Today, students sat in their writing workshop groups from earlier in the year to get some feedback on their encyclopedia articles so far.
1. Self-edit. Students had five minutes to quietly edit their entire article themselves, looking for tense changes and any other small errors.
2. Round 1. Students exchanged papers and read aloud their partner’s encyclopedia entry sections on characters and plot. As students read, they stopped to ask questions on any unclear plot points. They were purposely groups with peers that had not read the novels of other group members. If you were absent, you should have a parent or sibling read your plot and character section aloud and give you comments.
3. Round 2. Students read aloud their own Reception and Major themes sections, adding any transition words needed. They also changed the word “said” to another synonym.
4. Round 3. Grammar and slang. Students checked to make sure all of the plot and character section was in present tense. Then they made sure their research sections were written in past tense.
HW: Finish final draft of complete article by Tuesday. No need to print it off.
ALEXA GARVOILLE 