Presentations & Homework
10/11/18 -
I've been slammed with great long stories. I'm still grading.
Here is the break down for the turn in dates.
* If you had a conference before 10/11 (today) Turn your papers in by 10/12/18 - 11:59.
* If you have a conference today - Turn your papers in by 10/14/18 - 11:59 pm.
* If you are still waiting. I'll have your papers graded with notes by Friday 5:00pm. Your papers are due 10/14/18 by 11:59 pm.
10/9/18
Writer's Workshop & Writer's Conferences
Creative WRiting 2.0 Due 10/12/18*
10-5-18
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All Rough Drafts are due tonight, 10/5/18 by midnight. Please submit your drafts to the rough draft folder in the google classroom. Do not re-submit to the beta draft file.
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10/3/18
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MRS. ARMSTRONG'S WRITING PHILOSOPHY
My goal with the 4 writing stages, is to teach students that the writing process is practice for their 100 pt papers. What matters to their grade is the 100 pt paper. I began to understand this way of grading (competency based grading) through coaching. I do not punish my swimmers for showing up to practice and working hard. Instead, I support them, show them how to correct their strokes and give workouts that allow them to build their skills. This hard work at practice pays off at the swim meets and their improvements in their time, stroke, distance, etc. I want my students to look at the writing process as practice. I do not want them to be afraid of writing. Giving them practice, and coaching them, allows me to support and help students. I do not have to fail a paper because the ideas were not fully developed, or other learning errors were made. Instead I can coach them, give them suggestions, help them to review their work, and find tricks that work for them. The writing practice is apparent through their last draft, allowing students to understand that the practice is directly related to success, and ALL students can succeed in writing. |
(Today was a great day. The majority of students turned in their Beta Draft and now they are working on their rough drafts.
ROUGH DRAFTS ARE DUE OCTOBER 5, 2018 BY MIDNIGHT. CLICK FOR THE ROUGH DRAFT CHECK OFF PAGE There are at least 4 stages to our writing, 1) The outline - the purpose of the outline is to organize your thoughts and ideas. For the creative writing this was developed in the Creative Writing Play Book. 2) The Beta Draft - According to Urban Dictionary, A beta is a version of a program, game etc... that is an unfinished version released to either the public a select few or whoever signs up to beta test it for bugs or glitches. With this in mind students develop their Beta Draft. This is the first version of their paper. The ideas are usually there, but the paper is raw and needs some work. There is where it is tested by our peers. 3) The Rough Draft - This is where students revise their Beta Drafts according to their peer's suggestion and the check off page. When they turn in this draft, I read the paper and give feed back and support. 4) The Draft - Students take my suggestions and feed back and revise their work and turn it in. I grade these papers looking at three sections, ideas, structure, and use of language, the papers are worth 100 points. This stage is called The Draft because, although I grade it, the draft can be revised. Students can keep revising their work until they are happy with the grade. If students concentrate on each stage of the process (the little details), by the end of the process students will usually end with an A or B on the paper. If they are not happy with their grade on the Draft, they can revise it, as long as they have completed stages 1-3. If they have not completed the stages, they must go back and complete each stage. However, if a student can earn an A or B on their draft without completing the stages, and they are happy with that grade, they do not have to go back. |
October 1, 2018
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Today was an unsure day. The Beta Drafts for the creative short story was due at least 30 minutes before each class. This way, I was able to pint the stories and have them ready for the students to peer edit the Beta Drafts.
To my delight, students were turning in wonderful stories and I could tell that they were working hard. To my sadness, many students missed the deadline and were unable to participate in this important process. Writing is a process, we must practice, revise, and allow ourselves to grow and develop these stories. The purpose of the Beta Draft is for the students to test out their stories. See if there is a character, conflict, plot, and solution. The Beta Draft is developed to allow students to put their first ideas and thoughts down on paper. As we learned, once our ideas our down, it is easier to change them and make them grow. In order to learn this process, we played with shape blocks. We started with 9 blocks, created a design and were able to pick up 3 more block to enhance our designs. Here is what some of the students came up with.
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9/27/18
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Students participated in Writer's Workshop - Dialogue.
Dialogue is very important in writing. A conversation between characters helps to develop the character, the tone, and the mood of a piece. DUE - October 1 - The Beta Draft for the creative short story. The beta draft is a very first draft of a story and is still in the testing phase of writing. The Beta Draft is meant to share with a friend or someone who can help give you direction for your story. This is a great way to get advice and re-work your story. Please note that the Beta Drafts are due before class. 1B - 7:00am 3B - 10:00 am 4B - 12:30 This allows me time to print and have work ready for students to participate in the Beta Drafting process. When students are done reading each other's Beta Drafts, they give the papers back to the author, and the author begins to revise their stories. The Rough Draft is due October 5 for all classes. |
9/25/18
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Today students focused on completing their Creative Writing Play Books. This is the basic for our short stories. Students are able to develop their ideas, work on the conflict, characters, solution, and plot.
Many great ideas are being developed and stories are starting to emerge. |
9/21/18
Friday - Test Day.
Students discovered The District's new online reading assessment. Results will be available to the students during reading conferences the first week of October.
Students discovered The District's new online reading assessment. Results will be available to the students during reading conferences the first week of October.
9/19/18
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Today we officially started our creative writing projects.
The due dates are as follows: September 25, 2018 - Creative Writing Play Book - Google Classroom - End of class October 1, 2018 - Creative Writing Beta Draft - Google Classroom - Before class 1A - 7:00am 3A - 10:00am 4A - 12:30 October 5, 2018 - Rough Draft - Google Classroom - End of class October 11, 2018 - Draft* - Google Classroom - End of class * The Draft is worth 100 points. If students earn below an 80% they can revise their stories as long as they have completed, and turned in on time, The Play Book, The Beta Draft, and the Rough Draft. If a student wishes to revise their drafts and the work is not done, they must go back and complete all of the work before I will accept a revised draft. To work on: 1) Creative Writing Play Book 2) Make sure The Harp is read and slide 23 is filled out 3) Read the 3rd Floor Window |
9/17/18
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9/17/18
- Remember to read the stories before you come to class. When you do this, you are prepared to do the work in class. This will get you ahead and help to de-stress you because you will not have catch up work in the evening, and you can focus on the story. Things to complete: Slide 23 - The Harp Read "Third Floor Bedroom Window" by Kate DiCamillo |
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9/13/18
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9/13/18
* Students are doing an amazing job developing ideas and sharing them out. Many students are beginning to develop expositions, characters, voice, and style. * Today, we dug deeper into "Under the Rug", discussing the characters, setting, conflict, theme, tone and style of an author. Homework: What you didn't finish in class. - Reading "The Harp" - Completing slide 23. For students who want to get a head start on their creative writing project, I posted a Creative Writing Playbook in google classroom. This is a mandatory assignment that we will work on in class next week, I just know some of you are ready to write now! |
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9/11/18
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9/11/18
Students began looking at tone and mood, with a look at Stephen King. We are continuing to practice our creative writing with our interactive journals and the daily writing. On Thursday - we will look at our writing assignment. The Writing Assignment is as follows: Your assignment is to write an original narrative from real or imagined experiences or events. Your story must include a variety of narrative techniques*—such as foreshadowing, point of view, figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and/or irony—as well as effective details and a well- structured sequence of events. * instead of focusing on narrative techniques (later in the year) the 9th grade team is focusing on literary elements - such as plot, setting, characters, conflict, diction, syntax, tone, mood, etc. - to develop their short stories. - Students are brainstorming and participating in daily writing to help them develop ideas. - Students will begin working on developing their stories the week of the 17th and turn them in the first week in October. |
9/7/18
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9/7/18
Students took their first 'test' today. They practiced writing voice, the subject was pizza! If you missed the test, go to google classroom, open the test, read the directions, and take the test. Do the best you can. |
9/5/18
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9/5/18
Today students were introduced to their interactive notebook, we discussed style, and learned about style elements. Homework: Read "Under the Rug" by Jon Scieszka (found on google classroom of just below) this should take you 5-10 minutes. Just read to enjoy Scieszka's style. Do not take notes, annotate, or highlight.
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8/31/18
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8/31/18
Excellent first week! Please make sure that you have completed the following by next class: 1) Turned in your syllabus signature page 2) Complete the 9th Grade Survey (google classroom) 3) Read "The Stolen Party" (google classroom) 4) Compete the reading assessment for "The Stolen Party" (google classroom) 5) Join Quizlet (google classroom & learnstrong.co) 6) Complete the General Writing Terms Test (quizlet) 7) Complete the Defining Style Terms Test (quizlet) 8) Join Remind (learnstrong.co) 9) Complete the Style Survey (google classroom) |
8/29/18
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Today was pre-assessment day. It's very important for me to get an understanding of the knowledge the students bring with them to class. The pre-assessments are created to give myself and the students a base line of what they know and what they need to know.
The pre-assessments include: 1) A style and literary element questions based upon "The Stolen Party" 2) A writing vocabulary pre-assessment 3) A style vocabulary pre-assessment 4) A general ELA knowledge pre-assessment, base line for the year. REMEMBER TO COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING BY FRIDAY: 1) Turn in signed syllabus form 2) Complete the 9th Grade Questionnaire (Form) 3) Join Remind |
8/27/18
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Welcome to school. Today we went over the basic information for the class.
- www.learnstrong.co = my website where you will find information - The Class Syllabus = Students, remember to show your parents/guardians the syllabus, have them fill out the form, and bring it back to class on Wednesday. The syllabus can be found on the home page or on the google classroom. - Remind = an amazing communication tool. If you didn't have your phone, be sure to sign up. Codes are on the home page. - Google Classroom = The majority of our assignments will be posted on the google classroom. If you didn't get the chance to join, remember to join (codes are on the home page) and take the questionnaire. TO COMPLETE BY FRIDAY 8/31/18 1) Turn in signed syllabus form 2) Complete the 9th Grade Questionnaire (Form) 3) Join Remind |