April 29/30
Today is a work session.
Make sure to submit the final draft of your short story--I am starting to score them on Monday.
Check StudentVUE to see which of our smaller assignments from this unit you still need to complete and turn in. Remember, today is the last day that you can turn in any of the smaller assignments and still receive credit.
April 25/26
Work Session today. Focus on completing the following:
Complete Peer Reviews
Look at feedback from peers
Edit/Revise your short story
Submit final draft of short story to your class period course on turnitin.com
April 23/24
Make sure your rough draft (complete or a minimum of two pages of it) has been submitted to turnitin.com--rough draft course. Today begins the peer reviews and you want your paper to get reviewed.
Use the day to work through the two required reviews (you get full credit once you complete two reviews).
Once you have finished your reviews, begin editing and revising your short story. Finals drafts are due at the end of the week.
April 22
This is it, your last day in class to work on the rough draft to your short story project. Remember, you need to have your rough draft submitted to turnitin.com by the end of today (Monday), so that it can be in the pool for peer reviews (which start tomorrow).
April 18/19
If you want to know the process to getting your book published, well now is the time to learn. This slideshow will talk you through the standard steps from your mind to the store bookshelves.
Up next, it's time for a little Blind Write Activity. Once you have finished this activity (you'll only be typing for about 10 minutes), you will need to submit your writing to turnitin.com--go to your class period course and you will see the assignment there.
The remainder of today's time is yours to work on your short story project. Remember, you want to have your short story submitted to turnitin.com (your rough draft course) by the end of the day on Monday.
April 16/17
The first part of today is given over to your completion of A Reasonable Story #2. That's right! Here is another set of strange words and phrases you need to incorporate into a story. You have 7th graders to thank for this list. Make sure to turn your story in once you have finished it.
The remainder of today's time is for your to work on your project. Continue making progress!
*A Day classes: Sorry about missing you on both Monday (I was sick) and Tuesday (I get to help the dentist torture both of my boys). If you have questions or need help, I will be available before and after school on Wednesday to help you.
April 15
Today is a full day devoted to working on your short story project. Be prepared to make progress with your story. Remember, your rough draft is due by Monday, 22 April.
April 11/12
To begin the day, you are being given fifteen minutes to complete "The Visitor" sequel assignment from last class.
Our last author of this unit is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In learning a bit about Marquez, you will start to learn a little about Magical Realism--which are some notes worth taking.
Once we get through those two items, it will be time for you to read "Light is Like Water." The is one of Marquez's magical realism stories. As you read the story, make sure you are filling out the question sheet. We will talk about the story after the reading.
All remaining time will be yours to work on your short story project. Make sure to use your time wisely and start making some progress on your story.
April 9/10
Let's begin the day with a look at Ray Bradbury. From there, you will be reading his story "The Visitor." This story appears in his collection The Illustrated Man and you will be given a copy of the book for today's reading. As you read the story, make sure you are filling out the question sheet (remember, these questions connect to our elements of fiction notes). We will talk about the story after the reading.
Up next, you will need to work on creating a flash-fiction sequel to "The Visitor." This sequel is due by the end class.
Assignment:
You need to write a flash-fiction (100-500 words) sequel to Bradbury’s story “The Visitor.”
The story needs to:
Look at the events of the original and decide what happens next.
Story must remain true to the original
If you need to read the story outside of class, you can find it on page 121 of this pdf.
If you finish your sequel before the end of class, you can use the remaining time to work on your short story project.
April 8
The first part of class today is about finding different words (synonyms) for when you get stuck in a rut. Our Thesaurus Activity is similar to the Rhyme Activity we completed in the poetry unit.
The remainder of today's time is yours to begin planning out your project story.
April 4/5
We will be getting a new seating chart today, so be prepared.
The first 20-25 minutes of class will be yours to work on completing any of our work from this unit. This includes the following: Character Profile Worksheet, Setting Worksheet, Character in Action Assignment, A Reasonable Story 1, and our Two Drabbles Assignment.
We will then move into our first Pass-Along story. Same rules apply as the Pass-Along poems from last unit.
Finally, you will be introduced to your Short Story unit project today. Your rough draft will need to be submitted by April 22 (more detail in class).
April 2/3
Let's start things off by using the character you created for your Character Profile worksheet. You are going to want to use that character for our Character In Action assignment. You want to have this story finished by the end of class today--make sure to drop it off in our class in-box before you leave the room.
Up next, we talked about building characters and now it is time to build the setting. Our notes on Creating A Setting will help you think about what is needed to help us visualise the world of your story. Finally, you will be given a Setting Development worksheet. Please have this completed for your next class (April 4/5).
April 1
Today begins with a quick look at the author Guy de Maupassant. From there, we will be reading his story "The Necklace." As you read the story, make sure you are filling out the question sheet (remember, these questions connect to our elements of fiction notes). As time permits, we will talk about the story at the end of class. If we run out of time, we will talk about the story next class.
March 19/20
The day will begin with our discussion over "The Black Cat."
Up next, a short set of notes on the length of fiction. At the end of those notes is an assignment for writing two drabbles, which is due by the end of the class.
After you have written your drabbles, we will take a look at a longer set of notes. These notes expand on the idea of characterisation. Following these notes, you will be given a Character Development Worksheet. This worksheet is due on Monday, April 1 (that's the day we come back from Spring Break). The idea with this worksheet is for you to create a character you can use in an upcoming assignment.
March 18
Let's start with our first mini-bio of this unit as we take a look at Edgar Allan Poe. From there, you will be reading Poe's story "The Black Cat."
As you are reading the story, you need to answer the response questions, which connect back to our elements of fiction notes from last class. Finally, we will have a short class discussion about the story.
March 14/15
Today starts with an introduction to our Short Fiction Unit. The idea here is to give you an idea of what to expect.
We will then move forward into the notes on Elements of Fiction for this unit. As before, this will be broken up into two slideshows. So, we have Part I of the notes and Part II of the notes.
Finally, you will receive an assignment that is due by the end of class. This is A Reasonable Story 1. Try to have a little fun with this one.
Today is a work session.
Make sure to submit the final draft of your short story--I am starting to score them on Monday.
Check StudentVUE to see which of our smaller assignments from this unit you still need to complete and turn in. Remember, today is the last day that you can turn in any of the smaller assignments and still receive credit.
April 25/26
Work Session today. Focus on completing the following:
Complete Peer Reviews
Look at feedback from peers
Edit/Revise your short story
Submit final draft of short story to your class period course on turnitin.com
April 23/24
Make sure your rough draft (complete or a minimum of two pages of it) has been submitted to turnitin.com--rough draft course. Today begins the peer reviews and you want your paper to get reviewed.
Use the day to work through the two required reviews (you get full credit once you complete two reviews).
Once you have finished your reviews, begin editing and revising your short story. Finals drafts are due at the end of the week.
April 22
This is it, your last day in class to work on the rough draft to your short story project. Remember, you need to have your rough draft submitted to turnitin.com by the end of today (Monday), so that it can be in the pool for peer reviews (which start tomorrow).
April 18/19
If you want to know the process to getting your book published, well now is the time to learn. This slideshow will talk you through the standard steps from your mind to the store bookshelves.
Up next, it's time for a little Blind Write Activity. Once you have finished this activity (you'll only be typing for about 10 minutes), you will need to submit your writing to turnitin.com--go to your class period course and you will see the assignment there.
The remainder of today's time is yours to work on your short story project. Remember, you want to have your short story submitted to turnitin.com (your rough draft course) by the end of the day on Monday.
April 16/17
The first part of today is given over to your completion of A Reasonable Story #2. That's right! Here is another set of strange words and phrases you need to incorporate into a story. You have 7th graders to thank for this list. Make sure to turn your story in once you have finished it.
The remainder of today's time is for your to work on your project. Continue making progress!
*A Day classes: Sorry about missing you on both Monday (I was sick) and Tuesday (I get to help the dentist torture both of my boys). If you have questions or need help, I will be available before and after school on Wednesday to help you.
April 15
Today is a full day devoted to working on your short story project. Be prepared to make progress with your story. Remember, your rough draft is due by Monday, 22 April.
April 11/12
To begin the day, you are being given fifteen minutes to complete "The Visitor" sequel assignment from last class.
Our last author of this unit is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In learning a bit about Marquez, you will start to learn a little about Magical Realism--which are some notes worth taking.
Once we get through those two items, it will be time for you to read "Light is Like Water." The is one of Marquez's magical realism stories. As you read the story, make sure you are filling out the question sheet. We will talk about the story after the reading.
All remaining time will be yours to work on your short story project. Make sure to use your time wisely and start making some progress on your story.
April 9/10
Let's begin the day with a look at Ray Bradbury. From there, you will be reading his story "The Visitor." This story appears in his collection The Illustrated Man and you will be given a copy of the book for today's reading. As you read the story, make sure you are filling out the question sheet (remember, these questions connect to our elements of fiction notes). We will talk about the story after the reading.
Up next, you will need to work on creating a flash-fiction sequel to "The Visitor." This sequel is due by the end class.
Assignment:
You need to write a flash-fiction (100-500 words) sequel to Bradbury’s story “The Visitor.”
The story needs to:
Look at the events of the original and decide what happens next.
Story must remain true to the original
If you need to read the story outside of class, you can find it on page 121 of this pdf.
If you finish your sequel before the end of class, you can use the remaining time to work on your short story project.
April 8
The first part of class today is about finding different words (synonyms) for when you get stuck in a rut. Our Thesaurus Activity is similar to the Rhyme Activity we completed in the poetry unit.
The remainder of today's time is yours to begin planning out your project story.
April 4/5
We will be getting a new seating chart today, so be prepared.
The first 20-25 minutes of class will be yours to work on completing any of our work from this unit. This includes the following: Character Profile Worksheet, Setting Worksheet, Character in Action Assignment, A Reasonable Story 1, and our Two Drabbles Assignment.
We will then move into our first Pass-Along story. Same rules apply as the Pass-Along poems from last unit.
Finally, you will be introduced to your Short Story unit project today. Your rough draft will need to be submitted by April 22 (more detail in class).
April 2/3
Let's start things off by using the character you created for your Character Profile worksheet. You are going to want to use that character for our Character In Action assignment. You want to have this story finished by the end of class today--make sure to drop it off in our class in-box before you leave the room.
Up next, we talked about building characters and now it is time to build the setting. Our notes on Creating A Setting will help you think about what is needed to help us visualise the world of your story. Finally, you will be given a Setting Development worksheet. Please have this completed for your next class (April 4/5).
April 1
Today begins with a quick look at the author Guy de Maupassant. From there, we will be reading his story "The Necklace." As you read the story, make sure you are filling out the question sheet (remember, these questions connect to our elements of fiction notes). As time permits, we will talk about the story at the end of class. If we run out of time, we will talk about the story next class.
March 19/20
The day will begin with our discussion over "The Black Cat."
Up next, a short set of notes on the length of fiction. At the end of those notes is an assignment for writing two drabbles, which is due by the end of the class.
After you have written your drabbles, we will take a look at a longer set of notes. These notes expand on the idea of characterisation. Following these notes, you will be given a Character Development Worksheet. This worksheet is due on Monday, April 1 (that's the day we come back from Spring Break). The idea with this worksheet is for you to create a character you can use in an upcoming assignment.
March 18
Let's start with our first mini-bio of this unit as we take a look at Edgar Allan Poe. From there, you will be reading Poe's story "The Black Cat."
As you are reading the story, you need to answer the response questions, which connect back to our elements of fiction notes from last class. Finally, we will have a short class discussion about the story.
March 14/15
Today starts with an introduction to our Short Fiction Unit. The idea here is to give you an idea of what to expect.
We will then move forward into the notes on Elements of Fiction for this unit. As before, this will be broken up into two slideshows. So, we have Part I of the notes and Part II of the notes.
Finally, you will receive an assignment that is due by the end of class. This is A Reasonable Story 1. Try to have a little fun with this one.