WELCOME BACK! Tuesday-Friday, January 8th-11th, 2013

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Winter Break!

Tuesday:

On this first day back for the students, we did a writing strategy recap.  As a whole group, we looked at a sample expository writing prompt and broke it down using TAPP-F.  This strategy helps the students look at the key points in a writing prompt to determine what it is that they need to do in order to be successful.

• T=Topic
  • This is where the students take a topic in its entirety and summarize it in one to two sentences.
• A=Audience
  • According to the writing prompt (topic), who is going to read the essay/letter/speech?
• P=Purpose
  • Why is this essay/letter/speech being written?  Is it to persuade or to inform/explain?
• P=(Organizational) Pattern
  • How should you organize your writing? Should it be organized in:
    • chronological order (in order of time)?
    • logical order (in order of what makes the most sense to you)?
    • cause and effect order (where the cause of something is discussed first and then its effects)?
    • problem and solution order (where the problem is presented and then you discuss a possible solution)?
    • comparison and contrast (where two or more things are discussed for how they are similar and dissimilar)?
• F=Format
  • In what form are you writing?  Is it supposed to be:
    • a letter?
    • an essay?
    • a speech?

The students had to dissect and brainstorm using TAPP-F on the topic below:

HOMEWORK: Read for 30 minutes and write an introduction paragraph based on the topic presented in class.  Read for 30 minutes.

PowerPoint: Writing Strategy Recap 1.8.13

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Wednesday:

In class, each student continued formulating and organizing their ideas using a graphic organizer to map out their body paragraphs.  I provided some assistance by guiding them through the process using the ELMO document camera.

HOMEWORK: Complete the body paragraph sections in the graphic organizer provided in class. Read for 30 minutes.

PowerPoint: Body Paragraphs 1.9.13

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Thursday:

Having mapped out the body paragraphs both in class and for homework the previous night, the students began work on sculpting a strong conclusion.  With the time remaining in class, each student then took what they wrote in the graphic organizer the night before and translated it into a rough draft.  Those who did not finish in class had to complete it for homework, due at the beginning of their class period on Friday the 11th.

HOMEWORK: Complete the rough draft of the letter to the principal.  Read for 30 minutes.

PowerPoint: Conclusions 1.10.13

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Friday:

The week wrapped up with practical application of all of the skills practiced this week in the form of a timed writing.  As a reminder, the students used the acronym of T-BOW ( (c) 2013 Me) to guide them through the writing process.  T-BOW represents:

• T=TAPP-F (see above under “Tuesday”)
• B=Brainstorm
• O=Organize (see above under “Tuesday” as well)
• W=Write

All of the drafting homework from the previous days this week were due at the beginning of each class with no late work being accepted (except in rare circumstances).

HOMEWORK: Read for 30 minutes.  Remember, this upcoming Tuesday is our next Library Day!  Find your library books and have a wonderful weekend!

PowerPoint:  Timed Writing Day 1.11.13