Author Craft Progress...Slow

We need block scheduling!

There.  I said it.  Hopefully something will be changed next week.  If not, we'll have to deal with the status quo for a bit longer.

Until then, we'll continue packing our days with presentations/debates, lessons,  writing, conferring, sharing and discussing.

Today we did many of those in the honors classes.  Our main focus was on sharing claims, writing introductions and discussing the process of writing and revisions.  Our claims sounded pretty strong for the most part.  For the introductions you need to be thinking about

The Hook
The Context
The Claim

I showed you a few examples of my own which is where the discussion of writing and revision came in.

This weekend be sure to polish those body paragraphs and  write an introduction (or three).  We'll have a complete draft in class for Tuesday.

In the standard classes our focus is still on exploring the stories for worthwhile topics to write about.  remember, you need to write about a technique the author uses AND THEN EXPLAIN why he used it.  What was the purpose of his decision to use that technique?

This weekend I want you to write 1-2 more pages on a specific craft move and the way the author uses it and how you see it developed in the story.  You are still exploring and not essaying, but you should be narrowing your focus.  On Monday we will identify claims for our papers and start writing the complete essays.

Until next time...