"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." ~ Anton Chekov

Writing teachers often repeat the above well-worn piece of advice condensed into a simple phrase: "show, don't tell" to emphasize the importance of descriptive detail in "good" writing.  Although in grade schools, our teachers may have encouraged us to do both inviting us to select objects or stories to bring in from home to share with our classmates in the familiar activity "Show And Tell," when it comes to writing most people agree: showing beats telling hands down.

What do I mean by showing and telling in writing?  Let's take a look at some examples.  Here a writer presents the facts of the story by "telling":

"When I was seventeen, I moved out of my house in Mora and went to St. Paul. I lived with my sister near Frogtown. She moved there for the same reasons I did: our parents were too controlling. They wouldn't let us have our own lives."

The above "telling" example is not yet a story; it is a summary of a story.  We don't know what the characters look like.  We don't see them in a scene, or see them in action.  In order to see them in action we need action verbs, and we need to hear the kinds of things these characters might say.

Now, let's take a look at the same story this time presented with action, description, and dialogue:

"At seventeen, I ran out the front door of my parents' house, jumped into my car and drove from Mora to Frogtown in St. Paul in one hour, my red Firebird skidding to a halt in the gravel driveway of my older sister's house. I climbed from the car, raced across the lawn and pounded on her door. "Open up, Mary,” I yelled. “I can't live with those people anymore."

Here the reader is not told how the character feels about her parents, but is instead shown through the character's actions and speech.  By driving away fast from her parents' house, and banging on her sister's door, we can see that the narrator does not get along with her parents and needs to escape.  Showing, rather than telling, gives your readers the opportunity to draw their own conclusions

This week, as we revise our fairy tale "remixes" and conduct peer conferences, all the while working steadily towards publication, I'd like you to work on showing rather than telling by completing one of the following creative writing prompts below (choose one).

As always, don't forget to proofread for CUPS and do your best to write in complete sentences!

Image Source: http://ippaonline.com/ippa/2006/08/


Choose One

1.  Object Description. Go and look at some object rarely paid attention to, like a spider web or a dust ball or a pile of dirty socks, and write about its details. Describe with many senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, sound), and let your words suggest further words until a bigger theme, or idea cracks open.  Don’t think. Write. Stuff happens.

2.  Someone's got a secret.  Write a dialogue between two people who both have a secret they're keeping.  Do not reveal the secrets, but let your reader guess at them through the characters' words and actions.  For example, the dialogue might be between Clark Kent and Lois Lane, Lois Lane has a secret crush on Superman, and Clark Kent is Superman.  Remember, action is an important part of dialogue.  Sometimes we look away instead of answering.

3.  The murderous lake. Describe a lake as seen by a young person who has just committed murder.  Do not mention the murder.

4.  Describe a simple action.  Describe a simple action (sharpening a pencil, tying your shoelaces, making a lay-up shot) in detail using all four senses.  Make it interesting to read.

The above exercises were adapted from John Gardner's The Art of Fiction.

A Love Letter For ICS

A Love Letter for You - West Philadelphia Murals from Will Roegge on Vimeo.

In 2009 Steve Powers, a New York City based artist, illustrator, and Fulbright scholar, who began his career as a graffiti writer on the streets of West Philadelphia, had an idea for a mural arts project that would bring him back to the city he loved.  It was an idea that he said "came out of the ether"; he called it "Love Letter."  Perhaps you have seen the result?

Love Letter is a series of 50 rooftop murals from 45th to 63rd Streets that run along the Market street corridor and are best viewed from the Market/Frankford El.  Together the words and images tell the love stories between a guy and a girl, an artist and his hometown, and from local residents to their neighborhood of West Philadelphia.  Powers has this to say about the project, Love Letter is “a letter for one, with meaning for all” and speaks to all residents who have loved and for those who long for a way to express that love to the world around them. He considers the project “my chance to put something on these rooftops that people would care about.”

This week, as we complete our final character analysis essays (they are looking fantastic!) and we begin to blog again, I would like you to write your own "love letter" to ICS in a genre of your choosing. You may compose a poem, a song, an ode, a letter, a newspaper article, or a six word memoir even, if you provide a few sentences that explain what your six word memoir means.  As you write your commentary this week consider the following questions.

• What do you love most about ICS?  What makes our community special?
• Describe a favorite memory (be specific and use details).
• What is your favorite ICS event, tradition, or trip?  Why is it your favorite?
• Describe someone who you admire at ICS.  Why do you admire them?  What do you appreciate?
• Describe your hopes for ICS' future.  What hopes do you have for ICS over the years?

This week, your commentaries will be read not only by me, but also by Tr. Tracey.  Exemplary commentaries may be selected to be published in this year's yearbook so try to give your commentary a little something special!  Commentaries must be MEATY with examples, description, and analysis; in other words 2-3 paragraphs please.

**As always, remember to TAGG your answer and proofread for CUPS.  Quality commentaries have been composed in google docs and proofread before posting.

A Test Is Not The Only Way To Show What You Know...

This week, after finishing reading Mildred Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in literature circle groups, the 7th grade reorganized into groups based on student interest and began work on body biographies: life-sized portraits of some of the main characters from the novel.

Although students feel that they need a little more time (just one more day!) to finish adding the perfect symbols, words, and quotes from the novel to represent their characters, the results of just two days of work are impressive! Watching the 7th grade work on this project (while barking orders and trying to keep everyone on schedule), I was reminded how important projects like these can be. Small group work not only helps us to better understand our stories and characters through discussions, debate, and re-reading, but can also help to prepare us to work well with others and improve on solving problems with patience and compassion when issues arise (and they usually do when we work with others!).

Students, check out the video below of your body biographies and answer the following questions for this week's blog prompt (due Friday, March 18th) in complete sentences. Commentaries with sentence fragments, or one word answers, will receive a zero.

• What are your body biography’s strengths? (What are you most proud of?)
• What do you wish you had had more time to accomplish?
• What is one thing you learned or realized about your character or about ROT during this activity?
• Comment on another group's body biography.  Which details: symbols, colors, quotes worked well and why?
• Appreciations. Who do you appreciate working with in your group and why?

**As always, remember to compose your commentary in a google document.  Proofread for CUPS (Capitalization, Usage, Punctuation, and Spelling before posting).  Commentaries that do not use TAGS (Turn the question around, Answer the question, Give examples, and Summarize) will not receive full credit.  


Roll of Thunder - Body Biographies from lacey boland on Vimeo.

Music from the video by Sam Cooke and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

Building a Better Blog ~ Assessing Your Blogging Powers!

Students,

This week's blog commentary includes three parts.  Please complete all parts by Monday.

1.  It's that time of the trimester again when we must take a step back to assess where we've been and where we are going.  Much like we did during the first trimester, this week you will be looking back to re-read your blogging commentaries from December through February.

As you re-read your commentaries, I'd like you to think about your blogging strengths and your areas of growth.  What would you like to work on as a blogger as we head into the Student Blogging Challenge this March? What blogging skills would you like to continue to practice?

Have your comments changed at all from the first trimester?  If so, how?  Use the below rubric and the google doc form to assess your progress this trimester as we grow together as bloggers.  Just like last trimester, you will be selecting one piece to edit and polish to include in your writing portfolio, so make sure you read through each and every comment.

		A	Interesting – Something special. Makes the reader think and wonder Everything listed below.
	B	Good information. Well written. Detailed content. Everything listed below.
C	Correct usage and punctuation.  On topic and on time. Well organized. Everything listed below.
Correct spelling and capitalization.

This form is password protected, so make sure to log in after submitting! (This form is now closed for comments)

2.  When you are finished, add your comments to our "wall wisher" - what can we do as a community to build a better blog?

3.  What ten (10) images should we include on our blog to introduce the world to 7 Speaks and our school?  Think about images that we can include in a digital photo.  Please respond in the comments section below

Talking About a Revolution

Recently, it seems that we have been surrounded by examples of youth taking action, lending their voices to fight for change; and the media, comprised mostly of adults, have taken notice. 

Over the past few weeks, we've had the rare opportunity to watch as a revolution in Egypt took place before our very eyes.  The 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak has ended and, according to the New York Times, the young people of Egypt played a significant role in peacefully toppling his repressive rule.

The Times reports,

Dr. ElBaradei, a Nobel prize winner, has been the public face of an effort to reinvigorate and unite Egypt’s fractious and ineffective opposition since he plunged into his home country’s politics nearly a year ago, and he said the youth movement had accomplished that on its own. “Young people are impatient,” he said. “Frankly, I didn’t think the people were ready.”

But their readiness — tens of thousands have braved tear gas, rubber bullets and security police officers notorious for torture — has threatened to upstage or displace the traditional opposition groups. 

Dr. ElBaradei now seems to believe in the power of youth to effect social change, in the article he went on to say that,

The youth movement “will give them the self-confidence they needed, to know that the change will happen through you and not through one person — you are the driving force."

It remains to be seen how this revolution will unfold and who will carry the movement forward.  There is cause to be optimistic, yet Egypt still has a long way to go.  Read the full article from the Times here.

Closer to home, The Notebook reports, on February 11th close to 100 West Philadelphia High School students walked out of their classrooms at 1 PM.

Borrowing a tactic from the long history of student activism, students say they organized a walkout as a statement to the District about their disappointment and concern with the ongoing reforms at the school.

Junior D'atwan Nelson, an organizer of the event, said students' voices were being ignored at the school.

Students chanted, "No education, no life."


According to The Notebook and The Philadelphia Inquirer, students feel that the school is disorganized and are frustrated by the number of expulsions, and even arrests, of students for minor infractions such as wearing sweaters, as well as by school police who are "disrespectful of teens."  Not only that, but the school may be letting go of over half of its teachers next year because of plans to overhaul the school as one of the district-run "Promise Academies."  Students are troubled by the fact that many of their teachers will have to re-apply for their current jobs.  You can read the full list of student demands here (scroll down).

And, lastly, in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry we've begun to see several of our characters stand up for their rights.  Cassie finally spoke to Papa about the incident with Lillian Jean in Strawberry, and he had this to say:  

"There are things you can't back down on, things you gotta take a stand on.  But it's up to you to decide what them things are.  You have to demand respect in this world, ain't nobody just gonna hand it to you.  How you carry yourself, what you stand for -- that's how you gain respect.  But, little one, ain't nobody's respect worth more than your own" (Taylor 176).

Students,

For this week's blog prompt, I'd like you to consider the theme of social action in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and make connections to yourself, and our world.  Please answer all parts of the following questions in 2-3 paragraphs using complete sentences.  Remember, your response should be able to stand alone; your reader should understand what you're writing about without needing to read the blog prompt.

**Quality commentaries are composed in a google doc before posting and are proofread for CUPS

• What do you think about the incident between Cassie and Lillian Jean?  Do you think Cassie handled the situation well?  Why or why not?  
• Is it ever OK to do use violence if you feel you've been treated unfairly?
• Papa says in the above quote that "There are things you can't back down on, things you gotta take a stand on." What "things" is Papa referring to?  What things do you think Cassie must take a stand on? Why?
• Have you ever felt the need to "take a stand" on something?  What cause would get you out in the streets like the West Philadelphia High School students, and the protesters in Egypt?
• What other examples of characters "taking a stand" do you see in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry?
• Do you think these characters are right to take a stand?  What are the risks involved?  Do the potential benefits outweigh the possible dangers?
   

Exploring Theme in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: Friendship

TLC "What About Your Friends"

The Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends"

Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, and Whitney Houston 

"That's What Friends Are For"

Listen to the lyrics in the above songs and answer the following questions for this week's blog commentary on the theme of friendship in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.   

**Make sure to compose your response in a google doc before posting and proofread for CUPS!

• What do you expect from your friends?  What makes a friend different from an acquaintance?
• Quite often friendships are tested by events at school, by our families, and even by other people's opinions.  Have you ever had a friend who was especially difficult to be friends with (don't name names)?
• Describe the problems you see developing between friends in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.  Describe which characters make good friends and why.  Who would you most like to be friends with in the book and why?
• How are friendships in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, beginning to be tested?

Quality commentaries start a discussion and answer all questions in complete sentences.  Your commentary should be at least 2-3 paragraphs in length.

Everybody needs a hero (or a heroine)

This week in 7th grade ELA we had help from local author and illustrator, Alex Stadler, developing main characters for our ... FAIRY TALE WRITING UNIT!  Yes, it is really, truly happening.  We will be writing (and publishing) fairy tales this spring and I can't really think of a better way to kick off the actual writing of these tales than the awesome workshop we all got to take part in led by Alex. 

For those who unfortunately missed Alex's visit, we spent an entire class devoted to dreaming up our main characters and taking notes on our visions and inspirations by outlining "character resumees."  Students took notes on their character's appearance, obsessions, fears, strengths, weaknesses, family, friends, living situation, schooling history, and more.  After getting our words down on paper, students then went on to draw their character's portrait (kind of like a police sketch).  As a handful of students read their work aloud, it was amazing to watch as the number of people in the room (in person and on paper) doubled.  I'm hoping to add some of these illustrations to our blog soon.

For this week's blog prompt,  we will be using the character sketches we began as well as our paragraph rough drafts to further explore our characters and commit them to paper.  These characters will hopefully become the main characters in our fairy tales, the heroes or heroines, who will encounter obstacles and hardships but, in the end, prevail.

Students, for this week's blog commentary type up your revised paragraph using the checklist below as a rubric.  Because we have had more time to work on these paragraphs, I am expecting fully developed, polished pieces.  Your paragraph should not only tell us about your character, but should also make us excited to read your tale.  Your paragraph should include the following:

1.  An interesting title.  Your title should be creative and tell us something specific about your character.  You could use the character's name, but you could also think of using a question to spark the reader's interest, or a descriptive, alliterative phrase that says something about your character.  Skip a line after the title to begin writing.

2.  Include a clever opener.  Don't just say: "My character's name is Max Hyperion."  Instead, think of a compelling way to introduce your readers to your character.  Try some of these sentence starters below, or come up with your own:

    - The first thing you notice when you meet _____________ is ...
    -  [Insert Character's name] is  [three adjectives to describe their personality].
    -  [Insert Character's name] is the most __________________ you'll ever meet.

3.  Use your character resume as a guide to detail both your character's physical appearance and their personality.  This is the meat of your paragraph.  Make sure to change the length of your sentences and the words in your sentences to keep your writing interesting and alive.  Think about discussing how these personality traits or their physical appearance affects their daily life.  How do others see your character?  How does your character feel about him or herself?

4.  Come up with a tag line.  Most people have words or phrases that they say a lot (whether they like it or not.  Think Paris Hilton: "That's hot.").  What does your character say a lot?  What does that say about them?

5.  What does your character want or need more than anything?  Every main character, or hero, needs a problem to solve.  What does your character want or need most, and what obstacle stands in their way of achieving their goal or desire?

Happy writing!