Write Your Own Short Story Project

You MUST complete a satisfactory short story in order to pass this marking period!

Be prepared to type your story in class on Thursday and Friday! Stories that are not typed will lose 10 points. Any stories turned in after Friday will be considered late and will lose 5 points a day for each day they are late.

Your story should follow the structure of the plot pyramid.

• Paragraph 1: Exposition (Tell us who the characters are, what the conflict is, where they are)
• Paragraph 2: Rising Action, Event #1 (small conflict)
• Paragraph 3: Rising Action, Event #2 (big conflict)
• Paragraph 4: Rising Action, Event #3 (bigger conflict)
• Paragraph 5: Climax (conflict explodes!)
• Paragraph 6: Falling Action (consequences of the climax)
• Paragraph 7: Resolution (how it ends)

Come after school Wednesday and/or Thursday if you need help! I'll be hanging around after school from 2:55 - 3:55.

Vocabulary for Forged by Fire

The Art of Flame
Originally uploaded by Jeremy-G

Below are the 5 vocabulary words for this week. If you did not get the notes in class, this will help you complete Homework #13.

We have a quiz on these words on Friday, November 21st!

* elaborate: made or done with great care or much detail
* hysterical: feeling uncontrolled, extreme emotion
* numerous: great in number
* resignation: the act of giving up or accepting something terrible
* terrify: to fill someone with terror

Directions for completing the graphic organizers:

* Definition: Write in the dictionary definition (see above for our definitions)
* What is is: Write what the vocabulary word means in your own words and/or give examples
* What it isn't: Write down the opposite of the vocabulary and/or give non-examples
* Use it in a sentence: Write a sentence that uses the vocabulary word

All Rewards are Canceled Until Further Notice

Dear Class,

I write this in sadness. During my fourth period class, one or more of my students stole cookies that belonged to their classmates.

As you know, I reward students in my class generously when they do well: grab bag prizes, homework passes, raffle tickets, candy bars, Hershey's kisses, and homemade cookies. I do these things out of my own kindness and generosity. I do these things because I want to, not because I have to.

Today, my trust was horribly violated. I have spent the past two months believing in each of my students as honorable and decent human beings. I was proven wrong when cookies were stolen this morning.

The cookies were not only stolen from me--I spent four hours baking cookies last night--but from your fellow classmates.

From this point on, there will be no rewards in my classroom. Student of the Month has been discontinued. I will no longer give out candy or tickets from the jug.

Rewards will resume when I get an apology from the thief/thieves or whenever I begin to trust my classes again. I'm not sure which will happen first.

My apologies.
Ms. Gibson

Vocabulary for "The Most Evil Sorcerer"

1943 Webster Dictionary (New Census Edition)
Originally uploaded by Wil Lau

Below are the 5 vocabulary words for this week. If you did not get the notes on Monday, this will help you complete Homework #5.

We have a quiz on these words on Friday, October 31st!

• cruel: ready to hurt others; causing suffering
• humiliate: make someone lose his pride or self-respect
• mutter: to say something very quietly, especially in anger
• ruin: to damage beyond repair
• stagger: to walk unsteadily, moving from side to side

Directions for completing the graphic organizers:

• Definition: Write in the dictionary definition (see above for our definitions)
• What is is: Write what the vocabulary word means in your own words and/or give examples
• What it isn't: Write down the opposite of the vocabulary and/or give non-examples
• Use it in a sentence: Write a sentence that uses the vocabulary word

Marking Period 2 Project: Write Your Own Short Story

July Zine Is Here!
Originally uploaded by kate*

As you know, we have been studying "The Art of the Short Story" and the elements that make up all stories. This marking period, your project is to write your own short story--one that you make up entirely--based on the elements we are studying in class.

Your short story will have:

• a setting: where it takes place and when (each story should last for no more than one day)
• 2 characters: your main character and his/her enemy
• plot: the series of events that your character goes through
• conflict: a big problem that drives the series of events

I'm super excited about this project because I myself am a writer and used to be the editor of a literary journal in college.

Once we've written the stories, we are going to turn them into our own literary journal (see photo in the top right corner of this post) that we can give to teachers, administrators, friends and family.

As of Monday, October 27, you should have completed two homework assignments for this project:

• HW#3: What is the setting of your story?
• HW #4: Who is the main character?

This week we will finish brainstorming and move into organizing your ideas for your short story.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Classroom 6,
originally uploaded by Martin Deutsch.

We have parent teacher conferences tonight and tomorrow.

Come to room 741 Thursday night between 6 and 8:30 or Friday afternoon between 12:30 and 3 to have a sit down with your parents and teachers.

Any students who come with their parents will receive 10 extra credit points in whichever category they need it most (Classwork, Homework, Projects and Papers, Tests and Quizzes).

Oh, and I made peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. Come and get some!

Test tomorrow - Thursday October 23

Pencils,
originally uploaded by fortinbras.

This is a reminder that we have a test tomorrow on plot, character and setting and the short stories we've read in Gone From Home.

You will be asked to:

• Watch a short animated film and identify plot, character and setting.
• Answer vocabulary questions for all 10 words we have had so far
• Write short answer (3-5 sentence) responses on questions about the short stories
• Read a short story and fill out a Somebody Wants But So Chart

Make sure you bring a pen or pencil and come on time! If you're late, you'll miss the short film.

Reading Journal Final Packages Due Monday October 20

This is a reminder that your Reading Journal Final Package is due on Monday, October 20.

This project includes:
• 8 pages of reading journals

*Homeworks 8, 9, 10 - Reading Journal: Connections (white packet)

*Homeworks 12, 13, 14 - Reading Journal: Connections and Predictions (blue packet)

*Homeworks 15, 16 - Reading Journal: Predictions (white packet)

• An illustrated cover that includes your name and a picture related to something you read
• Answers to the questions on the Reflection worksheet (extra copies are in the PINK homework binder)


Directions to finish this project:

1. Gather together all of your journal pages from your homework
2. Make sure you have 8 pages. If you don't, complete the journal pages you're missing.
   
3. Look over the journals you turned in already and make corrections or add details wherever I asked you to
4. Complete the Reflection Worksheet
5. Make your cover
6. Staple EVERYTHING together, including the reading journal pages
   

Tips for your Acrostic Mini-Project

Having trouble getting your project started? Here are two tips.

1. Check out this website, which guides you through the writing process for creating an acrostic about yourself: readwritethink.org/materials/acrostic/. (HINT: If you use this website, write in your FIRST name and LAST name when they ask you for the "topic word".)

2. Stuck on a letter that you can't think up a word for? Check out the list below, which has a word for every letter of the alphabet:

• Always
• Best at
• Can
• Does
• Doesn’t
• Especially
• Eats
• Friend of
• Goes
• Has a
• Is
• Isn’t
• Just
• Keeps
• Loves
• Likes
• Might
• Never
• Often
• Plays with
• Quite
• Remembers
• Says
• Sometimes
• Tries to
• Uses
• Very
• Wears
• X – Excellent at
• Your
• Zero

Acrostic Poem Mini-Project - Due Monday September 15!

Our first project is due on Monday! It is worth 15 points, and will be graded based on creativity, focus and your illustration(s).

The details and notes from the worksheet are below. If you don't have a copy of the worksheet, there are extras in the PINK homework binder.
__________________________________________

What is an acrostic poem?

• It is a poem that uses the LETTERS in a NAME to begin each line.
• All lines of the poem DESCRIBE or relate to the name.

Example: "Sun"
Shines brightly
Up in the sky
Warm on my skin


Your Task: Write an acrostic poem using your first name (or nickname) and your last name. You may type your poem or write it very neatly. Include at least one picture to illustrate your poem. You may draw the picture, print it out from the computer, or cut it out from a magazine.

Welcome to English 9!

Welcome to high school and English 9!

For my class, you must buy a 1-1/2 inch binder and a set of 5 dividers (click the links for examples).

Bring your binder and dividers to class on or before Monday, September 8, 2008.

This assignment is worth 10 homework points!