Honors English Mrs. Kerr

2013

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple

as that.”― Stephen King

How to help your student succeed:

Encourage use of the Writing Lab Do not edit with a pen in hand Ban Sparknotes, Cliffnotes, etc. from your home Talk to your student about personal responsibility (absences,

field trips, note-taking, accurately recording homework, etc. ) Remind your student that grades are not given they are earned Respect the difficulty of transitioning from unleveled to leveled

classes. *PowerSchool*

Lit Circles: Danger of a Single Story

TED talk, Chimamanda

Adichie2009

LiteratureHow has myth

shaped language?It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

[freshman year??]

But soft, what Light through

yonder windowbreaks?

Literature

What happens to a dream deferred?

What happens to civilization

when all the rules disappear?

• Short Stories• Poetry• Essays• Editorials

Freshman Writing Quarter

Goals: • Prepare students to meet the expectations of

honors level writing at the high school

• Use proven methods of providing Grammar instruction (Image grammar, sentence composing, sentence combining) to improve student writing and writing-awareness

Here’s what you can expect to learn this term:

Students will be able to: • distinguish between abstract and

concrete language• understand diction• use precise words and phrases, telling

details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of experiences, events, setting, and/or characters in short compositions

You will be able to identify and use the following:

Parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjective, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions)

Image Grammar: appositives, active verbs, participial phrases, etc.

Sentence parts (subject, predicate, clauses, and phrases)

Dependent and independent marker words and coordinating conjunctions

Sentence types (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex)

Punctuation (colon, semicolon, dash, comma)

“…the best-written student paragraphs contained complex sentences with dependent clauses like although and despite, signaling a shift in logic within a sentence. Struggling students, on the other hand, were unable to complete a complex sentence.” The Atlantic, Oct. 2012

Using the Tools to Improve Writing

Professional example of adjective phrase:

Numb of all feeling, empty as a shell, still he clung to life, and the hours droned by.

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Imitate the sample:

________ and _______ , still he clung to life, and the hours droned by.

Professional example of an appositive:It went away slowly, the feeling of disappointment that came sharply after the thrill that made his shoulders ache.

--Ernest Hemingway

The “Hook” for students:

1. Inventory of Grammatical Knowledge & promise I will raise their earning potential by at least $30,000 by the end of the year

2. I Won't Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here's Why.

by Kyle Wiens  July 20, 2012

Freshman Writing Semester Part II: Paragraphs - Essays

• Topic and Thesis statements• Unity, Flow, Coherence• Evidence• Quotation Integration• Literary Analysis

Webpage: kerrenglishwhs.wikispaces.com