Break it down!

Breaking down our writable moments to dig for details... Try to think of each memory as a progression of: emotions, actions, thoughts (reflection), dialogue. Charting these details on simultaneous timelines can help turn a simple description into an opportunity for a meaningful memoir.

A student sample...

Now, use the "breakdown" to make your writing more detailed. Go back and highlight the details from your timelines to see a visual of how the different details weave together to create a rich narrative. 

Moments that Matter

Use the following techniques to make a list of moments that are worth writing about from your own lives

You are what you Read!

What we read shapes who we are as people. Some books teach us lessons about life; others help us deal with tough situations that we might be experiencing, and some books are special because they hold memories of loved ones. The books that significantly impact us become part of our identity, a literary fingerprint. 

Look closely to see the book titles in the ridge details of this "fingerprint"

Getting to Know You!

Take the survey below to tell me a little about yourself as a reader!
Reading Survey

Post your Pine Lake Pics here!

Hi everyone! Thanks for an amazing day at Pine Lake Challenge course. Please use the link below to paste your photos and videos from the day, so we can remember the incredible obstacles we overcame as a team, and giggle about the many funny moments during our end of the year slideshow!

Pine Lake Photos/Videos

"Tell Tale Heart" animation

Video Games Video

Use the video below to help gather evidence for your "Writing to Sources" essay.
Password: videogames2014

Video Games

Today's Meet

Click on the link below to enter the chatroom for social issues speeches.

start chatting

NoodleTools Tutorials

HAVING TROUBLE REMEMBERING HOW TO USE NOODLETOOLS???

CHECK OUT MRS. POULOS'S TUTORIALS ON HER WIKIPAGE:

Click here to view the Media Center Wikipage

Speech research

Writers "suspend" their judgment

Use the links below to gather information and take notes to answer the following questions:

Should child soldiers be prosecuted for their crimes? 

Are they victims? 

Are they perpetrators?


CNN video- Youngest Guantanamo detainee transferred

CBS News Video- Eye To Eye: Ishmael Beah (CBS News)

A child soldier interrogated and tried

Analysis: Should child soldiers be prosecuted for their crimes?

Victims, perpetrators, or heroes?

Child Soldiers - more than Tin Soldiers - Victims & Perpetrators

Armed & Underage

Feedback for SBAC Practice Test

Thanks for taking the time to work through the Smarter Balanced practice test. We value your opinions, and your feedback will be very helpful in allowing us to make the real test go as smoothly as possible for all SDMS students.

Please take a few minutes to answer some survey questions about your practice test experience.

Click on the link below to access the survey.

Survey Questions

Practice Test

Click on the link below to access the practice test.

Practice Test

Give "Props" to your sources

Writing to inform....

Take notes on the following 60 Minutes segments about the "Lost Boys of the Sudan." 

Turn your notes into a 5W and H chart... then use the information in your chart to write a paragraph that sounds like a news bulletin. Remember to "stick to the facts." 

Strange winds a blowin...... BE PREPARED!!!

Don't get caught without your reading book or journal..... that would be embarrassing!!
Use "snow days" as a chance to rediscover your inner reader/writer!!
~Mrs. D

Non-fiction do's...

How to "sound like a boss"

"Plains of thought"

"Retell" reminders...

Organizing our thoughts...

Navigating Non-Fiction

Non-Fiction Text Structures

Moving from one idea to the next? Transition!!

What's in your Argument?

A good argument essay should adhere to the CEA sandwich format.

Remember this.... 

Use it to distinguish between the two voices in an argument essay.

Voice 1 is the writer of the essay 

Voice 2 is the sources used as "expert testimony"

1. Highlight the evidence (source material). This will be in the form of a direct quote or paraphrased information directly from the source. 

2. In a different color, highlight the analysis (writer). This is where the writer of the essay to explain the significance of evidence in the context of the argument. 

What's in your GO-BAG?

We carry historical context with us as we read to help us better understand the text.

Journal Writing Remix

Good Monologues

Getting to the HEART of the Matter

What's your perspective?

Defining historical fiction

Revising our theories as we read.

Cooking up an "evidence sandwich"

Crafting setting in Historical Fiction

Wow!

9:10 am on 11/12/13

Make a claim

Formatting reminders

Argument essay outline

Rockhurst drug test: Extreme or spot-on?

Use the video source above for the "Writing to Sources" assessment on October 15th and 16th.

Bravery is the first step towards Brilliance...

Twinning at SDMS

Witch "Trials"

To prepare for our field trip today, I thought I'd share one of my favorite witch trial videos... courtesy of Monty Python.



In your journals, write a paragraph to answer the following questions and be sure to use evidence from the video.

1. Describe the tests Sir Bedivere and the townsfolk used to determine whether or not the woman was a witch.

2. Do you think they were reasonable or valid?

3. Believe it or not, Puritans living in New England actually used tests that were almost as absurd as the ones in the video. For example, real witch trials often included tossing a potential witch out into a lake... if she drowned they declared that she wasn't a witch....if she was able to swim to shore, they found her guilty of witchcraft and killed her anyway. What are your thoughts about this type of "justice?"

Using the "breakdown" to make our writing more detailed...

Break it Down!

Breaking down our writable moments to dig for details... Try to think of each memory as a progression of: emotions, actions, thoughts (reflection), dialogue. Charting these details on simultaneous timelines can help turn a simple description into an opportunity for a meaningful memoir. 

Some student samples...

Focusing our writing on small moments...