Welcome! This site have been created to help you achieve success throughout the year. You will find assignments, handouts, activities, and links to websites that will allow you to fully participate in your learning. Below is some general information and guidelines explaining how Language Arts is run. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. I am looking forward to working with you this year.
04.06.09-05.09.09
04.07.09, creative writing due
Students will spend the next 6 weeks creating a memory book using work they have created during the past year. Each week a final draft (revised and edited) will be due. Topics and formats consist of a combination of required and free choice elements. It is my goal to have students review the writing process in a meaningful way while creating a keepsake of their time here prior to moving on to high school. Although students have received a packet with instructions and due dates, I have also attached a link below in case additional copies are needed. Please make sure your child completes these pieces each week so he/she can receive the maximum benefit from this culminating project.
03.06.09-03.20.09
03.18.09-period 2 only, diversity essay due (typed)
03.19.09-2nd trimester report cards go home
This week, students in second period will turn their poems on diversity into essays. This assignment is in conjunction with the Ethnic Fest later this spring. Students will develop their essays using all of the 6 Traits of Writing. It is a good way to review all that has been learned thus far. It also allows me to assess each student's areas of strength and areas that should be focused on during this last trimester. Fourth period will also review the 6 Traits of Writing, but they will use the articles they wrote about the culture of the 1920's to achieve this goal.
02.17.09-02.20.09
2nd period only, typed poems (5 total) due 02.19.09
This week students will finish up a mini poetry unit. We have reviewed figurative language devices and formats for writing poems. Next, we will focus on short stories, paying close attention to elements and strategies that support reading and writing. By reviewing published works, students will be better able to master these skills in their own works. Some examples are as follows: cause and effect, prediction, inferencing, and summarizing. Students will participate in an interdisciplinary unit (see below) during the month of March.
Fourth period only
For the next two weeks students will work on an interdisciplinary unit between social studies and language arts. Students will research the cultural aspects of 1920's America (the Harlem Renaissance, music, art, etc.). Each student will write one article and create an era appropriate advertisement. All pieces will be combined to create a magazine. Grades will be earned in both content areas.
02.02.09-02.06.09
02.02.09 2nd period only, The Last Lecture paragraph rewrite due
02.06.06 creative writing due, typed, no late papers will be accepted
return conference forms, all classes
This week we will focus on proverbs. Students will develop a story around a proverb as they learn the cultural context that surrounds it. This unit reviews basic writing traits such as word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions, as well as allowing students to develop their voices as writers. It also provides an opportunity for students to use their own culture as they determine the meaning of the proverb. Please see the links below for samples of proverbs students may select. Please note that while I review all of the the links I attach to this site, it is still important for you to work with your child as he/she uses the Internet.
01.20.09-01.23.09
01.21.09 The Last Lecture essay due, no late papers accepted
01.22.09 return signed progress report
This week we will watch the swearing in of our first African American president. This historic event provides a wonderful opportunity to study across all content areas. We will then begin our unit on poetry and proverbs, using examples of presidential speeches as our guide. We will also focus on some of the more dry aspects of writing such as grammar. It is my hope that by using speeches (Obama, Lincoln, Dr. King, etc.), students will gain a greater understanding of the skills needed to write and speak well.
01.12.09-01.16.09
01.16.09-Progress reports go home
This week, students will finish Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture. We will then move into the publishing portion of Writing Workshop. I will provide websites and magazines for students to review, selecting pieces of original writing that they would like to try and publsih. In order to send pieces in, students will need to edit their work yet again (both peer review and via conferencing with me). This is a wonderful way to get students to perform the more dry aspects of the writing process in a meaningful way.
12.01.08-12.19.08
12.04.08 - Values and Mission statement due
12.18.08 - Final typed version of creative writing assignment 1 due
We will spend the three weeks until break studying the genre of memoir. We will be reading Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture in class. Assignments and class discussions will be used to assist students with their creative writing by closely examining this very moving piece of writing. Both the style and the content of this memoir provide excellent examples of the 6 Traits of writing, especially voice and sentence fluency. There are also excellent examples of figurative language throughout, which will help ease students into our poetry unit upon return in January.
11.17.08-11.25.08
PLEASE NOTE CHANGES TO DUE DATES!
RESEARCH PAPERS WILL NOT BE DUE ON 11.25.08. WE ARE STILL WORKING ON THE REVISION PROCESS.
Due to the pacing of student learning and my desire to have students be successful through all stages of the writing process (currently we are in the revision stage so that we can take pieces to publication), due dates have been changed to as follows:
11.21.08 Typed final draft of creative writing due
11.25.08 Typed final draft of research paper due
ALL FINAL DRAFTS SHOULD HAVE THE ROUGH DRAFTS ATTACHED SO THAT I MAY BETTER ASSIST EACH STUDENT IN UNDERSTANDING THEIR STRENGTHS AND AREAS IN NEED OF FURTHER DEVELOPMENT.
11.10.08-11.25.08
11.19.08 Typed final draft of research paper due
11.25.08 Typed final draft of creative writing due
11.25.08 1st trimester ends
Students will spend the final weeks of the trimester revising and editing both their research paper and a self-selected creative writing piece. Students will experience whole class, small group, and partner conferences to strengthen their ability to critically assess both their own and others' writing. Students have spent the trimester learning about the 6 Traits of Writing and will use these skills throughout the revision process. Critical analysis and self-reflection are useful formats that allow students to better understand their strengths and areas that need further development. They also foster independence, allowing students to take responsibility for their own learning.
10.20.08-10.24.08
10.20.08 Typed rough draft due
10.23.08 Conferences, students in school A.M. only
10.24.08 Half day, school in A.M. only
The focus this week will be on revision. Students will review websites and magazines that publish all formats of original works written by teens. They will analyze published pieces using the 6 Traits of Writing, incorporating successful elements into their own pieces. As the year progresses, students will enter writing contests as they feel comfortable. Please note that my reviewing of research papers usually takes a week to ten days due to the intensive nature of such projects. I will conference with each child following my analysis so that every student has an individualized plan to improve his/her writing according to the 6 Traits of Writing.
10.13.08-10.17.08
10.14.08 Typed outline for research paper due
10.15.08 Watch the debate for extra credit
10.20.08 Typed rough draft for research paper due
Parent-Teacher conferences are on October 23
This week, students will conference with me about their creative writing assignments. We will focus on strengths and areas that need further development based upon the 6 Traits of Writing. The three traits we are currently working on are ideas, organization, and voice. Students will have their outlines for their research papers returned to them on Wednesday. Homework for the week is to begin writing the rough draft of their research papers.
10.06.08-10.10.08
10.14.08 Typed outlines for research paper due
10.10.008 Progress reports go home
Students are categorizing and organizing their notecards so that they can create their outlines. Next week they will begin writing their rough drafts for homework each night. Typed rough drafts are due on Monday, October 20.I am also individually conferencing with students, giving them a detailed progress report of their grades. A hard copy will be sent home with your child on Friday.
09.29.08-10.03.08
09.29.08: Creative writing due, typed
10.03.08: Notecards and works consulted/cited due
Students will continue research in the library. Students are in the process of defining the three characteristics needed to be a successful presidential leader. They will use past and present campaigns, candidates, and platforms to support their beliefs. The next benchmark checkin is September 30, when all 7 sources and source cards are due. At least two sources must be from areas other than the Internet. Students have been given the opportunity to locate sources for three class periods. Homework for the entire week is highlighting relevant material from their sources and creating notecards, all of which are due October 6.
09.22.08-09.26.08
Students will begin research in the library. This is an interdisciplinary assignment with social studies that will ask students to determine the qualities needed to be an effective presidential leader. Students will support their beliefs by looking at past and present elections, candidates, and campaigns. We will spend the week reviewing keyword searches, source cards, and defining reliable sources.
Research questions handout DUE 09.24.08
Please note that on 09.29.08, students have a typed rough draft of their free write stories due. They are due at the start of class, and a full grade is deducted for each day they are late.
Writer's Workshop
Writing Workshop is the primary format in our classroom that allows students to participate in a wide variety of writing tasks. Writer's Workshop usually begins with a teacher presented mini-lesson on a specific topic The students are then given the opportunity to write, using the mini lesson's contents to strengthen their writing. Students regularly revise with one another, and edit during repeated conferences with the teacher. Students enjoy this process as they are able to focus a great deal on content. Many teachers enjoy this process because it allows them to really get to know their students while teaching the writing process, grammar, and the skills necessary for expressing ideas well via writing and reading.
6 Traits Writing
A trait can be defined as a quality or characteristic critical to successful performance. Just as there are traits for good ice skating, like balance, grace, technical skill and so on, there are traits for good writing. The traits for good writing include ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. Traits give writers a clear picture of what to do to revise their writing - making it the best it can be.
The purpose of using Six Traits during Writing Workshop is to give teachers and students the same language and expectations of writing. This allows students to transfer the writing skills they have developed in Language Arts class to writing whenever it’s used across the content areas. Please refer to the KimsKorner site below under "Helpful Links" for a more detailed explanation regarding this writing process.
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