7th Grade Enhanced English Homework
Directions:
You are to write three journal entries that respond to quotes
every two weeks for homework. You will choose one journal
entry to develop into a personal narrative essay that is due
along with the journal entries. I strongly encourage you to
respond to the journal prompts during the first week and
develop the essay (rough draft and final) in the second week.
Three journal entries:
1.Write in your homework journal.
2. Write down the complete quote at the top with the speaker’s name. Indicate which of
the 3 entries it is. A heading might look like this:
“The truth is more important than the facts.” -Frank Lloyd Wright
08/25
JE #2.
3. Write for 20 minutes without stopping!
What you write is up to you. Here are some options:
 Explain what you think the quote means.
 Make a connection to the quote and your life. For example, you could explain
what inspiration you find in the quote.
 You could relate the quote to a specific experience you have had.
 Or, feel free to disagree with the quote. Explain why you disagree. Aim to write a
full page.
4. If you find another quote or topic you’d rather write about, that’s fine too! I’m flexible
so long as you can turn it into a personal narrative.
One personal narrative essay rough draft and final draft: Read over your recent
journal entries. Use one to inspire a personal narrative essay. This can be handwritten
or typed. Turn in your rough draft and a final draft that is free of errors. The essay is
NOT a REWRITE of the journal entry, but an essay (with a beginning, middle and end)
that tells a personal story about you (personal narrative) that relates to the quote. You
do not have to mention the quote, but you may if you choose.
LENGTH: 250-300 words or 1 handwritten page
Due dates:
A DAY:
 Friday, September 5
 Friday, September 19
 Friday, October 3
 Friday, October 17
B DAY




Thursday, September 4
Thursday, September 18
Thursday, October 2
Thursday, October 16
Evaluation:
Essay will be assessed using Criterion C: Producing Text and Criterion D: Using
Language
Some Possible Quotes to Respond To
1. The truth is more important than the facts.
-Frank Lloyd Wright
2. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.
-Sophia Loren
3. Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.
-Horace Mann
4. Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
5. Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love
breathing.
-Harper Lee
6. Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing
himself.
-Leo Tolstoy
7. The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
-John F. Kennedy
8. Nothing is too good to be true, too wonderful to happen, or too
wonderful to ask.
-Sir Anthony Hopkins
9.. It is easy to be popular. It is not easy to be just.
-Rose Elizabeth Bird
9. For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.
-Virginia Woolf
10. Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor
ignorance.
-St. Francis of Assisi
11. Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.
-Lauren Bacall
12. If you want a place in the sun, you’ve got to put up with a few
blisters.
-Abigail VanBuren
13. There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to
find the ways in which you yourself have altered.
-Nelson Mandela
14. The world is a looking glass, and gives back to every man the
reflection of his own face.
-William Makepeace Thackeray
15. The universe is transformation. Our life is what our thoughts make it.
-Marcus Aurelius
16. A day without laughter is a day wasted.
-Charlie Chaplin
17. Strength is born in the deep silence of long-suffering hearts; not
amid joy.
-Felicia Hermans
18. Who will tell whether one happy moment of love, or the joy of
breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is
not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies?
-Erich Fromm
19. Treasure the love that you receive above all. It will survive long after
your gold and good health have vanished.
-Og Mandino
Criterion C: Producing text
Maximum: 8
Students should be able to:
i.
produce texts that demonstrate thought and imagination while exploring new perspectives and
ideas arising from personal engagement with the creative process
Achievement
level
0
Level descriptor
The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors below.
The student:
produces texts that demonstrate limited personal engagement with the
creative process; demonstrates a limited degree of thought or imagination and
minimal exploration of new perspectives and ideas
1–2
The student:
produces texts that demonstrate adequate personal engagement with the
creative process; demonstrates some thought or imagination and some
exploration of new perspectives and ideas
3–4
The student:
produces texts that demonstrate considerable personal engagement with the
creative process; demonstrates considerable thought or imagination and
substantial exploration of new perspectives and ideas
5–6
The student:
i.
7–8
produces texts that demonstrate a high degree of personal engagement with
the creative process; demonstrates a high degree of thought or imagination
and perceptive exploration of new perspectives and ideas
Criterion D: Using language
Maximum: 8
Students should be able to:
i.
use correct grammar, syntax and punctuation
ii.
spell with accuracy
Achievement
level
0
Level descriptor
The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors below.
The student:
i.
uses grammar, syntax and punctuation with limited accuracy; errors often
hinder communication
ii.
spells with limited accuracy; errors often hinder communication
1–2
The student:
i.
uses grammar, syntax and punctuation with some degree of accuracy; errors
sometimes hinder communication
ii.
spells with some degree of accuracy; errors sometimes hinder
communication
3–4
The student:
i.
uses grammar, syntax and punctuation with a considerable degree of
accuracy; errors do not hinder effective communication
ii.
spells with a considerable degree of accuracy; errors do not hinder effective
communication
5–6
The student:
7–8
i.
uses grammar, syntax and punctuation with a high degree of accuracy;
errors are minor and communication is effective
ii.
spells with a high degree of accuracy; errors are minor and
communication is effective
iii.
makes effective use of appropriate non-verbal communication techniques.
Name__________________________________________
DATE__________________________________________
PERIOD________________________________________
Criterion C: Producing Text
Criterion D: Using Language
O
The student does not reach a standard described by
any of the descriptors below.
0
The student does not reach a standard described by
any of the descriptors below.
1-2
1-2
produces texts that demonstrate limited
personal engagement with the creative
process; demonstrates a limited degree
of thought or imagination and minimal
exploration of new perspectives and
ideas
i.
ii.
3-4
produces texts that demonstrate
adequate personal engagement
with the creative process;
demonstrates some thought or
imagination and some exploration
of new perspectives and ideas
i.
ii.
uses grammar, syntax and punctuation
with some degree of accuracy; errors
sometimes hinder communication
spells with some degree of accuracy;
errors sometimes hinder communication
5-6
i.
ii.
7-8
produces texts that demonstrate a high
degree of personal engagement with
the creative process; demonstrates a
high degree of thought or imagination
and perceptive exploration of new
perspectives and ideas
spells with limited accuracy; errors often
hinder communication
3-4
5-6
produces texts that demonstrate
considerable personal engagement
with the creative process; demonstrates
considerable thought or imagination
and substantial exploration of new
perspectives and ideas
uses grammar, syntax and
punctuation with limited accuracy;
errors often hinder communication
uses grammar, syntax and
punctuation with a considerable
degree of accuracy; errors do not
hinder effective communication
spells with a considerable degree of
accuracy; errors do not hinder effective
communication
7-8
i.
ii.
uses grammar, syntax and
punctuation with a high degree of
accuracy; errors are minor and
communication is effective
spells with a high degree of
accuracy; errors are minor and
communication is effective