AP Language and Composition/Kearney

AP Language and Composition/Kearney

The Writer’s Notebook

t is partly the unpolished quality of the notebooks I find so beautiful. One finds in them the record of a struggle, full of rough edges.

Laurie Sheck

Overview

A Writer’s Notebook will demonstrate diligence and effort in recording the student’s life as a reader and writer, both in and out of class. The Notebook will continue the writer’s thoughtful collection and reflection on rhetoric—written and spoken—started as part of summer reading. Additionally it will include weekly vocabulary lessons and Review and Preview (RAP) activities completed daily at the beginning of class. The Writer’s Notebook will be collected and graded once each nine-week grading period. The three components are each worth 100 points for a total of 300 points per grading period. The rubrics are attached.

Components of the Writer’s Notebook

! Writer’s Choice

It will include reflections on a variety of written material: required reading, novels, short stories, essays, editorials and editorial cartoons, blogs magazine articles, newspaper articles or reflections on media: advertising, music, television, movies, the Internet, social network media, and graphic elements such as charts, cartoons, maps, and graphs as well.

! Review and Preview Activities

Each day will begin with a RAP (Review and Preview) Activity. These activities have two purposes: to focus students on the content of AP English Language and Composition at the beginning of class and to provide daily practice in critical writing and analysis of style including diction, syntax, and grammar. These practices may include Critical Writing Journals, Voice Lessons, or Grammar Dog activities.

! Vocabulary

Students in AP English Language and Composition are expected to learn new, challenging vocabulary from both the direct study of language and the acquisition of new words from reading. The Vocabulary section of the Writer’s Notebook will be the collection of both the lessons assigned and your individual collections of words that you have encountered in reading that are new, interesting, or puzzling.

or me, there has to be an absolute flexibility in maintaining a notebook. My notebooks are really scrapbooks--pieced together with fragments, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, long and short passages, magazine and newspaper clippings, postcards these items seem to dictate their own coherence. Some are like jumpstarts for the imagination; others function more like jumpcuts--little bridges that spring up between ideas and feelings. Connectors. Accidental linkages. Surprises.

Yusef Komunyakaa

What should be included in the Writer’s Choice section?

The notebook should include a minimum of 27 Writer’s Choice entries per 9-week grading period. An entry is a note, quotation, passage, idea with a full reflection in your own voice. Document the source of any excerpts, passages, or ideas directly from another writer or creator using MLA 7th format.

Entries will consider:

· What makes this piece good or bad?

· What was the purpose of the piece?

· What drew your attention to the piece?

· What was the big idea you learned from reading this piece?

· What techniques are used by the author, artist, or creator in the work?

· How can you incorporate the techniques used in the piece in your own work?

AP Language and Composition/Kearney

The Writer’s Notebook

The student may consider a variety of elements that make up rhetoric: style, message, audience, syntax, diction, vocabulary, tone, appeals (logos, pathos, and ethos), genre, and humor. Entries will include outstanding examples you have encountered and reflect on the effect the writer or speaker achieves in the passage. The notebook will show the student’s enthusiasm and reflection for language and meaning through regular entries and reflection on the content of the notebook prior to its submission.

What should be included in the RAP Section?

Upon entering class each day students should begin the Review and Preview (RAP) activity. These assignments should take about five minutes to complete; however, students not able to complete the activity during the time period should finish each assignment for homework.

All work should be completed in blue or black ink with corrections and notes from discussions clearly marked in red ink.

Activities will include:

· Critical Writing Journals: short writing practices on the skills of rhetoric and argument

· Voice Lessons: analysis of brief passages for style and voice, including diction, syntax and tone

· Grammar Dog: multiple choice exercises in grammar and style using passages from American literature

What should be included in the Vocabulary section?

· Vocabulary lists printed or copied (nine lessons for each notebook grade)

· Memory tips printed or copied

· Yes/No/Why answers completed in blue or black pen or typed and additional notes from discussion added in red pen

· Analogies answered in blue or black pen or typed and corrected in red pen

· Matching answered in blue or black pen or typed and corrected in red pen

· Words in context answered in blue or black pen or typed and corrected in red pen

· Reading in context article annotated, questions answered, and writing assignment completed

· At least 20 additional memory tips or words encountered in reading (follow the format attached.)

Vocabulary Notebook Requirements

þ Notebook should be a section of the Writer’s Notebook

þ All work in the notebook should be clearly labeled by lesson # and activity.

þ All work in the vocabulary notebook should be typed or written in blue or black pen, no pencil.

þ All corrections and additional notes made in class should be made in red pen.

þ Lessons within the notebooks must be complete by each Friday in order to participate in class discussion, but the notebooks will only be graded once per nine week grading period.

nto my notebook goes anything that is interesting enough to stop me in my tracks—the slump of a pair of shoulders in a crowd, a newspaper entry, a recipe, "chewy" words like ragamuffin orMaurice. . . For me, it all begins with a notebook: it is the well I dip into for that first clear, cool drink.

Rita Dove

Vocabulary Lesson Due Dates

Lesson

First Semester

Lesson

Second Semester

1 13 August 2010

17 7 January 2011

20 August 2010

14 January 2011

27 August 2010

21 January 2011

3 September 2010

28 January 2011

10 September 2010

4 February 2011

17 September 2010

11 February 2011

24 September 2010

18 February 2011

1 October 2010

28 February 2011

8 October 2010

4 March 2011

22 October 2010

11 March 2011

29 October 2010

18 March 2011

5 November 2010

25 March 2011

12 November 2010

1 April 2011

19 November 2010

15 April 2011

3 December 2010

22 April 2011

10 December 2010

29 April 2011

/ /

6 May 2011

/ /

13 May 2011

/ /

20 May 2011

Reminder: Vocabulary Lessons are due each Friday for discussion and/or corrections. The section of the notebook will only be graded once each nine-week period. Be sure to complete missing assignments before turning in the notebook.

AP Language and Composition/Kearney

The Writer’s Notebook

First Semester Due Dates / Second Semester Due Dates
1st Nine Weeks / 2nd Nine Weeks / 3rd Nine Weeks / 4th Nine Weeks
8 October 2010 / 10 December 2010 / 11 March 2011 / 17 May 2011
Writer’s Choice
(100 possible points)
Criteria / Superior (95%) / Skillful (85%) / Competent (75%) / Ineffective (65%)
Volume
(20) / Most entries are a one 8.5”x11” page or more long (2 or more if journal is smaller). / Most entries are a ½ 8.5”x11”
page to one 8.5”x11” page long
(1-2 pages if journal is smaller). / Most entries are about a ½
8.5”x11” page long (1 page if journal is smaller.) / Entries are undeveloped
Variety
(20) / Writer collects a variety of written material and media for reflections and covers a variety of topics and issues. / Writer collects less varied written material and media and focuses on a limited number of topics and issues. / Writer collects similar written material or limits the types to either written material or media and focuses on repeated issues. / Entries demonstrate no variety in types or topics.
Reflections
(40) / Entries are thoughtful and a reflective, revealing new insight into the writer’s thinking through consideration of the elements of rhetoric or the ideas themselves. Entries demonstrate the writer’s passion for language. / Entries are mostly thoughtful
and reflective and may reveal
new insights into the writer’s thinking but do not clearly demonstrate the writer’s enthusiasm and passion for language. / Entries resemble a list, scrapbook, or diary with some attempt at reflection but focuses primarily on summary. Reflection may primarily focus on “what” rather than “why” or
how” the writing makes meaning. / Entries are hard to read because of sloppy handwriting or lack of organization. They demonstrate little to no reflective thought.
Frequency
(10) / At least 90 percent of the required entries are completed. (min. 24) / At least 80 percent of the required entries are completed.
(min. 22) / At least 75 percent of the required entries are completed.
(min. 20) / At least 70 percent of the required entries are completed.
(min. 19)
MLA
Documentation
(10) / Documentation is complete for
all entries and follows MLA 7th edition with no errors. / Documentation is complete for
all entries and follows MLA 7th edition with 1-10 errors in punctuation and capitalization. / Documentation is complete for
all entries and follows MLA 7th
with more than 10 errors in punctuation or capitalization. / Documentation is incomplete, missing information, or does not follow MLA 7th edition.
N.B.: Distinctive Writer’s Choice sections will receive a 100. Notebooks which fail to meet even the minimum requirements noted on the rubric will be returned to the writer with the grade of 0. The reflective nature of the notebook over time requires writers to do the assignment throughout the semester, and it may not be made up or revised.
RAP Activities
(100 possible points)
Criteria / Superior (95%) / Skillful (85%) / Competent (75%) / Ineffective (65%)
Participation
(45) / Student begins work on RAP activity immediately upon entering the classroom and works only on AP English Language and Composition during the first five minutes of class. Student is focused and does not disrupt others during the RAP activity. / Student begins work on RAP activity immediately upon entering the classroom but may sometimes be observed working on other assignments or be focused on other activities. / Student generally begins work on RAP activity upon entering class but may have to be reminded to focus on the activity, put away other assignments or stop disrupting the other students. However, once reminded student re-focuses on RAP activity. / Student often fails to pick up RAP activity upon entering class, routinely works on assignments for other classes at the beginning of class and/or may disrupt other students even after repeated warning to focus on the RAP activity.
Frequency
(45) / All the required entries (100 percent) are completed. / At least 90 percent of the required entries are completed. / At least 80 percent of the required entries are completed. / At least 70 percent of the required entries are completed.
Completeness and Accuracy
(10) / RAP activities are completed thoroughly and accurately with few mistakes. Mistakes are corrected. Additional notes are added during discussion or demonstrate independent reflection. / RAP activities are completed and accurately with few mistakes. Mistakes are corrected. Some entries show additional reflection. / RAP activities are completed, mistakes are corrected. Little attention is given to additional notes or reflection after the activity is completed. / RAP activities are partially completed and demonstrate little attention to accuracy through corrections or reflection.
Distinctive RAP sections will receive a 100. Notebooks which fail to meet even the minimum requirements noted on the rubric will be returned to the writer with the grade of 0. The reflective nature of the notebook over time requires writers to do the assignment throughout the semester, and it may not be made up or revised.
Vocabulary
(100 possible points)
Criteria / Superior (95%) / Skillful (85%) / Competent (75%) / Ineffective (65%)
Completeness
(20) / All lessons are printed or copied in the notebook—word lists, memory tips, Yes/No/Why, analogies, matching, words in context, reading in context (5) / All lessons are printed or copied in the notebook as for a superior grade, but one or two of the activities may be incomplete or missing. / All lessons are printed or copied in the notebook as for a superior grade, but three to five of the activities may be incomplete or missing. / One of the lessons may be missing in its entirety or six to ten of the activities may be incomplete or missing.
Correctness/
Corrections
(10) / The analogies, matching, and words in context are 100 percent correct or corrected. / Most of the analogies, matching, and words in context are correct or corrected. / Some of the analogies, matching, and words in context are correct or corrected. / Few of the analogies, matching, and words in context are correct or corrected.
Reading in Context Activities
(50) / Essays are annotated and questions or writing assignments are completed fully with thought and reflection. They reveal new insight through the consideration of rhetoric or the ideas themselves. Responses demonstrate the writer’s enthusiasm and passion for language. / Essay are mostly annotated and questions or writing assignments are mostly thoughtful
and reflective and may reveal new insights into the writer’s thinking but do not clearly demonstrate the writer’s
enthusiasm and passion for language. / Essays may be not be annotated thoroughly and questions or writing assignments resemble a list with some attempt at reflection but may be rushed and less thorough. Answers may show minimal insight. / Essays are not annotated completely and questions or writing assignments are hard to read because of sloppy handwriting or lack of organization. They demonstrate little to no reflective thought.