Time to Strategize

We learned a lot about different reading strategies from your peers this past week with the great presentations that you all put together. Now, the question is, "How will you use those reading strategies?" Explain one or two specific reading strategies you learned about that you will try to use during the rest of the year to help improve your understanding or just make your studying easier.

The End Is Near!

It is finally the end of the year and it is always good to reflect on what you have accomplished throughout the year. I am always looking to improve my teaching too, so I would also appreciate your comments on what we did in class this year to help prepare you for the years to come. Please take some time to answer the following questions honestly.

1) What was your favorite part of Composition this year?
2) Which writing piece are you most proud of?
3) What was your least favorite part of Composition this year?
4) How has your writing improved throughout the year, specifically?
5) What is one thing you would (realistically) recommend I change for next year?

Sharing Time

Each time we do writer's workshop and then silent share in class you get the opportunity not only to share your work with others, getting positive feedback, but you also get to read other classmates' stories and respond to their writings. What are the things you enjoy the most about the writer's workshop/silent share days? Be specific.

A Little Friendly Advice

There is a reason that at the end of almost every book you read the author always has a page dedicated to thanking his or her editor or those that provided support in making that writing better (and ultimately successful). Your classmates have been your support throughout this gigantic research paper and who better can give you some last-minute advice for how to improve it? You have, no doubt, read many of your peers' chapters throughout this process, some pretty good, some needing a bit more work. Please take a second to think about how your classmates can improve their writing throughout the revisions and final changes you will make next week before turning in that final paper. Be specific, put some thought into it, and actually write something useful-- "spell better" is not going to cut it!

Character Counts!

Do any characters in your book grow or change over the course of the novel? If so, how?
Does any character come to learn something about himself/herself or view the world differently? If so, what does he/she learn?
Or is the character “static,” unchanging from beginning to end? Explain.

Who Knew?

As you have been spending so much time reading sources to use for your US History research papers, you have, no doubt, learned a lot about your topics whether you really wanted to or not. For today's blog entry, share a couple of the more interesting things you learned in your research with the rest of the class. As always, please make sure you use complete, detailed sentences and proper grammar/usage/mechanics (yes, this includes spelling)!

Waxing Poetic...

Since you have just written some excellent poems of your own, this week's blog is about poetry.

Please answer these questions in complete sentences:
1) Have you ever read any poetry for enjoyment (not as an assignment), or have you ever had to read a poem for an assignment, but actually found you enjoyed it? What was the poem or what was it about?

2) If you had to spend some time reading poetry, what style would you prefer to read, and why? For example, do you like the silly rhyming style, the more serious tear-jerker poems, the free verse (like our small moment poems), the long poems that are more like a story, or another style?

3) What did you think of the poem you came up with for your last assignment? Was it better/worse than you expected? Was it difficult to do?

Small Moments

We have been talking about how even "small moments" can make entertaining ideas to write about for short writing pieces. They can also be important to add balance to a longer work. So, as your read your book, look for some "small moments" that the author incorporates into his/her writing. Answer the following questions:

1. List some of the specific "small moments" the author writes about.

2. Why do you think the author chose these moments to use?

3. What would happen if the author left all of these moments out of their writing?

Got Voice?

We have been exploring the idea of VOICE in writing lately. How exactly does the author in your book go about creating strong voice in his/her writing? Remember, good voice is:
-having your own style, tone, and flavor

-how the writer connects with the reader

-when the piece reaches out and "pulls in" the reader

Explain how your author does this!

Oh, Those Wonderful Words

We have been talking a lot about word choice lately, and how it can make your writing much more effective. As you are reading today, look for specific examples of how the author uses his/her words effectively. Today's blog response has two parts:

1. Tell what is effective about the author's word choice. Specifically! For example... uses strong verbs, uses unexpected but appropriate words, is not over the top, but not too boring either, uses detailed sentences without stacked modifiers, etc.

2. Give an example of a specific sentence in which the author uses a strong verb instead of a weaker one, or where the text is made colorful by word choice.

Great Expectations, technologically speaking that is...

With the new 1-to-1 laptops set to roll out next August, it is a very exciting time for learning at Valley. Here are a few questions for you to respond to about the new technology access coming your way:
1) What do you think is going to be the most beneficial part about having your own laptop for the school year?
2) How do you think it will affect your writing?
3) What software/program do you think you will use the most?
4) Are there any downloads/installations that you would like to see on all student laptops -- Office for Mac, GoogleEarth, etc. will be on them, what else do you need?
Please answer all!

"Pay It Forward"

We have been recently focusing on the serial reciprocity concept in the movie "Pay It Forward" and several folk tales from various geographic regions. Think about something you might do to "pay it forward" in some way in the next week or two before school is out. It does not have to be "something big" like it is in the movie, but simply something that helps someone else without expecting anything in return. Tell us about it and how you would specifically go about doing it.

Let's Review...

Write a review of the most recent book you have completed. Use the following as guidelines:

Be honest: Give your review personality and remember that people want to know what you REALLY think.

Be detailed: Tell us exactly what you liked or didn't. Was it a story you couldn't put down? Were the characters just like people you know? What made it special or not so special?

Be accurate: Be sure to get the title, author, and character names right, plus double-check your spelling and grammar. Nobody wants to read something that doesn't make sense or has the wrong information.

The Not-so-bad Guy

We mostly relate to the protagonist in a book, but it is usually a different story when it comes to the antagonist. We like to imagine ourselves as the "good guy", but think of an example where you could also relate to the "bad guy"? Good writers give even the antagonist some redeeming characteristics to make them seem more real and believable. After all, in real life, the good guy and the bad guy are not always clearly defined. Tell about an antagonist that you can relate to.

@#%$! Blog

I am sure all of you have read books that have had at least a few choice cuss words in them. So, that brings up the question, "When is it acceptable to swear or use vulgar language in writing?" Would the crime novel you are reading be as effective if the criminal said, "No thank you, officer, I would not like to go to jail" instead of dropping a few f-bombs along with some other colorful insults? Does it depend on the targeted audience? Where do you draw the line? Is there a line? Explain under what circumstances you think swearing is necessary in writing.

Planning Makes All the Difference

What can you, personally, do to make sure you meet deadlines for reading/writing assignments?
When it is your responsibility to complete work on time, what measures can you take before the due date to make sure you are on track for timely completion?
Do you set steps that you want to have achieved by a certain date?
Do you try to complete the project a day or two ahead of time to give yourself last-minute recovery time if something goes wrong?
Or, if you do procrastinate and do not currently use good time management, what can you start doing to prepare yourself better for assignments in college and the workplace?

How do you keep it together?

You have recently been doing a lot of research for your US History papers. When reading for information like that, it is sometimes difficult to keep all of your information and sources straight. What tips or tricks do you use to help keep it all together? Note cards? Some sort of graphic organizer? KWL?

Do you judge a book by its cover?

What is your process when picking out a book to read? Do you choose strictly by recommendation? Do you stick with only books of a certain genre? Do you read the dust jacket blurb or the first or last few pages before selecting a book? Do you browse through the library and pick something out that "looks good"? Explain your criteria for picking out a book to read (for enjoyment--not talking about required reading here).

Setting You Up

How the author introduces the reader to the setting in a book is often overlooked, but it is one of the most important ways to draw the reader into a story. If the setting is not believable or integral to the story, the reader often loses interest or does not relate to the character as well. How does the author in the book you are currently reading introduce and describe the setting? Is it explained to you in detail from the character's perspective, gleaned from the character's observations or actions, presented to you by a narrator, or something completely different? Remember the setting includes not only the place, time, and surroundings, but also the emotional climate as well. Be specific and include your book title.

Making the Connection

Your reading is closely connected to your writing. The more you read, the better your understanding of how to write. When students write compositions in my classes, I often have them write a TPAPT or a RAFT for each piece prior to writing. The TPAPT is an acronym for a basic roadmap to writing consisting of: Topic, Purpose, Audience, Point of View, and Tone. RAFT is the same thing, just a different acronym (Role, Audience, Format, Topic). Connect this concept to your reading by doing a TPAPT or RAFT for the book you are currently reading (if you are far enough into it), or for the last book you have completed if you are not far enough into your current book. Be sure to include your book's title and author.