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Happy Monday 9th Graders!

I enjoyed reading your work over the weekend. I hope you learned something/ got something out of our class. I certainly learned a lot from all of you!

For the sake of a fresh start I decided to start a new blog for our second sememster class. Please bookmark this address so you are set up for success! The address is: www.selfdiscovery13.blogspot.com.

Topics for Exam Review

Topics to Review for Creative Grammar and Style Midterm!

Exam Date: 1/15/13

·      What is the writing process?

·      Steps to Peer Editing

·      Eight Parts of Speech

·      The Four Types of Sentences

·      Subjects, Objects, Possessive Pronouns

·      Simple and Compound Subjects

·      Simple and Compound Predicates

·      Simple and Compound Sentences

·      Subject-Verb Agreement

·      Identifying and Revising Fragments and Run-Ons

·      Punctuation, Capitalization, Writing Numbers

·      Proper Use of Quotation Marks (especially in dialogue)

·      Style and Wording

·      Genres of Literature

    Characteristics of Children's Literature

·      Novels Read in Class

End of the Semester Guidelines!

Please make sure to visit the blog and complete all assignments. Here are the last few assignments you are responsible for:

_____ Enter Sokol by the end of next week (1/18)

_____ In Class Exam Tuesday (1/15)

_____ Complete Portfolio by next Thursday (1/24)

Portfolio Clarification

·         You must include all major creative writing pieces in your portfolios.

·       Organize your work in categories: Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Scripts

 

·         Polish each piece and make them as perfect as you can. Remember: You may have learned something new that you didn’t know at the beginning of the year. Apply those skills!

·         Reflection- You need to write a 1-1.5 page reflection about the semester, the creative writing process, and your progress:

·         Which pieces do you think are your best?  Which are your least favorite?  Why?

·         How did writing help you to appreciate the details of what you have read this year? Be sure to be specific when referencing authors and titles

·         What did you most enjoy and least enjoy about the semester? How are your feeling about the creative writing program at SOTA?

·         What was the most difficult piece for you to write?  Which one did you enjoy the most? Least? 

·         What did you know about writing before you started this class? 

·         What new things have you learned about writing? Yourself? Life?

·         Grade yourself and explain why you would give that grade.

Assignments to Include in Portfolio

Here are the major assignments we have done in this class. They should all be edited and included in your portfolios. I will be posting more guidelines, so stay tuned!

Children’s Story
Then and Now Story
Life with a Baby
Chapbook Poems
Memory and Imagination Prompt
Fear Poem
Other Poetry Prompts (We did a lot!)
Montana 1948 Creative Essay
Short Story (from Montana 1948 Theme)
Montana 1948 Prologue Assignment
Creative Writing Prompt (1^st Short Story!)

Portfolios/Sokol

Agenda

1. Class Discussion

• Portfolio/Exam Requirements
• Please consider submitting to Sokol. Here is the information on the contest.

                http://www3.libraryweb.org/sokolcontest.aspx?id=477477

2. Third Period
Please finish up your children's stories.

3. Fourth Period 
Work on Portfolios

Next Class: Midterm Review/Portfolio Time

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a restful break! I enjoyed reading (and grading) your work last week :) Did you hand it in? If not, please do! If you were absent the Friday before break, you missed a quiz!

Agenda

1. Pass back work
2. Grammar Review: How to Find the Subject of the Sentence.

Here are some resources for you.
http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/verbsub.html
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

We will try and get through these agenda items by the end of third period.

3. Group Discussion Questions

Please work with a partner to discuss Dahl's The Witches. Use these questions to kick start your conversations. Take notes in your journals.

1. Why do witches hate children so much anyway? What have children ever done to them?
2. How would you have tricked the witches? Which of their weaknesses would you have played on? Could you come up with a plan better than the narrator's?
3. Grandmamma sure is chatty when it comes to witch-related information. What would have happened if she had never told our narrator all about witches?
4. Other than his starring role in a Roald Dahl book, what do you admire most about the narrator? Why?
5. What is Grandmamma's back-story? How did she lose her thumb? What was her childhood like? Imagine it all.
6. According to the author, all witches are women. According to many readers, this is sexist. Based on the rest of the book, do you agree?
7. How would you have illustrated this book? Draw a picture of The Grand High Witch and see how it stacks up to Quentin Blake's illustration.
8. Wait a second, weren't witches children themselves once? How does that work? Do witches hate witch children, too? This is a curious matter.
9. Based on your reading of this novel and your knowledge of other children's novels, what are the elements of children's literature?
10. Do you have any ideas for a children's story? Brainstorm these ideas now!

4. POST
Would you like to read another children's novel? Any title you would like to read next? Post your ideas on the blog!

Homework: Finish up work from today!

Happy Monday!

Agenda

DO NOW: Is the rough draft of your story complete? Please spend a few minutes putting the finishing touches on it!

Period 3

1. Pass back work/grammar discussion!
2. Peer Editing: Please use the worksheet provided. Add comments to your peer's story.
3. Polished final copy is due Wednesday!

Period 4

1. We are going to begin our children's literature unit!
2. Please read the information below.
3. We will then pick up The Witches By Roald Dahl.

Children's Literature

Answer the following questions in your notebooks:

What is children's literature?

What are the characteristics of children's literature?

Why study it on the high school level?

Please read all of the information on this page:

http://www.englishliteraturenotes.com/Childrens_Literature/What_is_Childrens_Literature.html

Roald Dahl
Dahl was a very interesting man. He was a novelist, short story writer, poet, fighter pilot and screenwriter.
Some of his notable works include James and the Giant Peach. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Twits, Georgia's Marvellous Medicine, and The BFG. Read more about Dahl at http://www.roalddahl.com/.



Some information on The Witches
Roald Dahl’s imaginative stories capture the attention of elementary students. In his book, The Witches, Roald Dahl takes children an adventure they will love. Like most of Roald Dahl's stories, the characters are richly described and have unusual traits. In this story the grandmother smokes big, black cigars and the kitchen staff spits in cranky customers food before serving it. These and other little details make the book a fun read aloud choice. (brighthubeducation.com)