Here are some tips on how to turn a short memory into an interesting, well told story.

1. Use internal writing- how you felt or what you thought.

2. Add setting– what did the place look like, smell like? What was the weather?

3. Add descriptive details– describe smells, the feeling of something on your skin, sounds.

4. Tell the background of the story- what happened before the main event.

5. Use dialogue– if you can’t remember exactly what someone said, make it up!

6. Flashback– Add smaller stories that connect with the current story in some way.

7. Use repetition like Cisneros did in “Eleven”.

Your next entry should be THREE pages, due on MONDAY.

Choose a myth that you understand and can retell.  For homework, see if you can tell what happens in your myth in 10 sentences or less.  For easy versions of many myths, click here.  DUE tomorrow.

Use this example to write your first essay paragraph.  DUE WEDS.

THESIS:  In the story, The Circuit, by Francisco Jimenez, Francisco endures many hardships in his life and learns compassion from them.

BODY PARAGRAPH: One hardship Francisco must handle is in the story El Angel de Oro, when his friend Miguelito disappears suddenly. Francisco goes to Miguelito’s home for their playdate to find Miguelito and his family are gone.  Although Francisco is saddened by this, he doesn’t let it get him too down. Francisco & Miguelito had planned to go fishing together that day.  Because Francisco had endured this painful loss, he was more sensitive to the suffering of others. It had been raining heavily that day and many fish ended up stranded in the puddles.  The puddles were drying up and the fish were distressed.  Francisco had been distressed many times in his life and because of this he had a strong desire to save the fish.

**Remember, you are summarizing the section from the book that proves your first piece of evidence.  The black text above tells what happened in the story.  The blue text tells HOW this evidence proves the thesis.  The blue text tells how your opinion of how Francisco feels and thinks about what happened in the chapter.  Your paragraph should be BOTH a summary of what happened and your ideas about how this connects with your thesis.

Choose 2 more thesis statements and write them on the top of the next 2 available pages of your RNB. Then, using The Circuit, find 3 specific reasons that support your thesis. Put a box around your thesis, then write the 3 pieces of evidence from the book below each of them.  If you need help, refer to the example we did in class.  DUE FRIDAY

Possible thesis sentences:

– Helping others gives Francisco a sense of control in his life.

– Hardships help Francisco learn to be more compassionate towards others.

– The _________ (object) symbolizes __________ in The Circuit.

– The title, The Circuit, refers to the cycle of poverty that Francisco and his family are stuck in.

– Although Francisco seems poor, he is actually quite rich.

– Francisco encounters disappointment and learns to accept his life.

Below are four different types of leads you can use for your intro.   Write three possible leads for your research paragraph.  Choose your favorite lead, type it into your research document, and PRINT OUT ENTIRE REPORT.  Due Monday.

Use 12 point font and double space!

1.   Arresting sentence

The ancient Egyptians had one great wish.  That wish was to live forever.  Egyptians believed that after they died a new life began.  They would live in their tombs as they lived on earth.

2.   Start with an interesting quote

“I see beautiful things!”  exclaimed Howard Carter the moment he opened up King Tut’s tomb for the first time.  Now a famous line in the world of archaeology, Carter’s exclamation came after years of fruitless searching.

3.   Posing a question

Ever wonder how chunks of limestone, granite, and sheer human force could create one of the seven wonders of the world?  Through a combination of organization, invention, and a surplus of materials and time, ancient Egyptians were able to create some of the largest man-made structures in the world that still exist today.

4.   Scene setter #1

Imagine you are a priest in ancient Egypt.  You see assistants bring supplies to the embalmers.  Canopic jars, hooks, and natron lie in wait next to the body.  The mummification process begins.

Scene setter #2

You stand before your subjects, a crook in one hand, a flail in the other. Your royal vizier to your right, the air is heavy with the scent of figs and honey.  Your subjects crowd around you. They see you as half human, half god.  They are waiting for an answer.  You are ten years old- the young Tutankhamen.

DIRECTIONS: Re-read a chapter of The Circuit that touched you in some way.  Write one page in your Reader’s Notebook on one or more of the following questions:

1. What single section – or which two related sections – best capture(s) the story’s meaning?

2. Is there one object or one moment from the story that symbolizes the whole message of the story? How does this object convey the overall meaning?

3. What does the character learn in this story? Is there a life lesson that readers are also meant to learn?

4. What life lesson can I draw from this story? How does this teach me a lesson that can help me live my life differently?

5. How might all parts of the story contribute to the message of the story? The title? The beginning? The setting? The way the character changes? The form? The end? 

DUE Monday

Now that you’ve completed your notes, you will be writing the first body paragraph of your report. It needs to be typed and printed. DUE MONDAY

As we discussed in class, your paragraph needs to start with a general topic sentence – no specific information, no details. All of your notes should fit under the umbrella of your topic sentence.

To turn your notes into sentences, focus on these two things:

1. Try to combine several pieces of information into one interesting sentence.

Example notes:

homes had 1-3 floors

houses were build on high land

floods common

Sentence: Homes in Ancient Egypt, typically three floors or less, were built on high land to avoid floods.

2. Put as much interesting information as you can into each sentence.

Example note: King Tut famous because his tomb never robbed

Sentence: King Tut may not have been the most important or influential pharaoh of his time, but today he is considered the most famous of all Egyptian pharaohs.  This is only because his tomb was never robbed, leaving us with precious artifacts that tell us about his life.

Don’t let your characters float in space!  Add setting (what your characters can see) and internal writing (what your characters think or feel) to your dialogue.  Copy your dialogue onto a new page in your WNB and add details between the dialogue.

In the example below, the new, or revised writing is in red.

Example:

“Hey, are you mad at me?” asked Michelle.

Michelle looked out over the field and noticed that the leaves on the trees were starting to change color.

“No, are you mad at me?” replied Ricardo.

Ricardo had been worried about their relationship ever since they had first been visited by giants.   He took a deep breath and thought about how much everything had changed.  His leather sandals flopped against the dirt path as they walked along.

“I’m not mad at all. I guess I’ve just been scared to go on this quest,” explained Michelle.

Above their heads, orange clouds were gathering quickly. They could hear the sound of the leaves blowing in the distance.

Click HERE to play the Mummy Game!!

Click HERE to see your name in Hieroglyphs!

Use these prompts to go deeply into the book and add to your thinking.

1. I see . . . (pick a small detail others might zoom by, it could be anything, and describe what you envision)  2-3 sentences

2. The thought I have about this is . . . (what is your immediate thought about the detail?)                                                                                                                2-3 sentences

3. To add on . . . (read over what you’ve written and add more thoughts) 2-3 sentences

4. My idea is that . . . or This reminds me of . . . (did you realize anything new? can you make a connection to your own life or to the world?)  2-3 sentences