//www.polyhigh.org/apps/classes/66752/assignments/ Class Name: Writing Seminar 10A Instructor(s): Jeff Herrold en-us SchoolSitePro //www.polyhigh.org/homeworkItem485410 //www.polyhigh.org/apps/classes/66752/assignments/
1. Finished the periodic assessment.

2. Worked on a prompt in class for a compare/contrast essay: "Today's teens are the most obese in America's history. Why has this become such a prevalent issue, and what can we expect as a result? Support your answer with details and examples."

3. We started with at thinking map in our journals.

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HW
Write a paragraph on the prompt above, 9 sentences, intro/conclusion, numbered, double-spaced.
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Took the first part of the Periodic Assessment on Exposition. If you missed it, you must come in tomorrow in order to make it up while other students work on part 2. Both the Short Constructed Response and the Extended Constructed Response will be for grades in this class.

Parent Night tonight - free TWO participation checks for anyone who comes with their parents!

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Attended the Small Learning Communities (SLC) fair in the cafetorium. Be ready to make your SLC choice tomorrow!

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1. Did a peer/partner review on the compare/contrast paragraphs from the homework.

2. Partners also reviewed the essays for these four categories:
A. Introduction (1 point) - previews topic (what two things are being
compared/contrasted - 2 points), clearly says which is better (1 point)
B. Conclusion (1 point) - summariezes topic (what two things were
compared/contrasted - 2 points), clearly says which is better (1 point)
C. Three similarities (1 point each)
D. Three differences (1 point each)

3. We began another essay based on this prompt:
"Many schools are cutting the budgets for art and music classes. How are these two subjects related, and what makes them different? Which on should your school keep? Support your answer with details and examples."

4. We asked what was the style of the prompt, what thinking map should be used, and what were the key words, as well as what kind of details and examples might be helpful to prove our point.


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HW:
Finish the thinking map and paragraph from #3 above. 9 sentences in a list, including introduction and conclusion; 3 similarities, 3 differences.

]]> Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:19:15 PST //www.polyhigh.org/homeworkItem471257 //www.polyhigh.org/apps/classes/66752/assignments/
1. Did a peer/partner review on the Thanksgiving paragraphs.

2. Most partner reviewers agreed that the essays were missing one of the key elements from the key word list - meaning the answers were not COMPLETE, meaning the maximum score the essays would get on the CAHSEE was a 2 out of 4.

3. We finished our peer reviews and started another compare/contrast essay. Partners could choose any two things, as long as they were similar enough to ask the question, "which is better?" Examples included Ford/Chevy, McDonald's/In N Out, heavy metal/hip hop, cats/dogs, XBOX 360/PS3, football/soccer, meat/vegetables, Six Flags/Universal Studios, etc. Essays need to find three similarites, and three differences that help prove why one thing is better than the other. You may not choose to try to prove something offensive, such as trying to prove why one race, sex or religion is better than another.


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HW:
Finish the compare/contrast paragraph - 9 sentences in a list, including introduction and conclusion; 3 similarities, 3 differences.


]]> Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:32:45 PST //www.polyhigh.org/homeworkItem471228 //www.polyhigh.org/apps/classes/66752/assignments/
1. Used our journals to do a thinking map on the prompt: "Thanksgiving is an American Holiday. What three things are you thankful for, and how are these things different from and similar to people in other countries of the world? Support your answer with details and examples."
2. We asked what was the STYLE of the prompt (compare/contrast), what thinking map we should use (double bubble), and what were the key words (three things, thankful, similar, different, people/other countries, details and examples) to make sure your answer is complete.
3. We discussed how it is important to be COMPLETE and ORGANIZED on essay responses, or you will score no higher than a 2 out of 4 on the CAHSEE essay. We talked about how the key words helped us know what the question required from the answer in order to be complete.


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HW:
Finish the Thanksgiving paragraph - 8 sentences in a list, including introduction and conclusion.
]]> Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:25:51 PST //www.polyhigh.org/homeworkItem467323 //www.polyhigh.org/apps/classes/66752/assignments/
1. Did SSR
2. Discussed grades and had grades conferences.
3. Updated everyone on the Pizza Party Challenge
4. Used our journals to do a quickwrite to the prompt: "Describe your room at home. Provide as much detail as you think is necessary for someone to be able to picture your room accurately."
5. We then went back and discussed CAHSEE grading standards - getting a 0 (of 4) on your essay (not doing it) means you have to get 100% of the multiple choice questions correct in order to pass. Getting a 1 on your essay means you have to get 90% of the multiple choice questions correct in order to pass. A 2 means 80%; a 3 means 70%, a 4 means 60%.
6. We discussed that the average Poly student is getting a 1.7 on the CAHSEE essay; but that getting a 3 is not hard. A 3 means the essay is COMPLETE and ORGANIZED. Students agreed that the quickwrite was not complete or organized.
7. We started over by creating a circle map of everything in your room. Then we divided the things in the circle map into lists (e.g., "decorations" would include posters, pictures, paintings, murals, mobiles, etc.). We then made each object on each list more specific by asking "what kind?" For example, rather than "Posters," you would write, "Kobe Bryant NBA Poster." We then ranked each item in each list (e.g., ranking all your items on your "decorations list," starting at #1, and going down to least favorite item on that list; then doing it again for all the other lists).
8. We agreed we had a lot more data to be COMPLETE, but now we needed to organize. We began by brainstorming topic sentences. While sentences like, "My room is a reflection of me," are solid sentences (score of 2 or 3), we agreed that something that caught the reader's attention was better, such as, "My room is like an episode of Spongebob Squarepants," or, "The first thing you notice about my room is the fork stuck to the wall." You want sentences that intrigue the reader and make them want to keep reading.
9. Periods 1 & 2 then started working on taking the sorted lists and starter sentence and putting them into an eight (8) sentence paragraph.

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HW:
Periods 1 & 2 - write essay about room
Period 3 - write 3 "eye catching" topic sentences.
]]> Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:39:54 PST //www.polyhigh.org/homeworkItem467312 //www.polyhigh.org/apps/classes/66752/assignments/
1. SSR
2. Reread SUPERMAN AND ME and discussed the structure of his essay; e.g., why does he write certain things in certain paragraphs?
3. We did a Write About about the essay, and did a Write About chart in pairs.

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HW:
None

]]> Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:29:24 PST //www.polyhigh.org/homeworkItem467306 //www.polyhigh.org/apps/classes/66752/assignments/
1. Took TEST - Grammar Assessment #4 (the sentence and parts of speech)
2. Took TEST - Subject and Verb Test #3
3. Took TEST - Exposition Styles Test #1
4. Reviewed and corrected the tests.

No Homework.

]]> Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:26:56 PST //www.polyhigh.org/homeworkItem461787 //www.polyhigh.org/apps/classes/66752/assignments/
1. Did Subjects & Verbs Worksheet #12 (see folder). Remember, you are responsible for finding action verbs (I eat), linking verbs (I am hungry), and helping verbs (I was eating).

2. Did Expository Warmup #7 (see folder).

3. EXPOSITORY PARAGRAPH #1. We did a Self Assessment, where we wrote which style we used for our paragraph, then explained our rationale using evidence from our own paragraph (e.g., Problem/Solution; the problem is a student is failing class, the solution is that he goes to tutoring, does his homework, and comes to school every day). Next, the essays were distributed to someone else, who completed a Partner Assessment, where they tried to guess the style, and included rationales for their guess, using evidence from the text. We then did this a second time, with a different partner reading our essay. THIS IS A 40 POINT ESSAY PROJECT. If you did not make this class, you must see Mr. Herrold immediately to figure out how to make it up.


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HW:
THREE TESTS TOMORROW! Test will be Grammar Assessment #4 (the sentence and parts of speech), Subject and Verb Test #3, and Exposition Styles Test #1.
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