1. Lesson 10 and so what.notebook
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September 12, 2013
9/12/13
8th Grade Language Arts
Agenda:
1. Independent Reading
2. Grammar
3. Writing Workshop-
The Rule of So What!
Assignments:
-Spelling Test (F)
-comment to 2 students' responses (F)
-Grammar Test (M)
-Vocabulary Bubbles (M)

2. Lesson 10 and so what.notebook
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September 12, 2013
Chapter 1, Lesson 10- Fragments and Run-Ons
Sentence Fragment- part of a sentence that is written as if it
were a complete sentence.
Ex: The Rungus people in Malaysia.
Fix:
Run-on- two or more sentences written as though
they were a single sentence.
Ex: The longhouse roof is made of palm leaves, the
walls are made of tree bark.
Fix:

3. Lesson 10 and so what.notebook
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September 12, 2013
1. The Anasazi, a Native American people.
2. Represented by present-day Pueblo people.
3. Anasazi is a Navajo word.
4. It may mean "ancient ones" it may also mean "enemy
ancestors."
5. Anasazi groups have lived in the Southwest for at
least 1,800 years.
6. Built huge dwellings in sandstone cliffs.
7. These dwellings are impressive, you can still see
them today.
8. Around 1300 AD, these dwellings were abandoned,
nobody knows why.

4. Lesson 10 and so what.notebook
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September 12, 2013
SO WHAT?
I remember that when I was in fifth grade I got really sick. My throat was raw,
and all my joints ached. The family doctor said I had rheumatic fever.
I had to stay in bed for six months. I couldn't walk up and down stairs or even
go to the bathroom by myself.
When my dad came home from work at night, he'd carry me downstairs so I could
watch television and be with the rest of the family, then carry me back upstairs at
bedtime. Otherwise it was a lonely, boring time. All I could do was read. During the
six months I had rheumatic fever I practically ate books. I made my poor mother go
to the library almost every day for new ones.
Finally the doctor said I could go back to school. It was one of the happiest days
of my life, even though I couldn't run or play sports for a long time.
-Nancie A.

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September 12, 2013
The Rule of So What?
• Good writing in every genre answers the question SO WHAT?
Good writing has purpose, a point, a reason it was written.
• The good writer looks for and finds the meanings, the
significances, the implications in the subject he or she has
chosen.
• Sometimes the SO WHAT? is subtle and implicit. Sometimes it's
explicitly stated.
• Robert Frost wrote "No tears in the writer, no tears in the
reader." If you don't find the deep meaning in your life or your
characters' lives, your readers won't find meaning in their own.
• A good writer often discovers the SO WHAT? through the
thinking of the writing process. But even with hard thinking,
some topics may not have a SO WHAT? These pieces can be
abandoned or put on hold.

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September 12, 2013
Every time you write...
• an itch you're trying to scratch
• something the topic that intrigues you

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September 12, 2013
SMART Document Camera

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September 12, 2013
Observations and impressions of My Secret Garden

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September 12, 2013
"Is there a SO WHAT? Can you tell yet, as a reader, why I'm
writing about this?"

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September 12, 2013