Red Robin's Bird is the Word!

Red, the Red Robin Mascot, chose to take roost at our school this morning. His purpose? To celebrate Poetry and Writing Contest Winners! Look for a student-made video on this site which showcases some work and hilarity. Thank you Red Robin for supporting so much student learning!

Funniest Things Ever...

All Right Students, one simile, one metaphor, a paragraph on the funniest thing you have seen happen at TJH or before. Remember, School-Appropriate!

Readylist for Monday/Tuesday of Next Week!

Class: here is what is due Monday/Tuesday (3/23 and 3/24). You need to log onto your blogger and send me a comment that let's me know you understand what is expected for Monday and Tuesday. That task is your five (5) points readylist points for the day!

1. Holocaust Project completed and ready to turn in (see your packet rubric for questions) . Note: use bibme.org for your Works Cited Page and put four things in the upper right hand corner (using a header). Second Note: You turn in your Works Cited Page with your note cards Monday/Tuesday beginning of class.
2. Essay Contest Entry (typed, double-spaced, and with four things in the upper right hand corner). Two reminders: use your contest number instead of your name; and make sure you have two (2) similes and two (2) metaphors.

Mr. Mauel's Creative Writing Contest

Entry Rules - 7 of Them:

1. Expositional Essay Rules (i.e., organization, content, etc.)



2. Sit in the same row as your team members (LIONS, TIGERS, BEARS, OH MYS).



3. ONE CAPTAIN FROM EACH TIME: Receive E-MAILS from your other TEAM members. In your e-mail, include your name and e-mail address.



4. Example: Paul Mauel - pmauel@tahoma.wednet.edu



5. SEND e-mails to CAPTAINS



6. CAPTAINS, SEND E-MAIL TO ME AND YOUR TEAMMATES with EVERYONE'S email in the Subject: line of your email.



7. Turn off your computers and take out your log-books.

Next Steps:

1. YOU choose the topic from your Writing Territories.



2. Create an Entry in your TOC/Assignment Page: Pre-Write for Essay Contest.



3. PRE-WRITE: Generate 2-3 CDs and (CMS on those CDs) per body paragraph (See example).



4. Get Stamped. That stamp is permission to turn on your computer.



5. Pre-Write is to be done and stamped in your Logbook before you can begin typing.



6. Once your pre-write is stamped, you will be assigned a contest number. Keep your contest number a secret!!



7. wRiTInG THE ESSAY: You must use at least two metaphors and two similes - otherwise, you will be disqualified



8. Writing Contest Entries shall be due March 12th (typed, double-spaced and stapled), 2009 at 2:15pm with FOUR THINGS IN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER [of your header]: 1) YOUR CONTEST NUMBER (not name), 2) period number, 3) date, and 4) team name.



9. LAST 10 MINUTES: PRIVACY SETTINGS DISCUSSION FOR CONTEST. Everyone go to Dashboard/Settings/Permissions. Only People I Choose, Copy and Paste Your Teammates's email addresses + your parent's + Mr. Mauel's (pmauel@tahoma.wednet.edu) into your allowed list. THEN, go to Dashboard/Edit My Profile (no last names, no ages, no mention of Tahoma or Maple Valley). Watch pictures!



10. Everyone will post their Essays (along with a symbolic image) to their blogs once Top Ten finishers have been recognized.



11. ENTRIES ARE DUE, TYPED, DOUBLE SPACED, WITH HEADER OF FOUR THINGS, ON MARCH 12th, 2009 at 2:15pm. GOOD LUCK!!

The weather is sunny with a high of 82 in the Land...

Of Five out of Five. Bridgette kicked some serious **** on her booktalk. Click the book if you want to see an example of what that looks like. Notice how often it seems she is commenting on words or phrases. (cc). Nice thinking and nice writing, Bridgette. I like how many quotes you used.

Compare-Contrast

Jackie from period 2 earned five out of five in comparing/contrasting Outsiders (the book) with Outsiders (the movie). Notice how she used her Response to set up similiarities and differences. Do you see how she has five quotes (from the book) and five concrete details (from the movie) to prove her thinking? Nicely done, Jackie.

...What is the Most Likely Reason ___?

Welcome him. The weather is 95 degrees on the beach in the Land of Five out of Five. Mason earned five out of five because he used his Response to the Prompt to set up his answer to the prompt (1); i..e., the reason his character is pursuing his/her goal; and (2) also set up his response to include two (2) details, i.e., quotes, to provide evidence for his reason. Nice work, Mason.

Da Four (4) Expectations

So for Thursday/Friday, here are da four expectations:

1. BP Ratio: Copy and paste a body paragraph (from My Best Times Essay on my blog) to word, label sentences (CDs,CMs, TS,), then copy and paste that BP to my site as a comment with your name on it (You will see a “comment” button beneath My Best Time Essay Sample) http://www.paul-mauel.blogspot.com/

2. Writing Territory Essay #2: Create an entry in your TOC/Assignment Page: Prewrite WT #2. Write your essay in word (on PC), than publish this to your blog with a picture and print it out (make sure 4 things are in the upper right hand corner)

3. Conclusion for Best Times Essay: publish a conclusion for your Best Times Essay (see my site for an example of the three things you need)

4. FOR NEXT CLASS: bobbers plus a symbol of your Best Time.

Compare Contrast - Poems and Literature

Here are a couple of examples of good work on compare/contrast constructed responses. Note the use of comparative language to help compare pieces of text (in this case a poem with prose). Nice job Aili and Jackie :)

Foreshadowing - Welcome to the Land of 5 out of 5

Ashley's response scored highly because she showed she understands foreshadowing is a 3rd person skill. "...This quote foreshadows [fill in the event]." C2 elaborates and further links the comment and quote to the prompt. The comments deepen the meaning of the quote and why it responds to the prompt. Note: Predicting and Inferring are first person statements. Foreshadowing is what text does when it contains clues about what may or may not happen in the future.

Best Times Bobber Project: What do I need?

Best Times Essay on the Web:

3 question intro/thesis

3 body paragraphs (1TS, 2 CDs, 4 CMs)

Sample Best Times Essay

One Text Draft: Best Times Bobber Project – Mr. Mauel

Intro: (Three questions, Pivot Sentence, Thesis Statement)
Ever had a frightening experience? Life threatening? One event that forever casts a tall thin shadow on the way you look at innocent things? Like a river? Sometimes life’s lessons come to you in strange forms and places.

Body paragraph 1 (TS, CD, CM, CM2, CD2, CM, CM2)We walked a half mile from my parents’ house to the river. We were four 8th grade boys. Spindly legged and goofy. I was the reception of their impulse to go swimming beneath the orange summer moon. They had snuck me out of my parent's house quietly. I wondered what the river would like. Would it be as black as the night sky over our heads? We stood on the shore – five thirteen year olds at midnight. We got down to nothing but swim trunks. We looked out. Anxiety knotted my stomach. This stretch of the Spokane River’s surface was covered completely with large bundled logs. Under starlight, I saw that the logs were skinned. They completely covered the water like large white bones.

Body Paragraph 2
It was a game of chicken. Four boys seeing how brave we could be... how far we could swim under water before turning and swimming back. We dove into the blackness. The view under the logs took my breath away – breath I knew I could not afford to give up. Louvers of silver light slanted down between the logs over our heads. It illuminated and then sliced into sections the dark water. Fish looked strangely metallic. Sand at the bottom sparkled like something suddenly very valuable. I remember thinking the river water was warm, like oil. I swam to the bottom. I liked feeling how cool the river bottom was compared to the surface. I thought the feeling of sand along my stomach would make the seconds go by faster… help me calibrate how far I had traveled beneath the logs. I swam with my lips shut tight. I did not want to run out of air. Slanting sheets of light told me the logs were still bundled tight fifteen to twenty feet above my head.

Body Paragraph 3
I looked to my left and right. Where I had seen my best friends before, I could not see them now. It was not for pain that I was scared now. It was because I was alone in the black. I never missed them more than I did now. Had I swum too far? Did I have enough air to swim back? I had to make a decision in the darkness. Swim on or turn back. I did not need my throbbing lungs to inform me that I did not have time. I swam forward. Along the river’s bottom as far as I could. My muscles tightened up. I suddenly felt light. I honestly wondered, ‘Is this where I am going to die?’ The water darkened even more. I was passing out. I closed my eyes. For the first time in my life, I kicked my legs as hard as I could. My arms were locked straight in front of my face but I could not see them. Suddenly, I felt my arms collapse. They were now flailing uselessly in front of my head and now my side. I told myself, ‘I don’t want to die. Not like this.’ I forced my body to float up. My eyes shut, my arms hanging like broken branches by my side. I lost sense of space and time. Blacking out… Thunk. The back of my head hit a log. I thought, that’s it.

Body Paragraph 4 (Do I have to have four paragraphs? No. But I needed one to complete my thoughts).
Suddenly, a painful shock hit my lungs. I realized after five or ten seconds of the needles that I had made it to the other side. I could hear sounds from the other side of the river. My friends yelling and running over the logs. I opened my eyes. I will never forget the look of my best friends sprinting over slick white bones. The sounds of their falling down and getting back up. Starlit images and sounds… Knees knocking on hard wood... I was alive. I wished I did not have to be this-close-to-drowning to remind me how much our group of friends meant to each other.

Conclusion: (Thesis Restated, Topic Sentences Summarized, Memorable Statement)
That night taught me that life lessons – more often than not – can occur in the strangest places. For me, that place was twenty feet below a warm Spokane River at midnight… looking left and right… wondering what to do. Alone… For as many sensory images that filled that memory, there was one that resonated inside my heart. I did not want to lose people I cared about and, to this day, am glad I didn’t.