Wednesday October 28

Friendly reminder: Your story is due today. You must submit it to get credit. If it is not turned in by tonight, it is late.

Please bring your favorite novel to school with you tomorrow.

You must have an independent reading book by Monday.

Monday Oct 26

1st period essays due tomorrow. All other classes are due on Wed.

Friday, October 23

Take your 8 parts test. After that you will work on your group revisions. We are shooting for Tuesday turn in of the 6 Second Story. Regardless, you will have a day to finish any revisions before turning in your paper. We will go over MLA format and the way I want you to turn in the final copy on Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Tuesday, October 20

After we finish 8 pARTS, you will have time to work on your 6-Second Stories. You should have a draft revised, edited and ready to go tomorrow. We will do peer editing tomorrow and Thursday if we need more time.

Homework:

Wed. - Revised and edited story for peer review
Thursday - final draft is due on Friday. Details will be given in class.
Friday - Quiz on 8 pARTS. Final story due. MLA format. You will turn in the whole assignment to Google Classroom + your editing checklist.

Tech Tip of the Week: 

SAS Writing Advisor is a free Google Add-on that helps with sentence structure. It is a great tool to use after you are all finished editing and revising, yet before you turn it in.

Journal Entries

Here are the journal entries we've done so far through 10/16.

Monday, October 19

Today we begin the 8 pARTS of speech practice. We will practice with warm-ups all week and you will have an assessment (quiz) on Friday. If you practice thoroughly all week, then the quiz will be easy. The forms are available in Google Classroom, please open for the appropriate day.

Wednesday: Peer Editing. Come with your edited, ready to turn in 6 second story. We will peer edit in groups.

Homework: 

Edit and revise 6 second draft - Due Wednesday. 

Final Due Friday.

Friday, October 16

Today we continue to write. You should be finished with your draft, but you will have most of the period to write some more. We will go over the editing checklist. The editing checklist should be used once you've edited and revised as much as you can on your own.
Tuesday we will revise in class.

Final Six-Second Story is due on Wednesday.

Crazy PSAT Day

6 sec story drafts are due tomorrow. But remember, this is just a draft so they don't need to be perfect, just complete.

Wed. October 14

Today, after we look at some examples in class, you will have the period to write. Drafts are due Friday. Tomorrow you will have the entire period to write, however, I will not see some of you because of the PSAT.

Homework:

Continue to work on your story. You should write for at least 15 uninterrupted minutes tonight. Continue to write tomorrow as well.

Draft Due Friday

Tuesday, October 13

Warm-Up:
Socrative Challenge
Open up Socrative and complete the challenge assignment.


Six-Second Story
Today we start writing our six-second story. Before we write, will look carefully at the rubric and pay particular attention to the beginning. Be prepared to share opening on Wed.

Draft is Due Friday
Editing Friday
Peer Editing - Monday
Final Story Due Wednesday. 10/20

Homework:

15 minutes (or more) of uninterrupted writing tonight.

Monday, Oct. 12

You have an article of the week this week.

Read NASA says Future Astronauts Will Likely Have Drinking Water There by The Washington Post.

Paragraph 1:

In the article "___(Article Title)___", The Washington Post (author) argues/claims/contends that ______(Main Idea)____. According to the article, ____(Evidence 1)________. This shows/explains/___ because/I think ______(how/why does evidence support the claim)__________. In addition, The Washington Post ___(Author)_____ states/claims/discusses/suggests __(Evidence 2)___.  This shows/explains/___ because/I think ______(how/why does evidence support the claim)__________. Also, ___The Washington Post (Author)_____  claims/suggests/states/discusses ______(Evidence 3)____. This shows/explains/___because/I think ______(how/why does evidence support the claim)__________. 

Paragraph 2:
Write a paragraph on your thoughts and feelings about the article. You should use evidence from the article to support your ideas.

When you finish, please complete your book review (on the group book club document, under your name) and your book club reflection in your journal (the book club reflection comes before AoW #5).

Homework:

Finish whatever is not finished in class.

Friday, October 9

Today is the big book club discussion.

After you discussion you have three things to complete:

1. Group Summary - Written on the group book club doc.

Somebody
Wanted
But
So
Then


2. Under your name in the group book club doc, write a book recommendation for this book.

3. In your writing journal,
Title: 10/9 - Book Club Summary

Summarize your book club conversation.
What did you learn? What did your group do well? What do they need to work on?
What did you personally do well?  What do you personally want to work on?

Overall, what did you like best about the book club? What would you like to see change?

Please finish and have ready to turn in on Monday. We are moving on.

Thursday, October 8

Today we are going to take a walk....a photo walk. We will be posting to Twitter at  #nicholsla. Write your very best, descriptive show, don't tell sentence.

No homework except to get ready for your book discussion tomorrow.

Tuesday, Oct. 7

Today we will look at thoughtshots. You will have some time to brainstorm ideas and then you will have the period to create an open mind of your character's thoughts. You can also work on your discussion questions for you book or you can read.

HW:
Finish your book club book
Write two discussion questions for you book club
Work on your open mind
Read

Tuesday, October 6

Today we begin our first major writing assignment - The Six Second Story.
This is my favorite writing assignment of the year. You will be writing a story that describes six seconds in time.

There are several pre-writing assignments we will do to get ready.

Today we are going to talk about the requirements, that are available on Google Classroom. I will show you several examples and talk about possibilities. Then we will talk about internal monologue.

So get those wheels turning. I can't wait to read your stories.

Tech Tip of the Week:

Read and Write for Google

Monday, October 5

Happy Monday!

Today we are reading the Article of the Week #4. Exercise May Help the Body, but the Brain May Benefit the Most by Julie Deardorff.

You will read the article, highlight words in red that are words that you don't know or words that you think someone else in class may not know. Complete the "write" assignment and take the quiz.

When you are finished, your will write two paragraphs in your journal.

The first paragraph is a fill in the blanks.

Paragraph 1:

In her article "___(Article Title)___", the author, ____(Author)_____argues/claims/contends that ______(Main Idea)____. According to the article, ____(Evidence 1)________. This shows/explains/___ because/I think ______(how/why does evidence support the claim)__________. In addition, ___(Author's Last Name)_____ states/claims/discusses/suggests __(Evidence 2)___.  This shows/explains/___ because/I think ______(how/why does evidence support the claim)__________. Also, ___(Author's Last Name)_____  claims/suggests/states/discusses ______(Evidence 3)____. This shows/explains/___because/I think ______(how/why does evidence support the claim)__________. 


Paragraph 2:

Write a paragraph on your thoughts and feelings about the article. You should use evidence from the article to support your ideas.

Due Tuesday

Discussion Board on superpowers also due tomorrow.

Thursday, Oct. 1

Happy Thursday!

After our warm-up, please turn it in to Classroom. We have a new discussion question up and due on Tuesday.

Today, after discussing what your groups did for descriptions of setting, you will work to make up your own setting that reveals character. There will be fabulous prizes for the best passages.

HW:
Catch up on any work you haven't completed in class this week.
Discussion Board

Here are your journal entries so far. Please make sure you are caught up come Monday. There will be no more free passes for late work beginning next week.

Martian Screening is tentatively scheduled for next Sat. 10/10 around 4 pm. Details will be given in class.

Poetry Night RSVP due Tuesday