Units of Study

Thinking about next year. Check out these units

Entire Unit HERE

Entire Unit HERE

Mentor Text - A RF Scene hinting at a social issue

What are all the different craft moves that this writer has made?
Did you spot my relative clause in the question above?

Short Scene:

The water drips from the faucet and makes it’s way down the drain. One drop, two drop, three. I watch them disappear along the journey, but I’m not really paying any attention. I like the sink in the upstairs bathroom. I can sit on the scale and wait for the water to cover up shame. I listen to the water drops. Count them until I forget about my weight and the reason I despise myself. 104. Three digits. But when I see them scrawled across the rolls of fat that cover my body, they become something else altogether.

In front of me sits an empty gum wrapper covered with words that I had scribbled in bold letters, as if to make them seem more real. Big, fat, thick skin, pathetic, thunder thighs, unwanted. And in the middle of it all, a stick figure girl with a big stomach and round legs. A self portrait. I remembering drawing it in my room, my hand with no control over my pen, hopeless. When I looked down to see the layers of fat covering my stomach, I knew that every word I had written was accurate. 

104. Such a shameful weight. It wasn’t heavy, but it wasn’t anywhere near to thin either. And that’s all I wanted: thin. I wanted people to notice me when I walked down the hallways in school. I wanted to be the 5’8, size 0 runway model that I ever so admired, but would still fight to be as thin as a 5’3 girl can be. And, sure, the weight had started to shed off when I set myself on a strict no-more-than-500-calories-per-day diet, but there’s always that voice in the back of my mind telling me that I could do more.

It’s not a simple feeling that can describe what happens when you look in the mirror and realize that you’re fat. It kind of creeps up on you and doesn’t have much presence until you look down at the scale below your feet. I can still clearly remember the time I uncovered the ugly truth. I saw the layers of fat clinging onto my stomach. I saw the way the arm jiggles whenever I move. I saw the three digit number; 104. And I knew I had to change. I wanted to have the flat stomach and arms that don’t jiggle. I wanted to have Jennifer Lawrence's perfect figure. I wanted to be thin.

It’s easy to hide it. I’ve learnt that throughout the past few years. You act like you’ve eaten it, tuck it away in a napkin, and then toss in the trash when no one is looking. It’s so simple that I often find myself wondering why more people wouldn't do it. It didn’t seem like a problem. When was building self-esteem made a problem?

Write a realistic fiction scene...

• Write another realistic fiction scene that hints at a social issue for a different story. Use the ideas for stories that you had from Friday's class. The list of videos are still on my blog below. Students choose one of these ideas and write a scene. Your scene should incorporate 'some' of the advanced moves we have been modeling from  the Graduation of Jake Moon such as:
• using lists for specificity
• slow motion scene
• rehearsing a scene
• "count up and count down" technique
• figurative language
• continuum to show transition
• framing a scene - position, location, movement, and direction
• "down the garden path" technique

Any other craft moves you know

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H/W -

Spend 15 mins on your RF scene from today's class.

35min of Membean by Thursday

Writing a Scene

Finish your first scene for Friday

Remember - sentence fluency test Friday

Characteristics of RF

Recap,

We studied with the characteristics of realistic fiction stories today. Think about which of the characteristics we discussed that you seldom put into your stories. Tomorrow you will write your first scene. Which characteristics will you try to use?




No new H/W - Check back to Monday for tasks due later in the week.

READ!!!

Realistic Fiction

Make a copy

Digital Notebook: Realistic Fiction - Social Issues

Root of the Week: Dict

Social Issues Videos- ONLY CHOOSE TWO to watch... you may watch others in another class.

H/W - All classes

• Your 'poetry reflections' should be in this file by Wednesday.

C/D Poetry Reflections

E/F Poetry Reflections

G/H Poetry Reflections

• You should have approx. 10 facts about your social issue- Due Wed
• 45mins of Membean this week
• Sentence Fluency Test is Friday. As you work through the exercises, use this sheet to ask questions about any of the dances you do not understand. TEST PRACTICE: ASK the Teacher sheet

Scratch the Surface - Find the Writer

Formative Assessment on Sentences, Fragments, and Run-ons: Pop Quiz
Answer the 20 questions. Show me the result once you have finished

After today's pop quiz, if you realized you still do not get these concepts, use these links as further practice. This work is optional but worth it if you scored a 'B' or below in today's assessment. No time limit to complete the exercises: Sentence Clauses: Run-ons and Comma Splices

Lesson Recap

Find the inspiration for your writing in the 'cruelty and the kindness' that we are surrounded by.

Remembering the examples from today.

H/W -

You must write a scene that exemplifies a moment of cruelty or a moment of kindness that you have directly or indirectly experienced: Due Friday

Remember: You can change the facts./Location/Characters/ Resolution


Listen to the inspiration for Wonder again...