Week of January 28, 2008

This is the beginning of the second half of the year (4th marking period). Writers you have done a GREAT JOB with the first third of our essay unit! We will be continuing that work this marking period. I know that we are going to have some AWESOME essays to share. Keep up the good and hard work! You can and will be proud of the results in the end. :)

Monday, January 28th
1. Bell Work~ Look over your notebook evaluation. Are you happy with your grade? Why? If not, what are you going to do differently this marking period?
2. Go to the library.
3. Mini-Lesson~"Checking Thesis Statements"
4. Book exchange
5. Students will take an Accelerated Reader test for the book(s) they have finished reading.
6. Students will work with a partner to complete the checking thesis statements handout.
7. Silent reading when done.

Tuesday, January 29th
1. Bell Work~Check your thesis statement by asking yourself the questions that writers ask of theses. Is your thesis statement a good one? Explain why or why not?
2. Mini-Lesson~"Boxes and Bullets: Framing Essays," Part 1
3. Quiet Writing~Write your thesis statement in a box. Then, write at least three bullets of supporting ideas (reasons for your claim & kinds to support your claim).
4. Share Time~Consider revising if you are having a hard time supporting your current thesis.
5. Wrap Up
Homework~Checking Thesis and Support Alignment sheet

Wednesday, January 30th
SNOW DAY-NO SCHOOL

Thursday, January 31st
1. Bell Work~Reread your boxes and bullets. Does your support go with the thesis statement that you have written?
2. Mini-Lesson~"Boxes and Bullets," Part 2
3. Quiet Writing~Choose at least two other ways to angle your essay and write the supporting ideas to go with it (parts, places, ways, or times).
4. Share Time~Writers will share their thesis statement and supporting sentences.
5. Wrap Up
Homework~Supporting Thesis in Various Ways sheet

Friday, February 1st
SNOW DAY-NO SCHOOL

Week of January 21, 2008

Monday, January 21st
Happy MLK (Martin Luther King) day!
1. Bell Work~ Word Puzzle & What happened this weekend that you might be able to use as an essay idea?
2. Mini-Lesson~"Pushing Our Thinking"
3. Quiet Writing~Use as many conversation prompts as you can to push your thinking in your entries today.
4. Share Time~Read an entry to your partner and discuss your observations about whether the writer used our class list of prompts, or tried another way to grow ideas.
5. Wrap Up~Explain Writing Workshop rubric
Homework~Complete "Collecting Ideas From Talk" sheet.

Tuesday, January, 22nd
Note: Today is the last day to turn in missing assignments.
1. Bell Work~Word Puzzle & How many ideas did you collect last night? Where did you get them from?
2. Mini-Lesson~"Generating Essay Writing From Narrative Writing"
3. Quiet Writing/Partner Share Time~Choose a personal narrative entry, ask yourself the "Questions that writers ask of earlier entries," then pick the idea you want to work on. Tell your partner which idea you've chose and what you plan to write about this idea.
4. Share Time~Read your new entry to your partner.
5. Wrap Up

Wednesday, January 23rd
1. Bell Work~Word Puzzle & What is a thesis statement?
2. Mini-Lesson~"Finding and Crafting Thesis Statements"
3. Quiet Writing~Reread your entries, select a seed idea, and then draft and revise a thesis statement.
4. Share Time~Postpone closure on this thesis, reread your entires, looking for a small story that catches your heartstring or seems like it must be on fire. Reread that entry and consider that you may want to put this entry at the heart of an essay.
5. Wrap Up
Homework~Write a new thesis statement for the entry you reread at the end of class. Revise your thesis statement using the "Questions That Writers Ask of Theses".

Thursday, January 24th
1. Bell Work~Word Puzzle & Name one similarity and one difference bewteen narrative and expository (essay) writing.
2. Mini-Lesson~"Writing Workshop" rubric
3. Quiet Writing~Finish any items on the rubric that you have not done so far. Complete the "Writing Workshop" rubric and staple it to the next available page of your notebook.
4. Share Time~Discuss your feelings about this essay unit so far.
5. Wrap Up~Turn in your writer's notebook with the "Writing Workshop" rubric stapled inside.

Friday, January 25th
NO SCHOOL for students today!
Enjoy your time off but keep on living as essayists, talking, looking, listening, and thinking about everything around you. :)

Week of January 14, 2008
All students will be taking the AIMS (one minute, timed) reading test on Monday or Tuesday this week. Be sure to get a good night sleep and come prepared to do your personal best. Good luck to all of you! :)

Monday, January 14
1. Bell work~Read and complete p. 92 "Make the Connection" on bell work sheet.
2. Read "Background" information on p.92
3. Read and interpret~"The Treasure of Lemon Brown," pages 94-101.
4. Complete p. 103, "Connecting with the Text" #6 & 7.
5. Read and Complete p. 104, "Writing a Description #2 Family Keepsakes". This should be at least one paragraph in length. Extra credit for bringing a photo or drawing of the keepsake.

Tuesday, January 15
1. Bell work~Complete "Reading Check" questions a, b, c, d, & e
2. Monitor comprehension through rereading "The Treasure of Lemon Brown" and completing the workbook pages 41-53 that go with it.

Wednesday-Friday, January 16-18
We will be learning the difference between narrative and non-narrative writing. We will read, study, and pick apart various mentor texts that exemplify how good quality essays are written. Writers will practice writing the same story in both a narrative and non-narrative form and discuss the differences between to two.

Week of January 7, 2008
Happy New Year and welcome back to school! This week we will be finishing up The Outsiders unit with presentations. Then, we will begin our Writer's Workshop again, but the focus will be on writing essays.

Monday, January 7
Today we will begin by reviewing the classroom expectations. Students will have the hour to complete their Outsiders project or any missing work he/she might have.

Tuesday, January 8
The Outsiders project is due in full today!
Students will present one of the three parts of their Outsiders project to the class.

Wednesday, January 9
1. Bell work~Word puzzle & What was the best &/or worst part of your break?
2. Mini-lesson~Collecting Ideas as Essayists
3. Quiet Writing
4. Sharing
5. Wrap up
Homework: Big Issues sheet due tomorrow!

Thursday, January 10
1. Bell work~Word puzzle & What do you know about essays?
2. Mini-lesson~Growing Ideas
3. Quiet Writing (Homework will be checked during this time.)
4. Sharing
5. Wrap up
Homework: Growing Ideas sheet due first thing tomorrow!

Friday, January 11
1. Homework check
2. Go to the library for our book exchange.
3. Read silently to prepare for our AIMS timed reading test which will take place next Monday and Tuesday.
Today is the last day to turn in any late Outsiders projects!