Hello!

1. Hello! You need your reading log and a writing utensil. That all!

2. Narrative Info • The total possible points is 50. • How many times does 50 go into 100? That’s right, two times! • So, double your score and use the grading scale to find out your grade: 93-100=A 77-79=C+ 90-92=A- 73-76=C 87-89=B+ 70-72=C- 83-86=B 67-69=D+ 80-82=B- 60-66=D

3. What worked… Slowed down moments that were “at” or “above” standard simply had more narration. The writers added sensory description into the slowed-down moment.

4. “Ching!” was the sound as the knife unsheathed. The ring was loud and clear. It cut through the air piercing the majestic, peacefulness of the forest, waking a nest of birds nearby. Victor heard this and snapped off a small stick from a nearby tree. It had a hard, rough texture to it. He then took a step back and threw the stick as hard as he could. The stick took three rotations before hitting the criminal’s hand. The point hit dead on. There was a crushing sound that only Victor could hear. It was the sound of the criminal’s fingers shattering. The knife flew out of the thug’s hand and landed sticking up, point down in the ground a couple feet back, wobbling and vibrating. The criminal’s face showed surprise and tremendous pain as he clutched his broken hand. ~Augie Jackson

5. I expected my body to smile and relax, but the opposite happened. My arms and legs started to quiver. My eyes widened into huge circles. My throat started raging. It was as if there were unbearable eruptions exploding inside of me. Each unsteady breath scratched my insides. My throat was in so much pain that there may as well have been millions of bugs biting into it constantly. My neck was like a wash cloth being wrung out and twisted over a bucket of dirty towel water. My throat was infuriated enough to murder me. A piercing scream pounded and throbbed inside my ear. I realized the sound was coming from my own defeated lungs. Rivers of tears came flooding out of my scrunched up eyes. Each salty stream burned my cheek before it rolled off my chin and into my trembling lap. I grabbed my mama’s arm and tried to mumble a few words through my crashed down face, but I couldn’t. Through the ocean in my eyes, I saw mama’s fuzzy red turtle-neck reach out to me; she wrapped her arms around me, and I melted into them. “Lilly,” mama questioned, “does it feel like an allergic reaction?” ~LilyNeville

6. General Feedback • Don’t ever write on the final draft. • You can’t slow a moment down in a few sentences. • Ack!!!! • “Suddenly everything went into slow motion.” • “It was like a slow motion movie scene.” • “Insert dramatic music here.” • “Epic music.” • “Then I blacked out. When I woke up later, they told me what happened.” • “Then I sprinted after her. When I caught up to her…” • If you would like to re-write your slowed-down scene because it was not at standard, I am happy to rescore it.

7. Writing Goal Think about how you would like to improve/push yourself as a writer. Is your goal on this rubric? • Slowing down a scene. • Using sensory details to create a picture in the writer’s head. • Better organizing/sequencing of your stories. • Using ending punctuation more effectively. • Paragraphing correctly or more effectively. Or is your goal beyond the rubric? • Using more dialogue with expressive speaker tags. • Adding inner thinking. • Adding more descriptive narration. • Working on attention-grabbing beginnings. Write your goal in the space provided on the rubric.

8. Narrative On Demand Writing Please take out 2-3 sheets of notebook paper. Write a proper heading on one of those sheets First + Last Name Language Arts, 6-3 December 9, 2013 Wait for further instructions.

9. Remember a gift that you were given. Tell a story about receiving it and what made it so memorable, special, or unusual. Remember what we've learned about strong narrative writing: slow down the moment, use sensory or descriptive details, sequence the story, use ending punctuation, and use PATSI for paragraphing (change in person speaking, action, time, setting, idea).