Beginning of summer!

Hello all!

Today is the last day of school. Congratulations to all of the graduates and welcome new students! Though the school year is over, summer is the perfect opportunity to begin using a writer's notebook.

Here are things that I include in my own writer's notebook:

• Story ideas
• Short poems
• Scenes for a story
• Information about characters
• Funny things that my family says/does
• Crazy dreams that I have
• Questions that I have about the world
• Favorite books, songs and why I like them
• Snippets of events from my day (though I save the majority of these for my journal)
• Plot lines for a short story

Materials you will need:

• a small notebook
• a pencil/pen (I prefer to use a really cool pen)
• your brain (which includes your imagination)

The possibilities are endless. The point of the writer's notebook is that the ideas are mine. I write down things for fun, and these ideas may become printed stories. 

This is NOT a mandatory assignment! However, be prepared to write when you return in the fall. HAPPY SUMMER and KEEP WRITING! :D

Resume Template 8th Grade

8th Grade Resume

Click on the link below:

You can view this to see the template for the resume. You may also copy and paste it onto a word document. Please do not make any changes to the document.

Resume Template

Resumés and Book Reviews

8th grade students will begin working on a resumé this week!

7th grade students will start writing book reviews.

Stay tuned for more information and due dates!

Room 102

Hello Room 102! Welcome to Ms. Chaps' Class Blog :)

Please click on the link below:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/

How to Make a Book Jacket

Book Jacket Rubric

As part of the project on memoirs, students must create a book jacket for the project.

Here is the rubric that I will use to assess the students' work:

MEMOIRS!!!!

Happy May!!

We have started memoirs in almost all of the writing classes.

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Questions:

·      What is a memoir?

·      Why do people write memoirs?

·      How is a memoir different from an autobiography?

·      Why study memoirs?

Vocabulary:

·      nonfiction

·      hook

·      dialogue

·      hyperbole

·      cliché

·      symbolism

·      tone

Characteristics of Memoirs

·      a series of memories; a description of an event from the past

·      written in first person

·      based on truth

·      reveals the feelings of the writer (tone)

·      has meaning; shows that the author has learned a lesson(s) from the experience

What's due?

• a 4-5 page mini-memoir
• either a book cover or keynote presentation advertising the student's book

Due dates:
Room 106: May 20
Room 103: May 24
Room 105: May 31
Room 104: May 28


Here is the rubric for the final draft of the memoir:

Rubric for book cover/presentation to come...