Composition Notebook
Twice each week (on Mondays and Fridays) we will complete entries in our composition notebooks. These will range from short writing assignments focused on a specific topic/element to journal-type entries about your life/experiences. Notebooks will be taken up after 10 entries are completed to be graded, so be sure to keep up-to-date on these assignments!
Below you will find the dates and topics and/or instructions for each of your compostion notebook entires.
Entry #1 (8/12/11)
A Letter of Introduction
Quite simply, I don’t know you, and teaching you will be much easier on both of us, once we are no longer such strangers. Write me a letter introducing yourself. Tell me what I should know about you, your interests, activities, strenghts, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, etc....
Names are an integral part of who we are. They shape our sense of who we are.
Explore your feelings about “the unity between [your]self and [your] name.” Does it “fit” you?
Are these the names you would have chosen for yourself? (first name, middle name?)
Is there a story behind your naming? Someone famous, a family member, weird initials?
Does your name have symbolic meaning?
Is your name ethnic or historic or literary?
Did your parents consider other names?
In short, how do you live with your name?
Entry #3 (8/22/11)
Point of view refers to the vantage point from which a story is told.
Story: A turtle is on the road, and is nearly run over by a careless driver in a pickup truck.
1) Tell the turtle’s story (3 sentences) as if you are the turtle.
2) Tell the truck driver’s story (3 sentences) in 3rd person (use he, she, it, etc.)
Entry #4 (9/1/11)
Entry #4 (9/1/11)
SETTING: the time, place, physical condition (weather), or atmosphere (mood) in which the events of the story occur.
Write a description of one of the following settings: beach, forest, desert, football game, empty house
Entry #5 (9/2/11)
Personal Alphabet -- Browse through a dictionary, looking for adjectives to describe yourself. Know the meaning of the words you select and be able to explain how each word you’ve chosen fits you. Choose at least one adjective for each letter of the alphabet. Be sure you choose the adjective form of words. For example, “excite” is a verb and “excitable” or “exciting” are adjectives. A = accident-prone, B= bubbly, C =… Y =… Z =…
Entry #6 (9/9/11)
Likes/Dislikes List
Make two columns, one titled “Likes,” the other “Dislikes,” and list from ten to fifteen specific items in each column. Avoid naming specific classmates and teachers by generalizing. For example, “that mean teacher who’s making me write on a Friday,” not my name!
Entry #7 9/13/11
Audience: group of readers who reads a particular piece of writing. (Your audience might be your instructor, classmates, the president of an organization, etc. )
Topic: Write a paragraph discussing your reasons for getting into a fight at school for each of the audiences listed below.
Audience: Your best friend
Audience: the principal
Entry #8 -- Color Your World
In color, and about color, this assignment honors every crayon ever nibbled by any kid... Although you don’t have to use crayons, use the color(s) themselves as part of your writing. You could write a poem about the things you associate with a specific color, such as all the blues there are! Or write an explanation of the colors you associate with different emotions. Or make lists of best colors to wear or drive in or…You have freedom with content here, since color is the key ingredient. Maybe a myth about “How Pink Was Born”?
Composition notebooks will be collected next week!
Entry #9:
After watching the video clip, write an introduction paragraph with a thesis statement that either defends or refutes the lawsuit filed by the overweight defendant.
Entry #8 -- Color Your World
In color, and about color, this assignment honors every crayon ever nibbled by any kid... Although you don’t have to use crayons, use the color(s) themselves as part of your writing. You could write a poem about the things you associate with a specific color, such as all the blues there are! Or write an explanation of the colors you associate with different emotions. Or make lists of best colors to wear or drive in or…You have freedom with content here, since color is the key ingredient. Maybe a myth about “How Pink Was Born”?
Composition notebooks will be collected next week!
Entry #9:
After watching the video clip, write an introduction paragraph with a thesis statement that either defends or refutes the lawsuit filed by the overweight defendant.
SHOULD HAVE:
•an attention-grabbing hook
•a thesis statement
•a brief overview of your main arguments
Entry #10 -- Dear Santa Persuasive Letter
•Choose one item/gift/thing of interest
•Write a letter to Santa. Try to persuade Santa to bring you this item for Christmas.
•You must use all three types of appeals (logical, emotional, ethical) in your letter.
•Label the appeals (out to the side of the paragraph).
•3 paragraphs in length
TURN BOOKS IN TO BE GRADED!
Entry #11 -- 9/30/11
If you didn't see the movie, do this one:
Entry #11 -- 9/30/11
If you didn't see the movie, do this one:
After reading the last chapter of A Short Season, respond to the literary nonfiction biography in a personal way.
Ideas for discussion:
•Have you known anyone with similar experiences with cancer?
•How did you feel when Brian passed?
•Which person did you emphasize with most, Brian, or Joy?
If you saw the movie, do this one: After viewing the film “Brian’s Song” and reading the last chapter of A Short Season, it is always interesting to see how close a movie stays true to the actual story.
Compare and contrast the film version to the text. Give at least three similarities and/or differences between the two.
Entry #12: Write 5 sentences about your favorite Christmas memory or tradition.
Entry #12: Write 5 sentences about your favorite Christmas memory or tradition.
Entry #13: Write a 5 sentence example of an excerpt from a biography (a writing about someone else’s life).
Entry #14: Describe your time off from school during fall break.
Entry #15: Violence occurs in both large cities and small towns, but crimes like the Clutter murders still shock people.
Respond to the In Cold Blood articles or the Adair County murder case.
