MODERN PROSE

We walked to the Public Library and read there today.

AP

Reading Journal Reflection

• I talked about the RJ.
• Everyone took some time to get his/hers labeled and organized.
• People typed their responses to the Reading Journal Reflection assignment (thirty minutes).

Villanelle Update

• I read Paul H's poem aloud as a model for a non-serious villanelle.
• Reminder:  Villanelles are due THURSDAY.

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

• I handed out the background reading on A Christmas Carol (and a little candy) and we read that in class.
• I handed out the book--happy early Christmas!  :-)
• I began reading A Christmas Carol aloud.  We read six pages in ten minutes, but that included stopping to talk about things.  

Homework
Read and finish A Christmas Carol by Sunday night.
Check the wiki for the reminder about the meal and movie Sunday.


CREATIVE WRITING


Writing Assignment

• Earliest Memory--I told a story of my earliest memory.  I talked about how even though I didn't remember everything that happened, I could focus on the sensory details to tell the story.
• We took five-ten minutes to type our own earliest memory stories.
• When everyone finished, we trade iBooks with someone, read the story, then left a positive comment about the story.  (People who had time traded with more than one person.)
• I showed everyone an example of how to turn a story into a poem--I handed out my "Rescue" poem, which I created from my earliest memory story.
• People created a poem from their story, saved and printed, then turned them in.

Writing Tip

• Choosing Precise Adjectives (p. 22)--We talked about how some terms are "relative"--related to the person who's using them (tall; old), and how some terms are general, non-specific (awesome; incredible).  We worked on changed the vague adjectives to specific, precise ones (p.22).  We pair-shared when we finished, then everyone shared his/her best one with the class.

Trust

• Everyone wrote down one secret that no one else in class knows.  I read seven secrets, and people kept track of their guesses on their own paper.
• We'll continue guessing Monday.

Homework

• Journal #1 (handout)