On this first day of autumn, the weather is making us feel like the title of Ray Bradbury's short story, "All Summer In A Day". After reading the story together and discussing initial impressions, students began collaborating in groups to take a closer look at characterization of the protagonist and antagonist, the movement of the story on the plot line diagram, descriptions of the setting (the planet Venus) in the rain and in the sun, the language that Bradbury uses to create imagery, and thematic discussion questions.
This week, after doing a carousel survey of each group's work and taking notes on it, students will choose a prompt on which to write a paragraph essay. I will model how to write a topic sentence based on a prompt, and students will practice by writing topic sentences for each of three prompts related to the story. Then, they will complete an organizer of supporting ideas for the prompt they chose to write on. We will consider the use of transition words to introduce and connect pieces of text evidence, and I will model how to transform notes on an organizer into complete sentences, as well as how to write a concluding sentence. Once they've completed a draft, students will self-edit using an editing checklist, revise, and submit a final draft. The goal is to be finished by the end of class on Friday.
Homework:
Tuesday: none
Wednesday: finish organizer; can work on draft if ready
Thursday: finish editing
Friday: if paragraph is not submitted by end of class, please finish and submit over weekend.
All Summer In A Day paragraph essay instructions/prompts/editing checklist
