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.