Last call for your “This I Believe” essays.
On Friday you got a new article on fear and horror fiction with questions to answer. If you were absent on Friday please come and see me for a copy.
We’ll start with a quick review quiz.
Then we’re going to learn about a reading strategy and you will practice that with some silent reading.
Then we will do a note on the history of horror fiction and you will finish your questions for the article “Scared Witless” due tomorrow.
Today we’re going to start with a short quiz, then we’ll finish the note on the three streams of horror.
Today we are recording the personal essays. I’ll send you out two at a time to do the recordings. While we’re doing that, we will take up the Stephen King on Fear questions (this will be handed in.)
Then we will brainstorm a list of scary/suspenseful movies, TV shows, stories, and maybe even videogames(?).
Then we’ll classify them into 3 different types of horror fiction. There will be a note to take down on this. If you are away today make sure you click the link to get the ppt.
On Friday we completed peer edits of the personal essay. If you were absent on Friday (or unprepared) you will need to complete your peer edit today. You need to be prepared to record your personal essay on Thursday. If you wish to do the recording at home and send me an MP3 file, that’s fine, but you must do so before Friday, otherwise you’ll have to record it at school.
Remeber that I am marking you on your oral communication of your personal essay. Think about the effective speakers we’ve looked at so far and think about what was effective about the way they delivered their messages. We will listen to some of the oral essays we read earlier and make a list of things you should include in your delivery of the essay.
If you’ve revised your personal essay, you will move on to reading another example of a personal essay that will be a lead in to our next unit on horror fiction.
Things to keep in mind when recording your personal essay:
Today we are going to look at a couple more poetry slam examples and then do peer editing of the personal essays.
Today we’re going to start by watching some more poetry slams. Well decide which ones are the best and start to make a list of the criteria for an effective poetry slam performance.
Then you will have the rest of the period for working on your “This I Believe” essays.
Rough drafts are due tomorrow.
Today we’re going to start off with a 4 corners exercise. Then you will have the rest of the period for drafting your personal essay. We’ll review the criteria together.
Your rough drafts are due on Friday.
Last Friday we established the criteria for a good personal essay based on the examples we read in class. I have a handout for you summarizing those qualities.
I’ve got a handout for the personal essay too.
I also have a tip sheet for writing a “This I Believe” style personal essay. After you read that, begin brainstorming topics for your personal essay. Think about how we defined a belief (look back in your notes). If you’re having a hard time coming up with beliefs, think instead of stories you can tell about your life. What’s something that happened to you that’s significant and important? Can you pull a belief statement out of there?
Once you’ve brainstormed a number of ideas you can move on to the outline, but ONLY if you’ve completed a brain-storming web. Pre-writing is a really important part of the personal essay.
If you were absent yesterday, you have a series of grammar worksheets to complete for homework. They are due Monday.
We’re going to continue with the idea of belief by looking at some examples of personal essays in groups, you will decide which essays were the best. In order to determine which essay is the best, you will need to come up with a list of criteria.
What elements are necessary for a good personal essay? Think about the ideas, the way the ideas are supported (examples), organization, word choice, imagery, tone, figurative language, etc.
Be prepared to share these characteristics with the rest of the class. They will form the basis for the criteria for your own personal essay.