Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment
The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment – to put things down without deliberation – without worrying about their style – without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote – wrote, wrote. By writing at the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught.
-- Walt Whitman
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
How Parents Can Help Students Improve Their Writing
Encouraging Your Student
to Write – A Few Suggestions to Consider
[#1 and #2 are adapted from Bernice E. Cullinan in Read To Me: Raising Kids Who Love to Read]
1. Help your child become aware that there are many uses for writing. Writing surrounds us in the form of advertising, packaging, instructions for new appliances or other equipment, bills, parking signs, T.V. shows, comedians’ routines, movie dialogue, and so on and so on.
2. Encourage your child to keep a journal. Journal writing is not only good writing practice; it also creates a record of events and feelings that might not otherwise be remembered, and it can be a way to clarify and deal with thoughts and emotions.
3. Pull out the baby book or journal if you recorded anecdotes from when this child was younger. This could show the value of recording memories, and might provide ideas your child could write about.
4. Write notes to your child – hopefully some encouraging, appreciative ones as well as the “don’t forget to do this” ones.
5. My own children and I had a positive experience when they each kept a journal that was meant for me to read and respond to. I’d read them at least once a week and write back to them on the same page.
4. Be willing to help your child come up with ideas for writing, revise early drafts of a piece, and edit later drafts. Please don’t do the writing or editing for your child, though you could pick out an error or weakness or two in a piece and explain why it’s a problem and how it could be fixed.
Become familiar with the Six Trait Rubrics often used to assess writing. Remember to focus on the first five traits before you worry too much about conventions. It’s very frustrating to carefully check spelling and punctuation in a paragraph that you end up throwing out as you revise your ideas.
Be positive. Be happily amazed at the unique way your child thinks and writes. Give lots more of encouragement than of criticism.
All writers can use more than one reader who can respond to our work in an encouraging way, and help us see where it is strong and where it could use some more effort.
5. If your child isn’t already comfortable with using computers, help him or her schedule a keyboarding class at school or take advantage of other computer-use training.
6. Set the example. Write.
Published multiple times in previous years.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
If You Become a Professional Writer
You must learn to face rejection:
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Yearbook Signing and J-Dawgs during lunch
All 8 periods in one day
All 8 periods in one day
Yearbook Signing
Modified Schedule for May 30th
8:15-9:00
A1 (45
Minutes) Pass out Yearbooks
9:05-9:40
A2 (35
Minutes)
9:45-10:20 A3 (35
Minutes)
10:25-11:00 A4 (35
Minutes)
11:00-11:45 1st
lunch (45
Minutes)
11:50-12:45 B5 (55
Minutes)
11:05-12:00 B5 (55
Minutes)
12:00-1:25 2nd
Lunch (45
Minutes)
12:50-1:25 B6 (35
Minutes)
1:30-2:05 B7 (35
Minutes)
2:10-2:45 B8 (35
Minutes)
Please post this list for lunches for Yearbook day.
Lunch is based on B1 class.
Lunch Schedule
1st Lunch 2nd
Lunch
Adams Anstead
Aiman Bates
Barson Behm
Bryson Biddulph
Carter Cotterell
Clayton Dean
Crawford Dibb
Dallon Dorsey
Earl Earling
Grow Eddington
Hadlock Fugal
Hansen C
Gadd
Lemon Heng
Major Karjala
McCleskey Lyde
Newton Macfarlane
Ormond Maucotel
Paulsen McNeil
Roth Memmott
Schow Moon
Scott Morrey
Seminary Olson
W Smith Packer
Somers D.
Smith
Steed Starker
Steffes Underwood
Thornton Ward
Way Wicks
Welch Wright
Everybody needs to be in Class.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Mother's Day Poem by Catherine S.
Mother's Day Poem by Catherine S.
Each new baby
as a beautiful
blessing
Dirty diapers
are not fun to change
She wants a bottle.
He's running through the sprinklers with clothes on.
He just brought an earwig in the house.
Where is my sanity when I need it?
Her dark hair falls in curls on the pillow
as she finally goes to sleep.
We're having chicken pot pie for dinner.
Sigh.
Fine. Make yourself a sandwich.
Five little people
sit on either side of me.
I croon the story softly,
"Guess how much I love you?
To the moon and back."
Catherine S.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Bring treats if you wish.
Share plays and other stuff you're proud of!
Take home your notebooks.
Share plays and other stuff you're proud of!
Take home your notebooks.
originally published 2012-05-07
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Self-Starter prompt:
Outdoor TV Picture Prompt
Share
Work on finishing up any unfinished work.
and a play! a bit of Sherlock today!
Originally published 2012-05-07
Friday, May 18, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Self-Starter: Getting caught up --
3. Concrete Poetry
Facts about the History of Punctuation from Nancie Atwell's Lessons That Change Writers
The period: comes from the ancient Greek word peri which means "round." Writers inserted a small circle at the end of each sentence to show that they'd gone all around a subject, that the idea they expressed was now complete and well-rounded."
The comma: comes from the Greek word komma, which means "a little knife" or "to cut off." Writers inserted the little curved blade of a knife -- that is, a comma -- whenever they wanted to show a clause or phrase: a group of words cut from the body of a sentence.
- Plays
- Card for Mother (Have poem approved before putting it on the card.)
- Have you made a copy of your Inspired By poem to put up on the board? Check it off with Ms. Dorsey before you put it up.
3. Concrete Poetry
The period: comes from the ancient Greek word peri which means "round." Writers inserted a small circle at the end of each sentence to show that they'd gone all around a subject, that the idea they expressed was now complete and well-rounded."
The comma: comes from the Greek word komma, which means "a little knife" or "to cut off." Writers inserted the little curved blade of a knife -- that is, a comma -- whenever they wanted to show a clause or phrase: a group of words cut from the body of a sentence.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Self-Starter: Write a "Down the Rabbit Hole" story or poem or description.
Books and stories put someone "down a rabbit hole" -- stories with portals:
Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass
Gregor the Overlander
Beyonders
Narnia
Harry Potter 9 3/4, portkeys
(Wizard of Oz)
Leven Thumps
Seeing Red
Punctuation history -- We've already looked at quotation marks. History of exclamation mark and question mark.
A little bit of The Hormone Jungle -- first poem
Mother's Day Cards with Poems: Ode, Tritina, or Six-Ways Poem.
Do not make your card until your poem is approved.
If you haven't yet, you still need to copy an "Inspired By" poem to go on the bulletin board.
How about your play? Do you have it?
Books and stories put someone "down a rabbit hole" -- stories with portals:
Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass
Gregor the Overlander
Beyonders
Narnia
Harry Potter 9 3/4, portkeys
(Wizard of Oz)
Leven Thumps
Seeing Red
Punctuation history -- We've already looked at quotation marks. History of exclamation mark and question mark.
A little bit of The Hormone Jungle -- first poem
Mother's Day Cards with Poems: Ode, Tritina, or Six-Ways Poem.
Do not make your card until your poem is approved.
If you haven't yet, you still need to copy an "Inspired By" poem to go on the bulletin board.
How about your play? Do you have it?
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Self-Starter: Prompt: The Follower
Prompt: Write about a time when you were the follower and did something stupid or disregarded mother’s advice or an admonition or command -- or wish you would have disobeyed.
Listen to a story, then write more.
2. Sharing time
3. Mother's Day Cards with Poems: Ode, Tritina, or Six-Ways Poem.
Do not make your card until your poem is approved.
If you haven't yet, you still need to copy an "Inspired By" poem to go on the bulletin board.
Prompt: Write about a time when you were the follower and did something stupid or disregarded mother’s advice or an admonition or command -- or wish you would have disobeyed.
Listen to a story, then write more.
2. Sharing time
Do not make your card until your poem is approved.
If you haven't yet, you still need to copy an "Inspired By" poem to go on the bulletin board.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Self-Starter: The Slide Concrete Poetry
2. Outside -- Hooray!
If more time:
3. More Concrete Poetry
4. Cards for Mom -- finish or write another poem
Finish up your poem for your mother-- either a tritina, a six-ways poem, or an ode, (or a really great concrete poem) and then write it ever so neatly on a card you create.
Here are the links from last time:
tritina November 30, 2010
ways of looking at Thirteen Ways Poem
ode February 29, 2008 Neruda Odes
Here is the handout packet from last time: Poem Forms for Mothers' Day.docx
or Poem Forms for Mothers' Day.doc
Originally published on 2012-05-07
Prompt: The Follower
Guys Write for Guys Read – "The Follower" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4649807
See also the book by Gary Paulsen Harris and Me or his book Masters of Disaster.
Consider also the part of The Outsiders when Ponyboy and a friend see how long they can hold cigarettes on their hands.
Consider also the part of The Outsiders when Ponyboy and a friend see how long they can hold cigarettes on their hands.
Prompt: Write about a time when you were the follower and did something stupid
or disregarded mother’s advice or an admonition or command
or wish you would have disobeyed.
A beginning for Ms. Dorsey's story --
"Everybody
did it – at least everybody from the farming community of Clover, Idaho who was
old enough to have a drivers license (maybe some who weren't old enough, too) and too young
to fear death and dismemberment. We called it “Deadman’s Curve.” The name should have been discouraging,
but for teens it was enticing.
It was a sharp curve, following the curve in a large canal – large
enough to swallow up a car or pickup.
The
challenge was to see how fast you could go around the curve. Disobeying laws wasn’t in character for
me, but at 16 I had been driving with a license for two years, felt so
experienced, and had a need for speed."
Concrete Poetry
"Concrete poetry or shape poetry is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on.
It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has evolved to have distinct meaning of its own, but which shares the distinction of being poetry in which the visual elements are as important as the text." from
"Concrete poetry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 9 May 2012. Web. 14 May 2012.
 | ||
| Outside the lines: poetry at play by Brad Burg See http://www.bradburg.com/ |
Concrete Poetry
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Neruda Odes
Ode to Clothes
Every morning you wait,
clothes, over a chair,
to fill yourself with
my vanity, my love,
my hope, my body.
Barely
risen from sleep,
I relinquish the water,
enter your sleeves,
my legs look for
the hollows of your legs,
and so embraced
by your indefatigable faithfulness
I rise, to tread the grass,
enter poetry,
consider through the windows,
the things,
the men, the women,
the deeds and the fights
go on forming me,
go on making me face things
working my hands,
opening my eyes,
using my mouth,
and so,
clothes,
I too go forming you,
extending your elbows,
snapping your threads,
and so your life expands
in the image of my life.
In the wind
you billow and snap
as if you were my soul,
at bad times
you cling
to my bones,
vacant, for the night,
darkness, sleep
populate with their phantoms
your wings and mine.
I wonder
if one day
a bullet
from the enemy
will leave you stained with my blood
and then
you will die with me
or one day
not quite
so dramatic
but simple,
you will fall ill,
clothes,
with me,
grow old
with me, with my body
and joined
we will enter
the earth.
Because of this
each day
I greet you
with reverence and then
you embrace me and I forget you,
because we are one
and we will go on
facing the wind, in the night,
the streets or the fight,
a single body,
one day, one day, some day, still.
- Pablo Neruda
Every morning you wait,
clothes, over a chair,
to fill yourself with
my vanity, my love,
my hope, my body.
Barely
risen from sleep,
I relinquish the water,
enter your sleeves,
my legs look for
the hollows of your legs,
and so embraced
by your indefatigable faithfulness
I rise, to tread the grass,
enter poetry,
consider through the windows,
the things,
the men, the women,
the deeds and the fights
go on forming me,
go on making me face things
working my hands,
opening my eyes,
using my mouth,
and so,
clothes,
I too go forming you,
extending your elbows,
snapping your threads,
and so your life expands
in the image of my life.
In the wind
you billow and snap
as if you were my soul,
at bad times
you cling
to my bones,
vacant, for the night,
darkness, sleep
populate with their phantoms
your wings and mine.
I wonder
if one day
a bullet
from the enemy
will leave you stained with my blood
and then
you will die with me
or one day
not quite
so dramatic
but simple,
you will fall ill,
clothes,
with me,
grow old
with me, with my body
and joined
we will enter
the earth.
Because of this
each day
I greet you
with reverence and then
you embrace me and I forget you,
because we are one
and we will go on
facing the wind, in the night,
the streets or the fight,
a single body,
one day, one day, some day, still.
- Pablo Neruda
Ode To The Lemon by Pablo Neruda
From blossoms
released
by the moonlight,
from an
aroma of exasperated
love,
steeped in fragrance,
yellowness
drifted from the lemon tree,
and from its plantarium
lemons descended to the earth.
Tender yield!
The coasts,
the markets glowed
with light, with
unrefined gold;
we opened
two halves
of a miracle,
congealed acid
trickled
from the hemispheres
of a star,
the most intense liqueur
of nature,
unique, vivid,
concentrated,
born of the cool, fresh
lemon,
of its fragrant house,
its acid, secret symmetry.
Knives
sliced a small
cathedral
in the lemon,
the concealed apse, opened,
revealed acid stained glass,
drops
oozed topaz,
altars,
cool architecture.
So, when you hold
the hemisphere
of a cut lemon
above your plate,
you spill
a universe of gold,
a
yellow goblet
of miracles,
. . . . . .
a ray of light that was made fruit,
the minute fire of a planet.
released
by the moonlight,
from an
aroma of exasperated
love,
steeped in fragrance,
yellowness
drifted from the lemon tree,
and from its plantarium
lemons descended to the earth.
Tender yield!
The coasts,
the markets glowed
with light, with
unrefined gold;
we opened
two halves
of a miracle,
congealed acid
trickled
from the hemispheres
of a star,
the most intense liqueur
of nature,
unique, vivid,
concentrated,
born of the cool, fresh
lemon,
of its fragrant house,
its acid, secret symmetry.
Knives
sliced a small
cathedral
in the lemon,
the concealed apse, opened,
revealed acid stained glass,
drops
oozed topaz,
altars,
cool architecture.
So, when you hold
the hemisphere
of a cut lemon
above your plate,
you spill
a universe of gold,
a
yellow goblet
of miracles,
. . . . . .
a ray of light that was made fruit,
the minute fire of a planet.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Mother's Day Cards with a special poem --
tritina November 30, 2010
ways of looking at Thirteen Ways Poem
ode February 29, 2008
tritina November 30, 2010
ways of looking at Thirteen Ways Poem
ode February 29, 2008
Neruda Odes
Here is the handout packet for today:
Poem Forms for Mothers' Day.docx
or
Poem Forms for Mothers' Day.doc
Originally published May 7, 2012.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Deliver books to Legacy Elementary! We'll be about 15-20 minutes late for your B2 class again. Check ahead with your teachers if you can.
More Love That Dog and writing "Inspired By" poems.
More Love That Dog and writing "Inspired By" poems.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Self-Starter: a) In your notebook, list every punctuation mark you can think of, and what it does. http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/punctuation.aspx
b) Write an "I Am From" Poem
Love That Dog
Monday, February 28, 2011 Love That Boy and More
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/punctuation.aspx
b) Write an "I Am From" Poem
December 6, 2010 I Am From
[or Outside? 54 degrees?]Love That Dog
Monday, February 28, 2011 Love That Boy and More
February 25, 2008
Punctuation? http://msmcclure.com/?page_id=6448
Student poems:
The following are from Branden P. 2012
Love that horse
like tornadoes love to swirl.
I said I love that horse
like tornadoes love to swirl.
Love to call her in the summer
love to call her
"Hey there, Girl!"
Whose dog this is, I wish I'd know
Reminds me of the velvet rose.
Found me summer at the school,
So to my family, I'll show.
do much depends
upon
the voodoo doll
on the shelf
beside the sewing kit
so much depends upon
the duck by the pond
who is
very fond
of visitors
_____________________________
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
October 10, 2007
ShareLove That Dog
Monday, February 28, 2011 Love That Boy and More
February 25, 2008
December 6, 2010 I Am From
Punctuation?
_______________________
I found a very cool site -- an online rhyming dictionary -- free!
http://www.rhymer.com/
Monday, April 30, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
Self-Starter: Respond to a photo -- Man and woman in front of what? From National Geographic Pictures
2. Respond/Write to music
2. Respond/Write to music
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Thursday, April 25, 2012
Self-Starter: Pick a photo or. . . . leaves?
finish play? Sherlock
Outside Over There
Various activities for writing outside.
finish play? Sherlock
Outside Over There
Various activities for writing outside.
Tuesday, April 23, 2012
Self-Starter: Write about heat, summer, or anything to do with temperature.
Computer Lab 201 -- finish memoirs -- posted on MyAccess
Finish reading plays --
Do we still need to finish one?
Computer Lab 201 -- finish memoirs -- posted on MyAccess
Finish reading plays --
Do we still need to finish one?
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Prompt: Plays
Prompt: Write about plays -- plays you've seen, plays you've been in, plays you've read, plays you'd like to see or read.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
1. Prompt: Plays
"The Play's the Thing"
2. Add these notes to your notebook.
Advice for Reading and Writing Plays
Advice for Reading Plays:
1)
Read all the stage directions carefully.
2)
Notice what the dialogue reveals about the characters.
3)
Look for the conflict, problem, or tension.
4) Notice the plot as the play unfolds.
5) Take your time as you read.
Explanation: (You don’t need to copy all of this,
but try to understand it.) Dialogue is meant to be heard so if you are reading
it to yourself, you need to provide the feelings that go with the
dialogue. Plays are meant to be
heard, so you need to visualize what is happening on stage.
6) Expect some confusion in the
beginning.
Advice for Writing Plays:
1. Outline the
plot of your play before you start writing.
2. Use play-writing format
including a list of characters at the beginning and giving the name of the
character before each chunk of dialogue.
3. Write clear stage
directions.
3. Read parts of two plays
4. Computer lab 201 to work on your narratives (Try to finish up.) and/or start working on your own original play or a skit or two on a Word document. (Remember that your memoir is on MyAccess.)
Monday, April 16, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Self-Starter:
Pick a prompt (suggested by Gale Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted):
1. The best way to write better is to write more.
2. The best way to write better is to write more.
3. The best way to write better is to write more.
4. The best way to write more is to write whenever you have have five minutes and whenever you find a chair and a pen and paper or your computer.
5. Read! Most likely you don't need this rule. If you enjoy writing, you probably enjoy reading. The payoff for this pleasure is that reading books shows you how to write them.
6. Reread! There's nothing wrong with reading a book you love over and over. When you do, the words get inside you, become part of you, in a way that words in a book you've read only once can't.
7. Save everything you write, even if you don't like it, even if you hate it. Save it for a minimum of fifteen years. I'm serious. At that time, if you want to, you can throw it out, but even then don't discard your writing lightly. (fromWriting Magic, page 5)
We also read part of her chapter from Writing Magic about "Show and Tell."
See An Author's Blog.
Computer Lab 211 to work on memoirs.
Pick a prompt (suggested by Gale Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted):
- I have one green eye and one brown eye. The green eye sees truth, but the brown eye sees much, much more.
- The ghost was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
- "Be nice," my father said. "After all, he's your brother."
- I am the most famous twelve-year-old (or thirteen-year-old) in the United States.
- If somebody didn't do something soon, they were going to have a catastrophe on their hands.
- Jason (or another name) had never felt so foolish before, and he hoped he'd never feel so foolish again.
1. The best way to write better is to write more.
2. The best way to write better is to write more.
3. The best way to write better is to write more.
4. The best way to write more is to write whenever you have have five minutes and whenever you find a chair and a pen and paper or your computer.
5. Read! Most likely you don't need this rule. If you enjoy writing, you probably enjoy reading. The payoff for this pleasure is that reading books shows you how to write them.
6. Reread! There's nothing wrong with reading a book you love over and over. When you do, the words get inside you, become part of you, in a way that words in a book you've read only once can't.
7. Save everything you write, even if you don't like it, even if you hate it. Save it for a minimum of fifteen years. I'm serious. At that time, if you want to, you can throw it out, but even then don't discard your writing lightly. (fromWriting Magic, page 5)
We also read part of her chapter from Writing Magic about "Show and Tell."
See An Author's Blog.
Computer Lab 211 to work on memoirs.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Self-Starter: Picture Prompt -- White Water!!!! or Object Prompt -- Easter Basket
More Pics for Prompts 2
Computer lab: type memoirs
[Finish up children's books as needed]
Friday, April 13, 2012
An Author's Blog
This is Gale Carson Levine's blog: http://gailcarsonlevine.blogspot.com/
She has lots of ideas and prompts for young (and not so young) writers.
She is the author of Ella Enchanted.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
You will have a substitute teacher since I will be attending with the other English teachers a Literacy Conference held in Salt Lake.
Self-Starter: Prompt -- picture or . . . . .
Some possible prompts:
Ms. Bills will be teaching a lesson about revision.
We recently did this with revision in Ms. Dorsey's English classes:
Self-Starter: Prompt -- picture or . . . . .
Some possible prompts:
April 3 -- Prompt 6
April 3 -- Prompt 7
April 3 -- Prompt 8
April 3 -- Prompt 9
Picture Prompt -- Magritte La Voix. . .
Outdoor TV Picture Prompt
Ms. Bills will be teaching a lesson about revision.
We recently did this with revision in Ms. Dorsey's English classes:
Bring your ARMS and fingers
A.R.M.S. Revision Strategy
And Fingers for Writing with Sensory Images
originally published 3/30/12
Monday, April 2, 2012
April 3 -- Prompt 1
 |
| Describe each of your family members, but limit the number of words in each description to the age of each person. For example, your 37-year-old mother must be described in 37 words, your 16-year-old sister must be described in 16 words, and your 10-year-old cousin must be described in 10 words, and the baby who is one or less, will be described in (you guessed it) one word. |
April 3 -- Prompt 2
 |
| Stand up and move to somewhere in the room by a bookshelf. Grab the 7th book from the bookshelf or the seventh book in one of the clear plastic boxes. Open it up to page 7. Pinpoint the 7th sentence on the page. Begin a poem that begins with that sentence and limit it in length to 7 lines. When you are done with a book, please put it back where you found it. |
April 3 -- Prompt 3
 | |
What did you eat for breakfast or lunch? Write a haiku about each item you ate ... A haiku is a short poem with three lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7 syllables, and the third has 5 syllables. Here's a haiku to help you remember:Sample of a haiku about food: Granola is best With yogurt and fruit on top A healthy breakfast. |
April 3 -- Prompt 4
 |
| Open the dictionary to a random page. Find a word that you do not know how to define. Write an imaginary definition for it. Repeat until this time is up. Find dictionaries on the rolling book cart or on the counter at the back of the classroom. When you are done with the dictionary, please put it back on the dictionary shelf. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)