Writing Lab Newsletter

Improving Student Writing Across the Curriculum A newsletter from the Homestead Writing Lab Established in 1983 NCTE Center of Excellence 1985

QUICK USAGE TIP Its It’s Its’ What’s the difference?

Its = possessive The dog wore its collar.

Who knows its name?

It’s = it is It’s warm today.

It’s going to be a long day.

Its’ = DOE S NOT EXIST Never use it.

Hours Monday – Friday hours 1-5 Monday-Thursday after school

Using writing to reflect on learning AVID strategy submitted by Jen Zortman, math department

Sample Handout to use in your classroom Submitted by Fritz Rauch, English department Integrating Quotations 1. Introduce the quotation with a complete sentence and a colon.

Example: Thoreau ends his essay with a metaphor: "Time is but the stream I go afishing in" (Author’s Last Name OR “Title” of Story/Article/Web Page and Page # - if hard copy).

2. Use an introductory or explanatory phrase, but not a complete sentence, separated from the quotation with a comma.

Example: Thoreau in the story/article “Title” suggests the consequences of making ourselves slaves to progress when he says, "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us."

3. Make the quotation a part of your own sentence without any punctuation between your own words and the words you are quoting.

Example: Author’s Last Name OR “Title Story/Article/Web Page and Page # - if hard copy) suggests the consequences of making ourselves slaves to progress when he says that "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us."

4. Use short quotations--only a few words--as part of your own sentence.

Example: In "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," Thoreau states that his retreat to the woods around Walden Pond was motivated by his desire "to live deliberately" and to face only "the essential facts of life."

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Writing Lab Newsletter Issue 1 September 2014