Dear Mom, Dad, and Mrs. S,

It has always been a bit of a struggle for me to produce quality writing in every one of the six traits. I think that when I use my time wisely and really focus hard on my writing, and especially my ideas, my writing can turn out well. When I wrote my Coming of Age, I was really expressive and it turned out pretty great. But when writing the CE, I knew how important it was, and I didn't use all the new 'techniques' that I learned about, and rushed it. I know that I do have a lot of potential like many other students do, and I have work to do. (:
NEXT QUARTER; Next quarter I actually have big hopes. I think I need to practice more, and one good idea I think I will remember to do is to make more drafts. Instead of trying to make my first essay perfect, I know it's a good idea to be able to go in and revise. I need to work on putting more voice in my essays, and also work on my word choice.
2nd quarter is going to be hard, but I want to be able to add some fun too.

PORTFOLIO.

[second year in menemac!]

This time, we're doing BLOG portfolios! This first quarter has been busy but fun. We were able to catch up with everybody, and reflect on freshmen year. We also did much more focused exercises on sentence fluency.
The article on the right, is an example of how we located parallel sentences with professional writing. This really allowed me to see that sentences are varied and should be used (more often) to get a point or an idea across.






We also did sentence fluency practices by trying it ourselves. We worked in groups to come up with much more descriptive sentences, and we 'piled on' all of the detail into one sentence.

We also got to take notes on poetry. And even though we went through poetry last school year, this really clarified a lot of my questions. It was fun to talk about it in groups and get into deep conversations about the poems.
My goals that I wrote to Mrs. S at the begining of the year, were that I would get exited to write essays, and not think of it as a hassle. And I really wanted to write more personal and expressive pieces. I think I did an "okay" job of that. I was definitely more exited to get into writing, especially after learning more about sentence fluency. I also said that I wanted to improve my technology skills, and be able to communicate more. And I'm not as good as I want to be as far as photoshop goes, but I believe that I'm improving. I think you can see that in my OR card:

I could've done better with procrastinating, especially when we did our College Essays.
:(
But, when we wrote our coming of age essays, I'm proud to say, that I got everything in on time.

THE SIX TRAITS!!!

IDEAS: My writing has focus, and I don't lose track of my main ideas in the piece. It is strong, and interesting, and catches the readers attention. It shows that I know what I'm talking about. ORGANIZATION: The piece as a whole should feel like it has it's own rythym. It should stay on topic, and be suspensful, and make the reader think. VOICE: The piece should show me in it. I can be personal with my writing, and express my opinions. It should show that I actually have a passion for the topic. WORD CHOICE: My words are being utilized so that people remember my writing. It always has to make sense, and tie in with the piece.
SENTENCE FLUENCY: My sentences should be varied so it doesn't get boring to read. It should be used so that the reader feels like he/she must keep reading on.
CONVENTIONS AND PRESENTATION: My piece has to have no grammatical errors, and it should be able to be read by others.

I believe that my COA shows that I've got all of the traits down. {click the picture on the right}

And my College Essay shows a lot of my voice.

conclusion;

I am most proud of my Coming of Age essay... but I know that I can do better in the future. I'm also proud of my OR card. It's starting to get easier for me to make, and it's tons of fun.

I had some challenges with the critiquing during our mid-quarter exam. And also with the final writing exam. But I was able to get back on my feet by thinking positive, and not being afraid to ask questions.

GOALS: Next quarter, I will not be afraid to go and get help with something if I need it. And as much as possible, I would like to get started earlier with my essays, so that I have plenty of time to revise and make it better. Of course, I do need to practice sentence fluency more, and I will keep trying.

Overall, this quarter has been great. And I am looking forward to the rest of the year.