15 Peer Reviews and Creative Writing // Due the week of Jan. 4, 2016

Hi everyone!

WEDNESDAY:

• Peer review Ann, Jenna, and Ianna's papers with at least 6 comments each.

THURSDAY:

• Peer review Stacy's paper with at least 6 comments.
• Write two short stories, limiting yourself to 10 minutes for each. As prompts, pick a random page in a chapter book you like, point to a sentence on the page, and use that as your first sentence!

FRIDAY:

• Write three short stories, limiting yourself to 10 minutes for each. As prompts, pick a random page in a chapter book you like, point to a sentence on the page, and use that as your first sentence!

Email me if you have questions!

14 Peer Review of the Book/Movie Review 2 // Due the week of December 15, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week we are continuing the peer reviews! Write 6 specific comments for each of the following 3 papers—we'll be turning in comments in class, so make sure you have a print out or a hand-written copy :)

WEDNESDAY:
—Samuel
—Maddy

THURSDAY:
—Laura L.
—Elsa
—Jocelyn

FRIDAY:
—Sam
—Quinn
—Lillian

13 Peer Reviews of the Book/Movie Reviews // Due the week of December 8, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, write 6 specific comments for each of the following people's papers on a separate sheet of paper. You can hand write it or type it and print it out, but I will be collecting them  :D

Thanks and email me if you have any questions!

Wednesday:

• Teresa 
• Izzy
• Soledad

Thursday:

• Sam
• Anne
• Laura K

Friday:

• Ethan
• Maddison
• Matthew

12 Book/Movie Review // Due the week of December 8, 2016

Hi Everyone!

When you come back from Thanksgiving break, your book/movie review will be due!

Here is the outline of what the review should look like, but naturally, your homework should be the expanded paragraphs version of the outline :D

1. Introduction
1. Attention-grabber
2. Thesis statement on whether or not the book/movie was good (Opinion because reason1, reason2, and reason3.)
2. Synopsis
1. Main characters
2. Setting
3. Plot/Goal
3. Reason 1
1. Support
2. Details
4. Reason 2
1. Support
2. Details
5. Reason 3
1. Support 
2. Details
6. Conclusion
1. Wrap it up
2. Call to Action

Should be about 2-3 pages and be on Google Drive, 12 pt font, double-spaced, with a header and title.

Spoilers are allowed, but it's better if it doesn't spoil the ending.

You can do a TV show if it's a show that has a season story, like Arrow or the Flash, rather than just a collection of funny events, like Friends.

Email me if you have questions!

11 Book/Movie Review Brainstorming // Due the week of November 18, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, pick 4 books or movies and list at least 5 specific comments on what was done either well or badly in the making of each. Try to be as specific as possible.

For example:

Wreck It Ralph:

• The humor is terrible; the highest form of humor in the movie is the little girl calling Ralph mean names and using potty language. It basically has the humor of an immature 4 year old. One example of this is the joke...
• The moral of the story, what it teaches kids, is also terrible. It teaches kids that it's okay and even funny and adorable to call other people names. This is shown when the little girl calls Ralph the names…
• The animation and art of the movie is pretty neat. The bright colors and background detail of the candy land really make you feel like you're there. I especially like the…
• Ralph is a boring character. He wants to be a good guy at the very beginning, the middle, and the end. That's his whole schtick, and it doesn't change the entire time—no development.
• The plot is so complicated that it doesn't really work. You spend the whole time thinking, "Wait, who is this new character? Why do they matter?" For example…

Some factors you can talk about are:

• Books:
• Description
• Imagery
• Vocabulary
• Illustrations
• Etc
• Movies:
• Special effects
• Sounds effects
• Sound track (music)
• Cinematography (camera angles and such)
• Acting
• Costumes
• Make-up
• Casting
• Etc
• Both:
• Story plot
• Moral
• Humor
• Mysteriousness
• Characters
• Setting
• Etc

You can write your comments in bullet points, but be sure to post them on Google Drive in our folder. Thanks and email me if you have questions!

10 Synopsis // Due the week of November 9, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, we are practicing synopses to get ready for the book/movie review.

A synopsis:

• is a very short summary of a book/movie that doesn't spoil the ending
• is 1-3 sentences maximum
• Includes:
• Setting
• Main characters
• Inciting event / the main character's goal
• ie: Deep in the ocean, a clownfish named Marlin must go on a journey to find his fish-napped son. Along the way, he meets lots of new friends and also finds the way to be a better father.

Write 7 of these based on different books or movies!

09 Conclusions // Due the week of November 2, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, we will be peer reviewing the final persuasive essays, and writing a conclusion for your essays!

Conclusions can be brief (2-4 sentences), but they should do 2 things:

—Wrap up the essay

—Call-to-Action (Call the audience to believe/do something

Example:

Therefore, that is why it’s important to adopt cats from rescue shelters rather than pet stores. So get out there, go to your local Dumb Friend’s League or similar place and adopt an adorable, cuddly, cat!

Remember for peer reviews that you should write at least 6 comments per person’s paper, and they should follow the guidelines outlined the preview posts (see below in the blog).

The papers to peer review are:

Wednesday:

—Soledad + Teresa

Thursday: 

—Sam + Jocelyn

Friday:

—Madison + Lillian (If you didn’t already complete Lillian’s)

Thanks and email me if you have questions!

08 Intriguing Introductions // Due the week of October 17, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, you'll be practicing writing intriguing introductions! Just like the last writing homework, you can make up your information, or you can find it for real—either is fine for now!

An intriguing introduction's jobs include:

1. Grab the attention of the reader
2. Introduce the reader to the topic (thesis)

Ways to grab the attention of the reader:

1. Ask a thought-provoking question
2. Tell a joke
3. Tell a surprising fact or statistic
4. Tell an intense story
5. Give a quote that relates

Follow the attention-grabber with the thesis.

Example:

1. Why did the chicken cross the road? To get away from the hungry people! But really, we should not eat chickens because they are intelligent, cute, and useful to society in other ways.
2. Did you know that 400,000 cats are abandoned every day? Everyone should adopt cats from cat shelters because there are so many homeless cats, pet shops are just adding to the problem, and cats will great enhance people's lives.

HOMEWORK:

1. Pick 5 topics (it's okay if you've already written the thesis statement for the 5 topics)
2. Write an attention grabber for each thesis you chose
3. Write the attention grabber and then the thesis in a paragraph and post all 5 paragraphs on Google Drive
4. Email me if you have questions!

07 Peer Review 1 // Due the week of Oct. 18, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, your homework is to complete peer reviews for three of your classmates!

Read the ethos/pathos/logos paragraphs of the three people posted below, and write at least 6 comments for each paper, for a total of 18 comments. Remember:
—Be specific
—Be kind (even if you're saying something negative)
—NO GRAMMAR COMMENTS :D

The types of comments could involve:
—Language: What words were interesting? What interesting words could they add? Where was there neat personality?
—Content: What evidence/ideas were effective? What evidence/ideas could they add?
—Organization: How were the topic/concluding sentences? Was the order of everything well-thought-out?

Wednesday papers:
—Ianna
—Izzy
—Maddy

Thursday papers:
—Laura K.
—Laura L.
—Stacy

Friday:
—Lillian
—Sam
—Ethan

06 Logos, Pathos, and Ethos // Due the week of Oct. 12, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week we talked about using evidence to support your opinions and reasonings!

REVIEW:
Remember, a thesis is stating your opinion with 3 reasons.

• ie: Cats are the best animal because they are helpful, clean, and friendly.
• All 3 reasons must be different from each other (no overlap) and broad enough that an entire paragraph could be written on each.

NEW INFO:

Evidence is necessary to support your reasonings. There are 3 types of evidence:

• Logos: 
• Facts
• Statistics
• Logical statements
• Numbers
• ie: 94% of cats spend all of their time trying to help their owners.
• Pathos
• Personal stories
• Emotional stories
• ie: Betty Joe's sad story of being bitten by a dog—which is why cats are better. 
• Ethos
• Expert opinions
• ie: Veterinarian John Roberts says, "There really is no animal that compares to cats when it comes to the ability to stay clean."

HOMEWORK:

• Pick one of your favorite theses from last week's homework (but not your absolute favorite). 
• Copy and paste that thesis into a new document on Google Drive.
• Write 3 paragraphs, one each of your three reasons from your thesis.
• Each paragraph should have:
• Topic sentence
• At least 1 logos
• At least 1 pathos
• At least 1 ethos
• At least 1 extra of any category 
• Concluding sentence
• You can make up information for this assignment! Or you can actually do the research if you want extra homework :D

Email me if you have questions!

05 Thesis Statements // Due the week of Oct. 6, 2016

Hi Everyone!

Your homework this week is to get practice writing thesis statements! The thesis statements are the absolute foundation of the persuasive essay, so I reeeaally want them to be ingrained in your brains :)

A thesis is a statement that says what you think and why you think it—in three separate reasons.

For example:

• Cats are the best animal because they are clean, useful, and good companions.*

Key points:

1. I state my opinion: Cats are the best animal. Then, I include the very important key word "because," as this leads into my reasons. Then I state my three reasons, that cats are clean, useful, and good companions.
2. I do not say "I think" before I begin my thesis statement because this is unnecessary—we already know it is what you think because you are saying it! :)
3. Make sure your reasons are somewhat broad. Later on, you will be taking each reason and turning it into a paragraph of it's own. 
• Therefore, instead of saying as one of my reasons how cats catch mice (about which I might not be able to find much to write), I instead write about how cats are useful (as this reason can include cats catching mice, bringing food home, and sweeping the floor—which we're going to pretend cats do for the purpose of this example). 

Homework: Choose 15 of the prompts from either: 1) our Google Drive handouts folder or 2) your brain, and write one thesis statement for each. Post to Google Drive when finished.

Example:
Should students be allowed to drink soda?
Students should not be allowed to drink soda because it is bad for their teeth, it will prevent them from focusing, and it can spill and be messy.

**Grammar note: No comma is needed directly before or after the word "because" in these sentences**

04 Elephant Paragraphs // Due the week of September 29, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, you will take the elephant articles from last week and use them as resources to write your own paragraphs!

1. Each of the paragraphs from the different articles had a different elephant-related topic (i.e.: appearance, behavior, etc). Choose three topics that interest you (make sure the topics you choose have at least 3 article paragraphs about each). Do not choose domestication, as we did that in class.
2. Make an outline in which you have your:
1. Topic: (ie: elephant domestication)
1. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
2. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
3. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
4. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
5. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
6. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
2. Conclusion: (ie: elephant domestication)
3. Turn your outline into a paragraph that tells about your topic in your own words and is about 6-7 sentences).
4. Write 3 paragraphs like that, one for each of your three chosen elephant topics.
5. Post your paragraphs on Google Drive in a document with your name in the name. 

**Soon we will be getting to writing in which you choose the topic. I've just found that if I don't start with this activity, I end up with a lot of 3 sentence paragraph—not great!

Email me if you have questions!