Your+Journal

Your journal in class is your personal connection to the literature, themes, essential questions, and big ideas in our class for this year. You will be writing about a broad number of topics; some entries will put yourself in the shoes of some famous literary characters while other prompts will ask you to connect an event or concept from literature to your own experiences.

Ultimately, literature is about the human condition and many interpretations of it. Because literature touches on all sorts of themes and concepts important for all of us to connect to, I believe the more you put into this journal, the more you will get out of our time together in class.

1. Upon entering the class, please **sit down**, **put everything on the floor,** **open your journal, and immediately begin your Do Now** in your journal. 2. **Be prepared to share** your response to the Do Now with the class. At times you will share with a partner; other times, you will share with the entire class. Remember that participation is part of your grade. 3. **Keep journal out until the end of class.** At times, you will write a second entry by the end of class or I will collect them for a grade.
 * __Daily procedure:__**

1. Date & Title for each entry. (i.e.: //09/04/14 - __Do Now__// or //Sept 5, 2014 - __Exit Post__//__)__ 2. Rephrase the question(s) or prompt into your response. Do not rewrite the question or prompt. 3. A minimum of a paragraph response is required. Prompts are usually open ended with no right or wrong answer, depending on how well you explain and support yourself. 4. Example(s) with supporting details. In any type of writing, communication, or argument, you will want to provide evidence to expand upon your response. 5. Skip a line between entries.
 * __Format__**:

This journal will count towards two separate grades. 1. __Participation Grade__: Just by completing the two steps above, your Participation grade (10% of the marking period) will go up. 2. __Random Journal Checks__: I will randomly collect and grade your journal. By fully completing the assigned writing prompts correctly and in-depth, you will receive a full score. Responses which are missing or too small (one or two sentences) will result in a loss of credit for this Random Journal Check grade. If the journal itself is missing, you will receive a 0 for this grade. //**These Random Journal Checks are 50pts each and will pop up on average around 2 times per marking period.//
 * __Grading__**: