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holiday BONANZA 2016

how do you adjust and refine your writing style?

Writing comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes with scintillating sounds that speak to the senses... in other instances, particular writing styles address specific needs within the realm of exhibiting understanding of a subject. 

This week, we'll explore holiday-related topics by trying our hand at different writing styles to stretch your talents and voice. Tally ho! (ok, tally ho doesn't really make sense there, but whatever. Right now, I'm using parenthesis to show a different way of speaking to your audience in a fresh tone. This one is narrative. In case you were wondering.)

Module summary:
  • review principles of various writing styles:
    • explanatory
    • persuasive
    • creative (poetry)
    • narrative
  • practice each writing style
  • create a piece of writing for each style
  • revise to perfection!

essential questions

  • Why is it important to understand and practice different types of writing?
  • How do we shift our voice for different writing purposes?
  • How does the revision process strengthen our writing?

goals

  • Students will understand that writing takes different forms, depending on the context and purpose.
  • Students will understand that voice is a writer's style and is defined by diction, syntax, punctuation, tone, and content.
  • Students will understand that revision strengthens writing by being critical, looking for holes in the story, and ensuring ideas are expressed clearly.

activities

Monday 
  • Warm-up: describe or respond to a Norman Rockwell painting (choose one on this page - click to see it bigger) using alliteration. 
    • Alliteration: repetition of the first letter in each word.
    • For your response, aim for 3-4 sentences with a different letter focus for each sentence (example: repeat "r" words for the first sentence, "t" words for the second, etc)
  • Overview of module and syllabus
  • Explanatory writing mini-lesson: use of voice
    • Read and discuss examples of voice
    • Practice: write an introduction to yourself, emphasizing your voice. Tell us who you are based on your personality, not just events. What are you like? what makes you "you"? what should we know about you?
  • Create a "listicle" with a winter holiday theme
    • choose a holiday-related theme (music, food, memories, etc)
    • identify 10 items that fit your theme
    • describe each item in your own voice. 3-4 sentences per item.
    • integrate 2-3 images with captions into your listicle

Tuesday
  • Persuasive writing mini-lesson: Question Formation Technique process
  • QFT process with focal concept: "gift giving"
  • Discussion based on questions generated
  • Write persuasive paragraph based on discussion






Wednesday
  • Creative writing mini-lesson: rhyme and meter in poetry
    • Practice identifying meter and rhyme with handout (download at the bottom of this page)
  • Read "The Night Before Christmas"
    • Summarize poem and identify key elements
  • Write a spoof of "The Night Before Christmas"
    • Choose a theme that connects to you in some way
    • Write a spoof poem (4-10 stanzas) that echos the same structure and characteristics of the original, but that fits your chosen theme

Thursday
  • Finish poem
  • Narrative overview and definition
  • Watch the original "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"
    • Review of plot and message
  • Write a narrative (about one page, double spaced) about one of the following situations:
    • A holiday moment where you were grumpy or upset and were pulled out of it unexpectedly
    • A time where a holiday event or moment didn't go as planned, and you had to make the most of it
  • Your narrative should tell the story from your point of view and show what you learned from the situation

Friday
  • Revise and polish writing pieces
  • Get syllabus signed off

c-tachs

Writing
  • Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience
  • Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach
Language
  • Demonstrate command of conventions of standard English grammar when speaking and writing
  • Demonstrate command of standard capitalization and punctuation
  • Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meaning 
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documents

Holiday 2016 Syllabus
File Size: 49 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Meter and Rhyme Handout
File Size: 56 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Voice Examples
File Size: 62 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


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The Mission of Chaffee County High School

“We engage and empower our society through innovative education to make a more positive and peaceful world." 

Contact Us

  • Home
    • About
  • Research
  • Reading & Writing
  • Recent Modules
    • Connect >
      • Board Game Reviews (mini)
      • CCHS Powtoon
      • Coco!
      • Creative Writing Seminar >
        • Calvin and Hobbes
        • Pieces of art
        • Tell Tale Cards
      • Dragon Post
      • Editorializing
      • E-mail Etiquette (Dead Poet's Society)
      • E-mail Etiquette (Star Wars)
      • English Skills
      • Go Write Outside
      • HONY and Narrative Essays
      • Nature Poetry
      • Passion Project
      • Persons, Places, Things
      • Photo Essays
      • Rebel Girls >
        • Jane Goodall
      • Stereotypes
      • Teach Me Something
      • Virtual Reality-ing
      • What Music Means
    • Construct >
      • 2018 in Review
      • Book Censorship
      • Live Anywhere
      • Picture Book Inquiry
      • Propaganda Bombs
      • PSA Powtoon
      • Self-Improvement
      • State of the Union
      • Rant to Reason
      • TED Topics
      • Who Cares?
    • Be Curious >
      • Art Time is Fun Time!
      • Caper with the Classics
      • CCHS Librarians
      • Emma: Friend or Foe?
      • Fahrenheit 451
      • Found Poetry
      • Google Expeditions
      • Hero's Journey
      • Irreverence
      • Macbeth
      • Poetry
      • The Lottery
      • "Worthy" Art