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MARK TWAIN / BAY ACADEMY PREP COURSE

Mark Twain/Bay Academy Prep for Computer-Math & Science and Creative Writing Admission Exams
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Dear Families,
The first week of SchoolPlus has come and gone, so I wanted to tell you about what your children did in class.
The second/third grade class was especially well-attended, and I want to congratulate Tahlia, Myrah, Angeline, and Rachel for allowing their mothers to take part in our poetry lesson! Using a handout, we discussed 6 different poetic terms—end rhyme, sound rhyme, sight rhyme, assonance, alliteration, and personification. We looked at several poems that contain one or more of these techniques, and analyzed them for their sounds. Next week, we are going to take a look at poems that tell stories and write some of our own.
Homework:
1. Write a rhyming poem that uses sight rhymes, sound rhymes, or both. You can also use alliteration, assonance, or personification.
2. Memorize “At the Seaside” or “Singing” to recite next week.
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The fourth/fifth grade class experimented with narrative, which is what you get any time you describe or interpret simple statements or facts. We used the prompt, “Someone rides a bus every day,” and discovered how many different stories could be written about this basic theme. We tried writing the story from different points of view, using only sound effects (onomatopoeia), and only dialogue. The students wrote their dialogue stories on the board in many colors, and we reviewed correct punctuation. Next week, we will discuss narrative forms, point of view, and the choices we make when we write narratives.
Homework: Use the prompt, “Eating Soup,” to tell stories about soup and the people who eat it. Try:
1. To write “Eating Soup” using only similies (comparisons that include the words “like” or “as.”
2. Write it using onomatopoeia.
3. Describe what the soup eater is thinking while he/she eats the soup.

The sixth/seventh grade class also expecrimented with different ways to narrate the story of the “person who rides the bus every day.” Since this class is slightly more advanced, we had time to also explore the possibilities of “eating soup.” Entire paragraphs of sound effects later, we had plenty of time for everyone to share his or her work.
Next week, we will work on Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, “The Raven,” and find some really excellent writing techniques that can be used in both poetry and prose.
Homework: Using the prompt, “A person rides a bus every day,” try different writing styles and techniques to tell the story. You might consider personifying the bus, for example, telling the tale while only using adjectives (punctuation and full sentences not required), of by “maxing out” on alliteration.