Today students wrote for most of the period.
Here was our schedule:
1. Improving details in writing. Students rewrote the following sentences by replacing each italicized section with a very specific detail (absent students need to complete this for a grade):
I have always remembered the time that thing happened. It changed everything. I remember that day exactly. Something about it sticks out in my mind.
Ex: If the sentence were, “Once, I went somewhere,” I might write, “On a nippy January morning, as the sun rose over Durham’s old tobacco factories, I went to the Family Fare for a hot cup of watery coffee.“
2. We shared a few of these sentences.
3. Students wrote a piece about an important moment / episode in their life. This may have been inspired by the “Stones in the River” exercise, or may not have been. This must be at least 1 page in length. More is encouraged.
HW: Finish your episode piece. Write three questions to your writer’s group about your piece (either the Name piece of the Episode piece). Questions like, “What could I add more of?” or “Can you imagine what my mother looks like here?” are appropriate.
Absent students:
1. Complete the detail replacement exercise above.
2. Please spend at least 40 minutes writing about an important episode in your life. This should be a specific event with its own specific time and place. It may be 15 seconds long, it may be 1 day. Use as many details as possible. Make sure I see your “Stones in the River” assignment if I haven’t yet.
ALEXA GARVOILLE 