8/31 First Draft Memoir

 EQ: How do I take my ideas and make them into a rough draft?

Agenda
Mentor text reflection/review

One last brainstorm

Writing time

Today's slides

1. Pear Deck Takeaways. 

In your English journal, make a new entry and call it “8/30 PD Takeaway”

Find your Pear Deck “Takeaway” doc in the Shared with me folder

Hyperlink it into the text “8/30 PD Takeaway”. Remember the shortcut is Crtl+K

Review the slides on the Takeaway and write a short summary in the summary box (2-3 sentences)

2. One last brainstorm.  

Open English journal

Add today’s date at the TOP (not under other work)

Go to Table>Insert Table and choose 2x2. Two squares high and two squares wide.

Add numbers and make your table look like the one pictured below.

In EACH box write 3-4 events, big or small, that happened in your life during those years.

3. Writing Time. 

Find the Memoir Rough Draft assignment in Google Classroom. 

• You may listen to music, but if you aren't getting writing done, or if anyone else can hear your music, then your music privilege goes away fast.

• You may not socialize. Writing requires concentration. Please respect your classmates need for a quiet writing space. 

• Write a complete draft, beginning, middle, and end. If you finish early go back through your writing and continue adding details, dialog, and descriptions. 

Remember a good memoir topic will:

• Be about a single incident. 
• Maybe include a before and after, but keep the focus on the main event.
• Besomething that you will be able to include the Elements of Memoir for

Reminders:

• Memoir Rough Draft due end of the school day on Friday. 
• You will have about 20-25 minutes in class on Block Day to work on your draft. Plan accordingly. 
• Bring your book to read this Friday (block day)

9/30 Mentor texts

EQ: How do I emulate a mentor text in my writing? 

Agenda
Learn about mentor texts

Reflect on our learning

Narrow in on idea(s) 

Today's slides

1. Mentor texts. You'll be learning about an important strategy today in class called using mentor texts. This is something we'll do all year but especially in our current unit of study.

We'll be using a new tool (unless you were my student last year) called Pear Deck to go through our lesson.  

Are you absent?
That's too bad. You're missing an important today and this one is not something you can do from home. Ask Mrs. McDermott about it when you get back.

Reflecting on your learning

Today I will show you how to use the Pear Deck takeaways to reflect on your learning for today's lesson. 

2. Brainstorming an idea.  Tomorrow you will start writing your memoir. So, I will want you to review your EJ to look for possible ideas of things you can write about. 

It's okay if you're not 100% sure on your topic. Just try to have some ideas for when you come to class tomorrow. 

Whatever idea(s) you are thinking of writing about, you will want to make sure it passes the "Writing Small" test.

A good memoir topic will:

• be a single event
• have something that has changed as a result, whether that's you, your relationship with someone else, a circumstance...etc. 
• be something that you will be able to include the Elements of Memoir for

Reminders:

• Bring your book--a book--to read this Friday (block day)

8/29 Welcome to week 4

Essential question: How do the elements of memoir show up in different author's texts?

Agenda

 Memoir Jigsaws, Day II

(Periods 5 and 6) Things I can write about...

1. One last meeting with your memoir groups

• Talk to your group about the memoir you read yesterday.
• Make sure everyone in your group can explain it.
• Is it a memoir? Why or why not?
• What is it really about?

English Journal: 

• Open your English Journal. 
• Make a new entry at the top, titled "Jigsaw Day 2, 8/26"

New Groups: 

• I'll be moving you to a new group.
• Add a new entry at the TOP of your EJ with the date. (Stay below the top line). Title it "Jigsaw Day 2, 8/26"
• Make a table in your EJ.  Insert/Table/(5 down and 3 across.) It should look like the one below.

• As you hear about each memoir, make a note about the author's experience.

Once you get back to your seats: 

• Then note the closest similar experience you have had. Try to relate to a time when you had the same feeling even if the situation was different. 

Periods 4 and 5: 

• Create a new heading in your EJ, and title it "Things I can write about 8/29"
• You are going to brainstorm as big of a list as you can of topics that you have something to say about. Watch my example in class.
• You will choose 2-3 of those topics to do a quickwrite of, in you English Journal. 

Reminders:

• First block week of the year this week. 

8/26 Memoir Jigsaws, Day 2

 Essential question: How do the elements of memoir show up in different author's texts?

Agenda

Poem 012

Memoir Jigsaws, Day II

English Journal Check #1

1. One last meeting with your memoir groups

• Talk to your group about the memoir you read yesterday.
• Make sure everyone in your group can explain it.
• Is it a memoir? Why or why not?
• What is it really about?

English Journal: 

• Open your English Journal. 
• Make a new entry at the top, titled "Jigsaw Day 2, 8/26"

New Groups: 

• I'll be moving you to a new group.
• Add a new entry at the TOP of your EJ with the date. (Stay below the top line). Title it "Jigsaw Day 2, 8/26"
• Make a table in your EJ.  Insert/Table/(5 down and 3 across.) It should look like the one below.

• As you hear about each memoir, make a note about the author's experience.

Once you get back to your seats: 

• Then note the closest similar experience you have had. Try to relate to a time when you had the same feeling even if the situation was different. 

2. Journal Self Scoring/Journal Submissions

Follow the directions on Google Classroom assignment post. 

Here is the journal scoring guide

8/25 Memoir Jigsaws, Day 1

 Essential question: How do the elements of memoir show up in different author's works?

Agenda

Poem 012

Memoir Jigsaws, Part I: Reading Groups

1. Click on the number for your group to get the memoir you will be reading:

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

Group 6

2. Paste the questions below in to your English Journal (Google Doc) and answer them as you discuss these questions with your group. Talk about the question before you write your answers.

Be prepared to explain more about your reading to another group who has not read this memoir.

1. What does the writer experience in this text?
2. What is the writer trying to say about this experience?
3. What techniques does the writer use to make the story real?
4. What obstacles did the writer encounter  in this memoir?
5. What does the writer gain/learn from these challenges?

Reminder! First notebook check tomorrow. 

Also be prepared to talk about the memoir you read today. You should probably read it again.

8/24 Elements of Memoir

 Essential question: What are the elements of memoir?

Agenda

Poem 011

Elements of Memoir

Looking for the E.o.M. in "Us and Them"

1. Finish RACE Responses/MLA Check. We're in our MLA expert era. Today, we are making sure that your texts are embedded properly according to MLA format.

Example R A C E response

 (answering a different question than yours)

 

The reader learns that David Sedaris, the story’s author and narrator, passes judgement on others because it helps him forget about his own problems. He states at the opening of the story that he adopted his mother’s stand-offish attitude, and that “not making friends was a conscious choice” (1). This is the first of many instances in the text where his condescension is a shield for his own outcast status. 

2. Elements of Memoir. Copy and paste the two questions below into your EJ. Including the chart. Answer the questions and complete the chart with examples (text evidence/quotations) from the text. 

1. Which Elements of Memoir did you notice in "Us and Them"? Provide examples from the text. Use this chart for organization:  

Element of Memoir	Example
Voice is in the first person
Author is the main character
Author shares thoughts, feelings, reflection
Vivid details and descriptions
Authentic dialogue

2. Choose a "golden line" (your favorite line from the story). Describe what you like about it.

Reminder

EJ check this Friday. See Monday's post for directions for making sure you shared your EJ with me. 

Sources for today's/yesterday's lesson:

• Leheman, Christopher & Roberts, Kate. Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons for Analyzing Texts--and Life. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2014. 
• Mueller, Jennifer, and WikiHow. “How to Properly to Cite Dialogue in MLA.” WikiHow, WikiHow, 21 Nov. 2020, https://www.wikihow.com/Cite-Dialogue-in-MLA#References.

8/23 "Us and Them" Close Read

 Essential question: How do I write a response to an open-ended question?

Agenda

Poem 010

Close reading lesson

Short answer using RACE

MLA 

1. Close Reading lesson 

When reading "Us and Them", you should have annotated details related to how the narrator sees the Tomkeys. Today we continue that work.

Absent today? That's too bad. This lesson is not something you can do from home. Ask Ms. McDermott about it when you get back

2. RACE

Make a new entry in your EJ. Title it "Us and Them RACE response"

Use the RACE method to answer the question below. Make sure you are doing these things when you write your short answers. 

How does the narrator’s attitude toward the Tomkeys change throughout the text and help develop the theme? Use details from the text to help support your answer. 

Reminders

-Finish CommonLit assignment if not done! 

8/22 "Us and Them"

Essential question: What is "Us and Them" about?

Slides

Agenda

Poem 009

Set up CommonLit

"Us and Them" on CommonLit

Quickwrite

1. Set Up CommonLit: If you have not used it before, CommonLit is a website where we will be doing many of our online readings. Here are the directions to access your account for the first time. 

2. Read "Us and Them" Finish the text on your own, answering the guiding questions as you read. If you finish before the quiet reading time is up, go back and annotate details that show how the narrator's attitude towards the Tomkeys changes throughout the story. 

3. Quickwrite. Make a new entry in your EJ, titled "Quickwrite 8/22". The question you will be writing about is: in "Us and Them", David Sedaris decides he will find pleasure in hating the Tomkeys. Write about something you enjoy disliking and why. 

(Period 4, we did not do the above Quickwrite)

Reminder

If you did not finish reading & annotating "Us and Them" today in class, you must do so at home tonight. The reading and annotating are due before you come into class tomorrow.

First notebook check! This Friday, August 26. Make sure you have shared your journal with me. If you aren't sure, you can check by following these directions

1. Open your journal on Google Docs

2. Click this button on the right corner

2. If you have shared it with me, then my name will be listed as an editor like the image below. 

You should also make sure that your journal has been named with your period number, last name, first name, English Journal. No extra commas or dashes needed. 

8/19 It's Friday, y'all

 Goals: First reading Friday

Agenda:

Read

Poem 008: "Numbers"

1. Read

You should have brought a book to class today. Make sure it is one you like; if not, I can help. 

If you did not bring a book, you can borrow one from my classroom library for the day, or check one out on the digital library with your Chromebook.

2. Reading Progress Update

8/18 Picture and work day

Goals: Smile big, work on past assignments

Poem 007: "Do You Have Any Advice For Those Of Us Just Starting Out?"

1. Picture Day at the Theater

2. Work Time

This is time for you to finish any of the assignments we've worked on so far in the English Journal.

You may listen to music, but if you aren't getting writing done, or if anyone else can hear your music, then your music privilege goes away fast.

Reminders

• Don't forget to bring a book to class tomorrow! 

8/17 Intro to memoirs

  Essential question: What is a memoir?

Agenda

Poem 006

Intro to memoirs

Frayer a Friend

1. Poem 006: "How Bright It Is"

2. Read two short memoirs

English Journal: 

1. Open your English Journal. 
2. Add a new entry AT THE TOP 
3. Add the date for today. 
4. Write in response to this prompt: 

What do the two stories we just read have in common? What is similar about them? What did you enjoy or not enjoy about each of them? 

Be ready to discuss.  

3. Organizing EJ/Frayer a Friend. Get to know your new elbow partner. Click here to make a copy. Today in class I will teach you how to hyperlink it into your English Journal.

Here is an index of things you should have in your EJ. 

Reminders

• Remember to bring a book to class this Friday. 
• If you have not already, please be sure to have your parent/guardian read through the syllabus and complete this form by tonight.
• Fill out this student data form if you have not already

8/16 Field trip to the Media Center

  Goals: Find a book to read, get to know the REV Media Center and Library

Today's Slides

Agenda

Visit the Media Center

Choose Your Own Adventure

1. Visit: Today we are visiting the Media Center/Library. To be ready for our visit, copy and paste this table into your English Journal:

Book Title and Author	Short Summary

You will be listening to Ms. Krohne, REV's teacher librarian, give book talks on popular books you can check out. Choose three you might want to read to take notes on. 

Whatever book you check out needs to be grade-level appropriate. 

2. Choose Your Own Adventure: If we have time when we get back to class you have three options:

• Start reading your new book
• Research which book you want to bring on Friday
• Finish your Essay of Introduction and/or Photo Story

Reminders

• If you did not check out a book today, you need to have one by this Friday, August 19th to bring to class.
• Please remember to look over the syllabus with your adult at home, and complete the syllabus acknowledgement form by this Wednesday, August 17
• Fill out the student data form if you have not already 

8/15 First Monday of the year

 Goals: Learn about the benefits of reading, write a story 

Agenda:
Poem 4

Why We Read

Photo Story

1. Poem 4: "Question"

2. Why We Read: This year, we will be thinking about 10 main reasons why we read. Today you will be introduced to those reasons, and we will have the chance to think about and discuss them as a class. 

Link to infographic

Copy and paste these questions into your notebook:

1. State the main idea of this infographic in 1-2 sentences. 

2. How is the information organized?

3. Which reason do you find the most personally compelling?

3. Photo Stories

• Choose a photo from your camera roll to write a story about. It can be the story of what actually happened or a completely made-up story. 

• If that's not a good option for you, feel free to use one of the intriguing photos from the New York Times curated especially for students. 

• Complete this in your English Journal

If you have time, start to think about what book you might want to read. Use these recommendations. Here are some others

Search up any titles that sound interesting to you on Goodreads to check out a detailed summary and reviews.

Reminders and other things

• If you did not finish your Essay of Introduction on Friday, or your Photo Story from today, you will have time in class later this week to go back to them.
• Syllabus Acknowledgement Form due Wednesday, August 17th
• Student Data Form to help me get to know you better quickly

8/12 You made it through week 1 :)

 Goals: REVWAY, Set up your English Journals, and write a bit

Agenda:

REVWAY Day Activity

English Journals

Essay of Intro

1. REVWAY Activity 

2. Meet your English journal

• Click here to make a copy of your English Journal.
• Share the journal with me at consuelo_mcdermott@redlandsschools.net
• Open your English Journal and read the directions there (Do what they say)

3. Essay of Introduction

• Period 4, we did not get to this because of the REVWAY Rally. We will do this on Monday in class. 
• Make your first entry in the English Journal
• Follow the directions here.

If you have time, start to think about what book you might want to read. Use these recommendations: Link

Poem 3: "Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation"

Reminders

• Syllabus Acknowledgement Form due Wednesday, August 17th
• Student Data Form to help me get to know you better quickly

8/11 Day two

 Goals: Get to know one other person and how to be successful in this class. 

Agenda:
Notecards
Syllabus

Email to Your Future Self

Poem 2

1. Notecards: With the notecard I have given you, write your name, your favorite movie, your favorite book, and three words to describe yourself. These are the cards I will use to call on you in class, so if you have a nickname you prefer to go by, make sure you write that. 

2. Syllabus: This is the course syllabus. It probably answers a lot of the questions you have about what we are going to do this year, how you will be graded, and what is expected from you in this course. You and your adult(s) at home need to fill out this Google Form that tells me you looked it over. Please do this by Wednesday, August 17th. 

3. Email to Your Future Self: 

1. Write your email to your future self 
1. What are you excited for this school year?
2. What are you scared of for this school year?
3. What are your expectations for this school year?
4. What is important to you today that you hope is still the same in 10 months?
2. Access your Gmail
3. Click the button that says "Compose" on the upper left corner

5. When you are finished, write your own email address in the recipient box. 

DO NOT CLICK SEND. Instead, click the arrow next to the 'Send' button and click 'Schedule Send' 

 Schedule your email to send near the last day of school June 8th, 2023. This email will live in the 'Scheduled' folder until then. 

4. Poem 2: The Good Life

8/10 Welcome to 10th grade

 Hello!

Welcome to a new school year and a fresh start. I am looking forward to our year together. Even if you had me last year, there will be some changes to the way the class is structured and run. For starters, this blog will be our daily start page that will get you where you need to go for the day, every day. Now let's get started.

First Day Slides

If you have a phone, get these recommended apps if you can. They are all available for both iPhone and Android.

• Google Drive
• Google Classroom

If you have a San Bernardino County public library card or want to get one here, download these apps as well.

• Libby and Libby for Teens 
• Cloud Library 

You can also access digital books just by being a student at REV. More info here.

Poem 1: Introduction to Poetry