Writing

Writing is a major component of our ELA curriculum, and we want you to be confident, competent and comfortable with a variety of writing formats, whether they are creative (i.e. poems & stories) or critical (i.e. analyzing literature, arguing a viewpoint, etc.).

We will spend LOTS of class time practicing our writing, honing the craft of writing, and reading works by vetted authors whose words have made an impact on society.

One method we will use in 6th grade this year that we have found helps students improve in conventions/mechanics (i.e. spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc.) is essay corrections. See the codes for what I've noted on your essays, and then use them to learn the rules and correct them in your writing. You will keep track of your 'frequent' errors, and we guarantee that those numbers will start to decrease with this program.

When Ms. J was an 11th grade student, she made a C!!!! on her term paper, and her teacher noted that the only thing 'wrong' was the use of 2 comma splices. He also said he should have marked the paper as a failing score because these were 'major errors'. We don't want you to feel like Ms. J did back in 1995, especially after working hard on your writing. We'd rather you focus on CONTENT and using your words to say something meaningful, helpful, new, or profound. Therefore, while you may see a reduction on a paper if you have some conventions errors, it won't be the end of the world. Also, we will give you some credit back on missed points when you complete your essay corrections, which should make you feel better as well.