English/Language Arts Writing Practice Notebook

English/Language Arts Writing practice notebook

“Once the grammar has been learned, writing is simply talking on paper and in time learning what not to say”.-Beryl Bainbridge

I think that everyone should write every day – or nearly every day. Why you might ask? Because it helps us know ourselves, reflect honestly on our lives, and practice using the written word to express our thoughts and feelings about people, situations, and just life in general. We get a chance to get those thoughts that we may not necessarily be able to articulate in conversation out via a different avenue that doesn’t have to be face-to-face.

Since one our goals in this class is to become better writers, you will have the opportunity in your Writing Practice Notebook. This not book must be a one subject notebook, not a journal or a composition notebook, or a fives subject notebook. You can choose any appropriate topic or idea to write about such as:

● Lists (likes/dislikes) *only 2 pages a quarter*

● Fiction/journal/memoir/ Poetry (No Acrostics!) ● Wishes/ Life plans ● Imaginary letters to people ● Vent fest/original songs/original quotes

● Feelings about things ANYTHING, as long as you are writing!! *I do have writing rules. They are as follows: You cannot write about sex, drugs (or any other substance abuse), cursing, or violence. *Notes from any class, poetry or song lyrics that are not your own and pictures do not count towards your required pages*

*IT MUST BE YOUR ORIGINAL WRITING! I will Google!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your grade for this project is based on points. You can receive up to 25 points if criteria is followed. You will need to write 25 pages every nine weeks. Yes, you can do it! I will give you time in class. However, you will need to work on this outside of class as well.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. 25 half pages the first quarter. 2. 25 full pages for quarters 2-4. 3. Each page is numbered – starting with #1 for each quarter along with the date. 4. Each page must be in cursive and in pencil. Any pages written in anything other than pencil, will not count toward your 25 completed pages. 5. You can write more than 25 pages, but they will not count for the next nine weeks. 6. This notebook is for Language Arts only. Bring it to class every day.

WRITING TIPS:  Capitalize the beginning of a sentence.  Capitalize all nouns. (Names of people, places, things)  Capitalize days of the week and months of the year. Walmart African American President Obama Tonya Brown August Fairgrove Middle School Lumberton, North Carolina

 Indent all paragraphs.  Sentences end with punctuation, (periods, question marks, or exclamation marks)  Capitalize the pronoun “I”. When I fell yesterday, I broke my finger.

 When writing dialogue, two or more characters holding a conversations, use paragraphs to indicate when a different person is speaking with quotation marks and indention.

“Mom, can you please let me go to the party on Friday,” Shayla pleaded using her best interpretation of a cute puppy.

“You can go only if all of your chores are done. Meaning, your room, bathroom, and kitchen must be clean,” her mother warned.

 Ellipses (…) are only used when you are leaving out information when quoting a line someone else has written. “Death has no claim over me, illness cannot touch me…I was born in the Year of Our Lord 1330, more than six hundred and seventy years ago.” From The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

 Dashes are used to convey a break in the character or author’s thoughts. They are similar to commas. “What a world we live in,” he commented, sighing, “when everything—possibly even the continuance of the human race—lies on the shoulders of those teenagers.” From The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel