Learning to live and loving to learn in a culture where diversity is embraced, adding value is an expectation, and today's learners become tomorrow's leaders.
MJH Bear Pride
It's a great day to be a bear!
Room E111
Writer's Workshop
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Our Current Writing Unit: Fiction
Writing Poetry
Writers compose narrative and lyric poetry, compile chapbooks and perform poetic works.
Students will be introduced to the genre of poetry. Lucy Calkins discusses the defining qualities of poetry in these terms: “No other genre grants young writers the same freedom to experiment with space on the page, to savor the sound of the words they are writing, and above all, to make universal meaning out of close observations, thoughts, and questions about the world and personal experience.”
Some primary characteristics of poetry include:
● finding topics which produce strong thoughts and feelings
● using a poet’s eye to see everyday things in a new way
● using word choice to impact meaning in poetry
● using various kinds of figurative language in poem writing
● experimenting with various forms of poetry
● experimenting with graphic elements to enhance meaning
The unit emphasizes:
● establishing an identity as a poet
● using the writing process including drafts and revisions
● crafting multiple types of poems
● using a poetic storyteller's voice
● writing lyric poetry
● writing with independence
● using editing checklists
● celebrating published writing
Student Goals for Poetry
After completing Unit 2 our goals for
our students will be that they can:
● use comprehension skills when listening and speaking ● Write independently for longer periods of time
● Choose a topic I can write about
● Generate ideas for writing
● Revise my writing
● Edit using an editing checklist
● Write legibly
● Compose narrative poetry
● Compose lyric poetry
● Write a complete sentence
● Use nouns, verbs, and adjectives in my writing
How to Write a Powerful Personal Narrative
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Focus on one episode with great detail (small moment)
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Help your reader picutre the episode or small moment
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Expand on your vocabulary - use new words
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Writers might include the smallest details of the moment, the ones that ring rue for the narrator.
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Writers might include inner thinking to hint at what the story is really about.
Personal Narrative - Crafting Powerful Life Stories
During the next several weeks we will be building a community of writers by participating in Writer's Workshop. Writers will develop narrative stories with the larger aim of improving all writing. We will be focusing on writing personal narratives.
Student Goals for Personal Narratives
After completing Unit 1 our goals for
our students will be that they can:
*write independently for longer periods of time
*generate ideas for writing
*revise their writing
*edit using a personal editing checklist
*write a personal narrative
*use proper punctuation, and other conventions
