Friday 1/29

Happy last school day in January.
Today is the day your play is due.

Pendragon form.


I will  grade them on Sunday so if you still have work to do when you leave today--do it before Sunday afternoon when I will be assessing them using the rubric I gave you in class today.

Reading logs are due on Monday--BE sure to take time to tally your time and pages before then.

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Thursday 1/28

Today we worked on making sure our plays were typed using the format provided.

We then got to work on draft 3.

Tomorrow's class will be devoted to finishing up the plays.  They are due at the end of class tomorrow.

HW: work on play if 35 min tomorrow won't be enough.
Read/log/post it--150 minutes due Monday.

Wednesday 1/27

Today we handed in LW #9 then worked on assessing our play for conflict and rising action. We wrote in our reflections sections how we will make draft 2 better than draft 3.

HW: LW # 10 reminder I will grade either 9 or 10 for a major grade so take care to follow the directions.

Tuesday 1/26

Today We read for 10 minutes then exchanged papers digitally. We asked our peers to read our plays then write a description of each of our characters so we could see how our revisions from yesterday went as far as making our characters more dynamic and distinguishable.

HW: LW#9 in reader's notebook and Read/Log/Post it 150 minutes due Monday 2/1

Monday 1/25

I collected logs today.  I also reminded everyone this week is the last of the quarter so everyone should be sure to check Powerschool.  Thursday will be the last day I accept late work.

We then described our characters in our reading notebooks in the reflections section.  The point of this was to help us understand who our characters are in order to be sure we have dialog that reveals that.  Our next step was to read my comments on draft 1 of the plays and to rework those into draft 2.

HW: Complete Draft 2--(change name and take off in progress when done)
         Read/log/post it new week is 1/25-2/1--it will be the first grade of Q3.

Friday 1/22

Today we continued working on the first draft of the play we will bring to a final draft.

Due by end of day--Draft of play

Due Monday--Log with 130 minutes.

Don't forget permission slips for Winter Carnival if you haven't yet turned them in.

Thursday 1/21

Today we read for 10 minutes.

We then worked on creating a Google doc that contains the first draft of a script for THE play we will bring to a final draft.

Wednesday 1/20

Today we read "The Governess" by Neil Simon and talked about how it took place in just one setting and how well characters were developed through dialog.

HW: Read/Log/Post it and LW#8 in reader's notebook reflection section.

Tuesday 1/19/16

I hope you all had a fantastic long weekend. Today I collected logs from the week of 1/11-1/19 and you started new logs for the week of 1/19-1/25-130 minutes (not 150) will be due on Monday.
I also looked at LW#7--if you were out, please show that to me when you hand in your Log.
We spent the remainder of the period writing the script of the play we came up with on Friday.
Rough draft of script is due tomorrow.

Friday 1/15

Today we read for 10 minutes then worked on writing a rough draft of another play. The goal by the end of the period was to develop an idea for a play and tell about the beginning, middle and end of the play. (a rough plot line sketched out)

HW: Read/Log/post it
Logs due Tuesday with 150 minutes AND LW #7 is due Tuesday
And be ready to write the dialog to the play you conceived in class today.

Thursday 1/14

Today Sophie Morelli came in to speak about the creative process and to share her winning play with us.  We then finished Newsies and talked about the characters of Ani and Chubbs and how the playwright was able to create distinct characters.
I also handed back LW #6 with feed back.
HW: Read/Log/post it
Logs due Tuesday with 150 minutes AND LW #7 is due Tuesday.

Wednesday 1/13

Sorry I have to be out today, I have two sick boys. While I was out you were given the following instructions:

First open your reader’s notebook to the reflection section and list your muckraker from your social studies project and 5 other hypothetical (or real) characters with whom they may have interacted.  Now sketch out a possible scenario where they would interact and write a beginning, middle and end of a possible play.  This should be done on the page right after your LW#6. Please date it and label it play ideas 1/13.

Once you have completed this task:

--Turn the notebook into the sub.

--Take out your log and your IR book.--Note the time and read for the remainder of the period.




If you were out too, be sure to do this and show me when you get back.
Have a great day and stay healthy.




HW: Read/Log/post it

Tuesday 1/12/16

Today we read for 10 minutes after I introduced the blog of the author that will be visiting us in April, Todd Strasser.  I will apprise you all of a competition involving this author and his work later this week.
We then read a few more plays written by your peers and talked about the things that worked and didn't in order to make sure we have a better idea before we write our next play.

We then read the beginning of  Newsies 

HW: Longwrite #6 in your reader's notebook and read/log/post it-150 minutes due on Tuesday 1/19

Monday 1/11/16

Today we spent 5 minutes talking books and suggesting titles to each other. We then spent 10 minutes reading and logging the time on the new logs (1/11-1/19).  I collected old logs from 1/4-1/11 and plays. We then spent 5 minutes reflecting on the playwriting process: 1-What was the most difficult part of the assignment?  2- What strategy did you use to overcome this difficulty? 3) what is the best part of your play? 4 What is the weakest?

We then read peer examples and considered what made them work or not in hope of figuring out what we needed to do as we approached our next play.

HW: Read/log/Post it

Friday 1/8

Today we read 10 minutes then worked on our plays.
HW: Put finishing touches on play if you didn't turn it in yet and READ/LOGPOST IT 150 minutes due Monday

Thursday 1/7/16

Today we read for 10 minutes. I graded your LW #5 during that time.
We then did the dice roll activity to generate play ideas!

HW: Work on play--15 more minutes in class tomorrow to finish it ;)
Read/log/post it 150 minutes due Monday

Wednesday 1/6

Today I returned reading logs and you filed them. I also returned Longwrite #4 and had you read through my comments to prepare you to write longwrite #5 which is tonight's homework.  We then finished the pay and discussed the elements that made the play work.

HW: Longwrite #5--must be written about a post it that is at least 20 pages away from your last long write.
Read/log post it too 150 minutes due on Monday.

Tuesday 1/5

Today we read for 10 minutes then talked about plays versus stories. I then introduced our next project--Pendragon Theatre is hosting a Young Playwrights Festival and we are going to enter it. We read the play, "It'll Be War" until scene 4.  We will continue it tomorrow.

HW: Read/Log post it 150 minutes due Monday.

Monday 1/4/16

Happy New Year and welcome back.
Today we spent a majority of the period reading in our IR books in order to get back into the swing of things. The last 10 minutes was devoted to writing a longwrite based on a post it we kept today while reading.  This was handed in at the end of class if finished--otherwise, it is homework.

HW: Finish Longwrite
Read/log/post it 150 minutes due on Monday 1/11