Writing

T.E.A.M. Essay

For most of their years at ICRS students have looked forward to visits from Officer Jeff and Officer Mike as they teach, educate, and mentor (T.E.A.M). These officers have been a very positive influence on students in offering reasons to resist negative peer pressure that leads to drug, tobacco, and alcohol abuse and gang activity. Parents are invited to attend the 6^th Grade TEAM graduation ceremony on Friday, June 8^th at 1pm in St. Joseph Center. We will be writing essays soon (“My promise to stay drug and tobacco free”). Essay winners will read at the graduation.

Click here for essay directions.

Poetry Unit

During April we will study poetry. We will be reading poems from our literature textbook and writing poems using skills we learn. Topics and skills of focus are: rhythm, rhyme, stressed syllable patterns, alliteration, simile, metaphor, imagery, personification, mood, free verse, limericks, voice, and setting. There will also be a quiz on these skills at the end of the month.

To view the unit directions, rubric, and many examples, click here.

Formal Letter of Inquiry

To go along with our religion unit on social justice, students will write a formal letter of inquiry to a business of their choice to ask about their policies on the ethical treatment of their employees and the environment.

Website Comparisons Essay

During January students will check out websites by their favorite authors. Once they are familiar with 2 sites they will write an essay that compares and contrasts features on the sites. Click here for directions, rubric, and helpful sentence starters. This is an in-school project. Students will be given plenty of time to complete it in the computer lab.

Descriptive Essay

During November students will write a descriptive essay about their house or neighborhood. Skills we will focus on are (1) the writing process (brainstorm list, bubble chart, rough draft, revise), (2) using specific word choice, and (3) sentence fluency, especially in using a variety of sentence starters. Click here to see the grading rubric and an example essay that the class will revise together.