So, you want to write a good report? You'd like to write an amazing Alien Report and start off your first marking period as an 8th grader with a solid A in ELA (notice that B,C,D, and F are not in the intials ELA...coincidence??)
Well, here are a few tips on how to write an awesome report.
1. Write with a mixture of creativity and analysis: You are pretending to be an alien (or if you are already an alien, you are simply using what you know) to make meaningful observations of your human character. So have your alien REACT like an alien observing humans for the first time would act. What feelings do they have? What conclusions would they make? How can this way of seeing the world of the story make the story interesting??
2. Even though I'm encouraging you to write creatively, you NEED to base your reactions and conclusions on the text of your Independent Reading Book. So you MUST have lines from the text to share with your commander. Here is an example from the book I am reading (I am pretending to be an alien here):
- Then my human did something inconceivable. He quit his job and decided to turn away from the help he had received in America, "I leave, knowing I am leaving this job and I am leaving Atlanta...Today I have options" (533) Despite this abrupt decision, this human sees the world open up before him. His determination to quit and move beyond the help of charitable friends is a sign that he is ready to take control of his life, hopefully for the good.
3. You should try to organize your paper to focus on separate behaviors from paragraph to paragraph. For instance, the sample above would work well in a paragraph about confidence and/or self-reliance. So, my alien would have to conclude that humans are successful when they begin to take control of their lives. The other paragraphs of my essay would be focused on other behaviors (being a victim, endurance, prayer...to name a few that I would use from the book I am reading right now).
831- Your paper is due on Tuesday when you get back after the long weekend.
832- Your paper is due on Wednesday
833-34 - Your paper is due on Thursday
The due dates are different only because I handed out the assignment at different times to different classes depending on how far we had gone with our lessons. Enjoy the weekend and remember: Reading is out of this world...
