Monday, September 29, 2008

1st Quarter Outside Reading Assignment

Today you received the outside reading/blogging assignment for first quarter. Here it is:

Quarter 1 Outside Reading Assignment – 250 pages of text.
Our first quarter outside reading assignment is for you to read text, including novels, nonfiction books, periodicals, websites, weblogs, etc., totaling 250 (do your best to approximate the number of pages you read if you’re reading online texts). The texts you read should have literary merit and be age-appropriate.

Blog #1: Sunday, September 21
Blog #2: Wed. October 1
Blog #3: Sun. October 5
Blog #4: Wed. October 8
Blog #5: Sun. October 12
Blog #6: Wed. October 15
Blog #7: Sun. October 19
Blog #8: Wed. October 22
Blog #9: Sun. October 26
Tues. October 28: Final Overall Response (more info. later)

The Blogging
You must post TWICE a week (by Wednesday and by Sunday). I've explained below what should go in the post. Wednesday posts—10/1, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22—are due before school; Sunday posts—10/21, 10/5, 10/12, 10/19, 10/26—are due by 11:59pm (i.e. before bedtime).

Free Response
A thoughtful response to the book of approximately 150 words. You must cite the selection, author, and page you're referring to. Some possible ways to respond to texts include: pick a quote and comment on its significance, make connections to the book (self, text, world, media), analyze the protagonist, pretend you're writing a letter—or blog response—to the author or main character, identify the thesis and supporting evidence (of nonfiction) and discuss the arguments from your perspective, etc. There are many, many ways you can do this.

You must attempt to use correct spelling and punctuation and capitalization

**You must also comment on one other blog per week!!

ESSAY DUE WEDNESDAY!

Today we shared our rough drafts with peers and talked about some MLA issues. Tomorrow we will return to A Civil Action and our viewing guides. For Wednesday, you should complete the final draft of the paper. You will need to submit your green rubric, your final draft, and a rough draft. Also, your next blog assignment must be posted on Wednesday before school.