Journals+and+Reading+documents

Mystery Journals:
Journal #1: Crime Lab reflection

What did you learn at the crime lab? What part of Detective Nelson's job was most interesting or surprising to you? How did his lab and his daily tasks compare to what you know from the television shows CSI or NCIS? Is this a job you think you would be good at? Why or why not? Do you think this field trip was worthwhile? Why or why not?

For your culminating project, you will write your own mystery. To that end, you must create a detective or sleuth. It can be a teen wonder or a sneaky old woman or anyone in between. Here are some questions which will get you thinking. I would like a full descriptive paragraph of a possible hero or heroine for your story: 1. What is your character's name? 2. How old is your character? 3. Where does your character live? With whom does he or she live? 4. What is this character's obsession? 5. What does this character fear the most? 6. When is your character most happy? 7. Describe this character's mother? father? brother? sister? girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife (if applicable)? 8. What wakes your character in the middle of the night? 9. How might a stranger describe this character? 10. What does your character look like? 11. What is the most unique quality about your character?
 * Journal #2**: Create a sleuth/detective

Create a wanted photo or mug shot of a possible suspect in your mystery. This does not have to be the person who actually commits the crime. It could be a red herring or one of several suspects. This is always good. On the wanted poster, please include the following information: 1. Name 2. Gender: 3. Age: 4. Last Seen: 5. Wanted for: 6. Height/Weight 7. Defining physical feature(s):
 * Journal #3: Create a suspect for your mystery.**


 * Journal #4 Beginning ideas of your mystery**

1. Choose an interesting "what if." For example, what if your character was trapped in a movie theater? 2. Think about all the scary things that could happen in that situation. Then think about all the ways a person could get out of that terrifying situation. 3. Choose a scary setting. Decide where and when your story takes place. 4. How did the protagonist end up in the scary situation? 5. How will your suspect or villian provoke fear in the story? DEVELOP the PLOT: 6. What will happen. List at least four events. 7. What problems will the main character face? 8. How will the problems be resolved? 9. What other characters might be involved? 10.What is the danger? 11. Make up a surprise ending. Good stories shock you!


 * Journal #5**: Complete the mystery graphic organizer. See paper copy

Journals:
Look at the cover of your book. What picture or image is on the cover? What graphic design? To whom do you think the publishers are trying to appeal? Is the marketing of the cover effective? Why or why not? What do you know so far about the protagonist or narrator of your book? Be specific. What conflict does this person have already at the beginning of the chapter? How can you tell? Make one prediction about your book in terms of what you think is going to happen.
 * Journal #1**:
 * Part One:**
 * Part Two**:

Identify the following literary elements of your book and in 2-3 sentences, explain why you think the author made the choices he/she did. What impact does this choice have on the book as a whole?
 * Journal #2**:

Title: Author: Protagonist: Antagonist: Setting: Conflict: point of view: metaphor:

Here is an example of what I mean:

point of view: This is written from a third person point of view. This detatched style gives us the perspective from many people and we get the full story of Chris and not just the story from one person's point of view. Jon Krakauer is a journalist so the story contains a lot of facts to enhance the story
 * Title**:Into the Wild
 * Author**: Jon Krakauer
 * Protagonist:** Chris McCandless is a young man of about 19 or 20 who drops out of society to live in the Alaskan wilderness. Chris is smart and headstrong and fearless and this is essential to the story because if he listened to other people more, he would not have left his life for this journey. I think the other important aspect of Chris is his age; some people think his youth caused him to be overconfident and led him into a dangerous situation. Although a female character might have worked, we can see the struggles with Chris's dad from a son's perspective, and this increases the tension of the story.
 * Antagonis**t: Chris's dad, Walt, could be seen as the antagonist because it is his affair during his first marriage and his wealth which makes Chris angry. Walt's pressure on Chris to go to law school seems to have been the final straw which made him check out of society and burn his money and social security card.
 * Setting:** The Alaskan wilderness is very important to the story. If we didn't have the harsh conditions, we wouldn 't have a story at all. It is also is important to see the setting of Chris's life before in a comfortable community in Maryland. This helps to provide tension to the book too.
 * Conflict**: There are three main conflicts here: Chris is in conflict with his father and what he stands for; he is in conflict with nature as he struggles to find enough to eat in Alaska; and he is in conflict with himself as he struggles to find contentment in a society he does not like.
 * metaphor**: The Alaskan wilderness is a metaphor for purity and all that is untouched by materialism in American culture. It is why Chris McCandless went there because he saw this too.

Journal #3: Write a poem in which you use repetition and small details. You can choose your topic or use this prompt: I am __ years old and....

Here is the sample from class: //with thanks to Yusef K.// & when my mother waters the tomato & pepper plants, I steal drinks from the penny-taste of the garden hose. It is my favorite drink. I am six & think to cross the street by myself from time to time, but never do. I am six, my sister is five, & we hide inside clothing racks at the store just to feel the black-sick fill our round bellies when we get lost, lost, lost from our mother. I am six & I am laughing with a mouthful of cashews. I think nuts is the funniest word I have ever heard. I am six & I break all of my mother’s lipsticks & glue them together & put them back in her bathroom drawer. She’ll never notice. Sometimes I find sad envelopes, the ones with red and blue stripes, meaning these envelopes fly, meaning thin feathers, meaning bird with a little worm in the beak. Envelopes from her father, I think—she snatches them from my hand & says, No, no, where did you get these? Now put them back. –Aimee Nezhukumatathil Journal #4:
 * I Am Six**

**Choose one of the two journal prompts below and write a page about it. Use small details and make it come to life for us!**

** 1. Think about a place—an old building, a haunted house, a run down mill, a private room in someone’s house, etc.—that’s supposed to be off limits. Write about the first time you went there; if you haven’t been there, imagine what would happen if you went in there. **

** 2. Write about something you can just barely remember. Add any details to make a story or try to write into the memory. Don't worry about the accuracy, just try to paint a picture for the reader. **

Instructions for the independent reading QA:
1. Put the quote in context of what is happening in the story at the current time. Should include some background on the book's overall plot as well.
 * Purpose**: to demonstrate your ability to take a passage (quote) from a literary work (book) analyze it on three levels:
 * Expectations**: You will need to write at least three paragraphs as follows:

2. Connect the quote to bigger ideas and themes in the overall book. Some examples: a. Does the quote tell us something important about a character? If so, what makes it important? b. Does it foreshadow an event that is to happen later? If so, what is the event? c. Does it help you understand the theme of the book? If so, what is that theme? d. Where else in the book does the author present this idea to you?

3. Reflect on the passage and its personal meaning to you and what you know/think/feel about the world. This part can be very personal and internal or very political and external. You could also make connections to other characters in pieces of literature that you have read/seen.

1) At the top of the page write the passage selected (in quotation marks exactly as it appears in the text), and a page number (in parenthesis), followed by a period. The title and author of the work will appear in the first paragraph . 2) Skip a line below the quotation and write three paragraphs as explained above. Remember to indent the first line of each paragraph. Do not skip additional spaces between paragraphs.

** Final Project for Choice Reading: **
** Reflect on Your Performance and Demonstrate your Thinking **

You've just finished reading at least one book for independent reading. For your final assessment on the unit, you will complete a written reflection on your reading habits and growth, and write a brief summary of your book.


 * 1) **__ Written Reflection – 1 page (with my observations, this is worth 100 points): __**

** What did you read during this unit? Just list, including partial books. **

** What did you like/dislike about the book or books you read during this unit? **

** What were your reading habits like? How much did you challenge yourself – in other words, how hard did you try? Were your reading habits over the last three weeks any different from normal? Why or why not? How did it go for you to have silent reading in class? What could you and I each do differently next time to improve your reading? **

This is not a formal essay, but you should put some care into thinking through and developing your ideas. Grammar and spelling are not formally assessed here.


 * 1) **__ Summary of book (1-2 paragraphs) (75 points): __**

Please write a paragraph in which you summarize the main events (**plot**) of your book. Please include the main character (protagonist) or narrator’s name and any important details about the **setting**. Also, tell me what the main **conflict** and how it was **resolved**. As you construct this summary, it is not necessary to include a detail about every chapter. Rather, I am looking for the big events and how those events shaped/changed the narrator. In addition to this summary, if you have time, please write an additional paragraph where you comment on the characters, setting, and conflict: what struck you about each of these elements as you read?

Please attach your reading log when you email me your reflection. Your chart should be completely filled out. ** This is the the grading slip you will receive for a grade: **
 * 1) **__ Reading Log (25 points): __**


 * __Reading Process Grade (x2):__**

_ __According to teacher observations, reading conference data, and student reflection, student challenged__ __ him/herself to read an appropriate number of books at an appropriate level of difficulty. __

_ Student reflection presented a thoughtful, thorough, adequately detailed response to the prompt.


 * Total Grade: **

=Helpful Documents ﻿ ** ﻿ **=

You will find an assortment of documents needed throughout the year.

Click here to download the reading log. Please save in your reading folder as lastnamereadinglog! Example: Wing reading log 1

Each week, you will find five words that are unfamiliar to you. Please download this document so you can fill it in each week.