Drafting/Revising Chapters

702 misses ELA tomorrow and 731 only has one work period to write.
By the end of class tomorrow: 731 should have drafted most/all of the chapters. As you write, revise by showing rather than telling.
By Friday: 702 and 731 should have drafted all chapters and be ready to revise/work with partners.

As you are writing, ask yourself these questions:
1. Do I hook the reader in the first few lines?
2. Do I take too long to get to the point?
3. Am I showing rather than telling?
4. Am I listing?
5. Do all or most sentences sound the same...do all or most start with "I" or "Then" or "(insert character's name)"?
6. Would I read my story if I didn't write it (will it appeal to others?)

Show, Not Tell

Though we are storytellers, it's our job to "show" readers what our characters look like, what they do, what they say, how they think/feel, and how they relate to each other. We do this using imagery, descriptive language, similes/metaphors, active words, and adverbs. Today we worked on making our writing come alive.
By tomorrow: Revise Chapter 1 making sure that all language is showing rather than telling. AVOID LISTING!
Draft Chapters 2-4.
702 loses the ELA period on Wed. so it's important we use every moment of writing workshop wisely tomorrow. 731 loses one of the ELA periods, but we still have one to work with on Wed.
No school Thursday (teachers come in, though).
Friday, intensive writing!!!

Third-Person Narrator

The third-person narrator is a voice that tells the story, but never appears as a character in the story. It can be the author, or an outside narrator. Remember, he/she is all-knowing, meaning that he/she knows everything about all the characters, and lets readers gain insight into the characters by revealing their thoughts/feelings, actions, and speech.

We worked on drafting Chapter 1 using third-person narration. Please finish that Chapter by Monday.
We will begin to draft all chapters on Monday, choosing to narrate in first-person or third-person.

First-Person Narrator

The first-person narrator tells the story from their own perspective. The narrator MUST be a character in the story, whether they be the protagonist or a secondary character. The writer uses words such as "I", "me", "my" and "mine" when writing in the first-person narrator voice.

All students should complete Chapter 1 of their stories today - written in first-person narration.

A reminder: work time in class is work time, not social time. Please limit your talking and keep it on task. Whatever work is not completed in class must be completed at home.

By now you should have...
1. Devised a plot map that has an introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.
2. Reordered your plot map so that it is in the sequence (order) you will write the story.
3. Created at least 5 scenes, representing the parts of the plot map.
4. Created Chapter 1 (from Scene 1), using first-person narration.

If any of the above steps are not complete, please complete them at home.

Tomorrow we will learn about another narrative technique - third-person narrator. We will rewrite Chapter 1 using this narrator, and then compare the quality of the chapters.

Building Scenes

731 should complete all scenes (at least one for each stage of the plot map) according to directions by tomorrow. Please bring your plot maps and scenes to class everyday.

702 should have at least 3 scenes completed. We will complete the rest tomorrow.

Format:
Scene # + Plot Map label
Title of scene
Characters who appear in scene
Summary (main idea) of scene
5 adjectives that describe the mood and/or emotions character(s) are feeling in the scene.

Tomorrow:
We will begin a read-aloud of a very cool realistic fiction (mystery/social issue) book.
We will discuss narrators for your stories. You will try out writing Scene 1 from various narrators' points-of-view.

Preparing for Crafting

Let's rename the next writing stage "crafting" instead of drafting. We are truly building complicated characters, realistic plots (some with twists), and we will next work on mood, building scenes, and creating realistic settings. As we draft, remember to use your classmates as "sounding boards" for your ideas. As you sit with others who are working in the same sub-genre (social issues, psychological, mystery, or adventure), you can share ideas and give each other guidance/suggestions.

Continue to read realistic fiction books - they are the best models for your writing.

A reminder about ePortfolios - continue to gather all of your digital work using GoogleDocs. Mrs. Marks' advisory will be in the pub lab on Thursday uploading our work/reflections.

Channel One

Interesting Channel One today...you can watch it online. They did a piece on IS 238 and discuss the death of Assistant Principal Mitchell Wiener.
http://www.channelone.com/onair/