9/29/16 - Sarah Hoffman

Today in class, we talked about expository essays. Mr. Rivers showed us the rubric that he will use to grade our essays that we will write on our summer reading books. He addressed many concerns that I personally have had in the past when it comes to Common Core essay grading. For example, he explained exactly what grading on "Style and Tone" means, even though everyone has their own individual tone. He explained what he wanted to see in the essays, putting particular emphasis on verb usage and the balance between "clear" and "specific" writing. Verb usage is pretty self explanatory; making good use of active verbs. The clarity vs specificity issue was presented like a balance or seesaw. While your writing has to make clear sense and present a clear point, it also has to be detailed and specific enough to prove that point. A balance must be maintained. We finished class with some time to make progress on our essays.