September 11: B Day

1B

1. Freewrite.

2. Intro to essay writing. We reviewed the format of an essay and discussed how to plan one.

3. Diagnostic writing quiz. Students wrote a three- to five-paragraph essay responding to a prompt about goals. This will count as a quiz grade and help me see where students are at in terms of their writing.

3. Theme notes. Students took notes on theme on L1. Here is a teacher copy of the notes: Theme Notes Teacher Copy.

HW: None.

2AB

1. L2. Students received a guide to writing theme statements to use on their in-class essay if needed. Here it is:L2: Theme fill-in-the-blank.

2. Essay format and prompt. Students reviewed the essay format and requirements, and received the prompt for the summer assignment writing.

3. In-class essay. Students had 45 minutes to write a 3-5 (or more) paragraph essay about one of the summer assignment books. This will be graded like a rough draft and will count as a quiz grade. For the writing, students could use their books, notes, notebooks, and summer assignment annotations (not returned with a grade so as to not distract from the essay). Students will get their summer assignment annotation grades later this week.

HW: None

4B

1. Freewrite!

2. Theme review. We looked again at L1 and worked up a theme statement for And Then There Were None using L2 and dry-erase boards. We then did the same with the second summer reading book.

3. Essay structure. We briefly discussed the elements of a strong essay before students took their diagnostic writing quiz.

4. Diagnostic writing quiz. Students wrote an in-class essay with the use of their summer reading books, L2, and their summer assignment annotations. The grades were not included so as not to distract students from writing the essay. Students will receive the rubrics later this week.

HW: None.