Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Revision is at the Heart of Great Writing (and Great Living!)

Today, we explored your first drafts of your short story project. You received your drafts back with what may feel like an enormous amount of comments and notes from me! However, do not worry! All good writers STILL receive tons of comments and revisions on their writing.

Remember: All good writing involves loads of revision and hard work. It's a process that is riveting and fun--but also one that is all about perseverance.

We explored the ways I've made comments on your papers, and here are two pictures of our boards today so you can be reminded of what we discussed in conjunction with your stories. Refer to your notes and these pictures to help as you work on your revisions. Remember that your second drafts are due next Wednesday, October 22. Include your first drafts stapled underneath your second drafts.





Our word for the day was JOVIAL, which means cheerful, joyful, gleefully happy. I was jovial when I arrived in Room 340 this morning to teach!

And, before signing off, here is a question to ponder and share about The Absolute Value of Mike: How are you similar to or different than Mike? 

70 comments:

  1. well i am good at most subjects but there is always one subject that i always have trouble with every year

    ReplyDelete
  2. One difference I have with mike is I feel that I do not have very much trouble with math and Mike has a disability with math, so he is not good at it.

    -Lucy Bodtman

    ReplyDelete
  3. George Earnest

    I am different from Mike because I usually get good grades in math and have never had trouble doing it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am similar to mike because I take time to put my shoes. I am different from Mike because most of the time I enjoy math. -Fiona Morrison

    ReplyDelete
  5. I tend to try to work around problems like how Poppy is depressed, rather than try directly fixing them, like Mike does.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am not really like mike my dad is not a professor and i am better than him at math.

    --David Sampson

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am similar to Mike because I also have some classes that I struggle with.
    -Alondra Pacheco Flores

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am like Mike because I retie shoelaces every time I put on shoes with laces like Mike does, and I like to pause for dramatic effect.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am different from Mike because math is one of my strong suits and Mike has dyscalculia,and finally, my father does not forget things,and his father forgets thing all the time.

    --Colin McHugh

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am similar to Mike because I occasionally tease my family into doing stuff when their being lazy. (As Mike does to Poppy in chapter 8)

    ReplyDelete
  11. OH! And I think I forgot the period! so .

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think I'm like mike because I played with Legos as a kid, I have items that mean a lot to me like mikes Lego brick, and math is not my strong point.
    --Isaac Noble

    ReplyDelete
  13. unlike mike I am good at math.

    --Sean McNamara

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am simular to Mike because we both are ambitious and work until we get the job done. We are different because Mike seems to be much more responsible than I am.
    -Anna Shlimak

    ReplyDelete
  15. I am different than Mike because he is angry at Poppy and gets mad at him. But, I would try to be nice to him and try to make him feel better about the death so he is happier instead of forcing him out of it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am like mike in the sence that each year I want to be better at a subject I have trouble with.
    --brooke bourgeois

    ReplyDelete
  17. I am not a morning person just like Mike. I always wake up around 11:00 during the weekends or during vacation. Unlike Mike I always shove my feet into the shoe instead of taking the time to tie it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I think Mike and I are alike because we both want to help people with what their doing before we do our own thing.
    --Emily Rypinski

    ReplyDelete
  19. One thing I have in common with Mike is that I am a slow riser in the morning like him. I do not like to get up out of bed most of the time.
    - Rachel Shrives

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm like Mike because we both know how to get things done. Mike needs to get the boxes done for the adoption so he is giving it all he's got to get it done. I feel the same way with everyday life.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Mike seems determined to do stuff. He also has everything planned out on how he is going to accomplish that goal. That's what I uasually do
    Olivia Gomez

    ReplyDelete
  22. I'm unlike Mike because I'm not dyslexic and I don't have trouble with numbers or math.
    Clayton Hanlon

    ReplyDelete
  23. I am similar to mike because sometimes, I feel like no one is there for me, but I always find a way, and my friends and family are always available. This is like Mike because his dad barely pays attention to him, but he is progressing in the town of Donover.
    --Raiya Suliman

    ReplyDelete
  24. I am similar to Mike because I have a family member that is also an engineer, and I am different from Mike because I do not have dyscalculia.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I am different than Mike because of what he did to Poppy. I wouldn't have been so bold as to snatch the yardstick out of his hand and to make a dramatic statement of using his workshop.

    - Lwiza AitDpwd

    ReplyDelete
  26. Well I am like Mike because when he was younger he used to love to play with legos, and when I was that age that is all I would do is build stuff with legos because I like building stuff with my hands more than sitting in a chair in school all day. To me its just more fun.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I feel I am similar to Mike because we are both very determined, the way he is determined to get the kid home from Romania.
    -Tessa

    ReplyDelete
  28. I am different from Mike because I have never been in anything like what he is in this summer. Mike has to spend his whole summer with people who he just met and I never had to do that. Plus, he has to work to raise a lot of money to adopt a kid.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I am similar to Mike because I like to help people like when Mike went out to buy scrapple for Poppy and tried to get the electric turned back on for both Poppy and Moo.
    -Philippa Harvey

    ReplyDelete
  30. i think that mike and i are similar because we both have people that might frustrate us at sometimes

    henry hays

    ReplyDelete
  31. I am similar to mike because when I want to do something, I fly carry it out to the best of my ability.
    -Magnus Miller

    ReplyDelete
  32. I am different than Mike because I don't struggle in math.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I am similar to Mike because I care about what other people want, like Karen wants to adopt a child and mike wants to help her and I would want to help her to. I am different from mike because when he was talking to his dad he didn't tell him the he wasnt doing the artesian screw, I would tell my dad right away.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Mike and I are similar because we both have trouble with some of our school work.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I am different from mike because, my dad is not a engineering genius, but he's not that bad at math though :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. I am similar to Mike because I am also a "slow riser"

    ReplyDelete
  37. I am like and unlike Mike for a few reasons. I am unlike Mike because I don't have a great aunt and uncle named Moo and Poppy, that live in the town of Do Over. But I am also like Mike because as well as Mike I think that Moo and Poppy are both a little crazy but yet funny and kind at the same time. These are only two examples for ways that I am like Mike but also unlike him too.
    ~Caroline Mara Period: C

    ReplyDelete
  38. Mike and I are similar because we both push people. We both get people moving, even if the only way was to get them unbelievably mad at us or having to constantly invade their personal space.

    -- Allie Hunter

    ReplyDelete
  39. I don't like math and I'm not really that good at it. That is how I'm similar.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I am different than mike because I'm not confused about math like mike is because he has discalculea.

    ReplyDelete
  41. i am similar to mike because i am judged by my grades.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I am unlike Mike because when I see someone or something that is acting strange, I try leaving it alone unlike Mike who wants to not leave it alone.

    Pasha Sahin

    ReplyDelete
  43. I am different from Mike because I understand math and am good at it.
    --Grace Acton

    ReplyDelete
  44. I am different from Mike because because I don't have as much courage as him. Mike has the courage to try to get Poppy to move. Also, Mike has the courage to lead the artisan crew project even though he is just a kid.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I am different from Mike because I am good at math and I am similar to mike because my parents are engineers.

    --Elena Franklin

    ReplyDelete
  46. I am different than mike because I am good at math and I like math. I am also like mike because I am helpful and always curious

    ---Jacob elliott

    ReplyDelete
  47. I am simalar to Mike because we are both slow risers:)
    Julia Proteau 😃

    ReplyDelete
  48. I am different from Mike because my best subject is math where his is definitely not. i am similar to Mike because i like to help people out.

    ReplyDelete
  49. I am like Mike because I like to help people and I am not that great at math, but I am unlike Mike because I don't respond to most situations like he does. I would just sit down with past and talk to him about my life until I got to know him a little first.to past, because he was a stranger to me.

    ReplyDelete
  50. I am different from Mike because math comes easy to me where English does not; however, English is Mike’s strong subject and math is not. I am similar to Mike because we are both curious young lads.

    ReplyDelete
  51. I am like mike because when he wants to do something he will be determined and get it done, like poppy, hes not gunna leave poopy alone until he gets out of his funk

    ReplyDelete
  52. AHAHA poopy

    ReplyDelete
  53. I am similar to Mike because I HATE math! but I am different from Mike because math comes easily to me.

    ReplyDelete
  54. I am similar to mike because I know that when I really want something I dont just sit around for it, i go for it. This reminds me of mike because mike could just be careless and not even try to help the artisan crew, but he was determined and persistent to get poppy to help him get the work done.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Im am similar to mike because Math is my most strongest subject as where English is my worst subject and his is. I am similar to Mike because we are both hard-working boys who won't give up on anything as he is with the boy from Romania.

    -Chris Pickreign

    ReplyDelete
  56. I am like Mike because he works hard to get something done. I am not like Mike because his dad doesn't pay much attention to him and his mom died

    Meili S.

    ReplyDelete
  57. mike is very curious and is bad at math and always tries to be doing something. i am the opposite of all of those













    will armstrong ;))))

    ReplyDelete
  58. I am unlike mike because math is not my worst subject and I just shove my feet into my shoes
    --Carly James

    ReplyDelete
  59. I am like Mike because he is a smart kid and he can come up with solutions to problems. He may not be book smart but he knows how to use his brain to work things out. Mike came up with some clever ideas to try to make Poppy talk or get up. Even though all Poppy did was grunt, Mike still kept trying and eventually he got the loudest grunt yet.
    -Angela Xing

    ReplyDelete
  60. i am some what like mike because he is bad at math and i am also. I am also similar to mike because i would also want to get to know past and help with the adoption of the kid like mike does.
    Cierra Wilkins

    ReplyDelete
  61. I'm like Mike because we both have a missing figure (mother/father). We are different in a couple ways for example he has an interest in woodworking and I have an interest in field hockey.
    -Fiona Nash

    ReplyDelete
  62. we are alike because mike shows an interest in wood working and my dad is a carpenter so i am interested in wood working like he is

    Ben Hays

    ReplyDelete
  63. I am similar to mike because I have the same determination as he does. I am different than Mike because I don't have a dad that can't take care of himself.

    Max Trabulsi
    C-Block

    ReplyDelete
  64. I am like mike in many ways. I too have a hard time waking up in the morning much like Mike in the story. Tho i am not bad at math we still have much in common. That is what Mike and I have and don't have in common.
    Stefan Scornavacca

    ReplyDelete
  65. I am like Mike in a few ways; one is that we both are slow risers and sleep late into early afternoon. Especially on weekends and school breaks. Mike and I have some differences, too. We can all agree that Mike has some weird relatives. However, my relatives are weird in some ways too, but not as nearly as much as Mike's.

    ReplyDelete
  66. I am like Mike because I am NOT good at math, and I like to sleep late. We are different because I don't have to take care of myself the way that Mike does.
    Colleen Guerriero

    ReplyDelete
  67. I am like mike because i tie and untie my shoes also im a pcky eater. And try to wake up late in the summer but cant
    -Holdenlee

    ReplyDelete
  68. I am not similar to Mike because I am not missing a mom.



    -Zach bourque
















































































































































































































    ReplyDelete
  69. I am like mike because i am horrible at math.
    Tommy Hart

    ReplyDelete
  70. I am like mike because every year I want to get better at the classes that I am not that good at.
    -Sara Picariello

    ReplyDelete