Cougar Writing Camp – “Ideas” Day 2 Friday, August 28, 2015 Please read the directions carefully!!! Today’s plan – Working with ideas Sit in your assigned group. Pick up a writing camp packet and complete the blanks on the cover page. If you have your syllabus signature page, have it out, and I will come and pick it up. Open the packet and answer the following prompt in the lined box at the very top of the page. Do not worry about what the top line states. Do this by writing a complete paragraph ! Remember…a full paragraph is 5-8 sentences or almost half a page! You will have 10 minutes after the bell rings to write a full paragraph. Remember what we learned yesterday! Write about the most memorable experience in your life so far.

Keep this paragraph!!! As we move through writing camp and you learn the traits of good writing, you will make adjustments to this paragraph daily. You will have multiple re-writes of the paragraph as well. It is your responsibility to keep up with these changes. At the end of writing camp, you will have one extremely well-written piece which will part of an academic achievement grade.

The Camp Packet Your completed workbook will be an academic achievement grade. This is for your benefit! Take advantage of it!

Tell v. Describe Telling Example One day when I was ten years old, I had an experience that really showed me what it means to be an adult. When my dog got hit by a car, I learned how to grieve with loss. This is the story of how it happened. Discuss these questions before displaying this slide. Who remembers show and tell? What did you do when you were showing off something? What did you do when you were telling about something? Which was more exciting?

Tell v. Describe Telling Example One day when I was ten years old, I had an experience that really showed me what it means to be an adult. When my dog got hit by a car, I learned how to grieve with loss. This is the story of how it happened. Can you name anything that is happening in this sentence? All we know is that this story is about something from the past.

Tell v. Describe Telling Example One day when I was ten years old, I had an experience that really showed me what it means to be an adult. When my dog got hit by a car, I learned how to grieve with loss. This is the story of how it happened. Stop this! If you tell me what happened, I’ll never know how you felt. If you tell me how you felt, I’ll be able to figure out what happened.

Tell v. Describe Describing Example I screamed and waved my hands in the air as the roller coaster flew over another steep drop. My stomach felt like it was floating inside of me, and my feet pounded at the floor of the car with delight. Could this really be happening? I had always thought roller coasters were terrifying, but this was fun!

Tell v. Describe Describing Example I screamed and waved my hands in the air as the roller coaster flew over another steep drop. My stomach felt like it was floating inside of me, and my feet pounded at the floor of the car with delight. Could this really be happening? I had always thought roller coasters were terrifying, but this was fun! Look at these verbs! They describe the reader what’s happening!

Tell v. Describe Describing Example I screamed and waved my hands in the air as the roller coaster flew over another steep drop. My stomach felt like it was floating inside of me, and my feet pounded at the floor of the car with delight. Could this really be happening? I had always thought roller coasters were terrifying, but this was fun! These adjectives are just the kind of details you need!

Ideas! (page 2 of your packet) Your group will be assigned to write about a “unique” picture Keep your picture secret from everyone else! You’re writing the story behind the picture, so be creative! EVERYONE must do this assignment because your workbook is an academic achievement grade. You have 15 minutes.

Next Step Read your paragraphs out loud to each other. As a group, vote for the paragraph you think is the best and add any descriptions to make the paragraph show, not tell. You have 10 minutes. (pictures are on following slides; do not advance power point) After students choose the best one from each group, post all of the pictures at the front of the room. Have each group read their chosen paragraph, and let students choose which picture the paragraph is describing.

The Power of Words http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p layer_detailpage&v=Hzgzim5m7oU For this link, you will have to right click on it, and select “Open Hyperlink.”