Wednesday, June 1

Do-Now: What is one thing about yourself you wish you had the power to change?  Describe what it is and why you would want to change it.

Today: We will finish watching "Buried" and you will write your review.  Here are the guiding questions for your review:

1) A brief summary of the movie's plot (without giving away the ending or any important events)

2) What you liked/disliked about the movie

3) Who the main actors was and how well/badly the actor portrayed his character

4) A comparison of the movie to similar movies you've seen

5) Your ultimate opinion on the movie as a whole and how the movie made you feel

Homework: Finish your review.

Tuesday, May 31

Do-Now: Describe a non-school related personal goal you have set for yourself.  What made you set this goal?  What steps are you taking to achieve the goal?  Is there a certain time frame for your goal?

Today: Type Memoir # 9 into your GoogleDocs.  Then, type your Travel Log from last week into a blog.  Feel free to add pictures to go along with it.

Friday, May 27

Do-Now: What are your plans for Memorial Day Weekend?

Today: 1) Memoir #9 : Begin composing Memoir #9 (to be typed on Tuesday along with your Travel Log).  You will have ONE more memoir after this for a total of TEN.

2) Begin watching "Buried" 

Homework: Finish Memoir #9

Wednesday, May 25

Do-Now: Describe your biggest dream for the future.


Today: "Wednesday Writing Challenge: Alphabet Story" : Today you will be writing a story that is EXACTLY twenty-six sentences long.  Each sentence will begin with a different letter of the alphabet.  The first sentence will begin with the letter "A" and the last sentence will begin with the letter "Z."  The sentences MUST be written in alphabetical order and the story MUST make sense.

Tuesday, May 24

Do-Now: You are about to leave for a week long vacation.  Thanks to new airline restrictions, you are only allowed to bring ONE carry-on bag aboard the plane and NOTHING ELSE (meaning, you can not bring a suitcase to store underneath the plane).  Describe exactly what you would pack for your trip.  NOTE: Your carry-on bag can be NO LARGER than 22" x 14" x 9"


Today: Fictional Travel Log: Today, you will finish writing a series of entries into a fictional travel log.  Remember, your log will consist of SIX different entries (about 10-15 sentences each) detailing your adventures.  If you finish your travel log before the end of class, you may begin typing it into a blog on Blogspot.com.  You may also add pictures to go along with it.



Homework: Finish your travel log.

Monday, May 23

Do-Now: Where is a place you've always wanted to travel to?  Why do you want to go there?  What types of activities would you want to do there?

Today: Fictional Travel Log: Today, you are going to be writing a series of entries into a fictional travel log.  You may choose either a real place or a fictional place to travel to.  Your log will consist of SIX different entries (about 10-15 sentences each) detailing your adventures.  First, we will read a sample travel log to give you an idea of what/how to write.  Then, you will be free to begin your log.

Homework: Finish your travel log.

Friday, May 20

Do-Now: Recall a time in your life where you were faced with a difficult decision and you feel you may have made the wrong choice.  What led you to make this choice?  What were the consequences of this decision?  How would you do things differently if you could?

Today: Free Choice Friday : Choose ONE assignment from section A, ONE assignment from section B, and ONE assignment from section C.

Section A:

Write a Pantoum OR a Tritina 


Section B:

1) Write a one act, one scene play (two pages).  Remember to skip a line between each person's dialogue.

2) Write a jumble story (one page) using the following: a 16-year-old teenager, first day of summer, a public park, someone has just found out the truth


3) Write a non-fiction story (one page) about one of the best days of your life

Section C:

1) Draw a picture of what your life will look like in TEN years

2) Draw a detailed floor plan of your dream home.
 

Thursday, May 19

Do-Now: If today were your last day alive, what would you do? (Describe your whole day.  Remember, you have 24 full hours---you don't need to sleep if you're about to die).

Today: Short Story: "My Last Day Alive" : Use the ideas in your Do-Now to compose a short, fictional story about what you would do with your last day alive.  This should read like a STORY, not like a description or list.  Therefore, do not start off with "If today were my last day alive..." and go on to list every thing you would do.  Also, it is not necessary to explain to your audience WHY you are about to die.  You can start your story from the moment you wake up and end it 24 hours later.  Your story will be about FOUR pages long, but your focus should be on CONTENT, not LENGTH.

Homework: Finish "My Last Day Alive" story.

Wednesday, May 18

Do-Now: What did you do yesterday during your day off?

Today:  1) Choose ONE poem from the Poetry 180 website and compose your own version of the poem.  Make sure to include the original poem's title/author as well as your poem's title.

Poetry 180 

2) Type Memoir #8 into your GoogleDocs

3) Type submissions for the May bulletin board (poems, stories, etc.) and share them with or e-mail them to TeacherWinberg@gmail.com

Monday, May 16

Do-Now: Describe the most frightening experience of your life.  This could be a time where you felt you were in danger, experienced something new, or took a risk.  (Any time in your life where you felt a great deal of anxiety.)

Today: Memoir # 8:  Today you will compose Memoir # 8 (to be typed into your GoogleDocs on Wednesday).  You may use your Do-Now topic and expand upon it for this memoir or choose any entirely different topic from your list of Memoir Worthy Experiences.  Remember, your Memoir should be about two-pages hand written.  Also, you will be composing TWO more memoirs (for a total of 10) before the year is over.

Homework: Finish Memoir #8

Friday, May 13

Do-Now: Which form of poetry have you enjoyed the MOST so far?  Why?  Which form of poetry have you enjoyed the LEAST so far?  Why?

Today: Today you will finish working on Poetry Packet #2.  You will be writing one of each of the following: Pantoum, Quintina, Tritina, Sestina.  Your poems are due MONDAY, but if you turn them all in TODAY you will receive 20 points EXTRA CREDIT.

HOMEWORK: Finish Poetry Packet #2

Thursday, May 12

Do-Now: Recall a memorable time from a past summer.  GIVE DETAILS.

Today: Today and tomorrow, you will be working on Poetry Packet #2.  You will be writing one of each of the following: Pantoum, Quintina, Tritina, Sestina.  Your poems are due MONDAY, but if you turn them all in by FRIDAY you will receive 20 points EXTRA CREDIT.

Wednesday, May 11

Do-Now: Create your own storybook.  Click HERE ----> Dr. Seuss Storybook Maker

Today: Finish Up Day: Today you will have an opportunity to complete any incomplete laptop assignments.  #1 : Finish your Prezi presentation from last Friday and present it to Ms. Winberg.  (This is the assignment where you used Prezi.com to organize 10 pictures to represent yourself.)

#2 : Memoirs: You should have SEVEN memoirs written and typed into your GoogleDocs account.

#3 : Poems for Bulletin Board: You may take any of the poems you have written for this class or for English 2 and type them up.  They will be printed and displayed on the May bulletin board in the back of class.  If you want, you may add pictures/artwork to go along with your poem.

Tuesday, May 10

Do-Now: Fill out the Cross-Generational Questionnaire.  Answer the questions based on when you were twelve years old.

Today: 1) Share-out answers from Cross-Generational Questionnaire

2) Read and discuss three "Where I'm From" Poems

3) Compose your own "Where I'm From" Poem describing your childhood and the place you lived

Monday, May 9

Do-Now: Make a list of THREE things you are thankful for in your life.

Today: 1) Pass-it-Around Poem: Each of you will start a poem with the line "Shall I compare Thee to a summer's day?"  You will add one line to the poem, then pass it to the person next to you who will add another line.  The poems will continue to be passed until they are each 20 lines long.

2) FREE CHOICE:

Choose TWO of the following:

Heart Map: Draw a heart map focused on a specific topic (ie. Music, Movies, Family, etc.)

Free-Verse Poem: Compose a 20-line free verse poem on a topic of your choice

Format Poem: Compose a poem following one of the five formats from your poetry packet

Character Sketch: Compose a one-page non-fiction character sketch on a family member or friend


Short Story: Compose a one-page short fiction story on a topic of your choice

Letter: Compose a one-page letter to a younger relative (or to your future child) offering them life advice

Friday, May 6

Do-Now: Describe the best memory you have of you and your mom.

Agenda: 1) Mother's Day Cards: Create a card to give to your mom on Mother's Day.  Inside the card, write an original poem for your mom.  (You may use your Do-Now as inspiration for this poem.)  Before you write the poem inside of the card, write a rough draft on a piece of paper and have Ms. W check it for grammar/spelling errors.

2) Memoir #7: Compose the rough draft for your seventh memoir.  You may choose a topic from your list of Memoir Worthy Experiences or you may expand upon your Do-Now and write a memoir about a memory with your mom.

Homework: Finish Memoir #7

Thursday, May 5

Do-Now: Create your own storybook.  Click HERE ----> Dr. Seuss Storybook Maker

Today: Finish Up Day: Today you will have an opportunity to complete any incomplete laptop assignments.  #1 : Finish your Prezi presentation from last Friday and present it to Ms. Winberg.  (This is the assignment where you used Prezi.com to organize 10 pictures to represent yourself.)

#2 : Memoirs: You should have SIX memoirs written and typed into your GoogleDocs account.

#3 : Poems for Bulletin Board: You may take any of the poems you have written for this class or for English 2 and type them up.  They will be printed and displayed on the May bulletin board in the back of class.  If you want, you may add pictures/artwork to go along with your poem.

Wednesday, May 4

Do-Now: Describe your afternoon yesterday from the perspective of your shoes.

Today: You will FINISH composing a series of THREE short stories.  All three stories will be focused around a central storyline which will be told from THREE different perspectives (each of the three stories will represent a different perspective).  Two stories must be told from characters within the storyline and the third story may be told from the perspective of a third character, an animal, an object or an omniscient narrator.  Each story will be at least TWO pages long (longer if you have bigger handwriting). 


***ALL STORIES DUE THURSDAY AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS***

Tuesday, May 3

Do-Now: Describe your day yesterday from the perspective of your backpack/book bag/purse.


Today: You will continue composing a series of THREE short stories.  All three stories will be focused around a central storyline which will be told from THREE different perspectives (each of the three stories will represent a different perspective).  Two stories must be told from characters within the storyline and the third story may be told from the perspective of a third character, an animal, an object or an omniscient narrator.  Each story will be at least TWO pages long (longer if you have bigger handwriting). 


***ALL STORIES DUE THURSDAY AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS***

Monday, May 2

Do-Now: We only have about six weeks before the end of the school year.  What types of activities would you like to do in Creative Writing class during the next six weeks?  (They can be activities we have already done or new activities we haven't done yet.)

Today: You will begin composing a series of THREE short stories.  All three stories will be focused around a central storyline which will be told from THREE different perspectives (each of the three stories will represent a different perspective).  Two stories must be told from characters within the storyline and the third story may be told from the perspective of a third character, an animal, an object or an omniscient narrator.  Each story will be at least TWO pages long (longer if you have bigger handwriting). 

EXAMPLE: You may focus on a storyline about two best friends who accuse each other of talking behind the other's back.  Your FIRST version of the story can be written from the first friend's point of view.  Then, your SECOND version of the story can be written from the second friend's point of view.  Finally, your THIRD version of the story can be written from a teacher's point of view.

***ALL THREE STORIES ARE DUE THURSDAY AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS***