August 30, 007
Self-Starter: In your notebook on one of your "Writing Territories" pages,
tape the following handout. Then start listing ideas of your own experiences that you could write about. Write just enough words for each experience so when you look back you'll remember what it was. (Using questions is a form of prewriting.)

What's Happened to Me That I Could Write About?
What experiences have made me feel really happy or very sad?
What experiences have been very alarming or really frightening?
What experiences have made me feel proud of myself?
What have been the most difficult tasks I have had to undertake?
What contests or games have I tried hard to win?
What experiences have made me feel ashamed of myself?
What experiences have made me realize that I truly care about someone?
What experiences have made me laugh a lot?

PREWRITING: Collecting Ideas
We are starting to collect ideas for our own "Writing Territories." Students receive another tape-in for the next page of their writing territories in their notebooks.
My writing territories are the range of things I do as a writer. They include genres I write in or would like to try, subjects I've written about or would like to, and real or potential audiences for my writing.

Decide on a story from your own life you'd like to write up, and in Writer's Workshop, get as far as you can creating a rough draft. We will be in the computer lab, if available (there may be technical difficulties), on September 4.

August 28

Self-Starter: (If you are absent, write this on a piece of paper that you can tape into your journal.) Listen to the music (if you are absent, see Ms. Dorsey to listen to the music) and write whatever comes to mind in relation to that music. What does it make you visualize and feel. You are writing a story, a description, a poem, or draw a picture and then explain it.

1. We are talking more about possible forms of PREWRITING.
PREWRITING is what you do to get ready to write (draft). We use PREWRITING to
-- Gather Ideas and Details
-- Focus (narrow) the topic
-- Decide on a tentative organization for the piece
Much of PREWRITING happens before we start to draft (actually write it down), but we often go back to PREWRITING activities when we need more ideas and details, or need more focus, or decide to modify the organization.
Today we are practicing various PREWRITING strategies.

2. Writers' Workshop
We are finishing our pieces about our own names. Each student should have a rough draft in his or her own notebook, and during Writers' Workshop create a quality/final draft on lined paper -- not paper torn from the notebook.

August 24

Self-Starter: ( Prewriting) Students picked up their notebooks from the B2 crates, and on page 9, respond to this prompt: If you could select another name, assuming you had to, what would you call yourself? Explain why.
If students had extra time, they looked through books about the origins of names.
Prewriting
We watched a video about names. and took a small quiz on the video.
We shared more examples of brief essays people have written about their names.
Drafting
Writers Workshop: Students revised (added to and improved) the pieces they are writing about their names. They drafted, revised, and edited in their notebooks, then wrote an improved draft on lined paper.
Professional Example: We read an excerpt from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros in which she wrote about a name.

August 22

Each student received a notebook to use for the class, and we set them up with a table of contents, an area for "writing territories," and additional numbered pages. These notebooks will usually be left in the classroom.
Students who had them handed in their disclosure document sheets.
We learned about this classroom, and about rules and procedures.
We also began talking about and writing about our names.

August 20 -- First Day

Welcome, Creative Writing Students!
Today students received the disclosure document, and played a getting-to-know-you game. Students went to all eight classes plus advisory today, and in each class, all seventh grades had a lesson about a particular aspect of school.
A1: Common Fears and Worries of a Seventh Grader
Class emergency and other procedures.
Advisory: Received planners and bar codes, and discussed what advisory is for.
Class emergency and other procedures.
A2: Lockers
Class emergency and other procedures.
A3: When and where to go for lunch. Students should memorize their lunch numbers.
Class emergency and other procedures.
A4: Media Center, school resources such as counseling, after-school-help, after-school groups,
tracking.
Class emergency and other procedures.
B1: Hall passes, planner, electronic devices, first aid, checking out, visitors.
Class emergency and other procedures.
B2: Student Responsibilities: see planner
B3: Study Skills, Habits for success, Review
Class emergency and other procedures.
B4: Review and Quiz on the day.
Class emergency and other procedures.
Ice Cream bars!

Welcome!

Welcome to Ms. Dorsey's Creative Writing class!