1.
Lesson
on Paragraph construction
writing activity-Give students a joke in in
proper order,with the intro, the body and the punch line.Can do this activity
individually,5-7 minutes to do it.
Students
then tell teacher the proper order of joke,put it on the board. Here is the
simple equation of a paragraph:
Intro:topic
sentence
Fill-in
information:Supporting sentences
Punch-line:Concluding
sentence
(Do
not tell students ahead of time what you are trying to accomplish so stress
level is
low-they
will be surprised at the ease of paragraph
construction-this will give students confidence). Also with the joke
that is given to students for this activity won't fly if not done in the
correct order!!! Can then have students write their own joke for
homework,underlining
the topic sentence, supporting sentences and concluding sentence with different
color markers to distinguish paragraph equation.
2.
Practice
Assignment Summary
Grade
Level: Intermediate
In this assignment, students
will apply the stages of pre-writing, drafting, revising, proofreading, and
publishing. Furthermore, students will
practice reading analysis and interpretation.
The following is a brief overview of the assignment.
Firstly, we will review with the
students the characteristics of fairy tales such as plot, character, and
magical elements. After a brief
discussion mentioning the name of a few fairy tales, explain that fairy tales
are often written from a certain point of view.
We then explain the term omniscient, and how it works in the literary
sense. Next, in a hand out, the students
will read "Mirror On the Wall," which is in fact, "Snow
White," written from a different point of view.
A discussion will follow,
involving identification of the main ideas of the story, the conflicts and the
climax. Ask the students to describe how
the point of the view of the mirror differs from the omniscient point of view of
the original.
Next, explain to the students
that they will rewrite a fairy tale of their choice. However, they must write said fairy tale from
the perspective of an inanimate object in the fairy tale. Some suggestions can be offered, (i.e. the
beans in Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin from the point of view of the
lamp). All the elements of pre-writing,
drafting, revision, etc. come into play at this point.
After the assignment is
complete, volunteers can read their story to the class. Also, the opportunity to be published can be
offered by combining the students' work into a collection to be kept with the
classroom's "library" or
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3.
Personification Assignment (7th and 8th grades):
Tales of the Talking Toothbrush
1. Introduction of assignment:
When
your notebook escapes and you can't seem to find it anywhere, have you ever
wondered if it has a mind of it's own?
Sometimes objects seem to be almost human! Study a toothbrush and imagine its problems,
feelings, and secret desires. Then do
one of the following activities:
·
Help me write a one week diary of my life.
·
They’ve just changed my flavor of favorite toothpaste. Help me write a letter of complaint to the
manufacturer.
·
I am in love with the yellow REACH hanging next door. Help me write a love letter to her/him.
2. Students can create illustrations to
accompany their writing if they choose to.
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4.
Writing
assignment:
After reading Joy Harjo's poem "I Give
You Back", you will write a journal entry about the message of the
poem. Be sure to discuss the language used by the
poet when she describes her situation.
Tell how the
language
affected you and whether it added or detracted from the message. Be sure to include
support
from the poem in your response.
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5.
For my self created writing
assignment, I would like to do a lesson on Sensory Language. For this, I will use Nikki Giovanni's "
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6.
Education is a hot topic in this years
presidential election and it is sure to be a source of continual
contraversy
for many years to come. In a composition
of 200-250 words, the student will give us his or her view of what the school
will be like in the year 2025. Students
will examine current trends, such as technology, with computers, and
hypothesize how the school could evolve from it's present state. They will write a well structured essay
including strong use of examples and specific details. The students have read "The Fun They
Had" by Isaac Asimov. In class the
students brain-stormed for ideas which they will be using in their essays. Following completion of this assignment
students will assemble a booklet containing each of their writings. Booklets will then be duplicated a
distributed to each student. Students
will then complete an
evaluation
sheet containing questions such as, What was your favorite essay, and why? The students will be given three days to
complete this assignment. Students will
have revised their work before final copy is handed in. Based on evaluation sheets the most popular
essay will be published in the school newspaper.
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7.
I am
thinking of having a lesson in which the students choose their favorite author
and write in that
person's
style. I will let them choose their own
topic, but they will be required to show how they
wrote
like their favorite author. This
explanation may turn into another piece of writing or be added to
their
original work. Any ideas on how to
improve this? :)
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8.
As
an assignment to teach how to use description in writing, I would take the
students on a walk. During the walk the
students would observe their
surroundings through their five senses.
What does the air smell like, what color are the leaves, what might the
berries taste like, how does the grass feel, what sounds do you hear, etc. The students will record their findings in a
notebook as they are walking.
After
the walk is over, the students will write either a description of their walk, a
short story or a poem including the notes that they made on their walk.
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9.
You will begin learning to write your own
complex and sophisticated sentence structures by modeling
sentences
created by distinguished professional writers.
Assignment:
Imitate the following published model sentences using possible content for a
future short
story
which you will develop at a later date. You are encouraged to use a dictionary
and/or thesaurus for
assistance.
However, you must know the words you choose and use them correctly and
appropriately.
For Example:
Model: The dark silence was there, and the
heavy shapes sitting and the little blue light burning.
(Ray
Bradbury, The Vintage Bradbury)
Imitation: The dense fog was present, and the
immense
structure forbidding and the cruel crisp wind whispering.
1.
Model: There was also a rhino who, from the tracks and the kicked-up mound of
strawy dung, came there
each
night. (Ernest Hemmingway, Green Hills
of
2.
Model: His fingers smarting, the shamefaced Taran, the smallest and sassiest of
the elves, hurried from
the
cottage and found Coll near the vegetable garden. (Lloyd Alexander, The Book of
Three)
3.
Model: Somewhere there, on that desolate plain, was lurking this fiendish man,
hiding in a burrow like a
wild
beast, his heart full of malignancy against the whole race which had cast him
out.
(Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles)
4.
Model: The tyrannosaurus rex was immense, the size of a two-story building, its
head rising high above
them,
out of sight. (Michael Crichton, The Lost World)
5.
Model: Elliot looked up into the enormous eyes, eyes like moon jellyfish with
faint tentacles of power
within
them, eyes charged with ancient and terrible knowledge, eyes that seemed to
scan every atom of his
body. (William Kotzwinkle, E.T. The Extra-
Terrestrial)
6.
Model: Lieutenant Roger Shawn must have found the binoculars difficult....His
breath, hissing out into
the
moonlit air, would have fogged the lenses. He would be forced to pause and wipe
them frequently,
using
a stubby gloved finger. (Michael Crichton, Andromeda Strain)
7.
Model: The only sounds were those he made breathing- a deep hollow noise as he
breathed in, a
soft
thudding of bubbles as he exhaled...And then the black, fathomless eye,
seemingly riveted upon him. The gills rippled- bloodless wounds in the steely
skin...He glanced downward, started to look away, then
snapped
his eyes down again. Rising at him from the darkest blue- slowly, smoothly- was
the shark.
(Peter
Benchley, Jaws)
8.
Model: He stared at the bag, then at the idol in his hand, and then he was
aware of a strange, distant
noise,
a rumbling like that of a great machine set in motion, a sound of things waking
from a long sleep,
roaring
and tearing and creaking through the spaces of the
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10.
My
mini-lesson is an introduction for students to write a descriptive essay about
themselves. First, I will explain the
properties of a descriptive essay and
the importance that adjectives play when writing a descriptive essay.
Next, I will have the students do an exericise using adjectives.
They
will write their name verically down a piece of paper and think of one
adjective that describes themselves using each letter of their name. They will then share what they have written
with the class. The students will then
develop an autobiographical descriptive essay that must contain the adjectives
used in the pre-writing exercise.
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11.
The writing assignment I have in
mind can work with any piece of literature.
For the purpose of this exercize, I’ll use the poem “The Chicago
Defender sends a Man to
students
will be asked to write in a reading response journal. The students will be asked to respond to the
following questions :
1>What
did you notice? (Are there any patterns,
reoccurring themes, significance of the title, etc...)
2>What
do you question? (Does the author
confuse you, do the events confuse you, etc...)
3>What
do you feel? (Does the selection cause
you to feel happy, sad, annoyed, or horrified?
Which part and why.)
4>What
do you relate too? (Does the selection
remind you of something you have experienced?)
Start
the lesson by modeling what the expectations are for the response. As part of a unit or on going lesson plan,
the reader response journal can show the instructor how well the students
understand any given piece of literature, plus the instructor can also gage how
much the students are improving in their writing.
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12.
My
mini-lesson is an introductory to writing a biography. First, I plan on briefly explaining what a
biography is. Then I am going to show
the class three pictures of three different people and have them do a guided,
five-minute freewrite on the picture of their choice. Some suggestions of
topics for the free-write would be: What is this person doing? What does the
person do for a living? How is the person feeling in the picture? After the five-minute freewrite, volunteers
from the class will share their writing and then I will reveal who the people
in the pictures really are. Then I will
explain the assignment which is that each student will be writing a biography
on the person of their choice (could be historical or from the present) and
presenting thier biographies to the class.
The class will then brainstorm different ideas of who they wish to write
about and what they want to know about the person. For homework, each student will have to think
of a person they want to know more about and write a short paragraph on why
they chose that person.
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13.
In order to have students better understand
Shakespeare, I would guide them in a paraphrasing assignment of the play. I would start with the opening sonnet of
Romeo aand Juliet. I would have the
students get into groups and work on the paraphrasing and then share their
responses with the class. I would have
modeled this beforehand and would offer suggestions as the groups presented
their work. This would not be revised or
turned in for a grade. I would later
assign different passages for homework that would be turned in for a
grade. I would teach this activity to
help my students understand the language of the plays, and also to show
students the importance of word choice in their writing. This would also show students how it is
important to choose words that reflect a clear understanding of their writing.
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14.
In
groups of two, students will write a newspaper article on some event in The
Great Gatsby. Each group will report on a different event. When the articles
are complete (2 class periods?), groups will exchange articles for peer editing.
Eventually, students will create a newspaper on the computer and will publish
their articles.
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15.
i
shall call this assignment Relay Write. It spans three marking periods. The class votes on a topic and we write a
book. Each week one student writes a chapter with the following criteria:
introduce a character, give bakground on them through anecdote, answer a
question posed in previous chapter and introduce two new problems/questions in
your chapter. The next student must read all previous chapters and then
continue with their own, answering criteria and posing new questions. As story progresses, students will get more
time to read chapters and writer their own-- like an extra week. Final student must tie-in all information,
subplots, storylines. we can publish this book.
addresses
Rath's "thinking skills":
Comparing: at one time, students will get
to see other student's work and work from it.
Summarizing: they will have to summaroze
previous chapter to fufill criteria.
observing: all students will witness
process as marking period continues, they will be updated on the book's
progress.
Classifying: students will have to identify what needs to
me addressed
Interpreting: must interpret previous chapters
Criticizing: they will correct, comment on previous
chapters and the whole book will be reviewed by class at the end.
looking for assumptions: in previous chapters
imagining: plenty of that in writing own
chapter
collecting and organizing: info to be
addressed from previous chapters
hypothesizing: through progress reports-
how can we bring this story to a climax, conclusion.
apply facts: through addressing previous
chapters
decision-making: how to address problems
created in previous chapters
designing: what will following writers need to do after
student writes chapter, what conflicts have you left for others to tackle.
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16.
I will first pass out a sheet containing
numerous character descriptions, by the likes of Henry James, Tom Wolf,
Fitzgerald, etc. I will lead a discussion about what characters the students
like and what makes the descriptions effective.
For homework, students are to spend 15
minutes observing people at a supermarket. Inconspicuously, they will pick out
one interesting (for whatever reason) stranger and create a one page detailed
description of him or her.
For their next assignment, students will
imagine a name, occupation, and personality for the character. First they will
freewrite this, and later they will develop several pages about the who the
character is, written in the first person from the characters perspective. What
are the character's fears, goals, strengths, weaknesses, prejudices,
interests...etc.?
When the students have completed their
character portrait they will trade papers with another student. Each student
will then write a short story about a meeting and some sort of relationship
(friends, rivals, lovers) between their own character and the new character.
Under what circumstances do they meet? What do they think of each other? What
do they discover when they get to know each other better?
The students will discuss their papers
with their co-character creators. They will offer suggestions, and note how the
character has come to life since that limited first sight description at the
supermarket.
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17.
Write a description of a person, real or
fictional.
Your
description should be between 250-500 words.
Be careful to have your words reflect the individuals physical
description as well as personality, philosophy, occupation, attitudes to life
and those around him/her, and his work.
Try to describe your person doing
something or finishing a task and preparing to leave. It will be helpful if you try to use a short
time frame. A short time frame will help
you give the description a beginning and an end.
Objective: To allow students to begin descriptive
writing. This assignment helps students
to begin to show their story to a reader instead of telling what is happening.
Assignments.doc