It was wonderful seeing everyone again today! All of you seemed really rested and ready to tackle the writing test coming up next Wednesday.
Today in class, we practiced a persuasive writing prompt, and students will finish the draft at home. We will practice four more prompts and review our work in final preparation.
Stay positive, and write on!
Mrs. Agramonte
Friday we will have our first DOL Test. This will be comprised of twenty questions, pulled from the five previous tests we've taken.
Please respond to the following journal prompt:
What is one of your favorite songs, and why?
As a minimum, your response must be one paragraph with seven sentences. Please copy and paste the prompt into a word document. The text must be double-spaced, font Times New Roman 12 point.
While beginning our narrative writing today, I noticed that some students were still struggling a bit with the writing process. For a quick review, please see the August 14th post.
Beginning with this post, I will go into more detail with each step of the process.
What is Pre-writing?
During the pre-writing stage, writers generate ideas, clarify thoughts, and organize information. This stage of the writing process can be divided into two parts. The first part is developing, the second is organizing. At the very beginning of your writing assignment, you may or may not know what you're going to write about. When "you just don't know what to write about," you will create, or develop your ideas. This is best done by making a list, freewriting, or brainstorming. Once you have zeroed in on your topic, then you need to organize your information. This is best done by creating an outline or a graphic organizer (such as a web.)
We are now working on our first piece of narrative writing. Using the excerpt from the Kite Runner as inspiration, students will write about an event from their childhood involving a close friend. The tone of the writing can be happy, sad, funny--whatever the story calls for. Remember, narrative is story telling, so write your stories as only you can!
We have had a fantastic two weeks so far! I am so lucky to have such wonderful, hardworking and goal-oriented students. It is truly a pleasure to come to work each day. This week, we will write our first narrative, concentrating on using lively language to engage our readers. Wednesday, sixth period will go to the Media Center for orientation. Friday, both periods will go to the the computer lab to keep technology skills sharp.
Today we continued our discussion of narrative writing. Bringing characters to life and engaging the reader were two important points that we addressed. Below are some basic characteristics of narrative writing:
1. depicting characters and setting vividly
bring the story to life by using your senses to depict the events of the story: how does it look, sound, feel, smell? Include the important events that make up the story in enough detail for your readers to understand what happened while avoiding any details that do not relate to the main point
2. showing, not telling
use precise and vivid verbs when describing your events
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Today in class, we discussed what a standard is, began DOL (Daily Oral Language), and introduced narrative writing. This type of writing will be our focus for the next three weeks. To become familiar with narrative, we read an excerpt from The Kite Runner. It will hopefully inspire use of vivid verbs and descriptive details in our own narrative!
Today we started our baseline writing assignment. This will be done in class, as will all writing assignments. We also reviewed the stages of the writing process:
1. pre-write
2. draft
3. revise
4. edit
5. finalize
We discussed how writers can draft and revise several times before moving on to editing and turning in a final copy.
Our air conditioning is working well, considering the enormous strain it is enduring now with the heat. It is a bit warm in the pods after lunch; you may want to send in a water bottle with your child so that they can stay hydrated and alert.
We had a fantastic day today! It was so exciting to see familiar faces as well as new ones.
I'm looking forward to an exciting year in 8th grade!
Please check my blog regularly, as it will be an important resource for you.
Mrs. Agramonte
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