Let's Start Writing Our This I Believe Essays! - 23 January and 24 January 2020

You've trained for this. Today you start the race.

Today's Goal:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

The Plan:

1. No Red Ink Growth Quiz
2. Read when you are done
3. "Finding the Flexibility to Survive" by Brighton Earley
4. This I Believe Rubric
5. This I Believe Writing Time!

Reminders/Homework:

• Read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! READ READ READ READ.
• Work on your essay. Please keep in mind that it must be a minimum of 500 words. It can definitely be longer. I am not counting paragraphs, but "more than one" is required.

No Red Ink Growth Quiz

I believe in you! This is on the No Red Ink Website. All I ask is that you do your best. When you are finished, read your book.

"Finding the Flexibility to Survive"

Today, your only task is to listen and think about this story. 

• What is powerful about it? 
• Where does the author put their "I believe" statement? 
• How does the writer start her story, if not with "I believe"?
• How does the writer end it?

We will discuss. You will not do any writing for this.

This I Believe Rubric and Expectations

HERE is the rubric!

It has lots of things, but they all relate to the things we've been working on, including:

• Having a strong, clear belief statement
• Using specific and personal memories
• sensory details
• dialogue
• varying sentence length
• word choice (snapshot, strong verbs, using specific details, showing vs. telling, etc)

This I Believe Writing Time

Some things to know:

• Your essay must be at least a minimum of 500 words. 
• Next class we are going to talk about showing vs. telling.
• The number of paragraphs doesn't matter, as long as there are multiple. There can be 3 there can be 20. It doesn't really matter as long as the paragraphs make sense.
• If you don't know where to start, start with your I believe statement. 

You may not start your essay with:

• "Imagine if..." or "Imagine that..."
• a question

I love you. Don't do it. You're not trying to convince or hook anyone. You are simply telling your story.