Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Charity Games


Schedule for Charity Games
December 18th and 19th
 No backpacks in the gym.
 Take care of personal needs before entering the gym. Once you are in the gym you are NOT to leave until the end of the game.
 NO saving seats. Sit close, no feet on the bleacher below, we need every inch.
 Students may only attend their grade’s game.
 Students are required to pay $1 each time they enter the gym for a period.
 NO CAVE Time on Thursday 12/18 or Friday 12/19.
 ALL proceeds from the games will be given to AFJH families who could use some extra help during this holiday season.

Teachers will wait for the announcement from the office before sending  students to the boy’s gym.

Thursday, December 18th
A1 8:35-9:35 – 7th grade students only
A2 10:05-11:10 – 8th grade students only
NO GAMES DURING 3RD period – regular lunch schedule
A4 1:40-2:40 – 9th grade students only
**A4 will be the 9th grade girls against the women staff/faculty

Friday, December 19th
B1 8:35-9:35 – 7th grade students only
B2 10:05-11:10 – 8th grade students only
NO GAMES DURING 3RD period – regular lunch schedule
B4 1:40-2:40 – 9th grade students only
**B4 will be the 9th grade boys against the men staff/faculty

Friday, December 19, 2014

Today is the deadline for all late work and extra credit.

There will be NO cavetime on Thursday or Friday. 
Classes will be normal during B6-B8 and A2-A4.
The only seventh grade classes affected by the charity basketball games will be B5 and A1.

Scribbles:
12/17  Brogan?

12/19  Deegan?


If no others:  

If you were in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, what ghost would visit you, and where would the ghost 
take you? 


Christmas Word/Phrase Poetry:

On the red slip, write a word or phrase that would be really useful in writing a poem about the Christmas Season.

When ready, you will draw 5 slips and use those five words and phrases in a poem.


Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Wednesday, December 17, 2014


1. Scribble:  Today --   Describe the ideal meal.  You can, if you wish, include the place and circumstances. 

Coming:

1/6 Drake
1/8 Emily C.
No more Studio C.
Come up with something different from what the other student have done. 


If you've changed your name on Kidblog so that it doesn't tell who you are, please change it back or add your name to it. 

Finish up the assignments you haven't finished, revised, and edited. 

Finish Found/Headline poem if you haven't.

Christmas Story -- Write on MyAccess, print out to hand in -- 
If you're doing this late, you'll need to type it on Word or another word processor and then print it out.

Memoir Script -- on Kidblog
2014 
Fall:  http://kidblog.org/DorseyCreativeWriting72014/

Underland story - on Kidblog -- Write a story about falling (or otherwise entering) an Underland or other world of your own creation!

Mish-Mash of characters story -- on Kidblog

Write a story in which characters from stories and books who do not in their stories celebrate Christmas (or other holidays)  celebrate Christmas or another holidays.
or
Write a story in which characters from stories and books who do not normally belong together are in the same story. These would be characters from different books, stories, movies, etc. 



Monday, December 15, 2014

Merry Christmas!

It's A Wonderful Life Without Studio C. 

December 15, 2014


The deadline for all late work and extra credit is December 19.
If you have not finished your child's book, do it IMMEDIATELY!
Sign the clipboard if you have a "late" assignment ready to be graded.

1. Scribble:  Today --  Rome


Coming:
12/17  Brogan
12/19  Deegan
1/6 Drake
1/8 Emily C.
No more Studio C.





If needed:  




Lab 201: Finish up the assignments you haven't finished, revised, and edited. 

Finish Found/Headline poem if you haven't.

Christmas Story -- Write on MyAccess, print out to hand in -- 
If you're doing this late, you'll need to type it on Word or another word processor and then print it out.

Memoir Script -- on Kidblog
2014 
Fall:  http://kidblog.org/DorseyCreativeWriting72014/

Underland story - on Kidblog -- Write a story about falling (or otherwise entering) an Underland or other world of your own creation!

Mish-Mash of characters story -- on Kidblog

Write a story in which characters from stories and books who do not in their stories celebrate Christmas (or other holidays)  celebrate Christmas or another holidays.
or
Write a story in which characters from stories and books who do not normally belong together are in the same story. These would be characters from different books, stories, movies, etc. 






Thursday, December 11, 2014

Thursday, December 11, 2014


The deadline for all late work and extra credit is December 19.
If you have not finished your child's book, do it IMMEDIATELY!
Sign the clipboard if you have a "late" assignment ready to be graded.

1. Scribble:  Today:  Devin and Isaac
Do both of these

a.  I was reading in my bed, when I hear the door squeak open.  


b.  You walk into the house and a strange voice says, "Welcome."






12/15  Rome
12/17  Brogan
12/19  Deegan
1/6 Drake
1/8 Emily C.
No more Studio C.

2. Found Poetry
https://secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Books/Sample/18488chap1.pdf
Headline Poetry

Cut out words, phrases or letters from newspapers or magazines.  Use them to create a poem -- earn a better grade if you use alliteration.
One  poem due today.
No disrespect to individuals allowed.


3. Work quietly and individually on your Underland story

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Announcements and Reminders:

  • Please sign up on the clipboard if you have any of your past assignments ready to be graded or regraded. 
  • The deadline for all late work and extra credit is December 19. 
Scribble
Today: Isaac R.
12/11 Devin
12/15  Rome
12/17  Brogan
12/19  Deegan
1/6 Drake
1/8 Emily C.

No more Studio C.


Today’s Agenda:
1.  Make a list:  How many stories can you think of in which a main character starts out in the real world and somehow enters another world?  You can use books, movies, television shows, etc.  Here are a couple to get you started:
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (The children enter Narnia by several different ways in the series.)
The Wizard of Oz  ("Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.")
What others can you think of?   
Here are a few more: Going into Another World

2. Read-Aloud from Alice in Wonderland 

3.  Read the first chapter of Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins 

4.  Prepare to write a story about falling (or otherwise entering) an Underland of your own creation! 
     Use your composition books for your sketches and writing.   

5. If you have time, get started writing your story. 

Here is the rubric for the story:  Underland Rubric.doc





If you were absent: 
You can read the first chapter of Alice in Wonderland at
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rgs/alice-I.html

You can read the first chapter of Gregor the Overlander at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4682840

Receive the handout  rubric for writing your story.
You can, even without the handout, start writing a story about an Underland of your own creation.
Get a good start on your story today.   It is due December 15. 

We will have the Computer Lab 201 on Monday, December 15, 2014.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Friday, December 5, 2014



Scribble:  Birdhouse

Next time: Isaac R.
12/11 Devin
12/15  Rome
12/17  Brogan
12/19  Deegan
1/6 Drake
1/8 Emily C.

No more Studio C.




Lab 201:

  • Finish memoir (on Kidblog), 
  • Christmas Story (on MyAccess -- print a copy to hand to me)
  • , then
  • Required: (on Kidblog) -- 

Write a story in which characters from stories and books who do not in their stories celebrate Christmas (or other holidays)  celebrate Christmas or another holidays.

or

Write a story in which characters from stories and books who do not normally belong together are in the same story. These would be characters from different books, stories, movies, etc.

If finished with everything, write Santa letters:


Monday, December 1, 2014

Wednesday, December 3, 2014


Announcement and Reminders:
If you have late work that is ready to be graded, add it to the clipboard.

Scribble:    Daniella



1)  I walked in, and I saw it!




2) Read more "metaphored" stories. 





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpoxHvmWPfc


3)  Copy as many of the onomatopoeia words as you can from this site into your composition book. 

http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/onomatopoeia-word-list/

4) Write a story using as much onomatopoeia as you can!





5)  Write 20 What If's 

What if. . . What if. . . is a big question. Make a list of twenty what if's. Be specific and creative.


Shared from the back up through Deegan.  Hunter is next. 
_____________________

If you were absent:

  • Write to the scribble prompt and tape it into your composition book.
  • Copy into your composition book  a bunch of onomatopoeia words that you could use in a story.
  • Write a story using as much onomatopoeia as you can!
  • What if. . . What if. . . is a big question. Make a list of twenty what if's. Be specific and creative.





Monday, December 1, 2014

Announcements and Reminders:
We will be in the lab on December 5.
     Finish memoir script.
     Finish holiday contest stories.

Scribble: Channing W.

     The shocked gasps of the crowd erupted as the man landed. . . "


Next time:  Bella and Daniella


Figurative Language:  Metaphor

Self-Starter: Write about this Metaphor -- My Brain is a. . . . 
You could change the metaphor, but keep it focused on your brain.

There is a difference between a simple metaphor and an extended metaphor.


Quick as a Cricket

Metaphors


Bad Metaphors (Similes)




Write a brief story using as much 

figurative language as you can. 

    
Ms. Dorsey's story -- so far:
   Hearing his voice again was as sweet as tasting again the spumoni ice cream cone you picked up after you had dropped it on an unswept sidewalk and after it had mostly melted and was now running down your hand and arms.  He walked through the door like a man walks through a door after he has been gone from his true love for over two hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty-five seconds.  We ran toward each other across the crowded room like two jets zooming toward each other across the sky, but a sky filled with other flying things that were really the people at the cocktail party but seemed like helicopters and hot-air balloons and biplanes, hoping as we zoomed that no one will die when we eventually collide.    

Monday, November 24, 2014

Monday, November 24, 2014


Scribble:  Sarah D. 

In these dark times three heroes will save the world, or die trying.

Description:
Description of Christmas from The Giver

Examples and suggestions for Description




Computer Lab 223   http://kidblog.org/DorseyCreativeWriting72014/wp-login.php?loggedout=true

  1.     Finish writing your script for your memoir.  Post it on Kidblog.
  2.     Catch up on anything else you need to do.
  3.     If you have extra time, work on a story for the Writing Lab contest. THIS IS REQUIRED.   It should be REALLY good. 




5 points for participation -- up to 15 points of extra credit for creating a great story. 
Enter this contest with an entry that is good enough to be at least considered for a prize:
2nd Annual Holiday Writing Contest
Open to all students.  Contest is open from November 12 to December 12, 2014
7th and 8th grades may submit entries on MyAccess. Entries should be 2000 words or less.  The latest scored entry on MyAccess will be considered as the student’s competition entry. Entries must be submitted by end of school day on Friday, December 12.

All submitted writing should be the original work of the individual and not copied or plagiarized from another source.
Prizes for the top three stories will be awarded.

Bring a copy of your entry to Ms. Dorsey. 
5 points for participation -- up to 15 points of extra credit for creating a great story. 


Description

Read from Gary Paulsen -- Winter Room 


similes:
To illustrate, in Nature Emerson writes,
I see the spectacle of morning from the hill-top over against my house, from day-break to sunrise, with emotions which an angel might share. The long slender bars of cloud float like fishes in the sea of crimson light. (234)
Annie Dillard uses the following simile in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek:
In flat country I watch every sunset in hopes of seeing the green ray. The green ray is a seldom-seen streak of light that rises from the sun like a spurting fountain at the moment of sunset; it throbs into the sky for two seconds and disappears. One more reason to keep my eyes open (17).


found at http://www.writinginstructor.com/johnson-sheehan

Onomatopoeia

An onomatopoeia is a word whose sound imitates the thing it is trying to describe. For instance, the sounds of a “crackling fire” or a “murmuring river” are echoed in the words themselves. Here is Thoreau’s description of the pond in Walden:
The bullfrogs trump to the usher in the night, and the note of the whippoorwill is borne on the rippling wind from over the water. Sympathy with the fluttering alder and poplar leaves almost takes away my breath; yet, like the lake, my serenity is rippled but not ruffled (153).
Words like trump, usher, rippling, fluttering, and ruffled all create a tone for this description that goes beyond seeing. We can actually hear the lake in this description.
Abbey’s Desert Solitaire is another text that heavily uses onomatopoeia. Here is a short list of words drawn from the pages of Desert Solitaire:
crackle, rustle, scuffle, brittle, whispers, slithers, hisses, mutter, thunder, crawled, sliding, roar, whistling, ticking, cough, babble, mumble, rattle, sizzle, bawling, yawning, gasp, splash, scratching, clattered, buzzing, humble.
http://www.writinginstructor.com/johnson-sheehan 

This illustrates both assonance and alliteration: 
Here is an example of assonance, also from Dillard:
A male English sparrow, his mouth stuffed, was hopping in and out of an old nest in a bare tree, and sloshing around in its bottom. A robin on red alert in the grass, trailing half a worm from its bill, bobbed three steps and straightened up, performing unawares the universal robin trick. (113)
http://www.writinginstructor.com/johnson-sheehan 

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Link to Kidblog


http://kidblog.org/DorseyCreativeWriting72014/wp-login.php?loggedout=true

Create a dramatic script based on your memoir

Sample

Title: Blackmail by Snoopy
Characters: 
 Linus Snoopy 

Setting: Linus’ house. Linus is writing a letter while Snoopy 
watches. 

LINUS: (writing) I would like to recommend 
Snoopy for Neighborhood Dog of the Year. He 
is truly a dog among dogs. 
(turning to Snoopy) How’s that? 

SNOOPY: Great! (Snoopy gives Linus his blanket.)

LINUS: What a way to get your blanket back! 


SNOOPY:  What a way to get a letter of 
recommendation! 

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Thursday, November 20, 2014



Scribble:  As far as anyone knew, the old house was abandoned.
   -- Brynlee I. 



Computer Lab 223
    Finish writing your script for your memoir.  Post it on Kidblog.
    Catch up on anything else you need to do.
    If you have extra time, work on a story for the Writing Lab contest. THIS IS REQUIRED. 




5 points for participation -- up to 15 points of extra credit for creating a great story. 
Enter this contest with an entry that is good enough to be at least considered for a prize:
2nd Annual Holiday Writing Contest
Open to all students.  Contest is open from November 12 to December 12, 2014
7th and 8th grades may submit entries on MyAccess. Entries should be 2000 words or less.  The latest scored entry on MyAccess will be considered as the student’s competition entry. Entries must be submitted by end of school day on Friday, December 12.

All submitted writing should be the original work of the individual and not copied or plagiarized from another source.
Prizes for the top three stories will be awarded.

Bring a copy of your entry to Ms. Dorsey. 
5 points for participation -- up to 15 points of extra credit for creating a great story. 


Tuesday, November 18, 2014



1. Scribble:  Eva Lacey




(If not, practice writing a script for a comic strip.)

2.  Writing Memoir:  Richard Wright "The Night I Won the Right to the Streets of Memphis."

Memoir: Richard Wright


2. Creating a dramatic script based on your memoir --

Cast of Characters:
Define each character with about three descriptors rather than a complex biography. “Anxious teen who needs a job” or “high-school prom queen growing old with style” are good starts. [Source]


  • Each character's voice should be so distinct that their lines could only belong to them. Rhythm, syntax, diction and grammar should be unique and consistent. Read lines without character names attached and see if the speaker's identity is obvious.
 In a script, dialogue is not in quotations. 

Stage Directions: 
Stage Directions briefly describe the setting and major movements of the characters.
In a script, actions and stage directions are written in italics and/or in (parentheses).   



For a dramatic script, change past tense to present tense: 
Prose Narrative
Dramatic Script
"Bobby opened the window." 
(Bobby opens the window.) 
“You get out of here!” Fred yelled at the dog. 
FRED: (yelling at the dog) You get out of here! 
yelled at the dog. 
The tree crashed to the ground.
(The tree falls down. Crashing noises.) 
Gwen said, “I hoped you would come to my party!” 
GWEN: I hoped you would come to my party! 


_______________________________
Example:  Source
FRANKENSTEIN
By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, adapted for radio by Antony Ellis (06/07/1955)

Characters
DR. VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER
HENRY (Victor’s friend) ELIZABETH (Victor’s cousin & girlfriend)

Setting: Henry’s house, on the back porch, late in the evening.

Prior to this scene, Dr. Frankenstein created a monster. When his monster starts destroying 
things and killing people, Dr. Frankenstein runs away to England, hoping to leave the evil 
monster behind him. 

ELIZABETH: (screaming) Victor! Victor!
VICTOR: We’re out here, Beth.
ELIZABETH: Oh I’ve just had a horrible experience. Darling, I’m so glad to see you!
VICTOR: You’re pale, Beth. Sit down right here next to me.
HENRY: Oh, what happened, Beth?
ELIZABETH: I was . . . I was walking in the woods not far from here when I looked up and saw
. . . and saw a man . . . sort of a man standing over me.
HENRY: Well men aren’t so bad, that is if you happen to know the right ones, and you do. 
______________________

3. Go to the Computer Lab to type your scripts.