Greetings!
We only have three days with students this week due to the state of
Idaho’s mandatory teacher in-service days this Thursday and Friday (October 3 –
4). Due to the short week with kids, there will be NO
SPELLING OR VOCABULARY LISTS AND TESTS. We do, however, have our
infamous Mugshot sentences and paragraph—which is due when students arrive to
class on Wednesday. Our normal schedule will resume with a new list of Greek
and Latin roots next Monday.
Due to mass confusion regarding the literary elements of plot when we
discussed the novel Tuck Everlasting, I knew that we needed to continue
to study plot, especially the fact that there are many pieces of rising and
falling action within a story. The climax has also been difficult for the class
to pinpoint, so today I read them Walter the Farting Dog (by William
Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray, illustrated by Audrey Colman). As I read the
32-page picture book aloud, students created individual plot pyramids and worked to determine where each part of the story should be placed on their
paper. As a class, we then discussed who had what where, and why they believed
it was exposition or the inciting incident, etc. The most confusion surrounded
the climax of the story. Is it when Dad decides Walter has to return to the
pound or does it happen when the house is being burglarized? After a good
discussion, the students realized that even though Walter was bound for the
animal shelter, more trouble erupted when burglars climbed through the window
to rob the family. Boom, there is our climax. I won’t go into any more details
because I’d hate to spoil the story for anyone who wishes to read it, but
reviewing these elements with a picture book was definitely beneficial. There
was also a lot of laughter and the kids might start blaming flatulence on your
family pets.
Following our discussion and dissection of the plot pyramid, we
reviewed story elements such as setting, characters, protagonists and
antagonists. Tomorrow we’ll go over conflict (internal and external), characterization
(direct and indirect), all sorts of character types (flat, round, static,
dynamic), mood and atmosphere, imagery, and theme. All of these notes that
should be taken in class will be crucial when they’re ready to work on the
Independent Reading Project for the mystery novel that will be broken down on a
cereal box.
As we go over the elements, we’ll use examples from Tuck Everlasting.
For instance, Tuck Everlasting has internal conflict (man vs. himself)
as well as external conflict (man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. fate).
Students will reflect on these in class and we’ll discuss ideas.
Finally, several people were unhappy with the ending of Tuck
Everlasting. They wanted a different version of the story. Tra-la-la…now
they get
to have a different version because they’re going to write it! Bwahahahaa! We’ve
already discussed point-of-view (first, second, and third-person), and we’ll
talk more about VOICE as well. Students will borrow a copy of the novel and
rewrite the ending from the point-of-view of Jesse, Miles, Mae, Tuck, Winnie,
or the toad. They’ll write in first-person and need to be true to the voice of
that character when writing. The piece will begin right after the first
paragraph (which follows) from page 134 of the novel:
The sign said
WELCOME TO TREEGAP, but it was hard to believe that this was really Treegap.
The main street hadn’t changed so very much, but there were many other streets
now, crossing the main street. The road itself was blacktopped. There was a
white line painted down its center.
Here is where students will pick up the story and write from the
point-of-view of any of the aforementioned characters. What does that character
see, feel, know? What has he or she experienced? This is an opportunity for
creative writing (yay!) and for everyone to rewrite the ending that they want.
(Note that even if you, the student, like the original ending of the book, you
will rewrite it from first-person point-of-view and let the reader inside your
character’s head.) Also, endings WILL be shared with the class, so take the
time to be creative, use a lot of wonderful details, and pay attention to the
proper use of English as a writer. (The standard writing rubric will be used to
grade this assignment AND it’ll also be graded on proper implementation of the
point-of-view, details, and the depth of the story. One or two paragraphs WILL
NOT BE A GOOD ENDING. TRUST ME. TAKE THE STORY SOMEWHERE NEW AND RUN WITH IT!) Also,
make sure your writing is at its best. The final copy is due on Monday,
October 7. I’d prefer your paper to be typed, but if you don’t have
access to a computer, a NEATLY written copy will be satisfactory.
While we’re on the topic of writing, I handed out brochures regarding
the Patriot’s Pen essay contest last Wednesday. Students had all day in class
the following day to brainstorm ideas for their paper and to begin writing; I
was not here and returned Friday to learn that several students said they
brainstormed solely in their heads, even though I left specific instructions
with my sub to have the students create webs, lists, free-writes, outlines,
anything they could to have something ON PAPER. A handful of students shared
what they had written and from there we simply discussed ideas. I intended to
grade their papers but I didn’t want the kids’ grades to suffer in case the sub
didn’t tell them what I did. It was all written on the board, but apparently
the students went to a different classroom to work so, again, I can’t assume
they were told to use PAPER for this assignment and don’t want their grades to
suffer if they weren’t properly informed of my expectations.
Prior to the weekend, I told students the final draft of the Patriot’s
Pen paper was to be typed in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced,
with one-inch margins. They should also have a complete heading AND note the
word count (which needs to be 300-400 words, but if they’re a LITTLE bit over
that is okay—I told them I’m a master at getting rid of words to pare down the
count). They were also told that their papers would be due when
they arrived to class on Wednesday, October 2. I fear that many
students are procrastinating because I had only one tell me today that she had
her paper written and it simply needs to be typed. Please make sure that the papers are ready for Wednesday:
We are doing a peer-editing activity and POINTS
WILL BE LOST FOR LACK OF PARTICIPATION IF A FINAL COPY OF THE ESSAY IS NOT
TURNED IN AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS.
I appreciate those of you who are using this blog to keep track of due
dates and know what we’re doing in class. Remember, our quarter ends on Friday,
October 18, and there are some big assignments (Patriot’s Pen, Cereal Box Book
Report, rewriting the ending to Tuck) that are due before then. Some
grades will rise and some will fall—make sure that you climb to the top and
earn the grade that reflects your best effort and understanding of the material
that we’ve covered.
Now, before your head crashes into your keyboard with boredom, I’ve had
several people ask how to post comments to the blog. If you don’t have a gmail
account, it’s simple to create. Go to gmail.com and create an account. It can
be used by parents or the student—it makes no difference to me—but the gmail accounts
are able to post to the blog. I fear it’s a sinister plot for Google to take
over all things Internet, but if that’s the worst thing that happens, life is
pretty darn good.
Until next time,
Mrs. Gott
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