Daybooks:

Daybook Assignments:

  1. Homework questions concerning literature in class—

You will find these questions on your unit outlines. All answers must be in complete sentences and paragraph form

  1. Five to ten minute in-class writings responding to notecard questions, newspaper or magazine articles, short news videos, etc.
  2. In-class essay topics relevant to our reading or from a prompt as practice for the writing assessments.

All of your responses need to be in complete sentences and paragraph form.

How to Write a Daybook Entry:

Daybooks are not graded for punctuation, grammar, or spelling. This does not mean that you may simply forget those techniques; however, I will forgive your minor transgressions. Daybooks are graded for content. You are required to write in complete sentences and paragraph form. You must address each question with your first sentence. Below are a few sample daybook entries.

Sample A:

Question: If you could be a superhero, what would be your super power? Why? Also, what would you name be? Why?

Answer: I would love to think I could be a superhero, but I’m never good in a crisis! Here goes, anyway. Let’s see: I’d have superhuman mind abilities—the kind where you can move objects and hypnotize people and make things explode with your mind. Wouldn’t that be fun? I could save the world without ever getting out of my chair. Now, that’s a power to have; but just to keep myself in shape, I would be a kickboxing champion. That way I wouldn’t have to always use my mind as a weapon. Hmmm! Oh yes, I would also be able to see into the future as well as the past. Nifty trick, if you’re a private investigator.

A name? Yes, I need a name…hmm…how about “Mistress Mindbender”? No, don’t like it. Let’s see…”Brainiac”—already been used for an evil computer from Krypton. I’ve got it—“Sorrow”. All my knowledge brings me pain. People love that dark, brooding type of character.

Sample B:

Question: Describe your favorite color without stating its name. Be sure to use the sensory details that each excellent description requires.

Answer: My favorite color is an ocean breeze, cooling shade wrapped in pleasant pool water. It smells of a sweet, enticing, fruit pie and feels as soft and slinky as a crisp silk wrap. It’s how the air smells after a clean, hard rain and how the sky looks as a rainbow breaks through the clouds. It’s in the rippling, bubbling laughter of a cheerful brook and the roaring call of Niagara Falls. It’s the color of the sea after a storm and a placid lake on a sweltering summer day.

Daybook Grading Policy:

Daybooks will be graded every second Friday. Twenty percent of the grade will be whether or not you have all of your entries and eighty percent of the grade will be based on the quality of those entries. I will tell you before you turn in your daybooks how many entries to choose for me to read. I will then check your daybook for completeness and only read those entries you have marked for me. Those will be the entries that are eighty percent of your daybook grade and since your daybook is one of your major test grades, I would suggest that you choose those particular entries wisely.

Your daybook is also a part of your final exam grade. This means you must not lose it during the course of the year.