December 14- Structure your story

Today we talked about how to create in your story a smooth sequence of events. To that end, we worked on a worksheet that should be picked up in the classroom.

We then worked on our story for another 30 minutes. Wednesday will be the last day to work on the story.

December 10- Begin Who am I? paper

We began working on our Who am I? paper. We went through the assignment and did some brainstorming on what we might write about:

IT’S TIME TO WRITE YOUR OWN STORY!

Task: Tell a personal story that helps explain an aspect of your developing identity. In other words, share something that happened in your life or something you went through that has shaped who you are or taught you something.

Checklist:

o Your story must show development in your character. You must have a reflective component - WHAT did you LEARN from this? How does this story tell others about WHO you ARE?

o You must create a smooth sequence of events that creates a coherent whole.

o You must include sensory language and lots of DETAILS to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. (Show, not tell)

o You must use correct punctuation, capitalization, and grammar in your writing.

                                                                                   

o You must have a title

o Your final work should be 1-2 pages, typed, double-spaced, and “Times New Roman” 12 font.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Read through each of these. Put a check mark in five that you could possibly write about.

• A best or worst day
• A time you struggled or made a mistake
• A “first” in your life
• A moment from a complicated relationship
• A time you moved
• A time death affected you
• A time you were ashamed of or proud of a relative
• A time you supported a friend
• A family tradition or ritual that matters
• An anecdote about your name and why it makes you who you are
• The day you met a friend
• A strong belief you have and how you got that belief
• A moment when you found yourself admiring someone in your life
• A time an illness or injury taught you a lesson
• A time you had a run-in with the police

Words that might describe you:

Choose 6 of words that describe you 

1.                                                                                            2.

3.                                                                                  4.

5.                                                                                  6.

Now for three of them, write down a time where you showed this quality (a couple of sentences each).

1.

2.

3.

December 8- Lessons worksheet

Today we read our last stories from House on Mango street and completed a worksheet that will help us write our "Who Am I?" paper.

Mango Street Lessons

Sandra Cisneros wrote House on Mango Street to show how the many different events in her life helped to change her into the person she is.

Pick two of the stories that we read in class and write down what you think she learned about herself or about who she wanted to be.

Story #1 title:

Lesson she learned about herself or about who she wants to be.

Story #2 title:

Lesson she learned about herself or about who she wants to be.

Now do this for two stories we haven’t read in class.

Story title #1:

Lesson she learned about herself or about who she wants to be.

Story title #2:

Lesson she learned about herself or about who she wants to be.

Now go around the room and find people who have read the same two stories as you. Write down what they put as lessons learned.

Story title #1:

Lesson she learned.

Story title #2:

Lesson she learned.

Lastly, find one person who a read different story than you. Write down the story title and lesson learned.

Story title:

Lesson she learned.

December 2- Sally

We read "Sally" and then wrote a page on a person who is quiet and by themselves... what things are going on in their head? What is their home-life like (we made these up).

Then we read "What Sally Says" and wrote down what advice we would give to her.

November 30- crazy thing

We read Meme Ortiz and then wrote 1/2 page on the craziest thing we've ever done in our life.

November 19- One Good Day

We read "One Good Day" in our House on Mango Street book. Kids partnered up and took turns writing sentences that would be a part of a "good day"

November 17- Begin House on Mango Street

We are beginning our next unit today- reading The House on Mango Street.

I read the first 4 chapters out loud and we wrote a page on the following:

• Write on your own house
• One that you used to live in
• One that you would like to live in

Write a 1/2 page on your name

• What does your name mean?
• How do you feel about it?
• Any nicknames?
• Would you change it
• Funny story behind it

• Write on First, Middle or Last name