1. What are the literal and figurative meanings of these sentences?
Her head was spinning from all the new information.
The toast jumped out of the toaster.
I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.
The Sea lashed out in anger at the ships, unwilling to tolerate another battle.

2. Moving on…

3. Please turn to the person seated next to you and read to him/her your summary of “How to Disagree with Your Boss.” Then, everyone in the group should take turns explaining what he plans to say to his boss. After each person shares, the rest of the group should give feedback about the intended conversation the same way you would if a friend really did ask you for advice about what to say to his boss. The person planning to talk to his boss can make adjustments to his plan if his friends convince him it’s a good idea. Remember, you need this job, but you feel strongly that you need to say something to your boss about what happened, so you can’t just ignore the situation, but you need to try not to offend your boss in the process.

4. As a group, pick the best plan to share with the whole class.

5. I assume most of you don’t have a job
I assume most of you don’t have a job. Do you have people in your lives that you may disagree with sometimes but that are in charge so it’s better to disagree with them respectfully?
How can you use the same principles that we learned about in the article to get along with parents, teachers, and other authority figures?

6. Note from Mrs. Gering: I had you read “How to Disagree with your Boss” because I believe that the ability to politely disagree with others is an incredibly important life skill. I respect your opinions, so if you have a comment or suggestion about my class, please feel free to discuss it with me as long as you can do it respectfully. If you’d rather it be anonymous, you may put a note in the comments box next to where you turn in papers, and if you need help determining how to speak to another authority figure respectfully, I’d be happy to help you.

7. Moving on…

8. Imagine that the United States has just made books illegal
Imagine that the United States has just made books illegal. In preparation for writing a short story about what happens, make a list of the things that you think would change. This list can include things that change immediately as well as down the road, and it can include things that would change for individuals as well as for the country and the world. Task: Make a list Audience: Our class Purpose: To entertain Steps: Just make a list After 5 minutes, you’ll share with your group and then have a little more time to list changes.

9. Share with your group.
Take a couple minutes to write down more ideas now that you’ve heard some ideas from your group members.
Below your list, draw a line and answer the following questions.

10. 2. Determine when you want your story to take place
2. Determine when you want your story to take place. Is it right after books were made illegal or after a few months or years? How will you show that?
3. Create a character to write your story about. The character can be real or fictional. Make a list of 3-5 of the character’s physical characteristics.
4. Make a list of 3-5 of your character’s personality traits.
5. Next to each personality trait, write something you could write about to show your character’s personality traits rather than writing that the character has that trait. For example, if your character is confused, you could show that by having your character change his mind a lot or crinkle his brow. If your character is cruel, you could show him picking on another kid. If he’s angry, his face could turn red, or he could feel his pulse in his head.
6. Highlight the most important things on your lists that you want to incorporate into your story.

11. 7. Make a quick list of the major plot points in your story
7. Make a quick list of the major plot points in your story. (In 3-5 sentences, what happens in the story?) 8. Everything you’ve done so far is prewriting. When you’re finished, on another piece of paper, begin writing your story. Use some of the information on your lists to help you. Try to show details rather than telling them. Your story should be at least 2 pages long. 9. When it’s finished, staple your pre-writing to your rough draft, and turn it in. (If you don’t finish it in class, it’s homework.)