Physically but not Mentally.

Heeeyyy guys, I'm here, in case you didn't notice. :-)

Bellwork? Okay, but only because you asked soooo nicely. 

To freewrite, you must write without stopping for a designated period of time. While freewriting, don’t pause to think of the perfect word or to get your thoughts in order. Don’t even  worry about spelling or punctuation. Just write whatever pops into your head.

Freewrite for 5 minutes on the topic of love. 

After the bell work, work on your final draft, you needed to make 10 changes and add a metaphor or simile. We need to hand write the essay for grading :-) 

Sick Days

Hey kiddos, I'm sick today, the kind of sick that makes you feel like death when you wake up. I figured that rather than subjecting you to an hour of me coughing and blowing my nose while heavily medicated, I'd stay home and write you a blog instead. Although, to be fair, I'm really entertaining on cold meds.

Today don't worry abut bell work, let's have some silent reading time instead. I'm a little worried that it won't be so silent because you already have the laptops, but once you read this, go grab and book and do your best. Read for about 10 minutes, ok? Ready? Go.

Are you back? Good. Today we are editing your rough draft. Editing isn't just about fixing the grammar and spelling mistakes, it's about really making your paper better. To make sure you really put some effort into this, I'd like you to change 10 sentences in your paper, and add either a simile or a metaphor. You don't have to completely change each sentence, you can change just a part of it, but 10 sentences must be different. A simile or metaphor will add imagery to your paper, and Cambridge loves imagery.

Ok, stay busy, be good, and hopefully I will see you tomorrow.

Love,

Your about to be heavily drugged English teacher.

It's Thursday!!!

Bellwork today? ABSOLUTELY!!!

Here you go:

 If you’re tired of conveying emotion with sentences like Randy was frightened or Sandy was happy, try describing body language: Randy cowered under his blanket or A grin lit up Sandy’s face, for example.

Write a short story (2 paragraphs) about your first day of kindergarten and express the emotions you felt by describing your body language. 

After the bell work we get to work on our papers! Yay! I'll ask you if you'd like me to read and edit it. You don't have to, but I'd suggest it. Rough drafts are due tomorrow. 

Wednesday

Is this racist? 

Happy Wednesday!

Bellwork:

What’s you favorite commercial? Suppose you work in advertising, and you've been assigned to write a “sequel” to this commercial. Write a short summary of this new ad. If you have time, write a script for it too. 

Today we are continuing to edit and rewrite our papers. When you read someone's paper, make sure that you aren't just reading it to check for grammar and spelling, but really look at the content, what they are writing. Cambridge doesn't care as much about commas or paragraphs as we do here in America, they want to see your writing and ideas. There should be significant changes in your rough and first draft papers.

Holla!

Ok, here is your bell work today:

Onomatopoeia refers to words that sound like their meaning. For instance, fizz sounds fizzy, and languid sounds lazy and relaxed. Try to come up with ten onomatopoeic words on your own. 

When you are finished with that, have a peer read and edit your paper. Work on revisions. Really try to make your paper full of vivid imagery. 

Post-Thanksgiving

I NEED SLEEP. Just so you guys know, you should appreciate your lack of responsibility, youth of America, because being an adult is lame. 

Bell work: 

Quick, name the eight parts of speech! If you need a little help, check out the list below:

Noun: a person, place, thing, or idea

Pronoun: replaces a noun (he, she, him, we, they)

Adjective: describes a noun or pronoun

Verb: an action word

Adverb: describes or modifies a verb, adjective or other adverb

Preposition: links nouns and pronouns to phrases (in, on, under, around)

Conjunction: links lists, phrases, and clauses (and, or, when, while)

Interjection: conveys emotion (hey, wow, ouch, yeah)

Write two sentences. Between the two of them, use every single part of speech. 

After you finish that, work on your 600 word descriptive essay. 

Monday Monday

Today we are going to finish the speeches.

Then we are going to start a creative writing project. Getting ready for the Cambridge exam :-) This will take us past Thanksgiving, but I promise you won't have to work on it over the holiday, because I'm not Mr. Kazanas. I'm nice.