English 8 students worked on group editing as we gradually whittle our way down to pair work in anticipation of a year of workshopping. Students read a letter to them from one of last year’s students and edited its content and grammar.

English I students worked on integrating quotes into their own words, a key element in literature and informational text standards. We began with an easy quote and thesis from “The Sniper.”

• Topic: Sniper felt sorry for his actions
• CD: “The sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse.” (13)

As a class we came up with something along the lines of, “The sniper, after shooting his enemy, feels ‘bitten by remorse’ (13) because he’s come to admire his enemy.”

With our second paring, students worked in pairs. In the end, I gave them as an authoritative example the following:

For example, when he realizes “an old woman” who has her head “covered by a tattered shawl” is an informer, he doesn’t hesitate to see her as an enemy and to shoot her. (11)

We also came up with a hashtag to promote:

Alright, kiddos, let’s get this hashtag going else I’ll be #bittenbyremorse

— Gary Scott (@ourenglishclass) August 28, 2014

Creative writing students worked on a productive prompt to begin the class:

When a special event is on the horizon, people plan for it and get excited about it. Maybe it’s a dance, an election, a family event, a party, a birthday, or an important sports game.

Think of a special event that you planned for and looked forward to that turned out much differently from what you expected. Write about what you expected would happen and what actually happened.

Afterward, we looked at the idea of a rushed story (or content gaps) before heading to longer, sustained writing. We’ll be turning to pure workshop work next week.

Homework

• English I Honors: determine why “The Most Dangerous Game” can’t be in any other location or any other time.