Extra Writing Assignments

As I said at the beginning of the camp, I'd like your blogs to be a place where you exercise your intellectual and creative freedom, where you keep writing for the sake of writing.  Some students, who finish their assignments quickly, will need "extra writing" to keep busy.  So here is a list of possible things you can write.

Also keep in mind that you can upload your speech, debate notes, history presentations, and some of your less private English diary entries.  Use your blog as a place to showcase your GLPS experience - sort of like an online scrap book that you will have forever.  

Keep in mind that your blogs will be given a holistic score out of 50 at the end of Week 2.  In week 4 you will be scored again for a total score out of 100.  The best bloggers in the camp will be given awards.  Things teachers will consider when judging:

• Class Participation:  Did the student stay active and fulfill the goals of assigned class work? Did they visit other blogs and leave comments?  Did they get things done on time?  Did they take pride in their work?  Did they speak in class discussions?

• Attention to Detail: Did the student make things look nice?  Did they embed videos, include pictures, and use links within their writing to show sources? Did they keep a close eye on spelling and grammar?  

• Creativity: Did the student try to produce original content, showing original thought and personality through a desire to write? 

Here are your optional assignments.  Try to finish as many as possible, aiming for 500 words.  You can complete the work directly to your blog, or in your notebook first so you can have a TA or Teacher check it. It’s up to you! Try and enrich your blog with as much writing as possible! If you are finished your main assignments, try these. If you want to be a candidate for “best blogger awards” at the end of the camp, you will have at least a few of these on them. Have fun! 

Optional Extra Assignments	Degree of Difficulty
1. Write about you! Your life! That's what blogs are for. Write about your experiences and observations at camp, or just about life in general.	Easy!
2. Upload your speech!  A speech is kind of like a reflective essay anyways, so you might as well share it.	Easy!
3. Reviews!  You are allowed to review anything you want – a book, movie, video game, album, viral video, restaurant, hotel, or even a phone. Just about anything. You should have personal experience with that thing, and supply factual data to dress up your writing (use websites such as Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon, IMDB, and Metacritic etc).  React to opposing or supporting reviews that might add to your response.  You must include a rating system.  Stars, thumbs, out of ten or out of five, A- or C+ etc.	A little bit of thinking will be needed... but it's fun!
4. Poetry! We will do diamante poems in class, but you are welcome to write other poems as well.  Any kind you want - limericks, couplets, haiku, free verse!  It's always nice if you include a picture.	Easy? Maybe.
5.  Review a TED video of your choice, and comment on why you find it interesting.  What did you learn from it? You can find TED at www.ted.com. It stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design - and is basically YouTube for smart people!	A little challenging.
6.  Reflective Essay  about an experience you’ve had.  You should weave in the theme of a “learning experience” and come to a resolution by the end. But really it is up to you what you do - tell us a story!	Easy!
7. Creative Essay  about where you’ll be in life in either 10, 15, or 20 years from now. Choose any age. Must be written in First Person narrative as if you are experiencing a particular day at that time.	Challenging but fun!
8. Write about your typical day at GLPS in the "second person" narrative.  Using "you," you will tell us what "you" feel and think as "you" ride the elevator to the 12th floor to eat breakfast as "you" almost receive and EOP etc. Be funny!	Easy!
9.   A letter to your younger self.  Imagine if you could send a letter to the past and have your younger self gain some wisdom from your current self.   What would you tell yourself if you met a younger you?	Easy!
10.  “A Book I’d Write If I Had The Time.”  Tell us the plot of a book you’d love to write if you had the time.  Introduce us to the story, the characters, and then take us through what would happen.  I think we all have a story we’d love to write.  If only we had the time! Maybe you will find the time. Now is your chance to discuss it.	Easy! Not really. Difficult?
11. An Argumentative Essay about something you want to argue about! It could be a news story you are concerned about, or maybe you want to tell the world why Dokdo is Canada's.  Did I say Canada? I meant Korea. : )	Easy to write, but difficult to write well!