January 17, 2008

January 17, 2008
The self-starter was a tape-in used as a guide to write about your own writing process on page 13 in your writer's notebook.
Here are the questions asked to spark thinking about what your own individual writing process is like:
Thinking-Starter Questions:
Prewriting -- Do you use prewriting? What kinds of prewriting do you use?
Drafting -- How and where do you like to draft? Where do you write? Do you like to use a certain type of pen or pencil or paper?
Quirkiness -- Do you have any writing quirks? (Examples of quirks: One writer says he does his best writing in a warm bath. Another has to have a large bag of M ‘n M’s by her side as she writes.
Revising -- What kinds of revision do you use the most? How many drafts do you usually go through to produce a quality piece of writing? Do you ask other people to read a draft and make suggestions for revision?
Editing -- How comfortable are you with editing? Do you get help editing your papers?
Publishing -- What types of publishing have you done? (in class? on the Internet? in a newspaper? Other?)
What is your greatest writing weakness? What is your greatest writing strength?

We read and discussed a poem: "A Little Girl's Poem" by Gwendolyn Brooks.

We viewed/listened to a video of a "special guest speaker" -- Gish Jen, and took double-entry notes. Students divided page 14 of their notebooks in half (vertically), and on the left half took notes on what she said about writing. On the other side, they wrote their own responses, connections, etc.

The teacher shared brief examples of some of the choices for the Creativity assignment.

Students are working on their collages for the "Collage of Creativity" assignment.