Language Arts 9: Burying "Dead Words" and Autobiography Drafting

Warmup: Create a list of the 20 verbs and adjectives you believe are most often overused in writing!

From the list we create, choose your "top 3" overused words.

"Bury" one of those words by creating a gravestone for it. Around the outside of the gravestone, write five more vivid, specific words that could replace the dead word. (worth 2 points)

Handout: 6 Traits Rubric. Your environmental autobiography will be graded on this rubric.

Homework: Environmental autobiography draft due on Tuesday. It must be TWO pages long for five points. (Three or more pages will get you a point of extra credit.)

Remember, this is a ROUGH draft. You will revise it and make it better later on!

Language Arts 12: Deep Revision

Warmup: Visual Spelling Experiment "post-test"

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.

Begin working on your revised draft, using peer edits and teacher edits to guide you.

Homework: 
None

Integrated Writing, section 1

Peer Assessment of Tucson Mountains, part II

Read Luis Alberto Urrea, "My Life on the Mississippi."

Answer the reading comprehension questions on the handout. Define at least five words from the story using a dictionary.

Class discussion of the reading questions.

Language Arts 11: Persuasive Design in Print Ads

Review ethos, pathos, and logos by identifying the appeal used in three commercials

In groups, select a print ad from a magazine. Answer the questions in the analysis packet about the rhetorical and persuasive purpose behind the ad's design.

Present your ad analysis to the class.

Homework: None

The ultimate example of pathos in advertising: 

Language Arts 10: The Hero's Journey Continues

Review the "Departure" stage of Star Wars
Use your hero's journey notes and tracker to list examples of stages found in the second half of Star Wars

Homework: 
Quiz on the Hero's Journey will Thursday, September 6

Have John Steinbeck, The Pearl, on Thursday, September 6


Obi-Wan, the mystagogue

Language Arts 12: Essay and Hook Cliches

Writer's Journal Entry: What do you think is (or would be—you can make it up), the BEST first line of a story, book, or movie ever written (or never written)?  (Write this down in your binder—scrap piece of paper). What makes it the best?

Done? What do you think is/would be the WORST first line of a story? 

Read examples from the list of the best first lines of novels. What do they all have in common? 

Handout: Top Essay and Hook Cliches to Avoid

Practice: Write two examples of a strong hook that would work for your name essay

               Write one example of a cliched hook that you should NOT use for your essay

Finish last notes on six types of sentence starters

Homework: None

Language Arts 9: Writing Strong Hooks

Warmup: What do you think is (or would be—you can make it up), the BEST first line of a story, book, or movie ever written? What makes it the best?
 

Read some examples from the list of best first lines of novels.

Handout: "Little Red Riding Hooks": 8 techniques for grabbing your reader's attention in your first line (Organization Trait)

Work on rough draft of your environmental autobiography. 

Homework: None