April 16

1. Finish your riddle paper. Then write 2 original riddles and e-mail them to me before 5pm Monday.
2. Finish adjective word challenge paper.

And that’s all!

April 9

Final draft Book Critique

• Go over the check sheet and make sure you have completed all requirements.
• Begin with the title, underlined and capitalized. Add a “by” line.
• Write your paper neatly or type it.
• Staple papers together: check sheet first, final copy, rough draft and outline.

April 2

On a new sheet of paper write the last paragraph for your book critique. What should it include?

• Your opinion. Likes? Dislikes? Why? Use specific examples.
• Restate your thesis stating what the book is about and/or lesson learned for the last sentence.
• This paragraph is also a good place to add one of those dress-ups or openers you haven’t yet figured out where to put them!

Continue to edit your book critique. Look at the check sheet and make sure all items are complete. Think of a creative title, using some of the same words in your very last sentence.

This is not the final draft, just work on writing the last paragraph and edit, edit, edit the rest of your paper!

One other thing…….

Complete the Editor in Chief worksheet I gave you in class.

March 26

You’re going to concentrate on working on your book critique this week. You’ll edit your rough draft and then write an introductory paragraph on a separate sheet of paper.

Rough draft:

• topic sentence/clincher relationship in first and last sentences of each paragraph. Circle 2-3 words which are the same or similar in both these two sentences.
• add dress-ups and openers, one of each kind of dress-up in your critique, one ly opener and one prepositional opener. Label and underline.
• Fix up anything else, such as punctuation and spelling.

Dress-ups and Banned Words

Ly and prepositional opener only, but here is some additional information:

Openers

Introductory Paragraph: on a separate sheet of paper

• Author’s name
• Title of book
• Publisher, copyright date
• Thesis sentence saying what the story is about or what lesson readers may learn from the book

March 19

1. Write a rough draft for your book critique. All of you should describe your characters more thoroughly than on your outlines. Three full paragraphs please! The first paragraph should not include the plot. The second tells the basic plot: not too many details but enough for a person to understand what happened. The third is the climax, message, solution and message.
2. Write a final draft for your Haiku poem with proper punctuation and spelling.
3. Opener [3] ly worksheet.
4. Page 36 grammar worksheet.

March 12

1. Work on memorizing your poem or Scripture verses and be ready to share them next week. See last week’s blog. A few of you already shared yours.
2. Second prepositional opener worksheet.
3. Choose a children’s book and bring it to class next week. Write an outline:

I. Who-When-Where

II. What happens? Conflict-Plot

II. Solution or Surprise. Climax-Message

Each of these Roman numerals should have numbers under them with additional information. See the sample we did in class for “Caps for Sale”.

4. Write a Haiku poem about spring. Here is the form:

• three lines
• five syllables in the first line
• seven syllables in the second line
• five syllables in the third line

Here is an example about winter:

Winter must be here

Every time I open my

Mouth, a cloud comes out.

March 5

1. Write your final draft. All dress ups as listed from last week should be underlined and labeled. Remember, a dress up should not be placed in the beginning of a sentence. Stack your papers with the final draft on top, then the rough draft, and finally the outline. Staple. You may include the picture if you like, but not necessary.
2. Direct Object worksheet.
3. Opener worksheet.
4. Choose a poem or a passage of Scripture to memorize. It can be short or long, but at least six sentences. It can be one of the ones you wrote. Begin working on it. Next Tuesday let me know if you would like one of the ones I read you in class.

February 27

1. Edit your rough draft. See the notes Abbie added and correct. Dress-ups: one of each in your paper. This is not your final draft as we’ll do that later!

• www.asia
• bc
• QA
• SV
• w/w
• ly

2.  “Possesives” worksheet

3.  www.asia worksheet

4. Write a poem about color and/or texture. See handout.

February 20

1. Rough draft for your picture story. Look over the sample picture story I gave you in class. Now write a rough draft using your outline. Add lots of details about the characters, what had happened before, what will happen after, why it had happened, what the characters were thinking and feeling, etc. Double space. Think of a creative title as you are writing and add it when you are finished writing. It is super important to begin each paragraph with only what you see in the picture. Then end the paragraph with some of those same words for “the clincher”. Each paragraph should be at least 5 sentences. Have fun with it and make your characters come to life!

February 13

You all did such a great job with your poems! I am impressed. And you memorized “What is Pink?”. Wow. You only have one assignment this week so I expect you will complete it well. It is to write an outline for the  picture story about the frog and other critters. How do you do that you ask?

Look over your outline which we worked on it class about the whale family. Remember the first sentence (the central fact) is only what you see in the picture. Repeat this thought for the clincher. Then use your imagination and the question prompts on the page to make up a story.You may want to give the animals names and let us know what they are thinking. Continue in the same manner with the other sections.

February 7

1. Complete your worksheet on possessives.
2. Write a poem! Think of a title and include a “by” line.  Use your sentences from “Listen to the Sea” and write them in poem form. It should be at least three sentences.
3. Valentine “I love” worksheet. Follow the directions.
4. Work on memorizing “What is Pink?” poem.

What is Pink?

 January 30

1. Write your final draft for your “Ant and the Grasshopper” paper. Double space. Give it an underlined title and “by” line. Underline and label all dress-ups: “ly”, because, QA, strong verb and who/which. At least use one of each.
2. Fill in the “Snowy Day” worksheet with who/which.
3. Contractions worksheet: complete all the even numbers.
4. Add three more sentences to the “Listen to the Sea” paper.

January 23

1. Complete “Dress-Up Practice” sheet.
2. Edit your rough draft for “The Ant and the Grasshopper”. Add one QA, bc, SV and ly to your story ( Old Timers add two of each). Each paragraph should have at least 4 sentences. Correct spelling and punctuation. Add a creative title, which is similar to your last sentence which should be about the moral of the story.
3. Write a poem from your “Honest Potatoes” worksheet. You don’t have to include all the information and you can add some other ideas. It should be at least 7 sentences long.  Your last line should be clever and give your poem a title.

January 16

1. Leaving a blank space for the title, use your outline of the “Ant and the Grasshopper” to write a three paragraph story. Double space and each paragraph should have at least 4 sentences.
2. Verb worksheet. Circle the correct verb forms.
3. Personification questions. Follow the directions  on the worksheet and answer the questions.

January 9

1. Read “The Ant and the Grasshopper” and write an outline. See the papers given you in class and your outline you did about “The Wind and the Sun”. Follow this same model by writing an outline with answers to the questions and facts about the story.
2. Complete the strong verb worksheet. Use your list of strong verbs to find better ones.

November 14

1. Address your envelope and bring it to class next week. It should look like this:

Person to whom you are sending the letter

House Number and Street

City, State         Zip Code

2.  Complete the acrostic “Thankful” poem. Think of words, phrases or sentences that begin with “T” first of all, then “H”, etc. Your words should be centered around Thanksgiving and/or what you are thankful for. Read it to the class next week and for extra credit, to your family at Thanksgiving. Ask a parent to sign the paper if you did it!

Something like this…..

Turkey with all the trimmings

H….

A…

Etc.

November 7

You only have two assignments this week! So, I expect you will do an exceptional job.

1. Complete the “because” worksheet.
2. Write a letter using your word cache. Remember proper headings and closings. Double space and write neatly. Remember someone wants to be able to read your letter clearly! Bring it to class next week so I can see it.

October 31

1. Worksheet “Sit/Set, Rise/Raise, Lie/Lay”.https://writinghome.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/LieLay.pdf

2,  Write a paragraph about the foods in your refrigerator. Begin with a  creative title and a “by” line.  Think of a topic sentence generally about the food in your fridge, such as “There are so many wonderful foods to eat in my fridge.” Next, write some sentences about each food category. You don’t need to include them all!  Use at least three quality adjectives. Underline and label them.The last sentence should repeat/reflect the same thoughts as the first sentence. Five sentences is the minimum. Make your paragraph a sandwich! But, please don’t eat it.

3.  Sentence Starters: You were each given three sentence starters.Turn them into complete sentences. Include at least one QA and one “ly” altogether, not necessarily in each.

4. Think about someone who would love to receive a letter. What is one subject you can write about?  Write a word cache for your letter.

October 24

1. Rodeo Final Draft: copy your rough draft neatly. Include all dress-ups in your paper, underlining and labeling them. You should be turning in three papers:  your outline, rough draft and final draft, in that order stapled together with the final draft on the top.
2. Complete Direct Object Worksheet (page 47).
3. Finish putting your refrigerator food in categories, like we began in class.

October 17

1. Rodeo paper– rough draft-Newbies (new students this year) : add a quality adjective and a “ly”.  Old Timers (students in writing class last year) add 3 quality adjectives and 3 “ly” words. Everyone should check over your paper to correct any errors.

      2. Complete page 44 worksheet on verbs.

       3.  “What’s in the Refrigerator? ” word cache worksheet.

October 10

1. Using your key word outline only, not the article, write a paragraph. However, before you begin remember to write the title on the top line, using a capital letter and underline it. Underneath the title, write “by (your name)”. Now skip a line, indent, and begin your paragraph. Double space.
2. “ly” dress-up worksheet. Use your “ly” list I gave you in class for ideas.
3. Verb Phrase worksheet. Follow the directions.
4. Word Cache worksheet. Choose any topic. Write at least 10 words and/or phrases in the blank space. Then form at least 5 sentences with your words. Remember punctuation and capitals.

October 3

Note: if you were absent, I will give you the worksheets in class next week. However, there is a link below to the rodeo article so you can complete that assignment.

1.  Complete the worksheet on compound object of the preposition. Follow the directions carefully!
2. Write a key word outline for the article “Rodeo”. First, highlight  from 1-3  important words in each sentence. Now write those words as an outline, just like you did for “cells”. Keep the outline in a specific place in your notebook. You will need it when we turn in the finished product.
3. Do “Exercise 9a”, which I gave you in class.

Rodeo

September 26 

1.Know the 23 helping verbs as I will ask you to write them all down on a blank piece of paper for a quiz!

2. Using your pumpkin template, write describing words including sight, feel, touch, etc. Think about what the stem is like as well as the inside. If you missed class, just draw a large pumpkin shape on a piece of paper. Now write two complete sentences using those words somewhere on your paper. Capitals and punctuation! Color your pumpkin neatly.

3. Go on a walk! And then fill in your “Fantastic Fall Worksheet”. If you missed class you can get one next week.

September 19

All your poems were so well done! I loved it. And you were brave to read them aloud.

1. Look your “cell” paragraphs over for spelling and other errors. Add a “dress-up”,  which in this case is specifically a quality adjective to one of your nouns. For example, instead of just plain “cell” it would be “miniscule cell”. Note:  Old Timers (the three of you who have been with me before), need to add 3 more dress-ups-any type really.
2. Give it a break from staring at your cell paragraph and wait a day. Now look at it with fresh eyes and make sure it is fixed up. Now re-write it with an underlined title on the top line, a “by” line directly in the middle under the title. Copy it neatly, adding in your dress-up adjective. Underline your adjective and label it Q.A. above it. Got that? Good.
3. Complete the Verbs handout. Work on memorizing the helping verbs song.
4. Prepare for a quiz on prepositions. You will simply be crossing out the prepositional phrases. So, if you know how to do this, you are golden!

September 12

1.  Complete the prepositional phrases worksheet. Simply find all prepositional phrases and cross them out. Be careful because some sentences have more than one!
2. Using only your key word outline about cells, write a paragraph. Double space. Include an underlined title and “by” line. Indent. Write neatly!
3. Write a Preposition Poem.  We read some examples in class but there is one below.  Brainstorm to find a topic you would like to write about. The first line has a noun and verb. The middle lines all begin with prepositions.The last line is a complete sentence which includes the same noun as the beginning.  Poem should be at least six lines long. Write it on the Preposition Template.                                                                                     Example: Bees Fly                                                                                                                      by____                                                                                                                        Bees fly                                                                                                                        Above large lakes                                                                                                        Around annoying people                                                                                              In the hot summer                                                                                                        Around my dinner                                                                                                        Bees fly everywhere!

Welcome Writing Students!

Here you will find your assignments for each week. Without further ado, here they are:

1.  Add a new tab to your notebook called “resources”. Add the “Style Wall Chart” I gave you in class under this tab.  Try and memorize some of the prepositions you find on it.  I know there are some songs that can teach them if you wish to do that.
2. Complete the preposition worksheet by choosing prepositions from the box that make sense and writing them in the blanks. You should be able to use all of them.
3. Write a key word outline for “Cells”. We completed one in class for a different article so use it as an example. First, highlight 1,2 or 3 important words in each sentence. Next, write an outline using these words.

And you are done! I suggest you work on one of these assignments each school day, so you won’t have so much to do on one day. Please bring all papers next week.