1. Word choice Mark saw a cut-off hand on the ground.
As Mark looked down at the concrete sprinkled with fresh rain, his eyes fixed on five fingers connected to a severed hand seeming to point him towards the cemetery gates in the distance.

2. Word choice The clown was really scary.
Kyle’s stomach dropped as the clown’s head slowly turned towards him, the light reflecting just enough to reveal a distorted face painted into a grimace.

3. Word choice Using vivid verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
Verbs – The action in the sentence. The boy ran around the school.
Adjectives – Modifies nouns. The silly boy ran around the school.
Adverbs – Modifies verb. The silly boy quickly ran around the school.

4. Word choice - words to avoid
Fun
Cool
Exciting
Awesome
Interesting
Weird
Dumb
Great
Stuff
Things
Nice
Funny
Good
Bad

5. Word choice – Use in moderation . . .
Linking Verbs – Is, Are, Was, Were, Has, Have, Be, Been, Should, Could, Would
The sidewalk is hot.
The sidewalk burned my feet.

6. Vocabulary words Include as many as you can. Make it sound natural.
Highlight the word before submitting

7. Writing center Wednesday Room 311 – Mrs. Owen
Thursday Room 222 – Mrs. Engl

8. Verb Tenses (easy) Past Present Future Took Takes Will Take Ran Runs
Will Run

9. Verb tenses (complicated)
Past Continuous
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous
I was running
I had run
I had been running
We were cooking
We had cooked
We had been cooking

10. KISS – Keep it simple, Students
Past Tense
Eliminates unnecessary linking verbs
Verbs stay unified
Eliminates confusion

11. But what about dialogue?
“I need to go to the store,” she said. Present
“I will need to go to the store tonight,” she said. Future
“I went to the store last night,” she said. Past

12. Rubric – What does it look like?
Beginning
Approaching
Meeting
Exceeding
Writing
Unsure of writing process. Makes little change to improve writing.
Writing lacks detail and development.
Disorganized and weak in structure.
Some appearance of using the writing process with some changes.
Displays some detail and development.
Somewhat organized. Structure is attempted.
Writing process used to strengthen writing.
Displays substantial detail and development.
Well organized writing. Paragraphs help develop ideas.
Writing process done with heightened effort and attention to detail.
Displays illustrative detail and sophisticated development.
Consistently well organized. Perceptive ideas and structure.

13. Grammar and vocabulary
Beginning
Approaching
Meeting
Exceeding
Grammar and Vocabulary
Limited understanding of English conventions.
Simplistic vocabulary and incorrect word choice.
Limited understanding of vocabulary words.
Inconsistent understanding of English conventions.
Acceptable but limited word choice.
Inconsistent understanding of vocabulary word. Attempts to incorporate into personal writing.
Generally applies correct English conventions.
Generally uses effective vocabulary.
Shows an understanding of vocabulary words and incorporates into personal writing.
Consistently applies correct English conventions.
Uses rich and effective vocabulary, including figurative language.
Shows a sophisticated understanding and can naturally incorporate into personal writing.

14. Story expectations Minimum 1 page, no more than 2 pages
Must have at least one small moments
Clear conflict with a resolution that makes sense
At least 2 characters, no more than 4
Catchy introduction
Conclusion wraps everything up nicely, no lingering questions, no cliffhanger

15. Unit timeline 7D Writing Reading Book Talk Sept 22 – Verb tense
Sept 26 – grammar
Sept 28 – peer editing
Oct 13 – Story Due
Sept 28 – Summative Reading Response Due
Next week – Formatives for book talks
Week after Break – Group 1 Book talks

16. Unit timeline 7A-7C Writing Reading Book talks Sept 25 – Verb Tense
Sept 27 – Grammar
Sept 29 – Peer Editing
Oct 12 – Story due
Sept 29 – Summative Reading Response Due
Next week – Formatives for book talks
Week after Break – Group 1 Book talks