STARTER 6
*** You need 3 printed copies of your essay by the beginning of class!
Agenda 1. Go over questions on the tuning protocol 2. Get into your grous, find a place, pull some tables together, and get started! This should take the entire class period. HOMEWORK Final draft of your college essay, PRINTED, due Tuesday, 9/13 WStarter 5 Read this New York Times article about a controversial college essay and answer the following prompts:
Class Biz
Agenda 1. Share responses to the starter article 2. Support Group Check In (Be sure to save 5 minutes at the end of class to check back in and share out what you accomplished today)
3. College Essay Work Time Time to work on your college essay! You could tackle any of the following:
Please note that you should NOT be using your time for any of the following:
4. Support Group Check-In In the last 5 minutes of class, regroup with your support group. Go around, see how well each person did at achieving the goal they set for themselves at the start of class today. Today's Goal: Draft a bomb-diggidy college essay!!! Develop your authentic voice and slam dunk this!
Class Biz
Starter 4: College Essay brainstorm sesh Pick one of the following brainstorm activities that you think will be most useful to you and do it OR if you are well underway with your essay, skip to the LAST OPTION. Option 1: 15-20 min. freewrite Read over the college app essay prompts on the "College Essay Bootcamp Overview" handout located on the Documents page. Choose one prompt that you're most drawn to. You can do this exercise again with another prompt if you are torn between two. Now, just free write for the next 15-20 minutes without stopping. Don't censor yourself. Just let your thoughts fly out. You may find that your thoughts start to swirl around one topic; perhaps a significant person in your life, or a defining moment, or place, or characteristic trait of yours, etc...That's great! When the time is up, read through your ramblings and highlight lines that stand out. Hopefully you've begun to generate some material, either in terms of the topic or even in terms of the actual phrasing for your essay! Option 2: Morning Writing Exercise -- Finding your authentic voice Follow the instructions for the above exercise on that linked website. This exercise is meant to help you find your VOICE. This is a good one for those of you who are always stumped when your Humanities teacher tells you to write with an authentic voice-- you're like, "How does my writing have a voice? Written words don't speak?!". Option 3: Brainstorm: Objects Follow along with the instructions for this brainstorm exercise, which gets you to imagine a box and then place all sorts of things that represent yourself in that box....It could generate some really useful IMAGERY for your college essay. Option 4: Values Brainstorm Not sure what you value? This short exercise helps you narrow down your top values. Options 5-725: This document has a BUNCH of brainstorming strategies. Skim it and see if any suit you. LAST OPTION: If you are well underway with your essay and brainstorming seems unnecessary, write me a note about what you are struggling with in your writing. Do you need help with developing your VOICE? With how to hook the reader? With a slam dunk "kicker" to end the essay? With imagery? With word choice? Agenda Support Group Check In Spend 5-10 minutes in your support group, checking in. Make sure everyone knows what they need to do for the days, and have each person in the group share where they want to be by the end of class today. College Essay Work Time Time to work on your college essay! You could tackle any of the following:
Please note that you should NOT be using your time for any of the following:
Support Group Check-In In the last 5 minutes of class, regroup with your support group. Go around, see how well each person did at achieving the goal they set for themselves at the start of class today. HOMEWORK: Complete draft of college essay. DUE: Start of class, Wednesday, 9/7. Need 3-4 printed copies for critique (one for each member in your support group PLUS one for me) College Essay Bootcamp Preface: Independence! One of the themes of this year for me, for you, is increasing independence. As such, I’m putting you in the driver’s seat for much of this process. In college, it’s unlikely that your professors will have interim deadlines for papers and projects. You will have to plan your time, hold yourself accountable, and seek the help you need. So let’s practice that with this project—there’s some symbolic resonance, no? Starter 3
Sample Essay Read-aloud. (Handout-- "Sample Essays"- docs page) In groups of 2-4, go find your own corner of the room. Then, choose one of the sample essays to read out loud. Non-readers should follow along with the document on your computer in front of you. As you read look for the following. When the read aloud is done, discuss:
Where Are You? The corners of the classroom have been labeled with numbers 1-4. Go to the corner that best represents your current status in regards to college essays. Use the following criterion: Which phrase best describes your current situation in regards to college essay writing?
Support Groups Pick a group of 3 students from your corner and form a support group. You will be working in/with your support group for many of the remaining College Essay Boot Camp tasks. After your group is formed, see me for a scheduling sheet (Handout: “Support Group Scheduling” - Docs Page) and a packet of helpful resources. You'll run through the following tasks:
Turn your schedule into me. I'll make copies for your group. Now get started on your schedule! HOMEWORK:
|
Ashley CarruthHumanities teacher at Animas High School Archives
May 2021
Categories |