E. Quinson

D-201

8R, periods 2 and 3

 

Monday, October 6, 2008

SWBAT: read "How to survive Shopping with Mom" and respond to the use of the 2nd person narration.

DO NOW:  Independent reading, have your your notes page for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings on your desk, so I can check it as I check on your reading.

DEVELOPMENT:

  1. Check pages read and notes pages.
  2. Review how Independent reading is going. 
  3. Over the weekend, you wrote about an adult who had an important influence on you.  How many of us chose parents?  Naturally.  But sometimes don’t our parents annoy us? 
  4. Write an entry in your writer's notebook:  What is the difference between shopping with your parents and shopping with your friends?  Why?  Give examples.
  5. Review H.W. and DO NOW entries.
  6. Discuss 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person narrators.
  7. Distribute copies of  "How to survive Shopping with Mom" and read aloud.
  8. Discuss realism, and 2nd person narration.  What has this genuine student writer done?  Why was it effective?
  9. Review H.W./share.

H.W.:  1.  Write one page in response to "How to survive Shopping with Mom."  You could write about a similar experience shopping with your mom, or you could choose a reader response question and answer it.  2.  Independent reading, 30 minutes a night!  3.  Writer’s notebooks will be collected Friday.

 

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

SWBAT:  read an honest memoir by a fellow Felix Festa 8th grader.

DO NOW:       Independent reading.

DEVELOPMENT:

  1. Write an entry in your writer’s notebook:  Free write off the word: CAFETERIA
  2. Discuss H.W. entry and possible memoir topics.  Part of what we will be doing for the next week or so, is exploring possible topics for our own memoirs.  Could you write a memoir about shopping with your mother? With friends?  Could you make it interesting? With lots of details?  What other topics have we read about that you could write about:
    1. Adults who have had an influence on you. (“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”
    2. Animals who have had an influence on you (“Debbie”)
    3. Kissing?!  Well, boys-girls and that whole thing.  (“First Kiss”)
    4. The Mall with friends (A Day at the Mall)
    5. Names – self-identification.
  3. As mentioned last week, we will be reading memoirs by my past students and the first one is one that became somewhat infamous.  Yes, it is a real event.  And yes, there are some errors of spelling, mechanics, etc. in this student’s work.  But I think it is still powerful, honest, and admirable.
  4. Read aloud or silent reading and then time for response in notebooks.
  5. Discuss the value of HONESTY and BRAVERY in writing.  It is not easy, but is always improves writing.

H.W.:  1.  Write one page in your writer’s notebook about a former best friend, a faded friendship, a new friendship.  Try to be as specific and honest as possible in your entry.  Search out the specific details that could make your memoir come alive.  2.  Independent reading.  30 minutes everynight!  3.  Writer’s notebooks will be collected Friday.

 

 

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

SWBAT: read a memoir about baseball

DO NOW:  Independent reading.  Take out your writer’s notebooks and write an entry about BASEBALL.

DEVELOPMENT:

  1. Review H.W. entry about a friendship.  How did the writing go?  Did you have a lot to say?  How about an idea for your memoir? 
  2. Take out your writer’s notebooks and write an entry about SPORTS.
  3. One topic that sometimes appeals to student writers is sports.  But be careful!  You have to be specific and detailed to make it come alive.  Sports writing is some of the best newspapers have to offer and it isn’t easy to make a game come alive.
  4. Read Sam Burd’s memoir.  Examine for detailed craft, which really makes it come alive.
  5. Look for vibrant VERBS.
  6. Look for other specific details.
  7. Another example of a baseball memoir exists in your new textbook and I am asking you to read it for H.W.  As you read, think about how the narrator experienced this game and how different it might have looked to an outsider. 
  8. We may have time to do so in class, I hope.
  9. If time allows I will read it aloud. 

H.W.:  1.  Read “Baseball” by Lionel Garcia in the new textbook, pp. 624-627.  2.  Write one page in your writer’s notebook.  Write about your favorite sport, hobby or activity.  One idea is to consider:  have you ever had a game (sports or otherwise) where you and your friends or family had your own rules?  Explain.  3.  Independent reading.    4.  Writer’s notebooks will be collected Friday.

 

Friday, October 10, 2008

SWBAT:  develop a list of ideas for writing a memoir.

DO NOW:  Complete Writer’s Notebook Self-Evaluation/Independent Reading.  

DEVELOPMENT:

  1. Students will complete self-evaluation and leave books on desks, then read independently.
  2. Discuss “Baseball” by Lionel Garcia.  One thing that I think is missing in today’s suburbs are the pickup games that were a part of my life and everyone’s life up until very recently.  What experience have you had with pick up games?  How is setting important to this memoir?  Or neighborhood friends?  Ask your parents (especially if they grew up in a city) if they had any similar experiences of playing ball in the school yard. 
  3. Discuss how finding a memoir topic is going?
  4. Review your territories list which should be at the back of your writer’s notebook.
  5. Add new ideas from Territories list.
  6. Also, review your homework entries for the last two nights.
  7. Distribute and put up Questions for Memoirists on overhead.  Review questions and encourage students to add these to their territories lists and their possibilities. 
  8. Have students write entries about the Questions for memoirists. 
  9. Distribute Seed Idea Worksheet and explain that Monday we are beginning a real writer’s workshop in the computer lab.  Each of us will be writing a memoir, so, we need to come up with a really good idea
  10. Monday we meet in the computer lab.  Go there directly!
  11. If time allows, students may begin completing Seed  Idea worksheet.

H.W.:  1.  We’re beginning our memoirs on Monday!  Think LONG AND HARD about what topic might interest you.  Complete Seed Idea Worksheet.  2.  Independent reading, at least 30 minutes each and every night.  Or, perhaps you could find a whole hour a day to really get into your book.

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