1. Purple Silent Reading Day Choose a BOOK from the SHELF. READ SILENTLY for TWENTY MINUTES When time is up, turn to the THIRD PAGE of your JOURNAL. Answer these TWO QUESTIONS: 1. What did you read? Summarize it. 2. What did you think of it and why? FULL PARAGRAPH ANSWERS (SEVEN SENTENCES)

2. “Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner.” --Neil Gaiman Do you agree with this quote? Why or why not?

3. MORE POSITIVE THAN SAYING “THINK A BIT” AND “TRY AGAIN” Reflecting and Revising

4. Why Revise? Do people need to revise their work? Why do you think people need to revise?

5. Revision: Revision means finding & correcting problems with content. When revising, you are changing the ideas in your writing to make them clearer, stronger, and more convincing. Revision means taking a second look – “re,” to do again, and “vision,” to see. Revising deals with the BIG picture: IDEA, THESIS, ARGUMENT – these things must be clear and concise in order for the paper to make sense. Revising has NOTHING to do with grammar and EVERYTHING to do with CLARITY.

6. Clarity: Clarity: clearness, coherency. When something has clarity, it means it’s easy to understand and it makes sense. For example, which sentence is clearer? 1. Harry saw Snape out of the corner of his eye and he was nervous because he wasn’t sure he’d done it right. 2. Harry looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Snape, the potions master; Harry immediately felt nervous as he wasn’t sure he’d brewed the potion correctly.

7. When Revising, Look For: UNITY *EVERYTHING should link to the main argument. *Topic sentences should be found in the THESIS. *All sentences in the body paragraph should relate to the TOPIC SENTENCE. DETAIL AND SUPPORT *Each body paragraph should have at least ONE example (Remember, T-R-E-A-T) *Each example should be supported by at least one detail or analytical sentence. COHERENCE *All points should be connected to form a whole. *TRANSITIONS should be used to move from one point to another.

8. Questions to Ask: Do I understand what the PROMPT is asking? Does my answer to the prompt MAKE SENSE? If I were the reader, would I be confused? Did I explain this example? Does this example relate to my argument? Does everything stick to my thesis?

9. Revision Tips: READ YOUR PAPER OUT LOUD TO YOURSELF. This can be hard to do in a classroom setting, but (in my opinion) it is the BEST way to revise for clarity. READ YOUR PAPER BACKWARDS. Start at the end and work your way to the beginning. Everything should line up with your thesis, and if it doesn’t, you can change it. Focus on CLARITY and IDEAS before you focus on grammar.

10. Don’t Forget to Edit! After revising for CONTENT, be sure to edit for GRAMMAR. You want what you’re saying to be taken seriously. If the essay is typed, spell check can be helpful (but don’t rely on it too much!). Make sure your sentences have their commas and apostrophes. Make sure you’ve spelled everything correctly. Try varying your vocabulary so your essay doesn’t sound repetitive. If you don’t know what a word means and only want to use it to sound fancy, DON’T USE IT.

11. REMEMBER REVISING IS NOT REWRITING. If I ask you to revise, it isn’t because what you wrote before is complete trash. It’s because it needs some polishing.

12. Why Reflect? Do people need to reflect? Why do you think people need to reflect?

13. Reflection: Reflection is a metacognitive skill. Meta: outside, beyond Cognitive: thinking Metacognitive means “think beyond,” or “think about thinking.” To help us think in a metacognitive manner, we will use a portfolio.

14. Why Reflect? Reflecting is just as important as revising – the two often go hand in hand. You wouldn’t know what to revise if you hadn’t reflected on it first. Reflection is an opportunity for you to think deeply about what you have produced. This will seem less ridiculous when we do more “serious” projects.

15. Set Up Your Portfolio: At the top of your portfolio, please write your name. Write your name like this: LAST NAME, FIRST NAME Write 9 beside “Grade Level.” Write NUCKOLS beside “Teacher.”

16. Reflective Writing: We self-analyze to assess where we’ve been, where we are, and where we need to be. You’ve just written your Baseline, so now is the perfect time to reflect. We will use this reflection sheet throughout the year.

17. Fill In The Organizer: You are to complete ONLY PAGE ONE of the graphic organizer. When you are done with your reflection sheet, STAPLE IT into the LEFT SIDE of your portfolio.

18. Staple It Like This: Inner Page, Page 3 Staple On This Side Inner Page, Back of Page 1 Don’t Staple Here Put 2 Staples Here 1 2

19. Revise It! You are to REVISE and REFLECT ON your baseline essay. The revised baseline is DUE: *Purple Day: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 TH *Gold Day: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 TH You have SIX DAYS to complete the necessary revisions. Bring back BOTH the ORIGINAL and your REVISED EDITION on your respective DUE DATE.

20. Homework Read “The Scarlet Ibis.” – pages 350-360 Answer the Homework Questions (2-3 Sentences Per Question).

21. Exit Slip: Is it easy for you to reflect? Why or why not?