Your Name

English III

Ms. Fennewald

September 5, 2007

Choice Writing 1

Choice Writing

The only way to learn to write is to write—Peggy Teeters.

Books aren't written, they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it...—Michael Crichton

This quarter (and throughout the rest of this year) you will have a bi-weekly written assignment. The only restriction I’ll give you is the mode of writing…which means you can write about almost anything. The goal of writing this often is to practice organizing your thoughts…so we’ll be doing a graphic organizer every other week to prepare you for the writing assignment itself.

You will earn 50 points for each pre-writing and 70 points for each choice writing. The requirements are basic:

Ø Must be typed 12 font, Times New Roman

Ø Must have proper heading and title (see example above)

Ø Must be at least 5 paragraphs/300 words, but not be longer than two pages

The ways you can lose points are:

Ø Not having at least five paragraphs (intro/3 body/conclusion)

Ø Improper format (heading, title, indent, etc.)

Ø Not having a thesis and thesis restatement

Ø Not having topic sentences

Ø Failure to focus on the trait of the week (one of six)

After two choice writes, you will select one to revise using your revision strategies sheet you used for your “Where I’m From” poem final draft.

We’ll focus on persuasive writings this year, with the intent of using these choice writings to help you with your persuasive essay and letter to the editor assignments. In addition, these

choice writes should prepare you for the MAP, which includes a persuasive writing.

**Remember that I am a mandatory reporter. If there are things going on in your life that I must report to the authorities, I will.