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Thursday, May 4 and Friday, May 5, 2017

4/28/2017

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Content Objective: I can integrate multimedia to write about real or imagined experiences or events. 
Language Objective: I will edit sensory and significant details my "Favorite Mistake" essay and make sure I show instead of tell in my narrative.

Agenda: 
1. Read your Quarter 4 book for 15 minutes. 

2. Pick a boring or bland sentence from your book. Write it down. Then, rewrite this sentence and add sensory details to make this sentence more vivid and interesting. Avoid cliches. 

3. Make sure your rough draft is finished, then peer-review your essay with a partner. Leave comments on the following:
    • Spelling and Grammar
    • What is working well?
    • What is confusing?
    • What would you like to see more of?
4. Address and fix the feedback you  got on your essay. 

5. Revise your draft and pay attention to the following:
  • Make sure to either start with reflection or a moment of action. 
  • Are you showing, rather than telling your reader what happened? 
  • Heighten the three key details you highlighted in your rough draft. Make sure they are emphasized in your essay and you show that they are important. 
  • Do you in equal parts express what happened and reflect on what you learned from it/what this says about you as a person? 
  • Is your closing effective? End with something that sums up what this mistake meant to you or an outlook to the future/whether you would do it again or not. 
Check spelling, capitalization, and grammar using Grammarly.

6. Reflection (add to the bottom of your draft): 
  • What are the strengths of your essay? What did you struggle with or think could improve? 
  • What was the hardest part of this essay to write? Why? 
  • Did anything about this essay or the way you wrote it surprise you? 

Assignments: 
  • Submit your final draft (worth 30 points)
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Tuesday, May 2 and Wednesday, May 3, 2017

4/28/2017

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Content Objective: I can use sensory details and expressive and reflective writing to write a narrative personal essay.
Language Objective: I will write the rough draft of my "Favorite Mistake" essay using expressive and reflective writing.

Agenda:

1. Read your Quarter 4 Book for 10 minutes.

2. Reading Journal:
Choose three details that stand out to you in your reading. Try to find details that appeal to your five senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell). Why are these details important for your book?

3. Write the rough draft of your Favorite Mistake Essay.
Use Jessanne Collins "A Mistake That Should Last a Lifetime" as a model for both length and detail. Use your expression vs. reflection organizer from last period as an outline and guide.

Favorite Mistake Essay Requirements: 
  • Include both what happened (expression) and what you learned from it/ how it changed you (reflection) 
  • Your essay should be between 500-700 words long.
  • Follow a similar structure as the Jessanne Collins essay.
  • Show rather than tell: include all five senses to really bring your story to life.

4. Highlight 3 important details in your essay.
Make sure to describe these important details in a unique, non-cliched way. Show instead of telling and try to use all of your five senses (sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch) in your description.

5. During the last 15 minutes of class: Peer-review your essay with a partner. Leave comments on the following:
  • Spelling and Grammar
  • What is working well?
  • What is confusing?
  • What would you want to see more of?

6. Address and fix the feedback you  got on your essay.

Assignments:
Your assignment for today is titled "Favorite Mistake Essay Rough Draft" on Canvas
  • Submit your reading Journal
  • Submit your rough draft with your peer feedback (If you do not get to your peer feedback this period, do this at the beginning of next period)
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Friday, April 28 and Monday, May 1, 2017

4/27/2017

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Content Objective: I can integrate multimedia to write about real or imagined experiences or events. 
Language Objective: I will identify and organize my writing into expressive and reflective writing and begin rough-drafting my "Favorite Mistake" essay. 

Agenda: 
1. Bell Work: Read your Quarter 4 Book for 15 minutes. 

2. Reading Journal: Free Write. Write for 5 minutes about anything that stands out to you in your reading. Cite textual evidence to support your claims. 

3. Answer the following questions about the topic for your "Favorite Mistake" essay:
  • What is the main lesson you have learned from your mistake?
  • Would you repeat your mistake? Why/why not?

4. Take a second look at Jessanne Collins' "A Mistake That Should Last a Lifetime."

Highlight in one color her reflective writing, in which she talks about what she learned from her mistake and how she views it today. 
In a different color, highlight her expressive writing, that is her writing about what happened when she made her mistake. 

5. Complete the Favorite Mistake Essay Organizer, filling in your reflective writing (what you learned from your mistake and what it means to you today) on one side, and your expressive writing (what actually happened when you made your mistake) on the other. 

6. Begin rough drafting your Mistake Essay. It should be between 500-700 words long and contain both what happened (expressive writing) and what you learned from it/how it changed you (reflective writing). 
​
Assignments:
  • Reading Journal
  • Jessanne Collins highlights (copy/paste this into your GoogleDoc for today)
  • Expression vs. Reflection Graphic Organizer (copy/paste into your GoogleDoc)
  • Rough Draft
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Wednesday, April 26 and Thursday, April 27, 2017

4/25/2017

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Content Objective: I can integrate multimedia to write about real or imagined experiences or events. 
Language Objective: I will write a narrative essay about a mistake I have made and reflect on how it shaped me into who I am today. 

Agenda: 
1. Bell Work: Read your Quarter 4 Book Club Books  for 15 minutes. 

2. Reading Journal: Look back at the opening of your book: 
  • What is the moment of action with which your main character is introduced? 
  • What is their most distinguishing physical feature? 
  • List three details that you learn about this character explicitly and three that you learn implicitly.

3. Writing Prompt: Piano Tree. Write for 10 minutes.
Picture
​4. Reflection: How are you the sum of your influences? How are you not? 
Write for 5 minutes. 

5. Think of a mistake you made in your life that you have learned from. What was it? What did you learn? 

6. Copy into your document and cold read Jessane Collins' A Mistake That Should Last a Lifetime.

7. Spend 10 minutes talking to the text. Comment and highlight to create at least two of the following:
  • comments
  • connections
  • questions
Be prepared to share your annotations in your group and with the rest of the class. 

8. Write a rough draft of the mistake you learned from. Aim for 200-300 words for your rough draft. 

Assignments:
  • Reading Journal
  • Writing Prompt
  • Reflection on Influences 
  • Mistake brainstorming question
  • "A Mistake That Should Last a Lifetime" annotations
  • Mistake rough draft
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Monday, April 24 and Tuesday, April 25, 2017

4/21/2017

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Content Objective: I can write narratives about real or imagined events.  
Language Objective: I will write, edit, and revise my flash fiction story, include sensory details, and condense it to exactly 300 words. 

Agenda:
Revise your flash fiction piece. Follow these steps: 

1. Tighten and simplify your writing. Here are some examples to make your writing stronger.

2. Condense your word count to make sure you can fit everything into 300 words: 
First, go through and delete all unnecessary adverbs and adjectives. 
Then, make sure you are not talking about anything that does not directly pertain to your story. 
  • Does your story still make sense? 
  • Does your story have explicit as well as implicit meaning? 
If your answer is "Yes" to both of these, proceed to the next step. 

3. Go through your story and make sure that every word you used is necessary. Shorten anything that could be tightened. 

4. Follow these three steps to amplify your significant details
  1. Highlight the three most important details in your story.
  2. What is the explicit significance of these details? What’s their implicit significance? 
  3. Describe your significant details as vividly as possible. Try to use your 5 senses to come up with unique descriptions that aren’t cliche. 

5. How can you make things stronger, worse or unexpected? (Double-check this step from last time.) 

6. Are there any cliches in your story? Either change them or twist them to make them more original. ​

7. Share your work with a partner. Use GoogleDrive to provide feedback to each other. Make sure your feedback answers the following questions: 
  • What is something you really liked? 
  • What confused you? 
  • What do you want to see more of? 

8. Use your partner's feedback to revise your story. 

9. Proofread your story twice. Run it through Grammarly to check for spelling and grammatical errors.

10. Self-Assessment/Reflection: 
  • What are the strengths of your story? 
  • What do you feel you still need to improve in your story? 
  • What about the writing process of this story came to you easily? 
  • What did you struggle with? How did you overcome this struggle? 
  • What did you learn from writing your flash fiction piece? 
  • What would you change next time?

Format your story as following: 
  • Give your story a title (this will not count towards your 300 words); center your title
  • Below the title, center your full name
  • Format the entire story in 12 point Times New Roman, single-spaced
  • Title your reflection and add it below your flash fiction piece 
Title your Doc "Flash Fiction Final Draft" and upload it to CANVAS.  

Assignments: 
  • Upload final draft of your flash fiction piece and reflection to CANVAS
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Thursday, April 20 and Friday, April 21, 2017

4/19/2017

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Content Objective: I can write narratives about real and imagined events. 

Language Objective: I will write, edit and revise my flash fiction to include my characters' goals, motivations, and conflict as well as significant details and fit it into exactly 300 words.

Agenda: 
1. Writing Prompt: Write about a moment where your character isn't doing anything, but write about them and their surroundings in as much detail as possible. Write for 7 minutes.

2.  Character Goal, Motivation, and Conflict:
  • What is your main character’s main goal?
    • External
    • Internal
  • What is your main character’s motivation?
    • External
    • Internal
  • What is your character’s main conflict?
    • External
    • Internal

3. Finish your first draft of your flash fiction story.
Don’t worry about word count. Just finish the story first.

4. How can you make things worse or stronger in your story? Change that now.

5. Condense your story to 300 words exactly. 
  1. Delete all unnecessary adverbs and adjectives. 
  2. Then, make sure you are not talking about anything that does not directly pertain to your story. 
  • Does your story still make sense? 
  • Does your story have explicit as well as implicit meaning?

Assignments: 
  • Submit the revised draft of your flash fiction story. We will add finishing touches next time. ​
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Tuesday, April 18 and Wednesday, April 19, 2017

4/17/2017

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Content Objective: I can write flash fiction about real or imagined characters and events.
Language Objective: I will write a rough draft of my flash fiction pieces.


SURVEY: LAST TWO WEEKS OF THE QUARTER

1. Writing Prompt: Write for 10 minutes:
Picture
2. If you haven't yet, finish  the Flash Fiction Outline Organizer to outline your story.

3. Write your rough draft of your flash fiction piece. Pay close attention to the following:
  • Use both explicit and implicit characterization
  • Use unique, non-cliche significant details
  • Make sure your story focuses on a moment of action
  • Make sure your story has a beginning, middle, and end
  • While your final draft should be 300 words exactly (no more, no less), don’t worry about your overall word count in this first draft. Just tell the story.
​
4. Share your story with a partner. Discuss what is working well and what you are stuck with--they might help get you un-stuck.

5. Read your Book Club Book for the last ten minutes of class. In your doc, briefly reflect on your reading by adding a 5-sentence summary of what you read:
  • Sentence 1: Summary of what you read
  • Sentences 2-4: Details that stood out to you and your reaction to them
  • Sentence 5: What is your takeaway from what you read?

​ Assignments:
  • Submit your prompt, outline organizer, and the rough draft of your flash fiction piece in one document on CANVAS
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Friday, April 14 and Monday, April 17, 2017

4/13/2017

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Content Objective: I can write flash fiction about real or imagined characters and events. 
Language Objective: I will outline my own 300-word flash fiction piece.

Agenda:

1. Writing Prompt: Write a story based on the following photo 
Picture
2. Brainstorm ideas for your own Flash Fiction and fill out this Flash Fiction Outline Organizer

3. Fill out this form for your Book Club Projects.
  • Check out the Library Catalog here.

Assignments:
  • Writing Prompt
  • Flash Fiction Outline Organizer
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Wednesday, April 12 and Thursday, April 13, 2017

4/11/2017

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Content Objective: I can write flash fiction about real or imagined events. 
Language Objective: I will analyze what is said and what is not said in flash fiction and use sensory detail to communicate details about my character. 

Agenda:
1. Writing Prompt. Pick one. Write for 10 minutes:
  1. Think of the last movie you watched. Write out the scene where the main character is introduced as if it appeared in a novel.
  2. Write about a place you have visited in as much detail as possible.

2. What can you tell about the following characters by what is said and not said in their opening lines? 

“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”
--To Kill a Mockingbird

“Billy Ray Cobb was the younger and smaller of the two rednecks.”
--A Time to Kill

3. Read the first paragraph of “Linoleum Roses” from House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and answer the following questions:
  • What does the first sentence tell us about Sally?
  • What does the second sentence tell about the man she marries? What details allow you to make this judgement?
  • What does the second sentence tell us about Sally?
  • What does the third sentence tells us about Sally? What details allow you to make this judgement?
  • What is different about the last sentence of the paragraph from the others? What impact does that have on you as a reader?

4. Tension:
  1. How does the first sentence create tension with the rest of the sentences in the paragraph? Provide an example.
  2. Pick three details from the second paragraph, list them, describe the character of the husband without naming or mentioning the details.
  3. Describe what you are feeling at the end of second paragraph.

5. Paragraph 3:
  • List the details in the third paragraph.
  • What is the scene trying to communicate?
  • How does it communicate it?

6. Write your own characters. Step 1: 
You will be writing about a person doing something.
Who is this person and what are they doing? 
(feel free to use humor :)
Write for 5 minutes. 

7. Step 2: 
Write down three adjectives (beautiful, strong, aggressive) that describe DIFFERENT qualities about your character.

8. Step 3: 
Without using any of these adjectives, write a half-page (150 wordsish) scene or passage that shows the character engaged in some type of action. 

9. Step 4:
  • Exchange exercises and read them over.
  • Based on this depiction of the character, guess which three qualities your partner wished to convey. Point out the specific lines that created the impression by highlighting and naming the qualities in a comment in the margin.
​
Assignments:
  • Writing Prompt
  • Notes on “Linoleum Roses” (Paragraphs 1-3)
  • Character details Steps 1-4
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Monday, April 10 and Tuesday, April 11, 2017

4/9/2017

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Content Objective: I can write narratives about real and imagined events. 
Language Objective: I will analyze example flash fiction and outline my own. 

Agenda:

1. Writing Prompt: For 10 minutes, write a story about the picture below:
Picture
2. Share your story with your group, and, if you want to, with the class. 

3. Book Club Projects: Fill out this form to choose your group's book(s).
4. What is flash fiction? 
Write a one-sentence definition of what your understanding of flash fiction is. 

5. Read one of Brady Dennis' 300-Word Stories and reply to the following: 
Read your group’s story and take notes to present the following to the rest of the class: 
  • Write a one-sentence summary of what this story is about.
  • What moment of action is used to introduce the character?
  • What do you learn about the main character explicitly and implicitly? Be specific.
  • What does the character want?
  • What is preventing them from getting what they want?
  • What is at stake in this story? 
  • What is one significant detail that stood out to you?
  • What made you connect with this character? 
  • What question(s) do you have after reading?

6.  Show and Tell: 
  • Write down two instances where the author of your story tells you something about the character or plot.
  • Write down two instances where the author shows you something about the character or plot.

Which is stronger? Showing or telling? How? 
How does both showing and telling have a place in your story?

7. Brainstorm ideas for your flash fiction story. Summarize your idea in 3-5 sentences.

8. Exit Ticket: 

  • What is the purpose of your story? 
  • What are you trying to tell your reader with it?

Assignments: 
  • Writing Prompt
  • Flash Fiction Definition
  • Brady Dennis notes
  • Story idea
  • Exit Ticket
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    About Me

    Education: 
    Bachelor of Arts in English and German Teaching, Weber State University, 2013
    Masters of Education, Southern Utah University, 2017

    High School: 
    Gymnasium Michelstadt, Michelstadt, Germany

    Currently Teaching: 
    English 12
    Creative Writing
    Journalism 1
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