Writing with Mrs. Murphy

Friday, September 2, 2011

Journal Prompt - Sept 2

Good morning!

Your journal prompt for today is below.

Happy Writing!
Mrs. Murphy

Do you think you will one day be a grandparent? What type of grandparent will you be? Will you be more strict than your grandparents or will you be more lenient with your grandchildren? How many grandchildren would you like to have? What legacy will you leave them?

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Journal Prompt - September 1

Good morning!

FREE CHOICE JOURNAL THIS MORNING! :-)

Enjoy!
Mrs. Murphy

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Journal Prompt - August 31

Good morning, 6th Grade!

Below is your journal prompt for today!

Happy Writing!
Mrs. Murphy

What would happen if there were no television? Why would this be good? bad?

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Journal Prompt - August 30

Happy Tuesday!

Below is your journal prompt. Be aware of your topic while writing. Make sure you are using capital letters and ending punctuation, where needed.

Happy Journaling!
Mrs. Murphy

If you had the power to be invisible would you use it? Why?

How and when would you use this special power?

Monday, August 29, 2011

Journal Prompt - August 29

Good morning!!

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend! Below is your journal prompt for today.

Happy Journaling!
Mrs. Murphy

What would happen if you could fly whenever you wanted? When would you use this ability?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Journal Prompt - August 26

Happy Friday!

I hope you all have had a fabulous week! Congratulations on making it through your first official week of middle school. You are all doing beautifully!! I am so proud of you and am so looking forward to this school year!!

Your journal prompt this morning is: FREE CHOICE. That means you may write about anything you would like. :-)

Happy journaling!
Mrs. Murphy

Journal - August 25

Happy Thursday, 6th Grade!

Below is your journal prompt for today!

Happy Writing!
Mrs. Murphy

Congratulations! You just won 2.5 million dollars in the Florida Lottery! How

will winning this money change your life? Would you move to another city, state, or country?

Would you share your money with your family? Would you quit school? Why or why not?

Traits of Writing

Ideas (Central Message)
Finding a Topic
Focusing the Topic
Developing the Topic
Using Details

Organization (Internal Structure)
Creating the lead
Using sequence words and transition words
Structuring the Body
Ending With a Sense of Resolution

Voice (Tone of the piece)
Establishing a Tone
Conveying the Purpose
Creating a Connection to the Audience
Taking Risks to Create Voice

Word Choice (Vocabulary)
Applying Strong Verbs
Selecting Striking Words and Phrases
Using Specific and Accurate Words
Choosing Words That Deepen Meaning

Sentence Fluency (How words and sentences flow)
Crafting Well-Built Sentences
Varying Sentence Types
Capturing Smooth and Rhythmic Flow
Breaking the "Rules" to Create Fluency

Conventions (Mechanical Correctness)
Checking Spelling
Punctuating Effectively and Paragraphing Accurately
Capitalizing Correctly
Applying Grammar and Usage

Presentation (Physical Appearance)
Applying Handwriting Skills
Using Word Processing Effectively
Making Good Use of White Space
Refining Text Features

Journal Writing

Journal Writing is a daily required assignment. You will be given a new prompt each day to write a thoughtful response to. Your response should consist of three to four paragraphs and should be written in proper format. You will be given approximately ten minutes to complete the writing assignment. Seven students will be pulled to share their responses each day.

If you should finish writing before time is called you may:
* Complete a Power Typing Excercise (link to the left)
* Read from our current literature story.
* Work in your handwriting book.

The items above should be accessed in that order.

Happy Journaling!

Modes of Writing

The Modes of Writing help the writer establish and maintain a purpose for writing. The modes are:

Narrative: to tell a story

Expository: to inform or explain

Persuasive: to construct an argument

During the early part of writing, writers focus on which mode they are going to use. The writer will decide if they are going to tell a story (Narrative), explain something (Expository), or try to convince the reader of something (Persuasive). As the writing process continues, the writer may find that they must blend modes in order to make the strongest impression on their audience.