Writing Projects

The William S. Hart High School District recently won a grant to use the My Access online writing program. This is an exciting new program that allows the students to get instant feedback on their writing and helps them to edit their work to make it even stronger. I will be using this program for three of our writing projects for the year.

Click Here to go to the My Access writing web site.

The Logon is: HSD + your student ID number. Example: HSD00112233

The Password is your student ID number. Example: 00112233

Students will have one week from the day that we type our projects in the computer lab at school to edit their work at home or in the school library (on the My Access web site) and get their score as high as possible. At the end of one week, the grades will be locked in for that project. Students will be limited to five submissions for each project to try and improve their scores.

Click here to see how the My Access score will turn into a grade for my class.

Click here for tips on how to use My Access to edit papers once they have been submitted.

1st Quarter Writing Project

Short Story - My Access

A Day in Ancient Pompeii

The ancient city of Pompeii was completely covered by volcanic ash after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Imagine that you have been transported to the ancient city of Pompeii just a few days prior to the volcano's eruption.

Write an imaginative story about your experiences in Pompeii. Be sure to include details from your studies about the customs, meals, jobs, and other aspects of daily life for a citizen of ancient Pompeii to make your story more realistic.

As you write, remember your story will be scored based on how well you:

  • develop a multi-paragraph response to the assigned topic that clearly communicates the purpose of your story to the audience.

  • describe the characters, setting, and conflict using meaningful sensory descriptions and details that enable the reader to visualize the experiences in your narrative.

  • organize your story in a clear and logical manner, including a beginning, middle and end.

  • use well-structured sentences and language that are appropriate for your audience.

  • edit your work to conform to the conventions of standard American English.

2nd Quarter Writing Project

Response to Literature - My Access

"After Twenty Years" by O. Henry

In the story "After Twenty Years" by O. Henry, two friends are about to reunite at the same place they parted twenty years before.

After carefully reading "After Twenty Years," write a multi-paragraph essay analyzing the author's message. Be sure to use specific details and examples from the text to support your response.

As you write, remember your essay will be scored based on how well you:

  • develop a multi-paragraph response to the assigned topic that clearly communicates your thesis to the audience.
  • support your thesis with meaningful examples and references from the text, carefully citing any direct quotes.
  • organize your essay in a clear and logical manner, including an introduction, body, and conclusion.
  • use well-structured sentences and language that are appropriate for your audience.
  • edit your work to conform to the conventions of standard American English.

Click here for some sample essays to see what a good essay would like like.

3rd Quarter Writing Project

Persuasive Essay - My Access

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Everything changed the moment Stargirl arrived at Micah High. She is anything but normal, yet she quickly captures Leo Borlock’s heart. At first Leo is too in love to notice that Stargirl is not being accepted by the other students, but soon he starts to feel the pressure of trying to fit in. Eventually, Leo convinces Stargirl to change to become more like everybody else. Should Stargirl have changed to try to become more popular?

As you write, remember your essay will be scored based on how well you:

  • develop a multi-paragraph response to the assigned topic that clearly communicates your thesis to the audience.
  • support your thesis with meaningful examples and references from the text, carefully citing any direct quotes.
  • organize your essay in a clear and logical manner, including an introduction, body, and conclusion.
  • use well-structured sentences and language that are appropriate for your audience.
  • edit your work to conform to the conventions of standard American English.

4th Quarter - Summary

For the 4th quarter we will be working on the elements of summary writing.

We will also learn how to write chunk paragraphs and will be working on journal writing in our Interactive Notebooks throughout the year.

 

Photo: Floating Restaurant
(Stockholm, Sweden)