What Does this Painting Mean to You?

James Christensen's "Lawrence Pretended Not to Notice That a Bear Had Become Attached to His Coat" (http://www.hiddenridgegallery.com/store/james-christensen/lawrence-pretended.html).

This is Just Creative -- T.P Rescue

Picture Prompt Shruburbia

 Greg Olson

Authors Rejected

After several years and sixty rejection letters, Katherine Stockett finally
got an agent for her book The Help. The agent found a publisher three weeks
later and now the book has been made into a major Hollywood movie.

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/poweryourfuture/kathryn-stocketts-the-help-turned-down-60-times-before-becoming-a-best-seller-2523496/

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Bell-Ringer: Write at least 5 things you could write as you sign a yearbook.  Post one on the poster on the bulletin board.

http://www.wikihow.com/Sign-a-Yearbook

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080618220916AAQVSYS





Share the end of Hormone Jungle.



Share your writing.
Bring treats if you'd like!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  One more Bingo Prompt -- Pick the one left you'd most like to write about.
B4 presented their plays -- Great job!

Writing to Music -- students wrote in response several different pieces of music.




Please check the list of students who have checked out books from Ms. Dorsey's classroom library and have not checked them back in.  Please bring back any books you have.  I'd much rather get the books back than put your name on the fines list

No more late or revised work accepted after May 27.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Bingo Prompt: Pick one you most want to write about.

B3 -- one more play
B4 -- a bunch more plays -- present on Friday

Concrete Poetry -- We made wonderful concrete poetry.  If you were absent, see me for the make-up work to be completed by Friday.





Please check the list of students who have checked out books from Ms. Dorsey's classroom library and have not checked them back in.  Please bring back any books you have.  I'd much rather get the books back than put your name on the fines list

No more late or revised work accepted after May 27.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  "The play's the thing. . . ."   Write about one or more times you participated in or watched a play.

2. Present plays

(If you haven't, hand in your underland or mystery story.)




Please check the list of students who have checked out books from Ms. Dorsey's classroom library and have not checked them back in.  Please bring back any books you have.  I'd much rather get the books back than put your name on the fines list

No more late or revised work accepted after May 27.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Five items were placed on a tray: three squeeky toys that look rather like alien creatures, a pair of play binoculars, and a seashell.  The assignment is to write a story or poem about one, some, or all of the items.

Hand in your Mystery or Underland Story.
Work on your plays.
About using commas.



Please check the list of students who have checked out books from Ms. Dorsey's classroom library and have not checked them back in.  Please bring back any books you have.  I'd much rather get the books back than put your name on the fines list

No more late or revised work accepted after May 27.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Bell-Ringer: Bingo Prompt  D5 for both classes

2. Reminder of Mystery or Underland Story due next time -- May 19


Underland Rubric.doc also for Mystery story

Play rubric.doc
 

3.  Writing a play  -- Present May 23, 25
      examples
      groups
      work time

4. Students received a tape-in for Period Confusions

No more late or revised work accepted after May 27.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Happy Friday the 13th!

1. Bell-Ringer: In your composition book:  You are on a high mountain, looking down.  Why are you there and what do you see?
This can be fiction or nonfiction. 
Still in the composition book:
2. Write about luck -- good and or bad.

3. Punctuation mini-lesson
       The History of a Few Punctuation Marks with thanks to Nancie Atwell.
   -- Quotations marks were originally lip-shaped marks to show that someone else was speaking.

  -- The exclamation mark started out as the word "Io" which liek saying "Wow!"  It was shortened to Io, then to an I with a dot behind it, then the dot was moved under the I and that evolved to our current mark !

 -- The period came from "peri" which meant round and when the writer had finished writing a sentence he had completely gone around what he was trying to express.  It was written as a circle, which became the dot we use now.

-- The comma comes from "komma" which means "little knife/to cut off" so the symbol was of a little knife, and evolved into our comma (,).


4. Time to work on your mystery or Underland story.
By May 19th, you should have handed in a finished, quality copy.  This should be ready for publishing in a class "magazine" of either your Mystery or Underland story, so it would be best if you could type it.  Make sure you improve (revise your story), then clean up errors.  You may also submit quality copies of poems.

photography by C. Dorsey

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Bingo Prompt A1 for B3, and B4 for B4

Reminder:
No more late, revised, or make-up work will be accepted after May 27.


2.  Time to work on your mystery story.
       If done (and legible), have you completed your two found poems and your Mothers' Day poem?
       If done with those, quietly read or write.

3.  Create final copy of mystery stories.  Hand it in with the worksheet and peer edit/review.  If you did not get a peer review have a parent or friend review yours.

Handout for writing mystery stories:  mystery planner.doc
Suggestions for writing mystery stories: http://ticket2write.tripod.com/mysplot.html
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20modern/fb/20031118a&pf=true

Monday, May 9, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Dandelions Poem Tape-In.  Tape the poem into your composition book. Read the poem and respond as directed on the same paper.   Write your response across from the tape-in in your composition book.

Reminder:
No more late, revised, or make-up work will be accepted after May 27.




2.  Time to work on your mystery story.
       If done (and legible), have you completed your two found poems and your Mothers' Day poem?
       If done with those, quietly read or write.

3.  Peer review/edit of mystery stories.  Handout for writing mystery stories:  mystery planner.doc
Suggestions for writing mystery stories: http://ticket2write.tripod.com/mysplot.html
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20modern/fb/20031118a&pf=true

________________________________
Example Response to the prompt:

To poem: 

    This poem makes me think that we need to be careful when we categorize people, when we say, or think, what we think they are, or are like.  Most the time it is not true -- at least not entirely true.  Each person contains so much we do not see.


To one line:  "I am the dandelion that nobody loves."
This reminds me that on Friday I was sitting in a lawn chair in my backyard, holding my 8 month old granddaughter who was fussing because her mom and dad were gone.  She would stop fussing to watch our cat, Alice, so that's why we were there in the backyard.  We watched Alice bite the top off a fluffed out dandelion, then grab the stem with her teeth and pull it up.  I was surprised but wouldn't it be nice if she would pull up all my dandelions.
   Maybe not, because I do love to have at least some dandelions in the spring.  My daughter who is now eighteen has from the time she was very small picked me a bouquet of dandelions at least once every spring.  She still does.   However, those beautiful dandelions are taking over my lawn, and we must battle against them for control of the yard.
    I have daffodil's, too, though they are entirely wanted, unlike the dandelions.

__________
One Line:  basking in bubbles of sunlight -- This is a lovely phrase.  Bubbles of sunlight ---

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Bell-Ringer: Bingo Prompt   B3 ___E5__   B4 __D1___

2. Time to work on your mystery.
3. Writing Tritinas ,  Haiku, Cinquain   page 204 - 207 in Write Source 2000 -- possibilities for a Mother's Day poem.

4.  Make a card for Mother's Day
      1) write your poem
       2) Carefully revise and edit
       3)  Get paper for quality draft
       4) Create the card and have it checked off.

_________________________ First Samples by Ms. Dorsey

Limerick

    There once was a lady called Mom,                 [3 stressed syllables, rhymes with lines 2 and 5]

     Her children thought she was “the bomb.”      [3 stressed syllables, rhymes with lines 1 and 5]

     She’d clean and she’d cook,                             [2 stressed syllables, rhymes with line 4]

     Read her small ones a book,                            [2 stressed syllables, rhymes with line 4]

     And through this she seemed to be calm!    [3 stressed syllables, rhymes with lines 2 and 1]

     I love you, Mom!

________________________________________________-

Haiku – Write one!

     Mother, always there,                          [5 syllables]

     Listening to my woes and joys,           [7 syllables]

     The one I turn to.                           [5 syllables]

      Mom loves tomatoes

      Says they’re best fresh from the vine

      Juicy, red, gladness.

    

_________________________________________

Ballad  of the Busy Mom

      The kids were sick.  Their throats were sore.          [4 accented syllables]

       The furnace had gone out.                                       [3 accented syllables, rhymes with line 4]

       But all was well.  Mom was in charge.                   [4 accented syllables]

        She’d triumph, we’d no doubt.                              [3 accented syllables, rhymes with line 2]

      [You'd need more stanzas because a ballad tells a story.]

___________________________________________

Cinquain   -- Write one!

    

       Mother                                 [One word naming  the subject of the poem]

       Hardworking , patient,         [Two words describing the subject of the poem]

       Loves her children               [Three words showing an action for the subject of the poem]

       So glad you’re my                [Four words giving a feeling about the subject of the poem]

       Mother                                  [Same word or synonym for the first line]

      

_______________________________________________________

    _______________________________________________

Name Poetry (more than a word or two per line)  Say something significant with your poem.

Erin

Elegant lady, you

Radiate love and competence,

Infusing with joy and fun the lives of those around you.

Never stop being the wonderful woman you are!

____________________________________________________

Phrase  Poetry

Throughout the day she triumphs

             in the kitchen, keeping us fed and nourished and delighted

            around the house she creates order, beauty

            at her work excellence is her way

            for her family

            beyond our needs she gives us what will make us happy

            above and beyond what others do

She triumphs as the best of mothers ever!

______________________________________________________

List Poem – variation on  a list poem

Moms

There are moms who want kids quiet,

moms who want kids clean,

moms who want kids  hardworking,

moms who want kids polite,

moms who want kids obedient,

moms who want kids bright,

moms who want kids funny,

moms who want kids good,

moms who want kids to always behave

just the way they should.

You’re the kind of mom who wants kids all these things,

But mostly you want us happy, and that makes our hearts sing!

____________________________________________

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Bell-Ringer: Respond to the picture on the overhead or (if you were absent or didn't get it done) here:

What's Going On?

Sample excerpt:
"When the sky turns green,
When the lights go out,
When you are visited by the one with the "umbrella" --
Beware!
You think it's a raincoat it wears.
You think it's a girl with curly hair,
But what you see is not true,
It's here to get you. . . . " (to be continued)
__________________________

Brainstorming about mystery stories.
More advice
Sample stories from
      "The Speckled Band" a Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
       The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
       The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House by Mary Chase
       Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen

Talking with peers about your stories
Another story with a hole: The Accident and The Elevator
Writing your own mystery story.   mystery planner.doc

Next time:  Work more on our mystery stories and making Mother's Day Cards -- including a poem of at least 6 lines.
You may bring your own materials, and will get credit for  making a great card.

________________________________________
Not:
Roses are red, violets are blue
There's not greater mother than you, you, you.
_______________________________________
Not:
copied from someone else
______________________________________
Yes, original and personal and as beautiful as you can make it.
_______________________________________

Famous detectives

http://www.topmystery.com/detectives

Famous detectives from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detective_fiction

• Encyclopedia Brown – Donald J. Sobol
• Father Brown – G. K. Chesterton
• Nancy Drew – Carolyn Keene
• C. Auguste Dupin – Edgar Allan Poe
• Jessica Fletcher – Murder, She Wrote
• The Hardy Boys – Franklin W. Dixon
• Miss Marple – Agatha Christie
• Veronica Mars - TV Series
• Perry Mason – Erle Stanley Gardner
• Ellery Queen – Ellery Queen
• Philip Trent - Edmund Clerihew Bentley
• Lord Peter Wimsey – Dorothy L. Sayers

Private Investigators

• Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Laura Holt – Remington Steele (TV series)
• Thomas Magnum – Magnum, P.I.
• Philip Marlowe – Raymond Chandler
• Adrian Monk – Monk
• Hercule Poirot – Agatha Christie

Police detectives

• Charlie Chan – Earl Derr Biggers
• Inspector Clouseau – Pink Panther
• Lieutenant Columbo – Columbo
• Sergeant Cuff - Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone
• James "Sonny" Crockett – Miami Vice
• Det.Bobby Goren – Law & Order: Criminal Intent
• Det. Alexandra Eames – Law & Order: Criminal Intent
• Det. Elliot Stabler – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Det.Olivia Benson – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Det. Fin Tutuola – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Det. John Munch – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Chief Inspector Japp – Agatha Christie
• Inspector Javert - Victor Hugo
• Lt. Theo Kojak – Kojak (played by Telly Savalas)
• Inspector Lestrade – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Dick Tracy - Chester Gould
• [and what about Hawaii 5-O?) 

Forensic specialists

• Horatio Caine – CSI: Miami
• Gil Grissom – CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
• Raymond Langston – CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
• Quincy – Quincy, M.E.
• Elizabeth Rodgers – Law & Order
• Mac Taylor – CSI: NY

Catholic Church detectives

• Father Brown – G. K. Chesterton
• Brother Cadfael – Edith Pargeter
• Father Frank Dowling - Father Dowling Mysteries

Government agents

• Alex Cross – James Patterson
• Fox Mulder and Dana Scully – The X-Files

Others

• Simon Templar, a.k.a "The Saint" – Leslie Charteris
• Batman, a.k.a. Bruce Wayne – Bob Kane & Bill Finger
• Ben Matlock – Dean Hargrove

For younger readers

• Trixie Belden
• The Boxcar Children
• Detective Conan
• Inspector Gadget
• Ginny Gordon
• The Three Investigators
• The Happy Hollisters
• Inspector Rex
• Roman Mysteries
• Scooby Doo
• Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice - Ace Attorney series
• Sammy Keyes 

Friday, April 29, 2011

1. Bell-Ringer: Art Class?  Activity with drawing and describing. 

2.  About writing mystery.
      A. Stories with Holes
      B. A small mystery to solve
      C. Advice from a professional writer of mysteries:
             a) The reader must have equal opportunity with the detective for solving the mystery.  All clues must be plainly stated and described.
             b) No willful trick or deceptions may be placed on the reader other than those played by the criminal on the detective himself/herself.
             c) The detective never turns out to be the culprit.
             d)  The culprit must be determined by logical deduction, not by accident or coincidence or unmotivated confession.
              e)  The detective novel must have a detective in it, though the detective does not have to be a professional detective.
              f)  There must be a crime that the reader will care about.  Keep in mind who your audience is.
              g)  There will be just one detective, thought the detective could have an assistant.
              h)   The culprit must turn out to be a person who has played a more or less prominent part in the story -- that is, a person with whom the reader is familiar and in whom the reader takes an interest.
              i)  There must be one culprit -- not a gang or group.
              j)  The method of the murder and the means of detecting it must be realistic.
              k)  The truth must be at all times apparent.  Once the reader finds out the solution to the mystery, he or she could go back through the story and every part of the story would fit logically with the solution.
               l) The crime will never turn out to be an accident or suicide or dream.
             
S.S. Van Dine,  "How to Write Mystery Stories"  from The Writer's 1930 Yearbook, found in The Writer's Digest Guide to Good Writing, 1994. 
              

     D.  Time to start getting ideas down.  Individual writing time.  mystery planner.doc

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Today we finished up our children's books and took them to Legacy Elementary where we read them to the children, and left them for the children to keep.
Thank you, students, for doing such a great job, and making some little children very, very happy!

Here is the grading rubric:  
Grading for Children's book 2(1).doc


B4 did a writing response in their composition books to this prompt:  "Who let the cat out of the bag?"

Monday, April 25, 2011

Bell-Ringer: Write in Response to the frog picture and/or quote -- 1/2 page or more.


Work on Children's books


If extra time, work on your found poems or short stories.


Legacy--  Wednesday, April 27th

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Bell-Ringer: Write in Response to one or more of these phrases:
sudden movement
slippery slope
sliding glass door

Work on Children's books

If extra time, work on your found poems or short stories.

Legacy--  Wednesday, April 27th

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Bellringer:  Bingo Prompt:  B3 was A4  and B4 was A5.

B4:  Three sentences that capture the essence of your spring break
 Ms. Dorsey's:
I bought a bounty of books from Barnes and Noble Bookstore.
I dug about in my garden and spruced up my yard. 
I spent time with family playing, watching movies, watching birds,  and eating!


Finish found poetry --
1) a response to an article
2) words, phrases, sentences put together  (do 2)

We will for sure finish up our children's books next time.   We will visit Legacy on April 27.

More for Poetry Month

This is from Shel Silverstein's newest book, Everything On It.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/imageviewer.asp?ean=9780061998164&imId=99887959&cm_mmc=Facebook-_-BN-_-product+_page-_-dr_seuss_poem

Friday, April 8, 2011

Bell-Ringer:

Found Poetry

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

1. Bell-Ringer:  Write in your composition book in response to this picture prompt:   Beach House?

2. Writing Model
3. Poetry!  More form the Hormone Jungle 
4. Write an Inspired By Poem

5. Share  Underland/Down the Rabbit Hole stories.

6. Workshop:

• Children's books?  Need more time?
• Mark pages
• illustrate 
• take to be laminated 
• Work on "Underland"  stories. 
• Work on your inspired by poem 

It's Poetry Month!

Here's a poem by U.S. Poet laureate, Billy Collins from  http://www.edutopia.org/trouble-poetry

The Trouble with Poetry: A Poem of Explanation

A U.S. poet laureate shares.

by Billy Collins

Billy Collins

Credit: Corbis Images

The trouble with poetry, I realized
as I walked along a beach one night --
cold Florida sand under my bare feet,
a show of stars in the sky --

the trouble with poetry is
that it encourages the writing of more poetry,
more guppies crowding the fish tank,
more baby rabbits
hopping out of their mothers into the dewy grass.


And how will it ever end?
unless the day finally arrives
when we have compared everything in the world
to everything else in the world,


and there is nothing left to do
but quietly close our notebooks
and sit with our hands folded on our desks.

Poetry fills me with joy
and I rise like a feather in the wind.
Poetry fills me with sorrow
and I sink like a chain flung from a bridge.


But mostly poetry fills me
with the urge to write poetry,
to sit in the dark and wait for a little flame
to appear at the tip of my pencil.

And along with that, the longing to steal,
to break into the poems of others
with a flashlight and a ski mask.

And what an unmerry band of thieves we are,
cut-purses, common shoplifters,
I thought to myself
as a cold wave swirled around my feet
and the lighthouse moved its megaphone over the sea,
which is an image I stole directly
from Lawrence Ferlinghetti --
to be perfectly honest for a moment --

the bicycling poet of San Francisco
whose little amusement park of a book
I carried in a side pocket of my uniform
up and down the treacherous halls of high school.

Billy Collins, the U.S. poet laureate from 2001 to 2003, is the author of seven collections of poetry and is a distinguished professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York. He serves as the poet laureate of New York State.

This article originally published on 10/18/2006

Extra Credit

"What's your favorite word?  Mine is defenestrate.  Look it up!  Pretend YOUR favorite word has been selected to be removed from the dictionary.  You've been given a three-minute audience with a Congressional panel to plead for the word's continued survival.  What case can you make for a word in three minutes?"                  Thanks to http://writingfix.com/classroom_tools/dailypromptgenerator.htm

or  

"What would they say? Write a piece where you wake up (or something) and find your favorite characters staring at you. What would they do? How does your day pass? Let your imagination flow."

Monday, April 4, 2011

Bell-ringer Bingo Prompt:   For period B2 the prompt is D3.  For period B3 the prompt is E5.


Finish up Children's books!

March 31, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Respond to the Picture Prompt (Outdoor TV  -- see below) in your composition book.

Outdoor TV Picture Prompt

2. " If you give a . . . .  a. . . . . " (Write at least 12 lines.)

We read If You Give a Pig a Pancake  and one about a 13 year old boy.

3.  Work on your underland/down the rabbit hole story  or on your children's book.


B4: Attend the Writers' Conference unless you have been given an alternate assignment.

Beach House?

http://creative-writing.helium.com/how-to/9794-how-to-teach-creative-writing-to-middle-school-students

Outdoor TV Picture Prompt

Respond to this picture prompt with a poem, story, description, explanation, commentary, or whatever you wish.  
For a header use today's date and the title "TV?"

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2390/2108633520_054e4d7eaf_o.jpg

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Bingo Prompt   B3= E1,  B4=D3

Falling Down the Rabbit Hole. . .
Creating a land and a way to get there

Student-Teacher consultations about children's books and about the Writers' Conference

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Bell-Ringer: 

Writers' Conference B4

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Bell-Ringer: 

AFJH Young Writers' Conference

This is a yearly event, held for students who enjoy writing and want to become better at doing it.  Our guest speaker this year is Jessica Day George, nationally published author, and very entertaining speaker. We will meet during B4 on March 31 in the Media Center.
You will need an invitation to attend, so see your English or Creative Writing Teacher if you are interested.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Last day of Third Term 

Bell-Ringer: Write a request to attend the Writers' Conference if you would like to go.
We played a little Grammar Punk, rolling dice and creating sentences based on the roll of the dice.

We were able to work in Computer Lab 201 on our children's books and/or an extra credit (for next term) opportunity, and those students who were willing to were able to complete some missing assignments.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Students worked on learning how to punctuate direct quotations.

Punctuate these statements or bits of conversation (dialogue):

1.   The teacher said   In this class there will be no talking, chewing, breathing, unnecessary eye movements, or tap dancing

2.  I questioned   Are you up on the furniture again  you bad dog  Get down now

3.  I just finished reading The Lost Hero   she remarked

     So what did you think of it    I asked

     It was excellent    she exclaimed

     I agreed    I loved it too 

4.  I wish today were Friday     she said     I’ve been looking forward to it for months now

     How come   he asked

     Because finally I’m supposed to get my braces taken off.   At least that’s what my orthodontist promised     

_________________
Computer Lab 223
They worked on their books for the elementary children, and if done or if they had left what they needed at home, they were to write to the Creative Writing  prompts on My Access.

Please check your grades on Skyward to see if there is anything you haven't done that you should have!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Punctuation exercise to show the importance of punctuation.  What a difference punctuation makes!   Download the worksheet with this link:  Dear John Student Worksheet.doc


Computer Lab 223
We worked on the children's books and those with extra time wrote to prompts on MyAccess.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Bell-ringer:  Bingo Prompt:  B3:  B5    B4:       
Computer lab 212 to work on children's books.

March 14, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  MyAccess Prompt: Mirror View  

-- Write a story based on the photo provided. 

Work on child's book -- type and save on your wiki page, or you could do it on Word and save it to your thumb drive.  

There are picture files available on the wiki -- photos from when we went to interview the children.  After you have written your story you could add a picture or two from there to your book.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Bell-Ringer:

Fieldtrip to Legacy to interview first graders.


Grading for Children's book 2(1).doc

Friday, March 4, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Respond in your composition book to the Bingo Prompt   B3 ___E4__   B4 __A3_

Children's books -- We will take our  Trip to Legacy March 8. 
Today we will do a practice interview.

More Poetry from The Hormone Jungle.


Children's story interview questions.doc


Grading for Children's book 2.doc

_________________________________________________
A few books we remembered enjoying when we were younger:

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Amelia Bedelia
Arthur

Berenstein Bears

 Books based on Scooby Doo
Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Click, Clack, Moo

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Cordoroy

Diary of a Worm

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Dr. Suess

Fairy Tales – The Pink

Falling for Rapunzel

Fish Out of Water

Franklin

Go, Dog, Go

Goldilocks

Goodnight, Moon
Green Eggs and Ham

Hop on Pop

Horton Hears a Who

Hooway for Wodney Wat

Humpty Dumpty

Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar

I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More

I Spy

If You Give A Moose a Muffin

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
If you give a Pig a Pancake

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Jungle Book

Junie B. Jones

Knuffle Bunny

Little Bear

Little Red Hen
Little Red Riding Hood

Lots of Little Golden Books

Magic School Bus

Micky Mouse Club House

Moosetache
Mr. Brown Can Moo.  Can You?Olivia

One Fish, Two Fish

Pal the Pony

Parts
Princess Pruney Toes

Rumplestiltskin

Skippy John Jones

Sneeches

Stand Back Said the Elephant

Stone Soup
Stripes

Teddy Bears’ Picnic

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
The Goose Girl

The Grouchy Lady Bug

The Happy Dump Truck

The Monster at the End of This Book

The Monster at the End of This Book
The Princess and the Pea
The Princess and the Potty

The Real Story of the Three Little Pigs

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The Ugly Duckling
Three Little Pigs
Thumblelina

Tortoise and the Hare

Uncle Wiggley

Very Hungry Caterpillar
Where the Wild Things Are

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/storytime/?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-BN-_-product_page-_-october_online_storytime

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  In your composition book, respond to Handout -- voice
Voice Overhead.doc

2.  More about voice and Point-of-View
      Examples of monologues
      Write a monologue from the point of view of the villain in a story.
Handout for this assignment:  Monologue -- Another Point of View.doc

3.  Voice in Poetry -- from The Hormone Jungle:  Coming of Age in Middle School

Monday, February 28, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  In your composition book respond to the painting.  Write a brief story or poem.

Tiger in a Tropical Storm by Henri Rousseau

More Love That Dog and writing "inspired by" poetry.
You should have in your composition book:
a poem imitating (inspired by)

1. The Red Wheelbarrow
2. Stopping By Woods (1 Stanza)
3. The Tiger (2 or more lines) 
4. Read both The Tiger and The Lamb
5. Love That Boy  -- See below.
6. and at least the sounds for a poem like Street Music.

Love That Boy by Walter Dean Meyers

Love that boy,
like a rabbit loves to run
I said I love that boy
like a rabbit loves to run
Love to call him in the morning
love to call him
"Hey there, son!"

He walk like his Grandpa,
Grins like his Uncle Ben.
I said he walk like his Grandpa,
And grins like his Uncle Ben.
Grins when he’s happy,
When he sad, he grins again.

His mama like to hold him,
Like to feed him cherry pie.
I said his mama like to hold him.
Like to feed him that cherry pie.
She can have him now,
I’ll get him by and by

He got long roads to walk down
Before the setting sun.
I said he got a long, long road to walk down
Before the setting sun.
He’ll be a long stride walker,
And a good man before he done.
 ___________________________
http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/lovethat.htm


We noticed poetry patterns -- rhyme schemes, stanzas.

Parent-Teacher Conference

Welcome, Parents! 
If you haven't used this blog before, take a few minutes to get acquainted with it.  The tab above about Navigating might be helpful. 
Ask me any questions you still have.

You may also look at some of your child's work on our class wiki.  

If your child is in B3, go to our class wiki at
http://cavewriting2011b3.pbworks.com

 
If your child is in B4, go to our class wiki at 
http://cavewriting2011b4.pbworks.com

Writing Contest about Farming

Do you have the background to write about farming?  This contest may be for you? 

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/article_e45ef758-9975-590a-8121-cb3d9a28b032.html

Thursday, February 24, 2011

No Cave Time on Friday.

Bell-Ringer:  Respond in your composition book to the bingo prompt:   B3 ___D2_  B4 ____

Back to Poetry:
Love That Dog -- writing "Inspired By" Poetry
and Hormone Jungle --

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

No Cave Time on Friday.

Bell-Ringer:  Respond to one of three scenes (photographs from old movies) shown on the board. Write as much detail as you can.  

Mini-Lesson on Detail and Description
 Senses -- sight, sound, smell, (taste), feel
Describe/draw my dog.  

These descriptions are from Gary Soto’s A Summer Life, from the story “The Taps.” Soto’s writing provides examples of using description and imagery in a short story.
“A passenger train the color of spoons rushed by.”
“The asphalt was a soft, blackish river on which cars traveled, windows down, the passengers soaked in sweat.”
“A man the color of a sparrow walked near the tracks.”

Computer lab 223 -- Add appropriate detail/description to one of your pieces -- short story, memoir, or another piece you are working on using the class wiki.

Go to our class wiki at
http://cavewriting2011b3.pbworks.com
or
http://cavewriting2011b4.pbworks.com

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Respond in your composition book to the bingo prompt:   B3 A2   B4 _____

Story starters:  Students wrote to three story starters for about five minutes or more each.
They then went to the computer lab and typed up one of the stories, continuing it from where they'd left off in the classroom.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Poetry and Chocolate Day!

Bell-Ringer:  Poem prompt: To-Do List

Bring your poem!

Sharing poems and drinking hot chocolate
and writing poems!

Happy Valentines' Day!

from NPR at http://www.npr.org/2011/02/13/133693403/double-take-toons-valentines-day-2011?sc=fb&cc=fp

Friday, February 11, 2011

Next time:  February 15 -- Poetry and Chocolate --  Bring a poem to share, and if you wish bring chocolate or another treat to share. 







Bell-Ringer:  Respond in your composition book to the picture prompt.  If you are absent, here is the optical illusion.  You need to look at it right side up and upside down.

http://thedabbler.co.uk/2010/12/gustave-verbeek-%E2%80%93-the-upside-down-cartoonist/

See the above website for a whole comic strip of topsy-turvy pictures that tell a story.

More Poetry -- meter and rhyme -- Limericks
Student worksheet for your assignment: Limericks.doc



Some Computer time as needed.

Computer Lab -- Finding poems and. . . . .

• Make sure you have at least three poems on your Finding Poetry page -- with the poet  and source of each.  

• Prepare your poem to share on the 15th.

• Make specific comments on at least eight  students' Finding Poetry pages. 

• Type two or three limericks on your own Poetry Page -- with the I Am Poem -- (not on Finding Poetry). 

  Looking for Poetry on the Internet 

Go to our class wiki at
http://cavewriting2011b3.pbworks.com
or
http://cavewriting2011b4.pbworks.com 

Let's try some Dear Blank, Please Blank. . letters

Examples:

Dear clothing stores,

Wouldn't it make sense to put the short jeans on a lower shelf?

Sincerely, a very short customer.

Dear car,

Please heat the interior BEFORE I reach my destination.

Sincerely, frozen driver.

Dear sleeping pill commercial,

Please explain why one of your side affects is drowsiness.

Sincerely, isn't that the point of a sleeping pill?

Dear guy who constantly texts me,

You should probably take a hint.

Sincerely, girl who never texts back.

Dear bus driver,

What ever happened to "no child left behind"?

Sincerely, the kid you left behind.

Dear chapstick,

Please stop running away before I can finish you.

Sincerely, where are you hiding this time?!

Dear rug,

I love the way you lie.

Sincerely, floor.

Dear Willy Wonka,

How do you stay so skinny?

Sincerely, Augustus Gloop.

Dear Barney,

You're really messing with our image.

Sincerely, dinosaurs.

Dear Slushie,

It hurts so good!

Sincerely, brain frozen consumer.

Dear mom,

I magically lose my hunger when you tell me to get it myself.

Sincerely, I don't want to get up.

Dear little girls,

We would appreciate it if you left our hair the way it came.

Sincerely, Barbies of the world.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  Bingo Prompt     B3 used square  D4.    B4 used square C1.

Me-Bags

______________________________________   
Prizes for posters -- hang posters
B3 -
Third Place: Breanna, Melia, Maddy
Second Place: Roni, Payton, McKayla
First Place: Aspen, Isaac, Sydney

B4 -
Third Place: Sydney, Sydney, Shire, Kylee
Second Place: Alexa, Alexa, Brayden, Dylan
First Place: Alice, Katie, Lily, Jacob
_____________________________________

Write advice for Aliea -- a first grader who has a first grade boy admirer.  He sends her love notes.  What should she do?

Computer Lab -- Finding poems

Looking for Poetry on the Internet  Find at least three poems to paste (with their URL) onto your Finding Poetry page on our class wiki. 

Go to our class wiki at
http://cavewriting2011b3.pbworks.com
or
http://cavewriting2011b4.pbworks.com 

Poetry Contest for Silly Poems-- This Week Only

www.BookshopTalk.com

Go here to enter the contest, or just to read the great examples of funny poems.  

Even Adults (Writers!) are Reminded to Show, Not Tell

This is a grown up writer who tells about getting a rejection letter -- something most writers get very used to -- that, among other things, reminded here to SHOW, NOT TELL:
http://rebeccabirkin.blogspot.com/2011/02/rejection-letters-and-herding-stampede.html

Monday, February 7, 2011

Bell-Ringer:  In your composition book, respond to the picture.  Love?  Valentines Day?  What are they saying?  You can make it serious or funny.

Any Me-Bags left?

Finish poetry posters.
Judge Poetry Posters

Poetry terms and forms. 
Poetry from the Hormone Jungle

Minimal Day Bell Schedule

Time	Period	Minutes
8:15 – 9:15	1st Period	60 minutes
9:20 – 10:20	2nd Period/Announcements	60 minutes
10:20 – 10:45	First Lunch	25 minutes
10:50 – 11:50	3rd Period	60 minutes
10:25 – 11:25	3rd Period	60 minutes
11:25 – 11:50	Second Lunch	25 minutes
11:55 – 12:55	4th Period	60 minutes