Week of:
Monday
Tuesday
August 24-28
Warm Up:
“About Me”
Warm Up:
Choose an item
in the classroom
and write a
paragraph
describing it.
Class
Expectations and
Syllabus
Plagiarism and
AHS Academic
Honesty Contract
Class
Discussion:
Varying
perspectives and
the relativity of
truth; Point-ofView
Class
Discussion: Prewriting and
brainstorming;
Establishing tone
Class Exercise:
Pre-writing for
Practice
Narrative Essay
Assign and
Discuss Practice
Narrative Essay
August 29September 2
Warm Up: Do
you think that a
birthday cake
should be the
flavor preferred
by the birthday
boy/girl or the
flavor preferred
by the majority
of party goers?
Why?
Writing
Workshop:
Using the
practice rubric
for the narrative
essay, the class
will evaluate
their own and
Thursday
(Block)
Warm Up: Tell
me about a time
that you and
someone you
know disagreed
about what
happened during
a shared event or
experience.
Class
Discussion:
Perspective and
Point-of-View
Class Exercise:
What really
happened?
Class Exercise:
Writing process
for a narrative
essay
Warm Up: What
is your dream
career and why?
Class
Discussion:
Defining the
narrative;
Choosing topics
that matter; Hand
out notes
Quiz: The
Narrative/Topics
Class Exercise:
Topic Generator
Quick Write
Warm Up: How
do you think that
you will use
writing in your
desired career?
Class
Discussion: Read
and discuss
excerpt from
Jeannette Walls’
The Glass Castle
Friday
Warm Up: If you
wrote a book
about your life,
what might you
call it and why?
Class
Discussion: Read
“Countdown” by
Jonathan
Franzen; Identify
and discuss the
features of a
narrative essay
within
“Countdown”
and apply them
to the practice
narrative essay
Class Exercise:
Pair-up to work
on narrative
essay drafts
Warm Up: Warm
Up: What do you
think is more fun
to read, poetry or
fiction? Why do
you feel this
way?
Class
Discussion:
Poetry
Class Exercise:
Short Essay:
Poetry
What do you
Smashdown
think is Walls’
thesis? How does Short Essay Due
she restate it?
What other
narrative devices
other’s Practice
Narrative Essays,
making
suggestions for
improvements
based upon the
rubric.
did you spot in
the essay? Show
evidence from
the text to
support your
conclusions.
(Due Tomorrow)
Exit Ticket:
What are two
ways you’d like
to improve your
essay?
Class Exercise:
Writing in
everyday life
idea bounce; Use
your device to
find out more
information on
how you’ll use
writing in your
future career.
Share what you
learn with the
group.
Practice
Narrative Essay
Due
September 7-11
Labor Day
Holiday!
Exit ticket: Write
a list of five
important ways
that you’ll use
writing after
graduation.
Warm Up:
Warm Up: Tell
Warm Up: What
Would you rather me three things
do you do when
have a time
that you think are you don’t know
machine that
cool about
what a word
could only go
reading an
means? What
forward in time
interesting story else could you do
but could land
that really
to best
anywhere or a
happened.
understand the
time machine
meaning of the
that could go
Class
word?
both forward and Discussion: Read
backward in time and Discuss “The
Class
but had to land in
Day it Rained
Discussion:
the same spot?
Cockroaches” by
Vocabulary
Why?
Paul Zindel
Workshop
Class
Discussion:
Quick Write:
Think of an
Quick Write:
Incorporate a
Grammar Pop
#1; Read and
Discuss
“Oranges” and
“Outside” by
Gary Soto and
“The Night of
Oranges” by
Flavius Stan
Quick Write:
Identify and
discuss imagery
in the texts we
read today. Use
examples from
the text.
September 14-18
Warm Up: How
could you use
writing as a
secret weapon?
Class
Discussion:
Grammar Pop #2
Writing
Workshop:
Thesis and Topic
Sentences
Warm Up: Do
you think that
it’s important to
know something
about the
narrator of a
piece? How can
we accomplish
this?
Class
Discussion:
Grammar Pop #3
Writing
Workshop:
Introductions,
Conclusions,
Body Paragraphs
September 21-25
Warm Up:
Describe the
image you see on
the screen.
Writing
Workshop: Peer
Warm Up: Pick
something
meaningful to
you (a pet, a tree
at your favorite
park, your home,
etc.). Write it at
experience that
you had that is
similar to
Zindel’s and
explain how the
two experiences
are related.
Assign and
Discuss Formal
Narrative Essay
Class Exercise:
Pre-Writing for
the Formal
Narrative Essay
Warm Up: How
do you show
something about
you and who you
are in one or both
of your narrative
essays?
Class
Discussion: Read
and Discuss a
text that
demonstrates
voice;
Establishing
Voice
Writing
Workshop: Work
on our drafts
Warm Up: Make
up a word. What
does your word
mean? What
made you think
of it?
made-up word
into your
paragraph. Use
what we learned
to convey the
meaning of the
word. Switch
essays and try to
guess the
meaning of the
fake words.
Vocabulary flash
cards set #1:
Convey, Textual,
Context,
Denotative,
Connotative,
Narrative
Warm Up: Tell
me about
something fun
that you’d like to
try. How would
it make a great
story?
Class
Discussion:
Poetry
Class Exercise:
Poetry
Smashdown #2
Formal
Narrative Essay
Due
Warm Up:
Describe your
ideal cupcake or
ice cream cone.
Class
Discussion: The
Conferencing
Assign Polished
Narrative Essay
the top of your
sheet of paper.
Describe your
subject using
sensory imagery,
but don’t
mention your
subject in your
description
because we will
try to guess each
other’s subjects.
Class
Discussion: The
Descriptive
Essay; Common
Characteristics of
Descriptive
Essays; Provide
Descriptive
Essay notes
September 28October 2
Warm Up: What
do you like about
descriptive
paragraphs? Can
you think of a
book or story
that you liked
because of the
descriptions?
Quiz over
Descriptive
Writing
Class
Discussion: Read
and Discuss a
descriptive piece
Writing
Class Exercise:
Guess the
subject!
Warm Up: Do
you like peer
editing? Why or
why not?
Class
Discussion:
Writing tips and
suggestions
Class Exercise:
Work on
descriptive
essays, Peer
editing
Class
Discussion:
Grammar Pop
#4; Read and
Discuss a
descriptive piece
writing process
for a descriptive
essay, Read and
Discuss a
descriptive piece
Grammar Quiz
Class Exercise:
Pair up and
conduct a textual
analysis of the
descriptive piece
Vocabulary flash
cards set #2:
Inquiry, Refers,
Distinguish,
Prevailing,
Imperative,
Diction
Class Exercise:
Choosing topics
for a descriptive
essay
Assign
Descriptive
Essay
Polished
Narrative Essay
Due
Warm Up: Write
a brief
descriptive poem
about your
favorite food.
Class
Discussion:
Grammar Pop
#5; Read and
Discuss
descriptive
essays
Vocabulary flash
cards set #3:
Simile,
Metaphor,
Onomatopoeia,
Personification,
Warm Up:
Create a cereal
mascot and
describe him/her.
Class
Discussion: Read
and Discuss a
descriptive essay
Class Exercise:
Pair up and
analyze the text
Assign Second
Descriptive
Essay
First
Descriptive
Workshop:
Descriptive
Essays
October 5-9
Warm Up:
Personify an
inanimate object.
(ex. pencil, pens,
milk, a coffee
pot, a tree, a
mustache, etc.)
Class
Discussion:
Grammar Pop #6
Class Exercise:
Game-Personify
This!
October 12-16
Holiday!
Cohesive
Warm Up: How
do you think that
reading and
writing can help
you improve
your vocabulary?
Class
Discussion: How
word choice can
improve our
writing.
Class Exercise:
Game-On and
Poppin Some
Words
Vocabulary flash
cards set #4:
Alliteration,
Symbolism,
Sensory,
Concrete Details,
Abstract Details
Warm Up: Tell
me about an
event in your life
that would make
a great short
story.
Class
Discussion:
Writing good
dialogue
Writing
Workshop:
Dialogue!
Writing
Workshop: Work
on descriptive
essays
Warm Up: Why
do you think a
writer would
choose to write a
short story?
Class
Discussion: The
Short Story;
Elements of the
short story; Short
Story Notes;
Read and
Discuss a short
story
Essay Due
Warm Up: Tell
me about a song
that has lyrics
you relate to.
What connects
you to the lyrics?
Class
Discussion:
Poetry
Class Exercise:
Poetry
Smashdown #4
Class Exercise:
Work together to
map out the story
we just read
2nd Descriptive
Essay Due
Warm Up: If you
had a day with a
penguin, what
would you do?
Class
Discussion: Read
and Discuss a
short story
Class Exercise:
Conduct a text
analysis of the
short story using
what we have
Warm Up: Tell
me about
something you
read or watched
that you thought
was exciting.
What made it
exciting?
Class
Discussion:
Showing Vs.
Telling; Creating
conflict; Why no
one wants to read
learned
Exit Ticket: A
line of dialogue
a perfectly happy
story
Class Exercise:
Showing Vs.
Telling
October 19-23
Warm Up: Do
you think that a
memoir about
your life would
be interesting?
Why?
Class
Discussion:
Grammar Pop
#7; Choosing
topics for a short
story; Writing
tips for short
stories
Class Exercise:
Brainstorming
for short stories
Assign Short
Story
Warm Up: What
do you think
defines a writer?
What would
someone have to
do to become a
writer?
Class
Discussion:
Writing a short
story.
Class Exercise:
Use graphic
organizers to do
pre-writing for a
short story
Warm Up: What
do you think is
more possible:
building a time
machine that
goes forward in
time or a space
ship that is
capable of
traveling to other
galaxies?
Class
Discussion:
Read, Discuss,
and Story Map a
short story
Writing
Workshop: Short
Stories
Exit Ticket: An
example of
showing
Warm Up: Do
you think that
telling a story
would be easier
if you could do it
with pictures
instead of words?
Why?
Class
Discussion:
Freytag’s
Pyramid and
Storyboarding
Writing
Workshop: Use
Freytag’s
Pyramid and/or
Storyboarding to
plot out your
story