Characters, Setting, Mood, Oh My!

Hey, Coyotes!

Thank you for another week of hard work and "creative elbow grease". As a result of your focus, we were able to analyze the various ways in which authors use "setting" to enhance the "mood" of a text. You then utilized the same strategy by incorporating "mood makers" into your RAFT personal narratives, which are coming along beautifully.  Along with enhancing your setting, you practiced "exploding" various 'big moments' in your pieces by slowing down the action and flooding those scenes with sensory details for the reader to chew on -- nice work!

By the end of the week, you appeared confident and ready to show me what you knew by taking the narrative unit quiz.  To prepare for the exam, you wrote an "on demand" creative fiction piece that utilized the concepts, strategies, skills, and vocabulary that you had learned during the prior weeks, simultaneously making you eligible to submit your piece on NPR's website as an entry in their "3-Minute Fiction" writing contest (remember to submit your piece by 9pm on Sunday).

All in all, I'd say you were "in it to win it" this week, and I thank you for your effort.  Let's carry that same energy and effort into this next week when we analyze theme, begin using our reading blogs, and place the finishing touches on our RAFTs (final due Friday).

Have a great weekend, good luck in your games/tournaments/

performances, and I hope to see you rested and refreshed Monday morning.

~Mr. Allen