Oh the joy of the writing process! Last week, students began drafting their own literacy narratives. I am so excited to read and learn about their experiences and help them craft their stories into polished pieces of writing. This week is all about the writing process. It can be messy, frustrating, and tedious, but it is so so important to embrace this aspect of writing: it is in this STRUGGLE that we GROW! We will be doing a lot of writing, rewriting, revising, and editing this week as well as reflection on the process of writing. Students will also get a chance to sign up to work with an junior Writing Fellow to get more feedback on their writing later on this week. I have decided to push back the due date for the literacy narrative final draft to allow for more time on working towards revisions this week.
What's Ahead This Week
Monday Rough Drafts due at the start of class! We will begin by reflecting on the rough draft writing experience. Then, we will be sharing our drafts with a partner and evaluating their draft on a rubric. After that, we will discuss what it means to "explode a moment" when writing stories by adding imagery and details. Students will locate opportunities for this in their own drafts.
Tuesday We will begin our study of semicolons with some mentor sentences. There will also be some practice problems as homework over semicolons. We will search our drafts for opportunities to create more complex sentences that use colons and semicolons.
Wednesday We will review the usage of semicolons and then work through a list of revision suggestions for their draft. They will need to choose revision goals for their next draft. They will also read a sample literacy narrative (provided by me) and give feedback to that writer. Students should have some time to work on their draft during class. They will also be able to come in during RWU for feedback from a Writing Fellow (see below for more info on writing fellows).
Thursday We will examine the conclusion of the literacy narrative and discuss different techniques for ending stories. We will have plenty of time in class to write, get help from me, and sign up to meet with a Writing Fellow during RWU.
Friday We will begin with a test on semicolons. Then, we will have an editing workshop in which students will edit the latest version of their draft. This in class activity will be "graded."
Homework
First Draft of Literacy Narrative due Monday April, 9
Semicolon Practice due Wednesday April, 11
Final Draft of Literacy Narrative due Monday, April 16
