Since we are truly on the stretch toward summer vacation, and much of our writing work is safely enclosed in our Writer's Notebooks, we will continue to take the time to pull out our favorite pieces to include in our portfolios. Let's give them the spotlight they deserve!
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As we proofread and edit all writing assignments we have worked on in the past few months, please refer to the outlines and descriptions below that will help you during this process. Six to 10 finished pieces need to be in your folders by the end of this week (with Tuesday, May 30, being the absolute latest we can accept your writing folders). We hope to accomplish this task by devoting Thursday and Friday classes to getting the job done (with homework, if necessary, over the long weekend)! Thank you so much for working hard!
1. Persuasive Writing: You will try to convince us of something you feel should be believed. A list of topics are in previous lessons in this section, but you are always free to come up with ideas of your own. a. State your point of view: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Provide three reasons WHY this view should be considered. List them one after the other here: _______________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ c. Place your alternate opening sentences here. We may decide to switch opening sentences with closing sentences, so try come up with at least three different ways you can state the same idea as you did in part a. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ What you have just written will become your first paragraph. Your next job will be to take each of the three reasons you stated in part b, and give each one a paragraph of its own. In this paragraph, you will go into greater detail than you have in paragraph one. These three paragraphs will make up the "body" of your essay. Be sure that the details you select in part b are strong enough to allow you to write about them extensively; if they are not, you can change them before putting your essay into final form (we will talk about how to do this in class). Your closing paragraph will be made up of your alternate opening sentences, which you created in part c. Select one of them, and tell your reader why you hope they take your advice and agree with your point of view! You want your closing to make an impact on the reader--one they will remember in days to come!! 2. Anecdote Writing We will review all slides and topics today as we strive to effectively tell an anecdote (or polish up one you have previously worked on!). This piece of writing can be in first person (using pronouns such as I, me, my, our, ours, us), and it can be casual in word choice and sentence flow. 3. Argument Writing The essays you have been working on regarding the debate on school dress codes should be edited and revised today. The rules for this type of writing include the following:
4. The Haiku Review syllables on this website, if you forget how to count them. Then write a poem that includes three lines in which the following syllable usage must be followed: Line One (five syllables) ____________________________________________________________________________ Line Two (seven syllables) __________________________________________________________________________ Line Three (five syllables) ___________________________________________________________________________ Be sure you have painted a picture with your words! Then give your poem a nice title, and be sure to check with me before putting this haiku in final form. You may be on a roll and wish to write several more haiku! Do it, but put each one on a separate paper! The more haiku, the merrier:) 5 - 7. Writing Prompts, Including Photo Prompts and Story Starters/Creative Writing I will display additional photos and list more story starters today for this type of writing (in which you create a tale of your choosing in any genre with any point of view you like!). The story is yours to tell, but we still want to maintain good paragraph structure, strong word choice/vocabulary, and correct subject and verb agreement. We may peer edit these today! 8. Business and Friendly Letters A sample format of each will be handed out in class today. Be sure to finalize your work today! 9. Expository Writing A sample piece will also be provided to assist your writing a new one, if you have not found a copy in your folders you feel is your best! Directions: Here is a potpourri of skills we have been working on since this course began! Every day, you will be given a challenge in various areas to see exactly what you remember (and what you can brush up on, during the summer months ahead)! Good Luck!
A. Literary Terms: Please tell which device the words in bold print represent. 1. The clown was laughing like a hyena while playing with the children. a. foreshadowing b. alliteration c. simile d. onomatopoeia 2. Now I understand why there was a key on the table in chapter one of the book I'm reading. In chapter 10, I found out that key would open the door of a brand new car the main character would unexpectedly win! a. foreshadowing b. alliteration c. simile d. onomatopoeia 3. Mary made many mistakes Monday. a. foreshadowing b. alliteration c. simile d. onomatopoeia 4. Splash! Bam! Bzzzzz!! I feel as though I am in a comic book!! a. foreshadowing b. alliteration c. simile d. onomatopoeia B. Usage How is each word in bold print USED in each sentence? 1. I attached the lock to the bike rack at school. a. noun b. verb c. adjective d. adverb 2. I will bike over to your house later today. a. noun b. verb c. adjective d. adverb 3. The new bike was a lovely present from her parents. a. noun b. verb c. adjective d. adverb C. Subject/ Verb Agreement Select the correct verb that works with the subject of each sentence. Be sure to check out which noun or pronoun is actually doing the action; you may need to block out clauses and phrases in order to see which verb belongs! 1. The soup that has been simmering on the stove all afternoon (is, are) now ready. 2. The boys who live around the corner from us (is, are) planning a party for the neighborhood. 3. SCALE, which is a great program for adult learners, (is, are) held in a Tufts Building in Somerville. 4. Sue, a woman who once worked as the custodian at the elementary school, (is, are) now their official principal. 5. (Place, Places) the dishes that were a gift from your grandmother on the dining room table. 6. The box of rice (was, were) the last one in the cabinet. 7. The children who loved to dance around in the school hallways (was, were) a joy to watch. 8. (Have, Has) you ever seen a movie that inspired you to do something different in your life? 9. Jim's aunt from the Netherlands (is, are) visiting her children. 10. All the stores at the Rockingham Mall (was, were) having fabulous sales last weekend. D. Appositives Add an appositive to each sentence below. Remember that an appositive renames a noun in order to provide more detail in the sentence. 1. The lake looked beautiful this morning. Example: The lake, the famous Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, looked beautiful this morning. 2. My neighbor just bought a new puppy. 3. The boy's birthday was coming up soon. 4. Father's Day is a wonderful holiday we celebrate every June. 5. This summer, I will visit the beach at least twice a week! 6. Did you see the painting at the museum? E. Phrases Add a phrase to the following sentences. Remember that a phrase does not contain a verb and often indicates location or time. Prepositions generally start each phrase, such as "I went to the park yesterday." 1. I cannot wait to meet your friend Joe. 2. The concert will be exciting. 3. The students all passed their HiSETs! 4. The kitten was ready to be adopted. 5. Don't worry about the cost. F. Clauses Add a clause to the following sentences. Remember that a clause DOES contain a verb!! It can be dependent (meaning it cannot stand alone) or independent (meaning it can and makes perfect sense the way it is! A simple sentence is an independent clause). Example: We loved visiting the carnival. Example: We loved visiting the carnival, which was arriving earlier than usual this year. 1. We shopped all day long for a nice present for Sean. 2. The Stone Zoo had many new animals this year. 3. My dad's friend often worked at his family's restaurant. 4. Jumping rope requires skill and balance! 5. Tom and Bobby will meet us at IHOP for breakfast. G. Idiom Review: Select the appropriate answers below. 1. Stan often walked on eggshells when he spoke to Jayson. This meant Stan a. needed to purchase a thicker rug. b. should consider wearing closed-in shoes. c. was nervous he might say the wrong thing and offend Jayson. d. made lots of noise as he roamed through the house. H. Writing Directions: While you are working on final copies of various types of writing from your notebooks or folders, here are more topics you can write about, as well. Each one appears with the type of essay it could be. You can substitute something you write about today for another piece of writing that is from the same genre. You could also simply add it to the work you have already edited and revised!! 1. Everyone should have Fridays off from work. (Persuasive) 2. Deshaun thinks taking a nap is important and will refresh him for the rest of his work day. Alayna thinks that naps are unnecessary and stop her from falling asleep easily at night. (Argument) 3. Write a short story about something strange that happened to you at work one day. (Anecdote) 4. Tell us exactly what happened in the basketball game last night (or any other event you have watched or attended).Do not give us your opinion. Instead, just tell us all the facts, as you would if you were reporting the news! (Expository) 5. Continue a story from the following sentences: Helen and Vivian had just arrived at the beach house they had rented for an entire month. They had saved money all year to be able to afford this, and they could not wait to do nothing but relax on Lake Winnipesaukee. However........ (Creative Writing) 6. Write a haiku that follows the 5-7-5 syllable pattern for each of its three lines. (Poetry) 7. Test results should not be the only way to measure how much knowledge a student has accumulated throughout the school year. (Persuasive) 8 Insurance companies should lower their rates so that people can purchase cars more affordably. (Persuasive) 9. Len enjoys supporting the local library because it supplies all the books he enjoys reading without a cost. Sara feels that libraries should be completely funded by the city government; she pays enough taxes and will not contribute a penny more! (Argument) 10. Describe a recipe or a new skill you have learned over the past year. Do not include opinions; use only facts to describe your expertise in this area. (Expository) 11. Use a photo from the board to jumpstart a story you write from beginning to end. (Photo Prompt Writing) 12. Tell us a funny story about something that happened to you at a family event while out with friends. (Anecdote) As always, enjoy the process!! We will be spending a lot of time this week writing and revising our work in order to successfully complete our portfolios. They need to be ready before the end of May, which means we will allot a significant portion of each class making sure we have something from each of the following categories: expository, persuasive, anecdotal, poetic, argumentative, and business letter writing!
Each piece of writing will ideally be typed on a separate page that will contain your name, Writing Workshop AM or PM, and the title and genre of your piece. Be sure to select your favorites, peer edit with a classmate, make any final revisions, and type them each time we visit the computer lab (or at home, if at all possible). Remember that all final essays and poems cannot contain cross outs or mistakes!! I cannot wait to see what your final project looks like!! As always, enjoy the process! Part One: Idiom of the Day: He felt he had to walk on eggshells whenever he was near her, which was not a comfortable position to be in. Part Two: Subject and Verb Agreement 1. The women (attend, attends) classes every day. 2. Jean (love, loves) to play the piano. 3. Tom and Susan (plan, plans) to visit Nantucket this summer. 4. Neither Jack nor his kids (was, were) at the beach when the rainstorm began. 5. Either Sam or Tim (was, were) at the party; I couldn't tell which one it was because they are identical twins! 6. The house in the woods (is, are) a farmhouse. 7. The street that runs parallel to two different parks (is, were) we were supposed to meet. 8. The animals from the shelter (was, were) adopted over the weekend. 9. (Do, Did) you find your friends? 10. Our chores, which we do every Saturday, (was, were) taking longer than usual to complete. Part Three: Literary Term: Theme A theme is the lesson or new belief/inspiration that we take away from a novel, TV show, or movie. It could be as simple as "Never give up." A theme does not mention characters in the story, but it instead presents a type of inspiration that we could apply to other stories, as well. Take a moment to think of a favorite story; what is the meaning the author wants you to take away from it? Part Four: Grammar Challenge Your or You're 1. (Your, You're) a great friend! 2. (Your, You're) in good company with all the wonderful students in this class! 3. Is that (your, you're) sister in this picture? 4. I don't know what (your, you're) talking about! 5. (Your, You're) writing is filled with many of our literary devices! Part Five: Creative Writing Please finish this story using parallel sentence structure and proper subject and verb agreement. If possible, try to include an appositive in your writing. Remember that an appositive is another way of renaming a noun in the sentence while also providing extra information for the reader. An example of an appositive is: Chantel, my wonderful neighbor, left a pie outside my front door the other day. Now here is your story: May had always been Jeanette's favorite month. She loved the beautiful weather that had not yet become too hot. She also enjoyed the extra daylight that occurred when the clocks were set ahead one hour. But on this day, ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Story #2: The mall was busier than usual when I made my way to the food court. I was not sure what I would find there, since the mysterious letter had said only to sit at the table closest to the Pizza Palace, and to be sure to be there on time.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Poem #1: Haiku Directions: Create another haiku with the same three line stanza and the same syllable count of five, seven, five on corresponding lines. Here is an idea for your first one (and yes, "congratulations" contains five syllable by itself!): Congratulations! _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Haiku #2: Directions: Now I will provide the middle line, and you can write the opening and closing lines instead! _____________________________________________________ Waves tickled my sandy toes _____________________________________________________ Haiku #3: Directions: Create one of your own in the space below! Directions: Here is a review of various skills you have learned this week. This page will be printed for you to complete independently this morning (and passed in after we correct it together!). Good Luck!! Part One: Idioms 1. Which of the following is an example of why someone would be walking with a spring in his step? a. He wants to capture the month of May in his shoes. b. He is happy because he just had a wonderful day. c. He needs to buy new sneakers. d. He needs physical therapy. 2. If you bit off more than you could chew, you should: a. stop eating so much! b. eat more! c. think more carefully the next time you make a decision. d. buy some gum instead. 3. Something that might happen once in a blue moon could be: a. a person's wedding b. a snowstorm in New England c. a hot summer's day d. traffic on Route 93 Part Two. True or False Directions: Select either true or false regarding the following statements ( about grammar!): 4. True False "A lot" is actually made up of two words! 5. True False Some people eat desert before their meal. 6. True False Pencils once contained led. 7. True False Lead is an element that can be found on the periodic table (Pb). 8. True False A strawberry sundae could be a very delicious dessert. 9. True False The Sahara is a desert. 10. True False In the sentence "He led the troops into battle," "led" is used correctly Part Three Find the Direct Object Directions: Find the direct object (if there is one!) in each sentence below. 11. Jean made bracelets for the craft fair. direct object: _____________________________ 12. Tommy sang a beautiful song at the graduation. direct object:_____________________________ 13. Ned played the guitar, while Judy sang songs. direct object(s)___________________________ ___________________________ 14. Sara chose Joan for her assistant manager. direct object _____________________________ 15. The cat was frisky. direct object ____________________________ 16. Tina enjoyed the visit with her aunt. direct object_____________________________ 17. The day was perfect! direct object _____________________________ 18. We watched the best movie on Netflix last night. direct object ____________________________ 19. Sylvia created a basket of delicious foods. direct object_____________________________ 20. The coach put Jayson back into the game. direct object ____________________________ Part Four Literary Term Review Directions: Select the correct literary term from the word bank below that fits each sentence. Words are not used twice, and not every literary term will be used! Word Bank alliteration onomatopoeia foreshadowing personification simile metaphor protagonist antagonist stanza line hyperbole poet haiku infer/inference imply/implication analogy anecdote expository descriptive person point of view audience epiphany theme plot 21. "He is my anchor" is an example of a _______________________________________. 22. If I place a clue in chapter one of my book, and later in the story, it turns up again as an important piece of evidence, I have used _________________________________________________________________. 23. "This cake is as light as air" is an example of _________________________________. 24. The beginning sounds in several of the following words provide an example of _______________________________. Monday mornings in May makes me merry! 25. The main character of a story is known as the ___________________________________________. 26. When a character has a sudden realization that is life changing, it is known as an _____________________________. 27. The person or force that opposes (goes against) the main character is known as the ____________________________. 28. The "wind called my name" is an example of ____________________________________________. 29. A short story that you tell or write down that includes a point you want to share with others is known as an ____________________________________________________. 30. The ________________________ is the new belief you take away from a story, as in "If you try hard enough, you will win!" 31. Splash! Bam! Buzz! These words are all examples of ______________________________________________, which are words that sound like what that particular word does! 32. When you write a story, you need to know your _______________________________________, which are the people who will read your book. 33. In poetry, words that go straight across the page make up one _______________________________. 34. Someone who writes poetry is known as a ______________________. 35. When you try to figure something out in a story based on information you have learned (and you eventually take a good guess), you are making an __________________________________________________. 36. A group of lines in a poem are known as a ______________________________________. 37. When I use the word "I" or "me" in my story, I am using first-person __________________________________________. 38. When you deliberately exaggerate, such as when you say "It took forever to do my homework," you are using ____________________________________________________. 39. A series of causes and effects in a story make up that story's ________________________________. 40. The type of poem that has three lines, with 5-7-5 for a syllable pattern, is known as a _____________________. Part Five. Root Review: 41. If I am wearing a monocle, how many lenses do I have? ______________________________________ 42. If we are celebrating a bicentennial, how many years have passed? ____________________________ 43. Biweekly can have two meanings. What are they? ___________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ 44. Bifocals have how many parts to their lenses? ______________________________________________ 45. If I am speaking in a monotone, is my voice going up and down? _______________________________ Part Six: Sentence Structure Directions: Answer each question using two effective sentences. 46 and 47. What part of the article on the importance of staying safe while being online made the most impact on you? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 48. and 49. What is the hardest part about keeping children safe online? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 50. Write one sentence about something enjoyable you would like to do this weekend! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus: Can you write a quick haiku? The End! Thank you for working so hard! |
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