English Students: Graphic Organizers

If you need to practice with more copies of the graphic organizers we used in class (and you do), please download and print them:

• English I Literary Selection (short story)
  
  
• English I/II Expository Essay
  
  
• English II Persuasive Essay

Enjoy!

English I (Pre-AP): Two More "Flash" Fiction-Writing Resources

This page discusses writing stories 100 words or fewer. You should write more than that, but the page has a couple good tips, nonetheless.

Squidoo also has a flash fiction how-to page. Again, some of the material is for writing far less than you should on your End-of-Course exam, but some good observations and examples can be found, too.

English I (Pre-AP): Short short stories

Please check out this website of short-short stories. Each is 250 words or less (if you write an average of 10 words per line on your literary composition on Monday, you'll write 260 words).

I've scanned the stories and haven't come across anything classroom-inappropriate, but don't let that deter you from reading them. (Conversely, if you come across something offensive, please don't freak out.)

All English Students: Field Test on End-of-Course Exam

I just found out there WILL be field test questions on your EoC exams.

We'll talk more about what that means next week.

Pre-AP English II: Persuasive Essay / Thoughts vs. Actions

If you missed class today, you missed an opportunity to write an End of Course-style Persuasive Essay. In approximately 45 minutes (and 26 lines) please respond to the following prompt:

Write an essay stating your position on which is more important: what a person thinks or what a person does. Be sure to —

• state your position clearly
• use appropriate organization
• provide specific support for your argument
• choose your words carefully
• edit your writing for grammar, mechanics, and spelling

At the end of the essay please answer the following question: What are 2 clues in the prompt/"be sure to..." that inform you that you should write a persuasive, rather than an expository, essay? (Bullet points are fine.)

English I (Pre-AP): Timed Writing / Forgiveness

If you missed class today, you missed an opportunity to participate in an End of Course-style timed writing. In approximately 45 minutes (and 26 lines) please respond to the following prompt:

Write a story about the power of forgiveness. Be sure that your story is focused and complete and that it has an interesting plot and engaging characters.

At the end of the story please answer the following question: Besides the word "story" in the prompt, what are 2 other clues that you should not respond with an expository essay? (Bullet points are fine.)

English I (Pre-AP): No Fear Shakespeare/Romeo & Juliet — Not Quite a Solution

Online, at the No Fear Shakespeare website, you can read their edition of Romeo & Juliet for free.

If you have ordered a copy and are waiting for it to arrive AND you have dedicated internet access on your digital device, you may use the online version in class.

As you cannot annotate it, this will not work as a long-term solution, but it will get the job done until after the EOC test (when we'll work with the text more closely).