MLA format/rough drafts

Goals:
*Today we will be working towards completing a working rough draft (finish worksheet/Quick Write #2 if needed).
*PLEASE USE YOUR CLASS TIME START TO FINISH.
*If you need me I will be around to help.
Agenda:
*We will start by making an MLA heading for our paper and reviewing the format:
(Here is the link to the MLA format paper I gave you in class today: Click here). I highly advise using Google Docs.
*If you finish, you can work on Worksheet #2 and/or Quick Write #2 if you are not finished---if you are done with everything see me to complete a self-editing checklist

Words of Wisdom: "Don't count the minutes. Make the minutes count."

Today's agenda and college essay help...Remember the rough draft is due on Friday and the outline if you want extra credit

Today we will:

• Review how to use the outline sheet (I will model on the board)
• Take the College Accuplacer Test
• Take some time and explore the information on these last two posts
• Keep working on your idea web and/or discuss it with me if you are unsure
• Begin working on your outline and/or drafting your essay

Here are some awesome links to help you out with your college essay!
Tips for the College Essay from the College Board
College Essay #1 and Critique
College Essay #2 and Critique
Tips Slideshow
Ways to Get Started (very helpful)
Another example: MMA
Yet another example :grandma
Lots of awesome sample essays to read and get ideas from

Here are some of the opening sentences from last year's college essays for you to read....

• Running 5k’s has allowed me to free my mind.
• For the longest time, I couldn’t imagine the possibility of choosing a career and following through with it—or anything else for that matter.
• Life can start off rough, but it’s up to you to change it.
• My father always told me, “Never run from your problems, run towards them”
• The summer before my 7^th grade year changed my life forever.
• I guess you could say the “hood” made me who I am—but that wouldn’t tell you much about me.
• I’ve been told for the last 6 years, “You’re an outsider” by my classmates.
• Some people are born lucky and things come easy in life, but for most of us, we have to make our own luck.
• There are a few words I would use to describe myself, ___________, as a human being.
• The story of my life has not always been “peaches and cream,” but more a series of obstacles to get where I am right now.
• When I look back at my life, I always picture myself as this little girl standing in the middle of a football field, wondering why it feels like it’s drizzling everywhere else, but on me, it’s pouring.
• I always wished that I lived what I would consider a “fairytale” type of life.
• Growing up, I never liked the way my mother did my hair. She never did it the way I wanted it to be done.
• Thursday, March 5, 2008, was just an ordinary day for most people, but for me it was life-changing.
• I learned a valuable truth about myself when…..
• Sometimes I just sit and wonder, “why?”
• I have always been the girl who was uncomfortable in her own skin.
• To be blessed means to have had an amazing achievement or significant experience that satisfies you, and you alone.
• For the first part of my life, people told me what a perfect family I had. At age 11, I became aware that one of my parents was living a double-life.
• On this wild, yet satisfying journey through high school, it has been difficult to say the least.
• I thought I was going to pass out at any moment.
• As a kid, I dreamed of becoming a famous football star so I could get my family to the top.
• I have always tried to please everyone around me, even though I know I clearly cannot.
• The room is dark; the only light on is coming from this computer that I am typing on.
• Daddy wasn’t home. Mommy would read the letters he sent home for us.
• My life has been an emotional roller coaster.
• As the daughter of immigrants from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, I have always had a very diverse home life.
• I'm sure you could hear the sound from miles away.
• To give up is to say you cared, and I'm not sure I really ever tried.
• The intensity was high that day, and so was the temperature.
• Looking at me now, you would never guess that I was the girl who....
• When I think about my life as a whole, I am often confused about the decisions I have made--but those mistakes are mine, and mine alone.
• Perfection can only be achieved when your best self meets your best effort--and even then it's a long-shot.
• Before you ask me, you need to first consider the possibility that I may tell you something you don't want to hear.
• It's not an opinion. It's a fact.
• I'm not going to start this off by telling you how determined I am and what a great addition I will be to your school.
• I can make anyone laugh. If you don't believe me. I will prove it to you.
• If a picture can paint a thousand words....I'm probably close to a million right now.

Today's notes (outline example):

College Essay Prompts/Brainstorming (if you were not here yesterday make sure you copy the college essay assignment from Friday!!!)

Today we will:

• Watch a quick video on the importance of the college essay
• Look at a student sample of a rough draft (from past McKinley students)
• Go over some of the essay prompts---write down any you like!!!
• I will model an idea generating web
• You will make your own idea web and discuss it with me
• Go over the outline of a personal narrative sheet (college essay)

HW:
YOUR ROUGH DRAFT WILL BE DUE BY FRIDAY 9/15 (HANDWRITTEN OR TYPED)
YOU  WILL RECEIVE 10 BONUS POINTS ON YOUR FINAL ESSAY GRADE FOR COMPLETING THE OUTLINE SHEET!!!

Tomorrow we will:

• Take the practice Accuplacer test
• Begin reading the forward to The Autobiography of Malcolm X and answer questions using the RACE strategy we learned last week

Video link
Sample rough draft
outline sheet link

2017-2018 Essay Prompts 
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

 2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

More College Application Prompts/Idea Generator: (you MAYwrite 1-2 of these down if you like)

• Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 
• Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn? Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? 
• Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there and why is it meaningful to you? 
• Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
• What are your major accomplishments and why do you consider them accomplishments?
• Does any attribute, quality or skill distinguish you from everyone else? How did you develop this attribute?
• What was the most difficult time in your life and why? How did your perspective on life change as a result of the difficulty?
• Have you experienced a moment of epiphany, as if your eyes were opened to something you were previously blind to?

College Essay Assignment--100 pts.

Please copy the following notes into the College Essay/Malcolm X section of your notes:

Your task: Write an essay of no more than 500 words in which you tell about a significant person, event, hobby or experience from your life that shows a quality or multiple qualities that would make you a valuable addition to a college or the deserving recipient of a scholarship. 

Step 1: Brainstorm
*Read some examples/idea generator to get the idea.
*Look for patterns in your web. Group similar ideas and events together.
*Still stuck? See me or ask your group for ideas.

Step 2: Draft
*Use "show" don't "tell" narration--use imagery!  
* Grab and engage the reader's attention in the intro 
*Explain what the topic reveals about you in the essay.
*The conclusion should be brief--nail down the meaning of the events described.

Step 3: Revise
*Have someone in your group read it and tell you what he/she thinks. Ask them if they can guess the qualities you are trying to convey--Did they get it right?

*Note: Spelling and grammar errors and fuzzy narration will make your essay memorable--in a bad way.

Notes from today's class:

4. The two topics the author talks about are swimming and his grandparents’ cancer. He connects these two topics by telling us when he is alone doing laps he thinks about the joy his victories bring his grandparents and how he tries to cut time, while they try to extend it. The author tells us that in the “solitude” of his laps his “thoughts transition” to his grandparents and how his achievements bring them a “vicarious sense of victory.” He explains how these two things are what motivates him the most.

1. Some vivid details the author uses are imagery to describe what it’s like getting up and to the pool to practice early in the morning. The author states, “the cold dark locker room” and “desolate city streets” to show us what it’s like at that time. He may use imagery to get the reader interested and show us what it’s like and how hard it is.

Still, closer.....

*Today we will continue with the same work---anything you have not finished yet and the continuation of the modern A Raisin in the Sun movie.
*Remember, along with finishing your Castle Learning you can do more than 10 for extra-credit.

Another day closer...

*Today you should continue to work on the assignments posted yesterday (RITS essay, Castle Learning, Senior Exit Speech, multiple choice from last week)
*I also plan on letting you watch the new version of the movie this week while you work.

Thursday/Friday

First, we need to take the English IV, Quarter 4 District Assessment (I will give you a 100% as a quiz grade, but please try your best--if you get 0 correct, you will receive no credit)

Please read the link below and write your answers on the multiple choice sheet provided for you.

Reading passage for the multiple choice: Click here

Second, work on your RITS essay, due by the end of class tomorrow! Look at yesterday's post for help!

*If you would like to begin your Castle Learning for next week (you need to do 10 total) you can do that also. Just go to the blog page and click on the link (by the quiz link in the upper left corner) and log-in using your regular computer log-in info)