english drills

Mr. Toth’s English Class

English Drillbook

2

*Ticket*

With your parents, come up with five goals you wish to accomplish by the end of the school year in English class. Be sure to create goals that are both doable and challenging. We will discuss these goals next class.

8/30/11

HW: “Class Goals”

3

*Ticket*

In your drillbook, write a paragraph detailing your first impressions of the first day of school. Reflect on the things you viewed as positive, and feel free to mention any observations that were negative. Conclude your paragraph with a sentence predicting how you anticipate the rest of this week will go.

8/31/11

Drill: “My First Day”

4

Choose two goals you think the entire class can achieve.

9/1/11

Drill: “Feasible Goals”

5

Write about one highpoint and one lowpoint that has occurred in your life.

9/2/11

Drill: “Highpoints and Lowpoints”

6

Reflect on your lifemap. Explain what you liked about your lifemap and how you think you could have made it better.

9/6/11

Drill: “Lifemap Reflection”

*Ticket*

Select one symbol that is uniquely special in your life. In your drillbook, write a detailed paragraph describing this event.

HW: “My Life Moment”

7

Explain the purpose and benefit of the wiki.

9/7/11

Drill: “The Wiki”

8

What do you like about the wiki?

9/8/11

Drill: “Wiki Wrap-Up”

9

What’s different about tonight’s HW (Published Draft) then the wiki itself?

9/12/11

Drill: “Final Draft”

10

Why is there no such thing as a “final draft”?

9/13/11

Drill: “Final Draft”

11

Write a list of three things lungs do to keep you healthy.

9/14/11

Drill: “Lungs”

*Ticket*

You are a lung in the human body. Write a letter to your host body to persuade your host why you need to stay healthy and why the host will be better off if you ARE and STAY in tip-top condition.

CW/HW: “Lungs Letter”

12

*Ticket*

Directions: Identify the RAFTS of the prompt below.

Pretend that you are a marketing director in the NFL. A team’s organization has asked you to design a new helmet. Construct a 3D model of the new helmet and present your creation to the shareholders of the team.

R – marketing director T – new logo for team

A – the shareholders S – construct, design

F – 3D model

9/15/11

Drill: “Unlock the Prompt”

13

Ideas

Organization

Word Choice

Voice

Sentence Fluency

Conventions

Presentation

9/16/11

Drill: “6+1 Review”*Ticket* During the Revision stage, you

add emotion and soul to your writing to make it more personal.

During the Prewriting stage, you create a cluster web to narrow down a topic.

During the Editing stage, you fix your spelling.

During the Publishing stage, you change your font and add a graphic on the cover.

During the Writing stage, you replace a flat, telling statement with sensory details and add a metaphor.

During the Writing stage, you combine some sentences to vary sentence length in your paper.

During the Prewriting stage, you create a graphic organizer.

14

*Ticket*

Read the following prompt and identify the F in RAFTS.

Mr. Toth is in critical condition, and Mrs. McGowan is very upset. She looks for someone to blame, and every finger is pointing at you. With no options left, you know the principal will find you guilty. Write a thirty-page confession and beg Mrs. McGowan not to press charges.

9/19/11

Exit Ticket: “RAFTS Identification”

15

Write a few sentences on what you know about inferences.

*Notes:

Context clues – surrounding word; nearby word

not directly stated

Literal – factual/truthful

Inferences – educated connection/guess/conclusion

based on the facts (context clues)

within reason

An inference can be wrong if it is completely unreasonable.

9/20/11

Drill: “Inference”

16

Based on the checks we saw yesterday, evaluate this statement.

Lawrence Exeter, Sr. loves his son.

Refer to a specific check to support your answer.

9/21/11

Drill: “Lawrence Exeter, Sr.”

17

Support the following claim by referring to specific checks in the story.

Lawrence Exeter, Jr. is a spoiled brat.

9/22/11

Drill: “Character Analysis”

18

What is the difference between a weak comment and a strong comment?

What characteristics or qualities does a strong comment have?

9/23/11

Drill: “Quality Comment”

19

Define what makes an argument.

9/26/11

Drill: “What is an Argument?”

Persuasive Writing

Opinion

Rooted in Emotion

Think with Heart

“I think…”

Argument Writing

Claim

Rooted in Logic/Evidence

Think with Head

“I think…”

CW: Notes

20

Look back at the essay that you wrote yesterday. Check off to verify your inclusion of the following from your graphic organizer.

9/28/11Drill: “Argument Writing Checklist”

( ) Claim

( ) Support/Citation (Two Specific Checks)

( ) Explanation/Extension

Sentences that explain the citation’s connection to the claim

( ) Counterclaim

Acknowledgement of a critic’s argument

( ) Rejection of Counterclaim

Sentence that reveals the flaws of the counterclaim or the superiority of the claim.

21

Define this literary term.

or

10/3/11

Drill: “Mood”

Today we will be reading a story. Predict what it will be about.

Drill: “Most Dangerous Game”

22

Determine the figurative device used in the following sentence.

“…trying to peer through the dank tropical night that was palpable as it pressed its thick warm blackness in upon the yacht.”

10/4/11

Drill: “Figurative Language”

23

Determine the figurative device used in the following sentence.

“There was no breeze. The sea was as flat as a plate-glass window. We were drawing near the island then. What I felt was a – a mental chill; a sort of sudden dread.”

10/5/11

Drill: “Figurative Language II”