Integrated Writing, section 1

Warmup: Scattergories

Read Stephen King, "Myth, Belief, Faith, and Ripley's Believe It Or Not" while listening to recording of the author reading

Discuss the piece and vocabulary

Homework: None

Language Arts 11: Truth Ads

Writer's Journal entry: write a paragraph about a specific product you think currently has the most misleading, or even harmful, advertising. What is the difference between the reality of that product and the image the corporation tries to portray in its advertising?  

Finish rhetorical appeals ad presentations

Discuss examples of "truth ads"

Create a colorful, artistic, Adbusters-like (or even a Dove-like) “truth ad,” revealing the reality of something that is often misleading in advertising.

Your ad should contain:

•At least one of the rhetorical appeals

•Colorful, persuasive imagery

• Persuasive text

Your appeal should be STRONG, so you will need several sentences or points of text and images.

On the back of your ad, write a short paragraph explaining:

--which appeals you used

 --why you chose the images and words you used for your appeals.

Homework: Truth ad due Monday, September 10. 5 points.

Language Arts 10: Corridos

Review Star Wars Hero's Journey Tracker

Quiz on the Hero's Journey (10 points)

Discuss corridos and Poetry Center corrido contest

Handout with corrido examples and criteria

Homework: None

Language Arts 9: Autobiography Endings

Writer's Journal Entry: If the world were going to end in one week, what would you do? What is on your "bucket list"?

Brainstorm common and cliched endings to movies, books, stories, etc.

Discuss common, overused endings to five-paragraph essays

Discuss cliched endings to autobiographies

Notes on strong conclusions

Handout: Read example of a strong ending to a memoir about place, Helen Blatt's "Returning Home."

Answer the following questions in 1-2 sentences each:

1. What did Blatt learn from her trip? Summarize this in a sentence or two on the bottom of the page.

2. How did she manage to convey this information without sounding cliché or overly sentimental? Explain this in another 1-2 sentences. 

Homework: Your "almost-final" draft of your environmental autobiography is due on Friday! Add a new conclusion based on today's information. Use my feedback on your draft to improve the organization, and make sure to avoid overused words!

Your final draft will be due on Tuesday.

Language Arts 12: Apostrophe Fails (and Notes)

Warmup: What is wrong with these pictures?  View photo examples of misused apostrophes submitted to a blog.

Notes on and practice with the three major types of apostrophe use, and:

• your vs. you're
• there, their, and they're
• it's vs. its

Homework: A near-final draft of your name essay is due on Friday for final peer editing and proofreading.

The final draft, graded on all 6 traits, will be due on Tuesday.

You should now use apostrophes 100% correctly in your essay!

Language Arts 12: Endings, and More Deep Revision

Writer's Journal entry: What are some of the best movie and book endings you can remember? What made them memorable? What are the WORST endings you know of, and what was wrong with them? List some movie or book "ending cliches." 

Discuss endings and some famous last lines of novels. What makes them effective? 

Handout: "How to Craft a Great Article, Part II: Hooks, Leads, and Endings," by Dawn Copeman


Deep Revision:

Edit returned name essay draft for organization by adding new hook.

Edit draft for sentence fluency by marking ALL of your sentences that begin with the subject of the sentence. 

Using your notes on sentence starters, edit your sentences so that you have AT LEAST one example of each type of starter in your draft.

Add a new ending, perhaps one that "completes the circle" begun by your hook, or one that "unhooks your hook."

Homework: "Almost-final" draft will be due on Friday, for final peer editing. 

Language Arts 9: Voice

Writer's Journal entry: Choose one of the "totally radical" 1980s yearbook photos from the board. Write a paragraph as the person you choose, in what you imagine their voice to be like. Your classmates will guess which person you are. You are not writing ABOUT that person, you ARE that person.

Discuss voice trait

Using a voice trait rubric handout, assess three writing samples, giving each a score for voice.

Peer edit another student's environmental autobiography, marking places where voice is strong and places where voice could be improved. Mark AT LEAST 10 places.

Extra credit assignment(sentence fluency): For one point of extra credit, do the following correctly:

Write at least 10 sentences about any topic you choose, following the rules below.  

1.  Do not begin any sentence with a, an, or the.

2.  All sentences must begin with a different word.

3.  Do not begin any sentences with a common noun.

4.  Do not begin any sentences with I, my, or you. (personal pronouns)

5.  Do not begin more than two sentences with the same part of speech. (noun, adjective, verb, pronoun, etc.)

Homework: None!