Language Arts at Walkabout:dm Dec. 06
LA Homework - I Have Homework for LA Every Day, the Entire Year.
- Read for one hour.
- Write at least one half page in my Creative Writing Journal 5 nights a week. (E.g. working on my ideas for the next piece, or a personal freewrite).
- There will usually be a finished piece due each week, including your drafts and a self-evaluation.
LA at School: I Have Simple, Daily Requirements for Each Class.
- Treat each other with extreme respect (empathy, focus, body language)
- Keep an open mind to new ideas and new writing styles.
- Try to participate in some manner each day (read your piece, comment, etc.)
- Bring to every LA class: 1) LA handout binder, 2) writing journal, 3) pens
Questions about LA?
Rob AngielloPeg Cioffi
WalkaboutWalkabout
845 Fox Meadow Rd845 Fox Meadow Rd
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
914-248-3621 W914-248-3616 W
Most of the LA handouts can be downloaded from the LA WEBSITE. There are also resources and links for literature, art, film, politics and Rob and Peg’s email. Bookmark the page.
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Purpose of LA, Writing and Reading at Walkabout: Connect your learning with your life.
The first purpose of the Language Arts class is to help you become a better writer and create a strong community of support for your writing. Our aim is to help you understand writing more clearly and make the process a little less mysterious, a little less difficult.
We can help each other become better writers by respecting each other's words and ideas. With this community of writers at Walkabout, we will help each other believe in ourselves as independent, creative thinkers with something to say.
We do this by writing every day; giving the writer artistic freedom in class; taking chances with our writing and experimenting with different styles of expression. We do this by writing in a multitude of forms; talking with each other about writing; and reading our writing to each other. All of this takes place while reading novels, short stories, poetry and essays and exploring how these might enrich our own writing.
The second purpose of the Language Arts class is to help you move forward with your reading and your understanding of the many types of literature available to you. Along with writing, reading is one of the most important ways to strengthen your mind (and feed your soul). The system at Walkabout is for you to choose the books you want to read, while encouraging you to read as many types of books as possible.
September To-Do List
1. Buy a 100 page Spiral Notebook to be used for a Creative Writing Journal.
Note: you can use any type of book for your Journal, except those little homework pads. Use a sketchbook or some other bound book with blank or lined pages.
We do not read your journal, but you will be asked to talk to us about the writing you're doing in it during a one-to-one journal/binder/writing conference during CS and Internship.
- Put your name inside the front cover.
- Use a pen or marker, and date each entry.
2. Buy a three inch hard covered 3 ring binder to be used only for LA handouts.
Your LA binder should have 3 sections:
- Requirement sheets like this one
- Writing ideas and literature examples (poems, stories, etc.).
- Your finished piece packets (graded pieces with your self evaluation and drafts).
3. Start a book (read 3 by end of 1st quarter: . (insert date from LA Calendar handout.)
Unsure about where to start looking? Ask Rob or Peg. Ask friends and family to suggest a good book.
4. Due Dates: Put these dates and all due dates in your DATE BOOK. (insert dates from LA Calendar handout.)
- Show your journal, binder and 1st book to us by______.
- Begin your journal entries on ______.
- Finished Piece #1 of ____ Due: ______.
LA Requirements, or “How do you figure out my grade?”
A. Your Journal: Write 5 nights a week, at least half a page for each entry.
Write whatever you want in whatever forms you want. Use your journal to experiment with the writing ideas you get from class. The key is to write often and as much as you can. It is better to write five short pieces spread out over five days (capturing different moods) than one long piece. You will lose points at your journal conference if you show up with "bulk entries" - indicating that you wrote a bunch of long "catch-up" entries just to fulfill the requirement.
The idea of doing a series of small things well over time really is a big part of what Walkabout will try to teach you this year. This type of discipline and commitment usually results in great leaps of learning and growth. Your journal and other work for LA is a microcosm of many of the foundational concepts of Walkabout.
B. Finished Pieces:
On average, we’ll take about a week working on drafts and freewrites in class. Then, you’ll choose one idea and revise it into a typed final draft packet that will include your notes, drafts, and a self-evaluation regarding the piece. You are free to write about whatever you’d like, as long as the idea fits generally to the themes we have been working on in class. You will hand in a "Finished Piece Packet" (handout to follow soon) and a single copy of your piece for your "Permanent Folder" located in the LA room.
C. Reading:
Read one hour per night. Complete 3 books by the end of community service/Q1.
D. Conference during CS - Journal and LA Binder:
The conference will take around 20-30 minutes. This conference is a significant part of your 1st quarter LA grade. Peg and Rob will give you the requirements and schedule during the CS/LA overview. Do not be late for your JC; do not forget to bring the materials to your conference. If you forget them, lose them, you get a 65 - really.
E. Participation in class - (will be given only to those students who are present and prepared at the beginning of class).
There are no bells at Walkabout. It's up to you to get to class before it begins. We all must make an effort to create a respectful, attentive place for us to do our work. There are all kinds of ways to participate: reading your work, responding to another person’s work, reading one of the examples from literature or participating in one of our discussions.
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