Example Comparison/Contrast Paragraph

Topic Sentence 
     Even though neither our Christmas Eve celebration nor our New Year's Eve was elaborate, my family did put more planning and effort into Christmas.

Planning for the paragraph -- Supporting Details
food
activities
other preparations

The Paragraph
       Even though neither our Christmas Eve celebration nor our New Year's Eve was elaborate, my family did put more planning and effort into Christmas.  While food for Christmas Eve had been planned long in advance, what we ate on New Year's was more spontaneous.  Our main Christmas Eve dinner was homemade Chinese and Korean food.  I made Pork-Filled Buns and a thinly sliced beef called bulgogi which is  served in lettuce wraps.  For dessert we had the tradition Christmas steamed pudding.  On the other hand,  on the morning of New Year's Eve we decided we wanted homemade pizza that night, and to just have ice cream for dessert, so I shopped that morning for any ingredients we didn't already have.  As for activities, Christmas Eve included family from out of town, opening many presents we'd prepared for each other, and playing and talking together.   In contrast, New Year's Eve was much quieter.  Only one of my daughters and two grandsons were there.  We watched a movie and went to bed before midnight.  Unlike Christmas Eve, when I got up in the middle of the night to finish wrapping and putting presents under the tree and into stockings, on New Year's I was able to finish preparations for the next day before bedtime.  Both were fun, but we definitely did more to celebrate Christmas.  

Elizabeth I

Read How They Croaked, the chapter about  Elizabeth I         pp. 43 -47

In your composition book under  "Notes,"  write a central idea sentence and three supporting details for that central idea.

Central Idea:

Elizabeth I orchestrated her life so that no man could ever take her head in a violent, bloody death.

Supporting Details:

• Her father had beheaded her mother and her stepmother (Bragg 43).
• She liked men and they liked her, but she refused to take a husband (Bragg 44).
• As she was nearing the end of her life, she refused for a long time to be treated by her doctors because she wanted control her own death (Bragg 46).  

Central Idea:

As Elizabeth I grew old,  she was having serious problems with her health.

Supporting Details:

• Her joints were swollen and painful.  Her coronation ring had to be sawed off (Bragg 45).
• She had trouble moving around, so she sat on cushions on the floor for three weeks (Bragg 46). 
• Pus-filled sores in her throat mad it impossible to eat (Bragg 46). 

Examples for December Book of the Month -- Central Idea

Wednesday/Thursday, December 21/22, 2016

Announcements and Reminders: Pick up your composition book. Thursday, December 22, is the last day to hand in late and revised work and extra credit other than unused hall passes.                            Turn in your Article of the Week if you haven't yet. If you haven't turned in your book assessment, get it turned in by the end of the day Thursday.  Staple your typed assessment to the front of the rubric.   Make sure you have a central idea (or two) and seven to ten supporting details with their page numbers.  Assignments for How They Croaked:  Henry VIII HTC.docx ,   tone in HTC-Cleopatra.docx with Columbus,    King Tut Questions - Adapted.docx -- Create the Caesar "doughnut" graphic organizer on the back of King Tut assignment. Get it?

Targets for Today: Writing Standard 3d.  Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.

Today’s  Agenda: A1:  Write your paragraph and hold class drawings. 10! Under Writing Prompts-- 1. Description of a place:     Describe a scene of your choice.  It needs to be real or based on reality.  You will NOT tell a story, only describe a place.      It could be your living room on Christmas Morning or Eve, your own bedroom, your yard or another outdoor place, part of a cathedral or other special building you've visited, part of a store, part of a school,  a favorite place. Choose one of the ideas given here or your own.    Begin the paragraph with a topic sentence.  Examples:    If you love cleanliness and order, do not come to my house after present opening on Christmas Morning.     The best back yard for a family can be found behind my house.     The food is good at Jan's Cafe, but the real reason to go there is to see her unique collections. Add this to your bucket list: eating at a table in the Blue Bayou in Disneyland.   Sample descriptive paragraphs: From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: It was his own room. There was no doubt about that. But it had undergone a surprising transformation. The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green, that it looked a perfect grove; from every part of which, bright gleaming berries glistened. The crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there; and such a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney, as that dull petrification of a hearth had never known in Scrooge's time, or Marley's, or for many and many a winter season gone. Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum-puddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chesnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam. In easy state upon this couch, there sat a jolly Giant, glorious to see: who bore a glowing torch, in shape not unlike Plenty's horn, and held it up, high up, to shed its light on Scrooge, as he came peeping round the door. My Bedroom      When you walk into my room the first thing that you notice is that the room is bigger than average. The room is painted white, the walls are bare, with two pairs of black colored windows; one pair is next to the bed the other next to the TV. The room smells like Febreze: Thai dragon fruit air freshener.  The door is brown and on the right side of the room facing the TV. On the left side of the door there’s my closet, which has cream colored doors that go from the ceiling to the floor. In front of my closet there’s the bed. The bed is a full size; it’s connected to the left side wall of the room with a pair of windows, on it there’s a purple and green comforter with a pair of soft pillows that are the same color. Above the bed there’s an air conditioner which I hardly use. In front of the bed there’s a big black fan. On the right side of my room I have my TV that is a medium sized black LED, which sits on a white drawer. Next to the TV there’s my average sized brown study desk, with my silver laptop computer and a small blue lamp on it and books in its shelves. The room is clean, not much is out of order. At this moment I don’t really like the look of my room. I have hopes to decorate and paint the walls in the future. The Laundry Room The windows at either end of the laundry room were open, but no breeze washed through to carry off the stale odors of fabric softener, detergent, and bleach. In the small ponds of soapy water that stained the concrete floor were stray balls of multicolored lint and fuzz. Along the left wall of the room stood ten rasping dryers, their round windows offering glimpses of jumping socks, underwear, and fatigues. Down the center of the room were a dozen washing machines, set back to back in two rows. Some were chugging like steamboats; others were whining and whistling and dribbling suds. Two stood forlorn and empty, their lids flung open, with crudely drawn signs that said "Broke!" A long shelf partially covered in blue paper ran the length of the wall, interrupted only by a locked door. Alone, at the far end of the shelf, sat one empty laundry basket and an open box of Tide. Above the shelf at the other end was a small bulletin board decorated with yellowed business cards and torn slips of paper: scrawled requests for rides, reward offers for lost dogs, and phone numbers without names or explanations. On and on the machines hummed and wheezed, gurgled and gushed, washed, rinsed, and spun.    Central Idea:  Remember that a central idea includes the topic and what the author is saying about the topic.   2. Dickens  -- Read the chapter about Charles Dickens, beginning on page 117 Find words that contribute to the tone.   What is the central idea?   3. Watch a video based on a book by Charles Dickens:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNnbO0tF_p0 (4) Drawings!

If You Were Absent: See above. Write your paragraph. Read the "Charles Dickens" chapter of How They Croaked when you get back.

Vocabulary:

http://www.biography.com/people/charles-dickens-9274087/videos/charles-dickens-full-episode-2073085321

Monday/Tuesday, December 19/20, 2016

Announcements and Reminders: Turn in your Article of the Week. Get ready for your book assessment.  Make sure you have a central idea that applies to all or a large section of the book.    Make sure you have 7-10 supporting details that support that central idea. Have the page number(s) for each supporting detail.   Sample for Nonfiction Book Project  If you do not finish your book assessment today, you will do it outside of class, and it is due by  December 22.  If you are retaking the argument writing vocabulary test on Tuesday, December 20, don't forget to study!    This is for students who received 13 or less on the post test.  Check Skyward and email  for a message from Ms. Dorsey.  For next time, think of a scene you would like to describe.  It needs to be real or based on reality.   You will not tell a story, only describe a place. It could be your living room on Christmas Morning or Eve, your own bedroom, your yard or another outdoor place, a cathedral you've visited, part of a store, part of the school, a favorite place,  etc.  Choose one of those or your own. Thursday, December 22, is the last day to hand in late and revised work and extra credit other than unused hall passes.

Targets for Today: Understand how to write an effective paragraph. Understand how to write an effective descriptive paragraph. Show that you can find one or more central ideas in a nonfiction text, and identify supporting details from the text for the central idea(s).

Today’s  Agenda: 1. Individual Reading -- If needed, finish preparing for your December Book Assessment 2.   About Writing a Descriptive Paragraph 3. December Book Assessment:  Nonfiction -- Central Idea and Supporting Details Lab 224  -- Use a Google Doc for writing your Book Assessment.   Print it and staple it to the FRONT of your rubric. DecemberBookofMonthRubric.docx If you do not finish your book assessment today, you will do it outside of class, and it is due by  December 22. Samples 4. If you have extra time, continue to work on your How They Croaked Assignments. Have you handed in King Tut?  King Tut Questions - Adapted.docx Caesar?   Create the "doughnut" graphic organizer on the back of the King Tut paper.  Finish, if you haven't, and hand it in: Cleopatra   tone in HTC-Cleopatra.docx with Columbus Columbus If you still have time, pick up Henry VIII.  Henry VIII HTC.docx

If You Were Absent: You may complete the book of the month assessment on your own time. Study the material about creating a descriptive paragraph.  Be prepared to write one of your own next time.

Vocabulary: descriptive paragraph: spacial order: transition: Central Idea: Central Idea will be a complete sentence. It will include     the topic and       the idea the author wants you to learn about the topic. It will NOT be a question.  It will be a complete statement. It will be broad enough to cover the big idea(s) in the chapter or paragraph or other passage. It will be narrow enough so it's NOT including things that are not in the chapter or paragraph or other passage.  When you are looking for the central idea of something you are reading, the central idea you find will NOT include your own opinions about the chapter or paragraph or other passage. Central idea is also called main idea or topic sentence.

More on descriptive paragraphs: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Descriptive-Paragraph
http://web.clark.edu/martpe/descriptive%20paragr.htm

Thursday/Friday, December 15/16, 2016

Announcements and Reminders:     Pick up your composition book, and then read your nonfiction book quietly.  Read the announcements below: 1.  Your book assessment will be given on Monday/Tuesday, December 19/20 - next time.              If you have not signed up for your book, do so by December 16.    2.  Your article of the week is also due on Monday/Tuesday, December 19/20 - next time.            If you were not here to get an article of the week, pick one up from the handouts box.                Change the due date on the paper. 3.  If you did not take your argument post test, arrange to take it after school on              December 15, 20, or 21 -- Thursday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.  4.  If you need to retake your argument post test, arrange to take it after school on              December 15, 20, or 21 -- Thursday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.               Retake the test if you received less than 28 points on Skyward. 5.  The retake for the argument writing vocabulary test will be given next Tuesday during              Cavetime.  Plan to retake it if you received 13 points or less.  6. If you have not finished or edited and revised your Outsiders essay on MyAccess,               please do that right away.               Email Ms. Dorsey when you are ready for your Outsiders essay to be rechecked. Santa Letters are available for the Macy's Make-a-Wish Fund Raiser.  Write as many as you wish.  You can also go online to write them at http://social.macys.com/believe/ Extra Credit:  Extra Credit - Poems About Death - For How They Croaked                      Plan to attend our AFJH Charity Basketball Games.  Bring your dollar or more.  Seventh Graders will have the opportunity to attend on December 21 and December 22 during 1st period.     We have received an offer from Modern Woodmen who will match up to $3,000 this year if we can raise $3,000 as a school.  Please support this great cause as it will benefit our own AFJH students. Charity Basketball Games -- Coming December 21-22

Sample for book project  Sample for Nonfiction Book Project

Targets for Today: I can read  a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction.  I can find the central idea in nonfiction. I can recognize tone in writing.

Today’s  Agenda: Pick up your nonfiction books.  1. Individual Reading  -- Hopefully you are finishing up your nonfiction book. 2. C.S.I.   4.  In your composition book, copy the following sentence, and write down what you notice about it. Conventions in Sentences Investigation Copy the  sentence, and write down what you notice about it. Label it "C.S.I. 2-2" with today's date:  Because she was a woman, and also because it would be bad press for the new emperor, the Romans didn't kill Cleopatra.  3.  Finish and hand in your circle chart for the chapter about Julius Caesar.                                      Julius Caesar Central Idea 1.docx      A1 -- Finish and hand in your circle chart for the chapter about Cleopatra. (A1 was working on the King Tut article -- needs more time)      A2 handed those in last time. (for A-Day)   Read an article about King Tut.  His mummy was taken out again and re-examined!  This is the article:  New CT scans reveal strange.docx  For each paragraph in the article, in the space below it, write a one sentence summary of the paragraph. Then pick the most important word or phrase from that sentence -- or write a word or short phrase that sums up that sentence.   You can find the article also at  http://www.sciencealert.com/news/20142710-26397.html 4. How They Croaked: Cleopatra, page 19  -- Tone As you read about Cleopatra, on your worksheet replace the bolded original words and phrases with words and phrases that would give it a more serious tone.  5.  How They Croaked: Columbus  page 27  -- Central Idea

If You Were Absent: See above for what we did.

Vocabulary: central idea: supporting details:  tone: the attitude the author takes toward the subject  Visage:  a person's face, with reference to the form or proportions of the features. Frail: weak, frail, sickly, infirm

Enrichment: 

How Did Cleopatra Die?

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cleopatra-commits-suicide

Rather than fall under Octavian's domination, Cleopatra committed suicide on August 30, 30 B.C., possibly by means of an asp, a poisonous Egyptian serpent and symbol of divine royalty. 

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/06/30/cleopatra.suicide/

Remediation/Preparation for Argument Essay

Cavetime, December 13, 2016 

1. Creating a Graphic Organizer:  

The top right box is for the counterclaim and rebuttal.
Don't forget to begin the topic sentence with a transition.
The top left box is for the conclusion.

Your conclusion should:

• Transition from your counterclaim/rebuttal paragraph.
• Have three or four sentences that summarize your body paragraphs.
• Restate your thesis
• Make the ending as strong/memorable/convincing as you can!!

____________________________________

2. Reading a Prompt:  

use RAFTS

Role  -- (What is your role as you write the essay?)

Audience  (Who will be reading it?)

Format   (Are you writing a letter, a story, a 3-paragraph, 4 paragraph, 5 paragraph essay?)

Task  -- (What are you supposed to do? Argue?  Inform? Describe? Compare? or other tasks?) 

Strong Key Words -- (What words in the prompt do you need to pay special attention to? )

http://cavemanenglish.blogspot.com/2016/11/rafts.html

Practice: 

Requiring School Uniforms

Your school is considering requiring all students to wear uniforms during school.  Do you feel it is a good idea or a bad idea to require students to wear uniforms?  Why?

Write an essay persuading your principal to accept your recommendation on whether or not your school should require students to wear uniforms.

As you write, remember your essay will be scored based on how well you

develop a multi-paragraph response to the assigned topic that clearly communicates your thesis to the audience.

support your thesis with meaningful reasons and sufficient details.

address the readers' concerns, opposing viewpoints, or counterarguments.

organize your essay in a clear and logical manner, including an introduction, body, and conclusion.

use well-structured sentences and language that are appropriate for your audience.

edit your work to conform to the conventions of standard American English.

Use any of the tools available to you, such as the Checklist, Spellchecker, or Graphic Organizer.

Here are the RAFTS for the above prompt: 

Role  -- (What is your role as you write the essay?)  You are a student at your own school. You are yourself.

Audience  (Who will be reading it?)  Your principal.

Format   (Are you writing a letter, a story, a 3-paragraph, 4 paragraph, 5 paragraph essay?) A multi-paragraph essay

Task  -- (What are you supposed to do? Argue?  Inform? Describe? Compare? or other tasks?)  Convince/Argument

Strong Key Words -- (What words in the prompt do you need to pay special attention to? )

Your school is considering requiring all students to wear uniforms during school.  Do you feel it is a good idea or a bad idea to require students to wear uniforms?  Why?

Write an essay persuading your principal to accept your recommendation on whether or not your school should require students to wear uniforms.