May 15th--Friendly Letter to Jillian

Please type your friendly letter to Jillian. Make sure you run your letter through spell check! Make sure your letter is appropriate and thoughtful. I will be reading these before they are sent. If I have to question your content you will receive a failing grade!

Use this return address:
Your Name
c/o Shrine Catholic Schools
3500 W 13 Mile Road
Royal Oak, MI 48076

When you are finished you may go to the following sites ONLY:

• http://freerice.com/ --a fun vocabulary game
• http://www.funbrain.com/ --select your grade for your skill level near the bottom of the page
• http://www.prongo.com/games/ --select your age range for appropriate games
• http://www.theproblemsite.com/games.asp --fun games to stimulate your problem solving skills!

May 13th --Tuesday

Today you had your last editing session in class. We reviewed parenthetical citations again as well as the works cited page. Use your red MLA book as a reference guide!

Your final package (again, use the handout I gave you called FINAL PACKAGE) is due on THURSDAY! NO EXCEPTIONS! If some crazy error happens to your computer, the only excuse that will free you is a note from mom or dad!

HOMEWORK:
Open book punctuation test tomorrow! I would look through this unit in the book tonight. The answers will not jump out at you on the test tomorrow. You will have to know the material!

May 12th

Today we discussed and looked at a sample paper with parenthetical citations, a Works Cited page and an indented quote.

I also sketched out our plans for the week.

Homework:
Come to class tomorrow with a TYPED version of your rough draft! Make sure you properly put in your MLA heading, PARA, STAT, DQ, and IQ (complete with parenthetical citations) and make a Works Cited page.

Tuesday:
One more peer editing session day. You will have time for at least two peers to edit. Make sure you properly put in your MLA heading, PARA, STAT, DQ, and IQ (complete with parenthetical citations) and make a Works Cited page.

Wendesday:
Open book punctuation test. You will have time after the test to ask any final questions about your paper if you have any....

Thursday:
Turn in the Final Package (final draft and other items listed on the handout given last week).
In class we will do a nice fun creative writing assignment.

Friday May 9th

"Do I Have Any Homework?"

After two editing sessions now with your peers, I would STRONGLY ADVISE you to go home this weekend and type up your rough draft, using the suggested changes, and coming to class on Monday with a new, typed rough draft. This way you won't be spending the night before typing your final draft. All you will have to do is tidy up your rough draft.

So.....if your questions is "Do I have any homework?"---I am not assigning some, however, I think you should assign yourself some, using the advice above :)

Have a great weekend! Don't forget to tell your mom how much you Love her!

Thursday May 8th

EDITING DAY!

On the next three school days we will edit rough drafts. Each day you will partner with someone different. Make sure you come prepared with a copy of your rough draft, your MLA stylebook, and the editing sessions worksheet I gave you last week.

In each of these sessions it will be important to:

• read your partner's work CAREFULLY. Remember: I am not reading your rough for grammar/punctuation. I will only look at your STAT, IQ, DQ, and PARA as well as your intro. and conclusion. Your editing job is crucial because you are the one who will correct the body of the paper.
• make NEAT and LEGIBLE suggestions/marks on your partner's work. If you do not make marks neat, your partner will not be able to correct the mistakes.
  give CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Remember: your partner has taken great care in his/her work. Be mindful and courteous.
• have conversations after you have silently edited. If you do not understand a part of the paper, talk with your partner. Make sure that revise this part. Chances are if you don't understand it, I will not understand it either.
• Editing should NOT end in the classroom. I suggest going home each night and making corrections. Come back each day with a newly revised rough. This will reduce the amount of editing you have to do in one night. And, hopefully, each rough you receive back will have less and less errors to correct. After Friday, please have your mom/dad/brother/sister/grandma/someone at home edit your work as well. The more sets of eyes looking at your work, the better :)
  

Good LUCK and happy editing! Next week will talk about the Works Cited page one last time before you turn in your paper.

Your paper is DUE Thursday May 15th.

May 6th

Today was the final day to work on you rough draft in class. Tomorrow you MUST have a completed, hand written rough draft in class.
Also, you must have the permission slip in class tomorrow in order to participate in the video taping!

May 5th

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Today you had the hour to continue working on your rough draft.

Your Completed, HandWritten Rough Draft is due

on Wednesday, May 7th! No exceptions.

Advice: If I were you, I would also begin to type it up to make sure you are on your way to a 5-7 double spaced typed paper (you will be turning in the typed version in your final package).