and to keep you going all period.  This will count as an independent write.

Three characters enter a room; an old embittered woman, angry at life and full of regret, a young idealistic boy, and a mother of a newborn baby. How does each character describe the room?

Tell one of these people's stories.

Or try this one.

Tuesday 11/27

Happy Birthday Emily.
We viewed a quick slideshow on showing vs. telling.  Then wrote in our notebooks trying to play with character.

People Meshing

This one’s fun: pick a few people you know and merge them into a fictional character. Merge their bodily features, combine aspects of their personalities (maybe a tendency to be overly angry when standing in lines), and mix and match family members to create a single person. Think of speech mannerisms, nervous tics, and favorite hangout spots.

Don’t force elements together. If one doesn’t seem to fit properly, change it. For instance, if the character gets overly angry while standing in lines, he’s probably not usually a patient person. Mixing and matching has its limits.

Monday 11/26

Welcome back.  Today we read "No Face" with the intent of understanding it.  We then wrote about it in our writer's notebooks.  We were assigned to write about what happened and to describe the boy and the setting.  We will work toward unpacking the story in class tomorrow.

11/19

Good Morning.  In honor of my favorite holiday, I thought the prompt would be about my favorite thing--dinner.  I thought we would write long about the following.  Everyone has a good story that revolves around food!

Write about a memorable meal, a disastrous dish or just a favorite food.

FRIDAY 11/16

Complete this activity today.  It will count toward your independent writes.  Have FUN.

Housebuilding - Chiwan Choi |

Build four walls around you. One at a time. Then a ceiling.

Walk around in it. Decorate it. Find things that were already there.

Identify the room. Just because you put a bed in it, it doesn't mean it's your bedroom.

Tell us where you are. Tell us of all the things that are dying in this room.

Tell us why you need to get out.

Tell us where you need to get to.

Tell us why you can't.

Tell us why you won't.

11/15

Good Morning.  Here is today's prompt for you to use or not.  We are working toward 3 250 word independent writes. I am asking that you push yourselves to try writing in amore mindful way.  That is noticing the craft as you write.

Wednesday 11/14

Good Morning--Today we transition back to fiction writing and will begin to focus on some techniques to improve our fiction writing.  Today's prompt is one that invites lots of creativity. We will also e-mail the blue bomber times out poetry pieces today. Don't forget to cc me!

11/13

Welcome.  Today we highlighted our poems to show the writing devices we employed.  We also shared our poems and we then did an 8 minute write in class.  This counted not as a free write but as an assigned write.

10/26

We continued revising poems for publish today. I learned of another poetry reading that you might be interested in .  It will be hosted by the Adirondack center for writing on Nov. 15.  I Think you would all enjoy it.  see the link here

10/22

We worked on finalizing the unpacking poetry assignment.

10/16

We finished up unpacking conversation then reread our 10 poems and chose 1 we wanted to unpack. Unpacking begins tomorrow.

10/15

We worked with partners to unpack the poem "Disappointments"

10/12

We spent time looking at the assignment to unpack mentor text. I showed an example of a completed assignment then we paired up to work with a partner unpacking the poem "Disappointments"..
Notebooks will be collected Monday 3 independent writes but I will count your 6th poem as an IW if you wrote it.

10/11/12

Today we reviewed the rest of October's plan--wrap up poetry unit.  In an effort to be prepared to finalize and polish our pieces we mined through our writing so far and found 6 Rough Drafts of poems that we may bring to a final draft next week.  If we could not find 6, we wrote until there are 6.  Leftover time was spent writing independently.

10/10/12

Today we worked with the quick write from yesterday and penned poems.

Poem Drafting Exercise

Autobiography Poem:  Expanding with Detail and Invention

Select a single moment from your 20 minute fast write and show the reader the moment in a poem.  Select an ordinary event, draft a poem, then add details to make the experience more meaningful.  Invent additional images, actions, or sensory description.  Advice:

• Use sight, sound, smell, taste and touch to describe the setting
• Include Dialogue

Write in Stanzas

Student model:

                                    I leave pools of burgundy choke cherries,

                                    Shout: “Be back at five.”

                                    But mom says: “You call this clean?”

                                    “I’ll be late,” I plead.

                                    “Late for What?”

                                    I look down and can’t confess I’m only

                                    Hoping to meet a girl accidentally, maybe.

                                    She points at the broom.  I sweep

                                    Knowing I’ll never see Suzanne now.

                                    I sprint up Pine Trail sure I’ve missed her.

                                    I turn up Snowapple and a brilliant red maple blinds me.

                                    It looks like it is on fire.  Then I hear a runner behind me,

                                    And Suzanne’s voice: “Hey, change your route?”

                                    I face her.  Sweat beads up on the bridge

                                    Of her nose, and her bangs are matted brown.

                                    “Look at this tree,” I say and feel stupid.

                                    But she says, “Yeah.”  And we stand

                                    Wordless until the sun disappears.

                       

                                    “Wanna have an ice cream?” she says.

                                    “Sure.”  I slip my fingers into hers as we stroll

                                    past the post office like we have never seen it before.

                                    At Miller’s Dairy, I order double fudge almond, and

                                    Suzanne orders chocolate chip cookie dough,

                                    And we silently lick the cones smooth.

                                    

10/9

Today I gave a handout that introduced the idea that writers get ideas from the simplest events in life and that sometimes we worry too much about just capturing big moments thus missing the little moments.  We did a 20 minute quick write in class where we were to write in detail about 3-5 moments from the  last 24 hours and try to pack those moments full of sensory detail.  We talked about the necessity to embellish at times.

10/5

I was out today.  This is what we worked on in class:

BE sure to try your hand at the assigned write from yesterday--a poem with symbol.  Once you have completed this, you are free to work on an independent write.  I will collect notebooks on Tuesday.  If you are unsure of the assigned writes, please go to my blog to see them.

10/4

Symbolism was the topic of choice today. We viewed the slideshow and then did the poem at the end of the slideshow as an assigned write.

10/3

Today we did some preparation for our discussion of symbolism that we will have in class tomorrow. See below:

Today’s assigned write:

Make a list of objects that hold significance for you--tell the story behind one. (minimum of 10 items on list)

Then you are free to work on another independent write.

10/2

Today we spent the period writing independently in our notebooks.

10/1

Today we discussed Tone and Tone words.

Your assigned write for today is to write about an experience that made you angry and be aware of the words you use to control tone.

contests

Publication Possibilities: Each of the below listings is a link to a website.  Please explore each to determine which contests are most appropriate for your writings. Teen Ink--No deadline Polyphony H.S.--no deadline Cicada Magazine--no deadline Teen Voices Online Publication--Female writers only--if under 18 requires parental permission Figment:Write Yourself In--Online contests with different deadlines Tapestry of Bronze--poetry--November deadline Rider University Annual Student Contest -Mail In Only The Claremont Review (mail-in contest) Poetry Nation--no deadline The Nation student writing contest Scholastic Annual Contest--Deadline: December 23 Creative Communications--No deadline

9/28

Today we spent the entire period in the library reading poems!   Notebooks will be collected on Monday-2 independent writes this week and 10 poems required.  Have a great weekend.

9/27

Good Morning.
Today is all about finding those ten lyric poems for your assignment.

Here are some poetry links for finding poems:

Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for American High Schools (Poetry and ...

www.loc.gov/poetry/180/

www.poets.org/

Poetry Out Loud

www.poetryoutloud.org/

Poetry Foundation

www.poetryfoundation.org/

9/26

Today we looked at a slide show on anaphora and investigated example soy this rhetorical device and read Ethiopia and discussed the effect of repetition in poetry.  The assigned write was a challenge to write a poem that included anaphora.

9/25

Oxymoron/juxtaposition finished up today.  We viewed a powerpoint and did some writing off yesterday's fast writes about the weather and about strenuous activities.  Today's assigned write is 150 word minimum write off the fast writes wherein you have infused a plethora of juxtapositions and oxymorons.  You are free to write independently after you complete this assigned write.

9/24

We read through William Stafford's "What;s in My Journal" and unpacked it a bit.  We then began to look more closely at juxtaposition and oxymoron.  I collected journals.

9/21

Happy Birthday Kayla!  Today we took the whole shortened period to independently write.  Encouragement was given to employ active verbs and vivid adjectives. IMAGERYtoo.

9/20

Today students were given a list of verbs and then we looked in the dictionary for words we loved.  We then began writing an assigned write having fun with words we chose.  Notebooks will be collected on Monday.

9/19

Today we read Naomi Shyab Nye's "Where does Writing Hide" and then created a list for ourselves of where writing hides for us as individuals.  Independent write time was given.

9/18

Today we built our compost pile a bit further and added a list of wonders.  We shared these wonders as a class.  Very interesting stories may ensue!

9/17

Today we viewed a power point and talked about imagery and its importance in writing.  The assigned write for today is below:

Select 3 of these 5 objects:

Flowers

House

Guy

Car

Store

Make each more concrete & develop w/ imagery.  You should have a total of 3 writes, 70-100 words each when finished.