Peer Editing/Terry Fox

We had a short class today, but many important announcements!

Students are required to bring in their edited narrative to class this coming Tuesday to hand in.  With it, attach your rough draft, your narrative worksheet, and your peer editing worksheet.

So Tuesday = narrative package.
- rough draft
- good copy
- narrative worksheet
- peer editing worksheet

Get someone to peer edit you wrok over the weekend if you didn't bring in your work today.  Make sure to have the person focus on the criteria that is set out on the sheet.

This is super important, so make sure you compile all of the parts.  We will be moving onto a new topic next class :)

Also, the 'three things' slip should be returned to me by Tuesday.  This is important so that we can participate in this activity as a class.

Please copy and paste the following info if you are missing either the narrative worksheet or the peer editing sheet.

Peer Editing Worksheet

Name of Editor:                                                         

Name of Author:                                                        

Believable Criteria

Criteria	Comments
How believable is the narrative?  Write any suggestions as to how the author could make the narrative more believable.
How interesting is the narrative?  Write any suggestions as to how the author could spice up their narrative.
How is the overall quality of the work?  Think about grammar and spelling errors, the form and ordering of the narrative, and the stylistic presence of the piece.

Additional Comments:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Writing a Believable Narrative

Step 1: Think of an instance in your life that is memorable.  It can be a happy event, a sad event, an exciting event, or any other thing that stands out in your memory.  If you can't think of anything, make something up!  Just make sure that you can visualize what happened.

Record what the event is:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Step 2: Share your memorable event with a partner.  Between the two of you, Brainstorm ideas of how you can make your event more exciting.

Brainstorm:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Step 3: Go back to the criteria that you created for believable narratives.  Make sure that your list of alterations (step 2: brainstorm) coincides with your criteria.  Make any necessary adjustments.

Adjusted Brainstorm:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Step 4: Once you've altered the contents of your event, share your story with a new partner.  Have them focus on how believable your story is, and ask them for any input.

Record new partner's input:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Step 5: With all adjustments made and on a separate piece of paper, please write your memorable event.  Make sure to balance making your narrative both exciting and believable.  Once complete, hand in your story and this worksheet.  Minimum 300 words.

See you Tuesday!

Writing a Memoir

Today we looked at how introductions set the tone for the rest of the story before starting to write our own.  To start off, partners were challenged to match different novel introductions with the appropriate text (title, author, and genre were given).  We then went through the answers, highlighting a couple of different ways that these sentences reveal future content.  Specifically, we talked about tone, style, description, and specific word choice.

Students then worked with their new partners in order to develop their narrative before writing.  They had a series of steps to go through before they could do the written portion, including brain-storming ways to make the story more exciting and believable.  The rest of the time was spent working on their memoirs.

Students are expected to come to the next class with their completed memoirs in order to do a peer-editing workshop.

The decision has been passed!  We will be working on lit circles next, not poetry.

Believable Storytelling

We started the class off with an activity designed to tests students ability to make stories up based off of different scenarios that they received.  Students were challenged to convince the person next to them that their story was true.

We then went through "The Harvest" and underlined passages that seemed less believable than others.  After going through the text together, we decided, as a class, upon what tipped us off to what was believable criteria.  Once again, we worked with our learning log to show the progression of our ideas.

The class was told to expect to work on writing a narrative next class

Telling Tall Tales

Miss Van D went over last day's writing assignment and clarified for students what is expected.  She has asked that students have this assignment prepared for Monday.  Please see her if any further clarification is needed.

Then, students were asked to create two lies and a truth to share with a partner, in anticipation of a lesson on memoir and narrative.  After Miss Van D shared her lies and truth, students shared with a partner.  Miss Van D then read aloud a narrative written by her grandmother, and asked students to try to discern whether it was truthful or not. 

Students can expect a follow-up lesson on memoir and narrative, on Monday.

Meet Miss Van D!

Miss Van Doorninck took over teaching the class today - welcome Miss Van D!  She began class with an overview of her expectations, and then gave the class a "pop quiz"... all questions were about her. 

After a lively round of People Bingo, students listened to Miss Van D read a short story aloud, called "A Friend of Mine."  They were then asked to spend some time analyzing the character in the story, specifically to make a list of traits, supported by evidence from the story.

Remember that Monday is a Day One!  Remember, also, to bring me your "All About Me" assignment!

Show me your story!

Today, students completed a narrative writing sample, so that I can see what you already know and are able to do with narrative writing.  Your piece will serve as a formative assessment tool for me, in that it will show me where your strengths are and which areas need more improvement.  Your writing sample will not be marked; however, I will provide you with some descriptive feedback, so that you know what you should continue doing and what you should consider changing/adding for next time.

Please remember to finish up and bring your "All About Me" assignments!

Welcome Back!

Today, the class spent time answering questions about what it means to be part of the Cariboo Hill community, in order to provide staff with authentic feedback for their Pro-D Day discussions.

Then, I distributed the course outline, which gives an overview of all that students can expect this year. 

Finally, students were given time to work on their "About Me" assignments, and I have asked that those be handed in to me next week, on either Tuesday or Thursday.  Again, my intent is to learn more about your interests and hobbies.