Christmas Creative Writing

http://www.ehow.com/how_4897636_teach-creative-writing-activities.html

TEST

Test for your novel will be on Monday, December 13th.

Block #4

Your group must choose one of the following:

A. Summary - Summarize the main events of Part #2 in point form.  You must write a rough copy and a good copy.  The good copy must be typed or neatly writted and should not be longer than one page.  Each person must attach his/her rough copy.  You may not choose this one if you did a summary for Block#2.

B. Paragraph - Answer the following question with a well-organized paragraph.  You must include a title page, rough copies and good copy.  You may not choose this one again (from block #2).
The Cage- Riva is a strong and determined young woman.  Support this statement in a well-organized paragraph and use supporting ideas from the entire novel.
Daniel's Story - Daniel has painfully survived the separation of his girfriend along with many family members.  Support this statement in a well organized paragraph and include supports from the entire novel.

C. Art Project - a coloured photo album - hand drawn - a minimum of five snapshots.

D. Art Project - Individual colored posters to portray the PLOT of the novel.  One person can draw the setting, on person - rising action...

Christmas Creative Writing Story

Required Elements:
/2 - brainstorming - web or linear
/2 - drafting rough copy - may be hand written or typed
/2 - proofreading/editing - must be proof on rough copy
/4 - two people must edit and sign the rough copy - using two different colors
- good copy - minimum 1500 words - typed and double spaced; story must be true;
/1 - title page;
/5 - plot - creative, logical and well organized;
/3 - mechanics - spelling, punctuation and gramma
/3 - visual representation of story
/3 - oral presentation of story - volume, fluency and expression
/5 - listening to other student stories - notes on each

/30  TOTAL

Daniel's Story and The Cage

Working on literature cirlces.  Students are finishing up Block #2 and #3.  Syd, Riley T, Preston, Ally, Tyler and Tyra - need to catch up.

Students have to finish to the end of Block #4 by Friday.

Test on Monday.

Literature Circle

Students are reading either The Cage or Daniel's Story within a group for this week and completing a few activities together.  Students may choose to read the other novel if they finish the first.

BLOCK ONE AND TWO WORK DUE MONDAY.

 Students must hand in their reader response letter which is due today.

We will finish the selections from Making Choices next week.

Breadwinner

Breadwinner Test will be Monday, November 22.  You need to learn the vocabulary words in the back of the novel and be able to answer any comprehension questions about the novel.

Group Project:
1- Danette, James and Riley G
2- Keirstin, Justin and Tyra
3- Syd, Tylynne and Jesse
4 - Alex, Mikayla and Danny
5 - Shania, Tyler and Marcie
6- Riley T, Stephanie and Shayla
7- Ally, Tristin, Preston and Kim

Project -
1- Plot outline on poster paper
2-Hand drawn pictures of Afghan clothing
3-Hand drawn map of Afghanistan with all bordering coutnries labeled
4- Venn diagram of your life compared to Parvana's - on poster paper.

November 15-18th

This week we will  be finishing up The Breadwinner.  Once we are finished reading the students will be placed into groups of three and we will have one group of four.  Each group will be asked to complete four tasks involving plot, maps and Afghanistan clothing.  We will have a test following completion, either Thursday of this week or Monday next week.  Each student must have their question booklets completed for the day of the exam.


After the novel is complete, the students will be reading either Daniel's Story or The Cage.


Report cards will be sent home on Wednesday and student-parent-teacher conferences will be held this week on Thursday evening or Friday morning. 


The grade nine students will be creating a video to report their learning for each of their subjects.

This Week

This week is a very short week, because there is no school on Thursday, November 11th and Friday, November 12th is a school holiday.  We are having our annual Community/School Remembrance Day Program on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30pm.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

This week in English we will continue with the novel The Breadwinner.  We have read the first three chapters together and some background information on Afghanistan.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/878278--canada-urged-to-protect-gains-of-afghan-women

We will also review our essays, and we will briefly talk about the use of transition words.
http://www.somers.k12.ny.us/sis/main/writing/transitional_words.html
http://www.studygs.net/wrtstr6.htm
http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/for-students-and-parents/how/how-do-i-include-transition-words-in-my-essay.html

Thesis statements:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/thesis.html

Writing a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a sentence (or sentences) that expresses the main ideas of your paper and answers the question or questions posed by your paper. It offers your readers a quick and easy to follow summary of what the paper will be discussing and what you as a writer are setting out to tell them. The kind of thesis that your paper will have will depend on the purpose of your writing. This handout will cover general thesis statement tips, explain some of the different types of thesis statements, and provide some links to other resources about writing thesis statements.

General Thesis Statement Tips

• A thesis statement generally consists of two parts: your topic, and then the analysis, explanation(s), or assertion(s) that you're making about the topic. The kind of thesis statement you write will depend on what kind of paper you're writing.
• In some kinds of writing, such as narratives or descriptions, a thesis statement is less important, but you may still want to provide some kind of statement in your first paragraph that helps to guide your reader through your paper.
• A thesis statement is a very specific statement -- it should cover only what you want to discuss in your paper, and be supported with specific evidence. The scope of your paper will be determined by the length of your paper and any other requirements that might be in place.
• Generally, a thesis statement appears at the end of the first paragraph of an essay, so that readers will have a clear idea of what to expect as they read.
• You can think of your thesis as a map or a guide both for yourself and your audience, so it might be helpful to draw a chart or picture of your ideas and how they're connected to help you get started.
• As you write and revise your paper, it's okay to change your thesis statement -- sometimes you don't discover what you really want to say about a topic until you've started (or finished) writing! Just make sure that your "final" thesis statement accurately shows what will happen in your paper.

Analytical Thesis Statements

In an analytical paper, you are breaking down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluating the issue or idea, and presenting this breakdown and evaluation to your audience. An analytical thesis statement will explain:

• what you are analyzing
• the parts of your analysis
• the order in which you will be presenting your analysis

Example: An analysis of barn owl flight behavior reveals two kinds of flight patterns: patterns related to hunting prey and patterns related to courtship.
A reader who encountered that thesis in a paper would expect an explanation of the analysis of barn owl flight behavior, and then an explanation of the two kinds of flight patterns.
Questions to ask yourself when writing an analytical thesis statement:

• What did I analyze?
• What did I discover in my analysis?
• How can I categorize my discoveries?
• In what order should I present my discoveries?

Expository (Explanatory) Thesis Statements

In an expository paper, you are explaining something to your audience. An expository thesis statement will tell your audience:

• what you are going to explain to them
• the categories you are using to organize your explanation
• the order in which you will be presenting your categories

Example: The lifestyles of barn owls include hunting for insects and animals, building nests, and raising their young.
A reader who encountered that thesis would expect the paper to explain how barn owls hunt for insects, build nests, and raise young.
Questions to ask yourself when writing an expository thesis statement:

• What am I trying to explain?
• How can I categorize my explanation into different parts?
• In what order should I present the different parts of my explanation?

Argumentative Thesis Statements

In an argumentative paper, you are making a claim about a topic and justifying this claim with reasons and evidence. This claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. However, this claim must be a statement that people could possibly disagree with, because the goal of your paper is to convince your audience that your claim is true based on your presentation of your reasons and evidence. An argumentative thesis statement will tell your audience:

• your claim or assertion
• the reasons/evidence that support this claim
• the order in which you will be presenting your reasons and evidence

Example: Barn owls' nests should not be eliminated from barns because barn owls help farmers by eliminating insect and rodent pests.
A reader who encountered this thesis would expect to be presented with an argument and evidence that farmers should not get rid of barn owls when they find them nesting in their barns.
Questions to ask yourself when writing an argumentative thesis statement:

• What is my claim or assertion?
• What are the reasons I have to support my claim or assertion?
• In what order should I present my reasons?

This Week

Remembrance Day Contest - Poem OR Essay
Due Friday, November 6th
Poem can be no longer than 32 lines.
Essay can be no longer than 500 words.

Finish story "And the Lucky Winner Is..."

Start reading the novel The Breadwinner.

Today...

Monday -
- hand in essays
- hand in reader response letters
This Week -
- "And the Lucky Winner Is..."  - finish
- Remembrance Day Contest - poem OR essay
- The novel The Breadwinner

Thursday, October 28

1. Work on your essays - due Monday, rather than today at 3:30 - hand in title page, web/outline, rough copy and good copy.  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE YOUR HANDOUT FOR THE ROUGH COPY.  I should have waited to use this.  You can just write your rough copy on loose leaf paper.  Have someone edit/proofread your rough copy. 
2. Work on your reader response letter.
3. You may have both classes to work on your essay and your reader response letter if you USE your time.  Otherwise your sub will assign "And the Lucky Winner Is" short story.

TEST

We will write a test on Tuesday, October 26th on all of the selections that we have studied within the first unit, IN SEARCH OF SELF.

Students need to hand in their work from How to Tell Renata.  We will continue with our essays next week after our exam.  Essays will be due next Thursday, October 28th.

Essay Writing

Today we talked and wrote about essay writing all class.  Students have to write one essay - minimum of five paragraphs about our unit "In Search of Self".  We will work on this the rest of the week. 

Students handed in their work from "A Taste of Melon" today.

Tomorrow Mr. Mamer is coming in to read to our class:)  and then we will work on our essays if there is time at the end of the class.

Silent Bag Reading

 Reading today. Fill in reading log.

A Taste of Melon

I CAN USE READING STRATEGIES.
1.  Reference Sheet - Literary Terms
2. A Taste of Melon - reading strategy  - "I Wonder"  "I Think" Chart - fill in as we read.
3. Vocabulary and Questions - finish tomorrow and READING BAGS!!

Listening Activity

Good Morning,

Today we will listen to the story Long,  Long After School and answer ten questions.

After that, we will complete work on the Golden Girl with partner.  This is due on Thursday.

If finished, silent reading from their reading bags.  All students need to have reading bags ready!

Exam next week on Unit #1.

Golden Girl

1. Representation of one of the poems - due Monday.

2. Golden Girl - read and partner activity -working on Monday - due on Tuesday.

Reading

We need to practice reading orally and silently.  In addition to building our fluency, we need to ensure that we understand.
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/online/2006/grade9/read/9reading.htm

Newspaper Articles are due Wednesday!

Robert Frost's Poem

Newspaper Article

HAVE YOUR READING BAG READY!!!!!!!!!

1. VOTE
2. Newspaper Article - rough copy triangle, rough copy with editing and good "pretty" published copy.
3. Bag reading - be sure to write on your log sheet!  PRACTICE PRACTICE!!  YOU NEED 250 WORDS PER MINUTE!

Newpaper
/2 - order of importance
/2 - headline - important and catchy
/1 - Drop Cap
/2 - Creativity
/3 - looks/neatness
/5 - information - who, what, when, where, why and how
/3 - Mechanics - punctuation, spelling, grammar (-0.5 for each error)

TOTAL  -   /18

Monday, October 4th

Today,

I CAN WRITE AND PUBLISH A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE.

Drafting and writing their newspaper article for "On The Sidewalk Bleeding".

Poem in our reading booklet, "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost - read and answer all the questions on the second page.

Voting begins today:  http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf5560

Friday, October 1

On The Sidewalk Bleeding

Students are asked to complete the four questions at the end of the story.

Students must write a newspaper article to report the incident using the pyramid format.  The pyramid format is explained at the end of the story.  Students will be able to complete the good copy of this on Monday.

Friday, October 1

Reader Response Letters are Due!!

Reading "On the Sidewalk Bleeding"

Blog Posts

I need blog posts from:
Keirstin, Tylynne and Tyler
for the selection "My Appearance"

Jade Peony

The Jade Peony  by Wayson Choy

Write the sentence for each word and the write a definition for each:

1.     Ginseng (page 14)

2.     Sombre (page 14)

3.     Diminutive (page 14)

4.     Impeccable (page 14)

5.     Dissension (page 15)

6.     Menacing (page 15)

7.     Exasperation (page 15)

8.     Abomination (page 15)

9.     Embossed (page 15)

10.  Precariously (page 16)

11.  Deftly (page 18)

At the end of the story – on page 21, answer questions 1a, b, c, d and e.  We will discuss the writing activity tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 28

- Hand in Figures of Speech Assignments.
- Blog responses to My Appearance.
- Ensure that your summary of Living Life to the Max is complete.

Today we will read Jade Peony orally.

Thursday and Friday, September 23 & 24

Over the next two classes you need to:

1.       Figures of Speech Assignment – find and write two examples for each.  Then you have to write your own figure of speech and print out on 8 1/2 x 11 paper.  Label what figure of speech of it, illustrate and explain.  You need it to show “In Search of Self”.  DUE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28^TH.

2.       Read the selection “Appearance” in your reading booklet.  Write an original sentence or find and cite a quote that explains your feelings regarding appearance.  THIS SENTENCE IS TO BE POSTED ON THE BLOG AS A COMMENT.  DUE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28^TH. 

3.       Read the selection, “Living Life to the Max” silently.  In your notebooks, summarize with a paragraph what the author’s message is.  You are to be prepared to read this to the class.  DUE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28^TH.

4.       IF you finish the above assignments, you must work on your reader response letter which is due on October 1.

5.       If you finish everything, work on your theme writing assignment which  is due December 1.  You must complete a web, two rough copieswhich show editing and proofreading and a good copy for each of your choices.

Book Contest

ENTER THE FAVORITE BOOK CONTEST!!  IT WOULD JUST TAKE A FEW MINUTES!!

http://saskla.ca/programs/slw/my-favourite-book

Assignments

Today we are finishing the book talks and then we will work on the following:
1. Figures of Speech Assignment - Due Friday, September 24
3. Reader Response Letter - Due October 1
4. Writing Assignment - Due December 1
2. Read Our Appearance from our Reading Booklet.  Write or find a quote that relates to this selection.  If you find a quote on the Internet, cite the author.  Post your quote as a comment on this blog entry.  Due Friday, September 24.
- Read Living Life to the Max from our Reading Booklet and write in your notebook what you think Dennis is Shappa is saying.  Be prepared to share with the class.  Due Friday, Spetember 24th.

Monday, September 20

Today, we will review the figures of speech assignment and we will go over our writing assignment.  Then we will listen to the book talks.

STUDENT CHOICE
Students may choose to the enter the following competition:
Online Limerick Competition sponsored by Saskatchewan Libraries Week which is October 18-25, 2010.

So you think our Sask libr'ies are great?
Tell the world with a poem you create!
A lim'rick is wanted
No need to be daunted
Your poems we anticipate!

http://saskla.ca

Wednesday, September 15

Today we will listen to the last few song assignments.

Assignment:
Figures of Speech - handout.

Students are asked to write/find two examples of each. 

Then, using 8 1/2 x 11" white paper, the students must select one figure of speech to create, illustrate and explain.  The sentence must be in direct reference to our theme, "In Search of Self".

Students may work on their book assignment/report and/or the figure of speech assignment.  The figure of speech assignment will be due next Wednesday, September 22nd.

Tuesday, September 14th

We are working on our Book Talk/Assignment which is due Monday, September 20th, and we are listening to the rest of the song lyric assignments.

Tomorrow will finish the songs and write about some literary devices.  The next assignment will  be to use one literary device, create a sentence that fits with our theme: "In Search of Self".  Student must illustrate and explain their sentence.  Students must use 81/2 x 11 inch white paper.  Students can draw or use a computer program to complete the assignment.

Rhyme and Rhythm

Useful site:
http://www.angelfire.com/ct2/evenski/poetry/rhythm.html

http://www.mca.k12.nf.ca/subpro4.htm

http://www.yourdictionary.com/trochaic

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/scansion



We will finish listening to the song/lyrics assignments on Monday!

Thursday

WORKING ON SONG ASSIGNMENT AND BOOK TALK

Make sure that you are ready to present your song tomorrow:
1. Stephanie
2. Danette
3. Riley G
4. James

Homework

Grade 9

Make sure that you have finished your work from The Game and answered the Blog question to get us going!

Make sure that all of this is done for tomorrow!

Wednesday, September 8

On Wednesday we will continue to work:
1. Finish all of The Game work and hand it in (or post it).
2. Make sure that your Blog Question in complete.
3. Song Assignment - Due Friday, September 10th.
4. Work on Book Report (book talk).

We will read Acceptance on Thursday.

Tuesday, September 7

Tuesday and Wednesdsay we will work on the following:
1. Go over poster and reader response assignments.
2. Go over rhyming patterns with a handout from Wikipedia. 
3. Song Lyrics Assignment - hand out.
4. Read : "Our Appearance" from our booklet and find and create at least ten other other quotes (at least one must be original) which shows/represents your understanding.  This must be DISPLAYED on 8 1/2 paper.
5. Time to work on the following:
          - The Game work
          - Song Lyrics Assignment
          - "Our Appearance" quotes
          - Answer the Blog
          - Book Talk (book report)

Friday, September 3

Today we read the short story "The Game" by Ken Dryden.  Students have to select five words that they do not understand, write the sentence, circle or underline the word and then write a definition.  Then students must select one of the following activities to complete:
1. Outline all of the qualities of the "sports hero" or celebrity identified by Dryden.  Select a sports figure to research, and compare Dryden's description with your research model.  Create a chart to show your findings.
2. The artist Andy Warhol once predicted that in today's media-rich world, everyone would have fifteen minutes of fame.  Create a scenario (or a real example) that has made you famous.  Did you win the lottery?  Perform a heroic deed?  Break a record?  Write a script describing your fifteen minutes of fame. 
3. Write a fan letter to a celebrity, identifying the qualities and characteristics that make him or her admirable to you.  Your letter should contain specific examples that demonstrate these qualities.

Post, as a comment, your five sentences, with the selected word highlighted or underlined.  Write a definition for each.  If you have already started in your notebook, that is fine.

YOU MUST HAND IN ALL OF YOUR WORK FROM THE GAME!

Thursday, September 2

Today we went over answers to "Borders" and "I Was a Teenage Ingenue".
We read "Kath and Mouse" orally.  Students have to answer four questions and then write four examples of conflict from the story:
- Human versus Human
- Human versus Self
- Human versus Society
- Human versus Nature
Write and explain one example for each type of conflict.
Last class - finishing work from "Kath and Mouse" and silent reading.
Students were given a book report.  They must select and read a book related to our theme, and then they must prepare a book talk to persuade others to read the book.  This is due September 20th.

Wednesday, September 1

Today we are working on the following:
- Finishing "I Was an Teenage Ingenue" - finish work assigned
- Next selection - "Kath and Mouse" - reading silently
- select a novel to read that you think relates to the theme "In Search of Self"
- handing in reader response letters and Acceptance Posters

email me - hiltz.catherine@prairiesouth.ca

Tomorrow, we will practice oral speaking:
- Have you ever done something that you regret that involved peer pressure?  Explain.
- Why is it so important that people try to fit in?

Tuesday, August 31

Today we read  "I Was a Teenage Ingenue" by Leah Ross

Before reading, "Teenage girls are only concerned with their image, and images of beauty and romance."  Answer with a few sentences.

We read the first part of the article together and the students finished.

After, students were asked to asnwer questions 1 and 2 following the article and 2b must have at least 15 colloquial words with defininitions.

They were also asked to answer:
- What does ingenue mean?
- What magazine had Ross hoped Ingenue would be modelled after and why?
- Why does Ross call herself an Ingenue at the end of the article?

Reader Response Letter

Today the students had time to work on the following:

1. Reader Response Letter - due September 1, 2010.  They have to select a piece of reading, which may be anything at grade leve inclduing novels, newspaper articles, magazine articles, poems, lyrics....  They need to write their response using friendly letter format.  The first paragraph of their letter needs to contain a summary of what they have read and the subsequent paragraphs need to be personal responses to the literature.  The students have been given a sample letter and twenty possible questions to begin their responses.  They only need to focus on two-three questions for each letter.
2. Visual/multimedia picture - the importance of being true to themselves.  This is part of the assignment from "Acceptance".
3. Short story: "Borders" - work following the story including listing five simple sentences and five complex sentences.

Mrs. Hiltz

In Search of Self

Your first blogging assignment is to answer the following question:

How do people try to "fit in" and why do you think it is so important for most people to "fit in"?

Answer by commenting on this post.

Welcome

We are beginning ELA Unit #1: In Search of Self
Grade 9 ELA



Today we read a short story, Acceptance, which is about 10 lines, and we just started answering the questions. Tomorrow we will finish the questions and work on an 8 ½ x 11 poster.

- Choose any computer program or just use pencil and colors.

- Illustrate the importance of being true to yourself.

- Your poster must contain a slogan.

- It must be original.

- You must create a rough draft in your notebooks.

- You must have at least one visual.

- You must consider the tone – (informal, funny…)

- Remember that you are communicated to their audience the importance of being true to yourself.


Posters must be handed in, our next selection will be Borders from our package.