Summer Honors Reading Assignment for Incoming 9th-Graders and THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Hiya folks,

I miss you already!  Thanks to every one of you for a wonderful year!  I hope you have a relaxing and safe summer full of family and friends fun-time!  Best of luck as high-schoolers!  Woo-hoo!

For those of you who are going into the honors freshmen English class next year...here is a link to the assignment in case you already lost your handout.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3PCuWOS-Ae7em1QOS1HS25aUDg/edit?usp=sharing

Persuasive Speech Semifinalists to vote for on Monday

Period 5:
Haley
Andrea
Chris
Caroline
Emma

Period 7:
Kristen (guaranteed spot)
Cole
Diana
Katrina
Solon
Morgan
Kyle

Period 5 Persuasive Speakers for Wednesday

Ben
Haley
Justin
Samantha
Jake
Emma
Bryan
*Makayla
*Anna

Giant Final Draft Checklist

1. Name, teacher, period, date in the upper-left corner
2. An interesting title, centered, not bolded, not large, not underlined
3. An interesting hook (1/3 of the intro paragraph)
4. basic background info on your topic (2nd 1/3 of your intro paragraph)
5. A universal statement right before your thesis
6. A clear, direct thesis at the end of your intro paragraph
7. Do all parts of the intro flow together when read aloud?
8. A transitional phrase a the beginning of 1st body paragraph, telling the reader this is your first point.
9. Transitional phrases in between every body paragraph to help your reader hear that you are going from one point to the next (remember, your listener can't hear paragraph indentations)
10. Is there a clear topic sentence for each body paragraph that says what the paragraph is about and matches the fact(s) within the paragraph?
11. Does each fact have a parenthetical reference right after it?  The period goes after the parenthesis.
12. After every fact, is there at least one sentence of your own words discussing/explaining it?
13. Have you embedded your facts? The New York Times reports...
14. Every time you mention a newspaper, news organization, book title - it should be in italics.
15. Does every body paragraph have a conclusion sentence?
16. Does the rebuttal paragraph mention the other side's point, and then shoot it down?
17. Is there a transition tot he conclusion paragraph?
18. Does the conclusion end in a thoughtful, meaningful way?
19. Is the call to action specific enough?
20. Is everything in Times New Roman 12pt. font, double-spaced....EVERYTHING!!
21. Did you take off all unused citations from your works cited page?
22. Are your citations in alphabetical order?

Rebuttal