April 23, 2014

The class voted before our break to write his or her own story.  The vote was a simple majority so, your student may not wish to complete this task.  I will leave the decision up to your family.

The students present this past Tuesday did a SUPERB job with their story starters.  I asked them to create a hero, villain, conflict and setting.  They were to include many adjectives in their description of characters and setting.  They were honestly on fire.

We began by simply writing out the above story bits and just brainstorming.  The results were super - chocolate volcanoes, Dragon Island, man and monkey struggling to survive a mysterious island, and much more cool stuff!

HOMEWORK:  Make a first attempt at an opening paragraph.  This is not a spelling class.  I will help with spelling.  You just get those great ideas into something close to a paragraph.

Parents, if your student would rather dictate this story to you and have you type it up for him or her, I strongly recommend it for this assignment.  If your cherub is a reluctant writer, this will make the task much easier.  I think success in story creation will help motivate your potential super star story creator for future forays into writing.

Your student or you can email me anytime with questions.
libbymonte@yahoo.com.

March 11, 2014 - SAID is dead!

Said is dead!!!

We played a game in class today hoping to inspire our creative writers to use more expressive language.  The word 'said' was officially banned.  Handouts were given with many suggested words to replace the boring 'said.'

HOMEWORK:  Please create two sentences of dialogue for your story (or possible sentences that you might use) using a word other than SAID.

If your student does not have his or her handout with the suggested synonyms for SAID:

Level Two - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQuSXNSPeqPPV3ZYgvyGhT3lINufqrDsJPFQINHciOp6AoYDREYEhxb2gi_rqmW4fQ__K7ade7DU9iObExRVjtcbocpN_xk52hMhD3WOHuNwHCOgZSD3gFoiYdpDBdP76SJKAZddYjYeA/s1600/said+is+dead.jpg

 Level Three - You can create an account at Teachers Pay Teachers and download the free poster:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Said-is-Dead-Free-Printable-Synonym-Poster-268109

You can also search "Said is dead" and find lists for your young writer.

March 4, 2014
Today in class we had a fun brainstorming activity.
Homework:  Create on page of brainstorming about your story.  There are no wrong answers. Write down whatever comes to mind.  Circle some bits that give you good ideas for your story.

Feb. 25, 2014

Thank you all for your willingness to move on to a slightly different format.  I have some physical games and other bits to hopefully help us learn and have fun while doing so.

HOMEWORK:

Bring in a sheet with your protagonist (hero), antagonist (villan), problem or conflict, and your resolution.  This will be the very bare bones of your story.

If you wish to use your previous story line, please do so.