Composition Book Check

Composition Book Check on October 12, 2010 

1. August 26, 2010    Students wrote about how they feel about the alphabet, while munching on Alpha-Bits cereal.
If the student has a composition book, this should go on the third page.

2. August 30, 2010  Responding to a poem about summer

3. September 1, 2010   a. Students read a poem called "A Slice of Life" and responded to it in their composition books.
                        b. We discussed the Writing Process, and students wrote about their own writing process.

4. September 3, 2010
 a. Write creatively about the photograph shown.  You can see it here (the top picture) at More Creativity
  b. Prewriting -- What do you do before you write?
 Notes and prewriting exercises should be recorded in your composition book. Label the page "Prewriting" and include today's date.

5.  September 8, 2010
a.   Tape into your composition book, read and respond to "Rambling Autobiography."  Follow the directions on that sheet. b. check notes on Me-Bags

  my favorite item, a striking item from someone else's bag
 c. More prewriting. brainstorming--  school   trees and spider webs  -- holidays
d.  Collecting ideas for writing memoir. (receive handout to tape in your composition book)
e. What makes a bad memoir?  a good one? 

6.  September 10, 2010
Select any of the prompts from your taped in list to write about in your composition book.
Examples and non-examples of memoir.

7.  September 16, 2010
Select a prompt from the long-list of prompts in your composition book and write 1/2 page about it.

8.  September 20, 2010
a. Select a prompt from the long-list of prompts in your composition book and write 1/2 page about it.
b. In your composition book:  Qualities/Traits of an Effective Memoir

• enough detail
• sensory detail
• descriptive words
• similes and metaphors
• (emotions)
• length is not too long and not too short
• effective titles
• what else? 

c. ARMS
Add
Remove
Move
Substitute

using your eyes and ears to revise

9. September 22, 2010  Sentence Variety Chart.doc

10. September 24, 2010 
a. QuickWrite:  Picture Prompt C
b. Circles on the ground (outside)
c. Human Cameras (Three pictures each.)  -- pairs -- stop each time to record the shot.

11. September 28, 2010
a. Responding to a painting
b. Begin listing all the books (novels/chapter books) you've read -- in your composition book.  Label it with today's date. 
c. Problems in Fiction/Conflict -- What are problems we have seen in fiction?

12.  September 30, 2010
Write a response to the painting on the overhead -- a poem? short story?  description? commentary? ?

13. October 4, 2010

In the photo, to whom does the bicycle belong?  Why is he or she here?  Create a story, description, poem, commentary, etc. as a response. Consider whether it should be written in first person or third person (or perhaps even second person).


14. October 6, 2010  Write a short scene inspired by great words from the Word Bank -- one from each category except Dead Words  -- Make sure you don't use any dead words.

15.  October 8, 2010  Work more on the brief story you are writing based on words from the word bank.
Use wonderful words and eliminate dead words!