Subtleties “There was my preference for the subtleties of dawn and dusk, as opposed to the vulgar blaring hour of high noon.” ~ from “My Life as a Bat”

Subtleties

“There was my preference for the subtleties of dawn and dusk, as opposed to the vulgar blaring hour of high noon.”

~ from “My Life as a Bat” by Margaret Atwood

Journal 11-6-14

The Word-of-the-day is Subtleties.1. Write the word and the sentence below. 2. Write a new sentence with the word subtleties. Be sure to add

context clues to your new sentence.3. Be ready to share.

aka “The VLT”

VOLUSIA LITERACY TEST RUBRIC

VOLUSIA LITERACY TEST (VLT)

Earth's two moons? It's not lunacy, but new theory The Associated Press Published: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 5:50 p.m.

This diagram provided by Martin Jutzi and Erik Asphaug, University of California, Santa Cruz via Nature, shows a simulation of four stages of a collision between the Moon and a companion moon, four percent of the lunar mass, about 4 billion years ago. Earth once had a second moon, until it made the fatal mistake of smacking its big sister, some astronomers now theorize. For a while when the Earth was young, it had a big moon, the one you see now, and a smaller "companion moon" orbiting above. Then one day that smaller moon collided into the bigger one in what astronomers are calling the "big splat." (The Associated Press)

1. WASHINGTON — In a spectacle that might have beguiled poets, lovers and songwriters if only they had been around to see it, Earth once had two moons, astronomers now think. But the smaller one smashed into the other in what is being called the "big splat."

2. The result: Our planet was left with a single bulked-up and ever-so-slightly lopsided moon.

3. The astronomers came up with the scenario to explain why the moon's far side is so much more hilly than the one that is always facing Earth.

4. The theory, outlined Wednesday in the journal Nature, comes complete with computer model runs showing how it might have happened and an illustration that looks like the bigger moon getting a pie in the face.

5. Outside experts said the idea makes sense, but they aren't completely sold yet.

6. This all supposedly happened about 4.4 billion years ago, long before there was any life on Earth to gaze up and see the strange sight of dual moons. The moons themselves were young, formed about 100 million years earlier when a giant planet smashed into Earth. They both orbited Earth and sort of rose in the sky together, the smaller one trailing a few steps behind like a little sister in tow.

7. The smaller one was a planetary lightweight. The other was three times wider and 25 times heavier, its gravity so strong that the smaller one just couldn't resist, even though it was parked a good bit away.

8. "They're destined to collide. There's no way out. ... This big splat is a low-velocity collision," said study co-author Erik Asphaug, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

9. What Asphaug calls a slow crash is relative: It happened at more than 5,000 mph, but that's about as slow as possible when you are talking planetary smashups. It's slow enough that the rocks didn't melt.

+Planning

Reading Text

=Your Essay

GRADES 8-11INFORMATIVE/EXPLANATORY TEXT-

BASED WRITING RUBRICGrades 6-11 Informative/Explanatory Text-based Writing Rubric (Score points within each domain include most of the characteristics below.)

Score Purpose, Focus, and Organization (4-point) Evidence and Elaboration (4-point) Conventions of Standard English (2-point - begins at score point 2)

4

The response is fully sustained and consistently focused within purpose, audience, and task; clear and effective organizational structure; coherent and complete. Response includes most of the following: *Strongly maintained controlling idea w/ little or no loosely related material *Skillful variety of transitional strategies to clarify the relationships between and among ideas *Logical progression of ideas from beginning to end with a satisfying introduction and conclusion * Appropriate style and objective tone established and maintained

The response provides thorough and convincing support citing evidence for the controlling or main idea; includes effective use of sources, facts, and details. The response includes most of the following: * Smoothly integrated, thorough, & relevant evidence, including precise references to sources * Effective use of a variety of elaborative techniques, (including definitions, quotations, and examples) * Clear and effective expression of ideas, using precise language *Academic & domain-specific vocabulary appropriate for the audience and purpose *Various sentence structures demonstrating language facility

3

The response is adequately sustained and generally focused within the purpose, audience, and task; and it has evident organizational structure with a sense of completeness. The response includes most of the following: *Maintained controlling idea, though some loosely related material may be present *Adequate use of a variety of transitional strategies with to clarify the relationships between and among ideas *Adequate progression of ideas from beginning to end with a sufficient introduction and conclusion *Appropriate style and objective tone established

The response provides adequate support citing evidence for the controlling idea or main idea that includes the use of sources, facts, and details. The response includes most of the following: *Generally integrated and relevant evidence from sources, though references may be general or imprecise * Adequate use of some elaborative techniques *Adequate expression of ideas, employing a mix of precise and general language * Domain-specific vocabulary generally appropriate for the audience and purpose *Some variation in sentence structure

2

The response is somewhat sustained within the purpose, audience, and task but may include loosely related or extraneous material; and it may have an inconsistent organizational structure. The response may include the following: *Focused on controlling idea but insufficiently sustained/unclear *Inconsistent use of transitional strategies with little variety *Uneven progression of ideas from beginning to end with an inadequate introduction or conclusion

The response provides uneven, cursory support/evidence for the controlling idea or main idea that includes partial use of sources, facts, and details. The response may include the following: *Weakly integrated source evidence and erratic or irrelevant references *Repetitive or ineffective use of elaborative techniques * Imprecise or simplistic expression of ideas *Some use of inappropriate domain-specific vocabulary * Most sentences limited to simple constructions

The response demonstrates an adequate command of basic conventions. The response may include the following: * Some minor errors in usage but no patterns of errors * Adequate use of punctuation, capitalization, sentence formation, and spelling

1

The response is related to the topic but may demonstrate little or no awareness of the purpose, audience, and task; and it may have little or no discernible organizational structure. The response may include the following: *Confusing or ambiguous ideas * Few or no transitional strategies *Frequent extraneous ideas impeding understanding * Too brief to demonstrate knowledge of focus or organization

The response provides minimal support/evidence for the controlling idea/ main idea, including little if any use of sources, facts, and details. The response may include the following: * Minimal, absent, erroneous, or irrelevant evidence from the source material *Expression of ideas that is vague, unclear, or confusing * Limited/often inappropriate language or domain specific vocabulary * Sentences limited to simple constructions

The response demonstrates a partial command of basic conventions. The response may include the following: * Various errors in usage *Inconsistent use of correct punctuation, capitalization, sentence formation, and spelling

0 The response demonstrates a lack of

command of conventions, with frequent and severe errors often obscuring meaning.

Find and highlight or underline the following:What is this rubric for?What type of writing will be graded with this

rubric?What categories will your essay be graded

on?What score would a perfect essay receive?Can you receive a zero? How?

NAVIGATING THE RUBRIC

Response =


BASED WRITING RUBRIC

your essay

Purpose =



your reason

Focus =



your topic

Organization =



your writing structure; the order or sequence of your writing

Evidence =



Facts/statements from the text

Elaboration =



explanation of the evidence

GRADES 8-11INFORMATIVE/EXPLANATORY TEXT-BASED WRITING RUBRIC - PURPOSE, FOCUS, AND

ORGANIZATION







With your partner, read the remaining sections of the rubric and determine three words that best describe each section.

Write these words in your blank rubric.

I will be walking around and helping. Please ask for help, if needed.

Be ready to share.

THREE LITTLE WORDS

On the sticky note, Write your first name.Then, briefly explain how you would receive a 4 on your informational/expository essay.

EXIT TICKET

Documents

Subtleties “There was my preference for the subtleties of dawn and dusk, as opposed to the vulgar blaring hour of high noon.” ~ from “My Life as a Bat”