Mr. W's Blog

As we continute to learn and practice observation, 9th graders will read an excerpt by Virginia Woolf titled Death of a Moth. Then respond in a one page paper (TNR, 12pt font, double spaced). Remember that this is a response, not a summary or an evaluation. Submit you work in .doc, .txt, .rt, or .pdf file formats on WSD Online.

9th graders will be writing a one-page piece each week, and submitting them on WSD Online (moodle). These will be on various topics and in various genres. For the first week, we’ll be starting with a traditional essay in respones to an excerpt from Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

Please save your work as a standard file: doc. or txt. and submit them online by Wednesday night (September 7).

Here is the web address for WSD Online: http://online.weber.k12.ut.us/

9th graders, I’m uploading Wednesday Writing early this week. (I know, it’s a miracle I’m even uploading one.) The text that I want you to read is challenging. According to the reading level test you took earlier in the year, most of you should be able to read and comprehend it with a little bit of work. The text explores the nature of literature and poetry and how we define these things.

Please write a one-page response to this first chapter of Literary Theory. Make sure you are connecting with something in the chapter. I want you to read this text and try your best to get something out of it. (This is not only to practice for the core test coming up, but also for your sophomore year in high-school.) Please do NOT evaluate the text. Do NOT write about how it is difficult to read. I already know that. Remember, this assignment is a response, NOT an evaluation.

You’ll find the text on Moodle. You should upload your work there as well. This assignment is due by Wednesday, April 27.

9th graders are starting back into the swing of Wednesday writings! The first one is due on Wednesday, April 6.

Please develop the writing you began in your Writer’s Notebook on Wednesday when we did the Romeo and Juliet Love/Infatuation survey. Your work should be a response to the survey. Please sumbit your work on WSD Online in the typical TNR 12 pt font, double spaced,  multiple paragraph, at least one page, etc. format.

(If you weren’t there for the survey we compared the responses of boys and girls about love and infatuation. Ask your classmates about it.)

For this week’s Wednesday Writing, listen to the song “Hello in There” by John Prine and write a one page response. You can read the lyrics at this website http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/prine-john/hello-in-there-10843.html. Upload your response on WSD Online.

9th graders are back in the routine of Wednesday Writing. Please read the short memoir One Autumn Afternoon by Willa Parks Ward. Write a one page response and submit your work on WSD Online.

This work serves as a good example of a memoir. It focuses on just one important event. The details put you at the scene and help develop the character of the writer. These are element that your Grandparent Story should reflect as well.

As practice for the grandparent project, we conducted interviews last week. Write up the information you got from your interview into a story you can share with the class. The story should focus on just one event. Submit your work on WSD Online.

This week 9th graders will be responding to a short memoir from a collection of memoirs. The memoir is titled “How My Father Lost His Job.” We will be writing some memoir in the near future, but feel free to respond however you are inspired. Submit your work on WSD Online.

This week 9th graders will be responding to a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye titled “The Mother Writes to the Murderer: A Letter.” I chose this poem because of its connection to Whirligig, the book that we are reading in class. (Remember that the mother of Lea is the one that sends Brent on his heroic journey to build the whirligigs.) The narrator in this poem has a different perspective on what should happen to the murderer of her child.

Write a one-page response to this work. You can write about its connection to the story, or not. Remember a response is not a summary, not an evaluation (Naomi Shihab Nye is an acclaimed poet) and you should not assume that your reader has read the poem. Your work should be submitted on WSD Online.

For this week’s Wednesday Writing, 9th graders should select a quote from Whirligig chapters 1 or 2 and write a one page essay about that quote. Explain why the quote is meaningful. How does it affect your understanding of the text? of the characters? of the world? of your own life? Responses can be creative and draw from your own personal experiences, historical events, current events, literature, music, pop-culture, etc. Please submit your work on WSD Online.