Annotations
light annotating - I am looking for you to read the piece, make notations about connections to:
- your own life;
- other pieces of lit, film, to music, to events in history;
- to ask questions;
- literary terms; and
- to mark unknown words.
I will ask you to do light annotating on long pieces and difficult pieces.
heavy annotating - I am looking for you to read the piece several times, including a few times out loud. Make notations about:
all of the items listed above, but with major intensity. The page should be covered. Each time you read the piece again, you should be adding to your annotations. Write down stuff you think is "crazy" because it's probably RIGHT ON. Literary analysis is usually kinda out there.
I will ask you to do heavy annotating on short pieces, poetry, illustrations, and pieces we have worked on in class already.
Scoring of annotating
- Plus = 100 = you have done the same level of annotating that a college student would do. The piece is covered with notations. Out there connections are made. Wow.
- Check-plus = 90 = pretty great, but you didn't take as many academic risks as I know you're capable of.
- Check = 80 = good, but not great. You've spent some time on it, but it's clear you could have spent more time on it, put more thought into it.
- Check-minus = 70 = there is some work, but it is shoddy. Clearly very little work was put in to this assignment.
- Minus = 60 = absolute minimum work time / effort put in.
- 0 = no work in evidence. You must do this assignment again or I will make a phone call home.
Writing Prompts
HINT: read the prompt, deconstruct it so you know what you're supposed to writing about, take notes somewhere (on a separate piece of paper, a graphic organizer, an electronic list...), and then start writing.
What I look for when I'm reading responses to prompts:
- Have you answered every aspect of the prompt? I actually make a list of the prompt's parts and see if you've written about all of them.
- Have you included specifics? If it's a prompt that has to do with a piece we've read, **back up your ideas with textual evidence and then explain why you chose the evidence you chose.**
- Have you organized your sentences and paragraphs so that your writing is easy to understand? I think you probably understand this one.
- Is your prompt MLA compliant - the header, the font specifications, as well as the proper embedding of your evidence?
Scoring of Writing Prompts
- Plus = 100 = you have done the same level of prompt writing that a college student would do. The piece is complete, analytic, and you've spent time thinking about the topic. "Out there" connections are made. Wow.
- Check-plus = 90 = pretty great, but you didn't take as many academic risks as I know you're capable of. You're missing some of the requirements, above.
- Check = 80 = good, but not great. You've spent some time on it, but it's clear you could have spent more time on it, put more thought into it. You have only half of the above-required aspects of prompt writing met.
- Check-minus = 70 = there is some work, but it is shoddy. Clearly very little work was put in to this assignment. It's only somewhat related to the prompt.
- Minus = 60 = absolute minimum work time / effort put in. You've written about something that is distantly related to the prompt, but you obviously didn't spend time and effort deconstructing the prompt. You will be asked to conference with me about understanding the prompt.
- 0 = no work in evidence. You must do this assignment again or I will make a phone call home.
At the bottom of this page, I have attached a rubric that I use for all non-rubric prompts and exit tickets. If your writing prompt is not MLA formatted correctly, I will not score it until it is.