Today in English class, we dove into a peer edit on our book reviews, and then signed onto the iPads and used keyboards to make further revisions on the reviews.
The final drafts of our book reviews are due on either Wednesday or Thursday of this week (December 2 or December 3).
Here is a model middle paragraph, including notes on how to include a quote and thoughts on your topic sentence. For more examples of the first paragraphs, and organizers for how to structure your middle and concluding paragraphs, scroll down through previous posts to find loads of fabulous links!
At the end of last week, before the holiday, we explored the idea of perseverance, and how finishing something is deep[ly powerful--even if it is not as amazing as you had hoped. Here is the powerful Olympic video we watched of Derek Redmond of the 1992 Olympics.
Our word of the day today is JUXTAPOSE, which means to compare two things side by side. It is also a poetic term that we'll discuss further in the Spring!
Our words of the day from last week that we'll carry over are: THESIS (a formal argument!) and TRAJECTORY (a path forward for a character!)
Peace!
Mr. R
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2015
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Like Lawyers!
Yesterday in class, we talked about the RHETORICAL TRIANGLE and what it represents. IN one corner, we have pathos (meaning emotion); in the second corner we have logos (meaning logic), and in the third corner we have ethos (meaning credibility and trust).
When a speaker or a writer or a debater or even a company makes an argument, they will often try to get listeners or readers (or shoppers) to be persuaded by making them THINK (logos), FEEL (pathos), and TRUST (ethos) that their argument is a good one.
Here is a graphic of the rhetorical triangle:
When a speaker or a writer or a debater or even a company makes an argument, they will often try to get listeners or readers (or shoppers) to be persuaded by making them THINK (logos), FEEL (pathos), and TRUST (ethos) that their argument is a good one.
Here is a graphic of the rhetorical triangle:
We also viewed the final courtroom scene from the film A Few Good Men to better understand and discuss what the rhetorical triangle looks like in action. Here is the clip we watched: A Few Good Men final courtroom scene.
Our word of the day yesterday was...PATHOS (which is defined above in our rhetorical triangle).
Today, we are in the library, typing up very rough drafts of our thesis essays. Our goal is to have a working draft of our book review by next Monday, November 23. Then we will begin revisions and editing!
Here is an example of our middle paragraph, as well as the proper heading (title, subtitle, name) to follow within your essay. Notice that this is a great document to checkout to make sure you are citing quotes properly!!
Be sure to look through our blue packet for a reminder of the overview of the assignment, an organizer for the middle paragraph, and another for the concluding paragraph to help you structure your essay. And remember: a rough draft is just that: rough! We will revise and improve our drafts all next week, and the final drafts will be due Wednesday, December 2.
Peace!
Mr. R
Monday, November 16, 2015
Arguing with Passion and Purpose: Book Review Assignment
Welcome back!
Today, we introduced the book review assignment, now that we have finished reading and exploring Kathryn Erskine's The Absolute Value of Mike.
Here is a link to the actual assignment, which we read through and debriefed in class today.
You'll notice that is is actually a brief writing assignment--only a single typed page! However, sometimes it is actually more difficult to write a powerful, clear single page than to write five vague ones!
We discussed the differences between informal writing (such as our Quick Write journals and our short story assignment) and formal writing (such as this book review and any thesis essay). Here is a picture of the notes from our board:
As we work though this essay, some other materials we will use are: this model of a book review from The New York Times (by reviewer Gary D. Schmidt); and here is a graphic organizer that we will use for our middle, body, paragraph.
Our word for the day today is OBLITERATE, which is a verb that means to destroy.
For homework tonight, write a rough draft of your intro paragraph to this book review assignment. Don't worry just yet about making it great! This is a first draft--so we are just aiming to have an argument for our essays.
Some examples of a thesis statement that we created in class are:
EX.1. Mike and Poppy learn to have a great relationship in the novel, The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine.
EX.2. James Frost is a good and effective father in the novel, The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine.
EX.3. This book is great because it teaches a number of powerful life lessons.
These are examples of strong thesis statements. But don't use these. Forge your own in a paragraph tonight!
Peace,
Mr. R
Today, we introduced the book review assignment, now that we have finished reading and exploring Kathryn Erskine's The Absolute Value of Mike.
Here is a link to the actual assignment, which we read through and debriefed in class today.
You'll notice that is is actually a brief writing assignment--only a single typed page! However, sometimes it is actually more difficult to write a powerful, clear single page than to write five vague ones!
We discussed the differences between informal writing (such as our Quick Write journals and our short story assignment) and formal writing (such as this book review and any thesis essay). Here is a picture of the notes from our board:
As we work though this essay, some other materials we will use are: this model of a book review from The New York Times (by reviewer Gary D. Schmidt); and here is a graphic organizer that we will use for our middle, body, paragraph.
Our word for the day today is OBLITERATE, which is a verb that means to destroy.
For homework tonight, write a rough draft of your intro paragraph to this book review assignment. Don't worry just yet about making it great! This is a first draft--so we are just aiming to have an argument for our essays.
Some examples of a thesis statement that we created in class are:
EX.1. Mike and Poppy learn to have a great relationship in the novel, The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine.
EX.2. James Frost is a good and effective father in the novel, The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine.
EX.3. This book is great because it teaches a number of powerful life lessons.
These are examples of strong thesis statements. But don't use these. Forge your own in a paragraph tonight!
Peace,
Mr. R
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