Written Assignments Format

Please follow these guidelines when turning in any typed writing assignments (informal, hand-written assignments that you may complete and turn in during class do not apply):

- Use Times New Roman, size 12 font.
- Set your margins to "Normal."
- Double-space all assignments.
- Put your name in the upper left corner of the document, followed by the date on the line underneath.

***I will be modeling this for you in-class tomorrow during L.A., so don't stress if you don't know what some of these things mean. Just please know that after I show you tomorrow how to use these features, all of your written assignments will be required to use them.

6-1 Creative Writing Assignment

This week's assignment is a journal entry from the perspective of a life form (carbon-based like us? human? completely alien? you decide!) who existed on Mars before the massive climate changed wiped out the oceans there. Your journal entry should:

- Be creative! 

- Have been written at the very beginning of the climate change, in the middle, or towards the end

- Address what life/society was like on Mars back then for your fictional creature and how life might

  be or was affected by the climate change and the disappearance of the oceans

- Be less than 300 words (remember, it's just one journal entry; you don't have to tell the whole story 

  - just a slice of it!)

- Be written from the first-person perspective ("I")

- Be written in the present tense, as though whatever you're writing is current

- Be in the format that will  be posted in my subsequent blog post

Have fun and email me if you have any questions!

Creative Writing 6-1

Hi everyone! Please read the following about your assignment which is due next Tuesday.

I REALLY enjoyed hearing everyone's poetry today. There were some awesome themes running through your pieces and it was great. This week, I'd like to focus on metaphors and similes in our poetry.

Metaphors and similes are what we call figurative language - language we use in our writing to appeal to the senses. Metaphors and similes use comparisons to convey meaning; they both compare things in a way that makes the description of whatever you're writing about interesting and intriguing. While they are both used for comparisons, they are used in different ways:

Here are two examples:

Note that "like" and "as" are used for similes and not with metaphors. 

Your assignment this week is to write a poem using at least TWO of these: you may use two similes, two metaphors, or one simile and one metaphor. OR, if you're feeling adventurous and want to explore figurative writing, use more! Please make sure your poem is at least twelve lines long. Happy writing!

Caspian Reading Check Chapters 6-8

These questions are due MONDAY, SEPT. 28th. I am giving you a little extra time to complete these particular questions because some of them require you to think more deeply about the story and to draw your own conclusions. Make sure you're using specific examples from the text to support your answers and, as always, use complete sentences and check your spelling. :)

1. What creatures does Patterwig send to meet Caspian at the end of Chapter 6?

2. Which of Caspian's friends arrives at the Dancing Lawn during the war council? What news does he bring?

3. Where does Doctor Cornelius suggest that Caspian's army should take refuge? Why?

4. What magical object does Caspian decide to use? What effect does it have?

5. After telling the children his story, why does Trumpkin conclude that "no help has come?"

6. How do the children prove their value to Trumpkin?

7. Caspian is taken to meet many of the Talking Beasts and Dwarfs that live in hiding. What difference in their reaction to Caspian do you notice between the Black Dwarfs and the Red Dwarfs?

8. How do Nikabrik and Trumpkin reflect the reactions of the Black Dwarfs and the Red Dwarfs?

9. How does the meeting with Glenstorm and the Centaur change the way Caspian and the others view their future plans?

10. Why didn't Trumpkin want Caspian's army told about the use of the Horn? Do you agree with Trumpkin's reason? Why or why not?

Reading Check 2: Caspian Chapters 3 - 5

This week's reading check questions are from chapters 3 - 5. If you like to pace your reading throughout the week, I suggest reading between 6 and 8 pages a night.

Questions:

1. Why were the soldiers frightened by the sight of the children?

2. Who had been telling Prince Caspian about the old days of Narnia? How does Caspian's uncle Miraz react when Caspian declares his fondness for the old days?

3. Who is Caspian's new tutor?

4. Why did Caspian's tutor take him to the castle tower in the middle of the night?

5. What does Caspian learn about his tutor's true identity?

6. Why do the Telmarines fear the sea and the woods?

7. What happens that prompts Doctor Cornelius to encourage Caspian to flee the castle?

8. What "greatest and most sacred treasure of Narnia" does Caspian take with him when he leaves? According to Doctor Cornelius, what power does this treasure hold?

9. How does Edmund account for the fact that Cair Paravel is in ruins even though the children left Narnia only a year earlier?

10. Early in Chapter 3, the Dwarf identifies himself as a "dangerous criminal." Given what we've learned so far from the Dwarf, what might his crime be?

11. Doctor Cornelius tells Caspian, "Everyone except your majesty knows that Miraz is a usurper." What does Doctor Cornelius mean? (Hint: You may need to use a dictionary to look up the word usurp.)

Homework for WED, 9/2

Good evening friends! (Please don't forget to read your Caspian chapters this week (Chapters 1 and 2) and to complete the reading check questions in the previous post. They are due next Wednesday! You should be reading a few pages each night and answering the questions as you go along.) 

Tonight's homework is a writing assignment. You may hand-write it, type and print it, or share it with me via Google Docs. Choose from the following two options below, and please remember that when writing a paragraph:

- You should begin with a topic sentence (or main idea) that lets the reader know where they're going.
- The body of your paragraph (the sentences after your main idea) should support or "prove" your main idea with details or facts.
- Your closing sentence should summarize your overall message.
- Middle school paragraphs should be between 6 to 8 sentences long.


1. Write a paragraph that predicts what will happen when the Pevensie children return to Narnia in Prince Caspian. What will Narnia be like when they return? What or who will they find? Do you think they may encounter any trouble when they arrive?

2. Write a paragraph about this past summer. Was it awesome? Was it just kind of "chill"? Did you do a lot of cool stuff, or go anywhere special?

Remember to use your best grammar and spelling. See you tomorrow!