Portfolio Assignments #4 and 5

These are the remaining two assignments for the portfolio, due June 4th.



Page of Poetry

Directions: Earlier this year, we had the opportunity to examine various forms of poetry. Some examples are:

 Slam Poetry
 Free Verse Poetry
 Found Poetry
 Haiti Response Poetry
 Concrete Poetry
 Haiku (Covered in previous years)

You are required to complete a complete page of poetry in the form of one entire poem or a collection of multiple poems. Make sure to use strong detailed, figurative language. Similies, metaphors, alliteration, and rhyming are all great ways to improve the quality of your poetry.





Minute Speech

Directions: As part of our public speaking unit, we examined the 7 P’s of Proper Public Speaking. They are:

1. Peak
2. Posture
3. Projection
4. Pace
5. Peepers Contact
6. Pause
7. Practice

You are required to prepare a one-minute speech that describes your topic in detail. You can choose to share a portion of one of your other assignments, to bring in visual aids, or anything else that you think might make your speech a success. As always, it will be timed, and the elements of public speaking will be graded.

This speech is due as part of your cumulative portfolio assessment and will be performed ONLY on Monday, June 7th. You DO NOT need to submit any written work for the speech, although preparing a written draft is encouraged for your success.

Portfolio Assignments #1-3

Parents, Students, and Ed Smith Friends,

Here are the first three assignment sheets for the Culminating Portfolio Assessment. They are, in order: Nonfiction Expository Piece, Creative Writing Piece, and Personal Letter:


Nonfiction Expository Piece

Directions: Recently, we learned about the elements of nonfiction writing. The four types of nonfiction expository essay are:

 Chronological
 Cause and Effect
 Problem/Solution
 Similarities and Differences.

You are expected to write an essay of 5 paragraphs that uses one of these text structures to provide detailed, factual information about your topic. For example, you might write a chronological biography of Lebron James, or the similarities and differences between a Navy Seal and a regular Army soldier. The choice is yours.

Finally, it is also required to include a short “Bibliography” or “Work Cited Page.” On this page, you need to list the multiple internet sources you used based on the guidelines we learned in class.

This assignment is due, as part of your portfolio, on June 4th, 2010.






Creative Writing Piece

Directions: Earlier this year, we learned about the elements of plot, character development, and conflict. The four elements of the plot line are:

 Exposition/Introduction
 Rising Action
 Climax
 Falling Action
 Resolution/Denouement

You are expected to make up a creative story about your topic. THERE IS NO LENGTH REQUIREMENT, BUT MAKE SURE YOU TELL A COMPLETE STORY. This means you will develop characters and conflict, and you will fully-develop each of the elements listed above. Be sure to include lots of detailed language and specifics. (ex, similes and metaphors)

This assignment is due, as part of your portfolio, on June 4th, 2010.





Letter to a Teacher

Directions: Yesterday, we learned about the five components of a friendly letter. They are:

 The Heading
 The Greeting
 The Body
 The Closing
 The Signature

You are required to write a 3 paragraph letter, addressed to me at the school, which summarizes your topic, your portfolio, and your learning and research process. Be sure to:

*Introduce your topic and the titles of your pieces
*Explain, with detail, why you chose this as a topic
*Describe what was difficult in the process, and what you learned

This assignment is due as part of your cumulative portfolio assessment on June 4th.


Ed Smith School
Lancaster Avenue & Broad Street
Syracuse, NY 13210

Culminating Portfolio Rubric

Culminating Portfolio
English 7 – Mr. Smith
HOLISITIC RUBRIC

SCORE OF A (91-100)
An A portfolio is OUTSTANDING. It demonstrates a high degree of proficiency in response to the assignments but may have a few minor errors.
A portfolio in this category:
• completes 5 out of 5 assignments
• is well organized and coherently developed
• clearly explains or illustrates key ideas
• clearly displays outstanding use of language
• is generally free from errors in mechanics, usage, and sentence structure

SCORE OF B (81-90)
A B portfolio is STRONG. It demonstrates clear proficiency in response to the assignment and may have minor errors.
A portfolio in this category:
• completes at least 4 our of 5 assignments
• is generally well organized and coherently developed
• explains or illustrates key ideas
• displays strong use of language
• is generally free from errors in mechanics, usage, and sentence structure

SCORE OF C (73-80)
A C portfolio is COMPETENT. It demonstrates proficiency in response to the assignment.
A portfolio in this category:
• completes at least 4 out of 5 assignments
• is adequately organized and developed
• explains or illustrates some of the key ideas
• demonstrates adequate facility in the use of language
• may display some errors in mechanics, usage, or sentence structure

SCORE OF D (65-72)
A D portfolio is LIMITED. It demonstrates some degree of proficiency in response to the assignment, but it is clearly flawed.
An portfolio in this category
• completes at least 3 out of 5 assignments
• reveals one or more of the following weaknesses:
• inadequate organization or development
• inadequate explanation or illustration of key ideas
• limited or inappropriate word choice
• a pattern or accumulation of errors in mechanics, usage, or sentence structure

SCORE OF F (50-64)
An F portfolio is DEFICIENT. It demonstrates fundamental deficiencies in writing skills.An essay in this category contains serious and persistent writing errors or is incoherent or is undeveloped. It contains less than three assignments.

SCORE OF 0 (0-50)
A 0 portfolio is not submitted or grossly undeveloped.

MAJOR ASSIGNMENT! Culminating Portfolio

Culminating Portfolio
English 7 – Mr. Smith


As a way to wrap up our year in ELA and show our knowledge growth, your student will have the opportunity to work over the next few weeks to investigate and examine a topic of his or her choosing. The point of this project is to provide a tangible body of work that will show growth and development through the year. The project will be a portfolio that will involve the following assignments.

A creative writing piece with your topic as the focus
A full page of poetry devoted to your topic
A one-minute speech about your topic
A non-fiction expository piece about your topic
A letter to a teacher explaining your assignment


This portfolio is a major grade for the marking period, and as such,
we will spend a majority of the next three weeks devoted to finding a topic, researching it, peer-editing, drafting, and creating the portfolio.

The portfolio will be due before the end of the day on Friday, June 4th.

Reminder--School Leadership Conference!

This Wednesday is a half-day, and there will be a great activity from 12:00 pm until 2:00 pm at Ed Smith that will provide for some interesting discussion. It is a School Leadership Conference in the Cafeteria. Staff, students, and parents will have the opportunity to engage in dialogue to help make the Ed Smith school a better place. For more details, call the school and ask for Mr. O'Leary or Mr. Armstrong.

Non-Fiction Essay

To wrap up our unit on Non-Fiction text structures, we will be doing a short writing piece on Tuesday that we will be typing in class. All students are going to be asked to write an essay using one of the non-fiction text structures. They will be due at the end of the day on Thursday.

Non-Fiction Text Structures

In class, students will be analyzing the various types of non-fiction text structures that exist. We are learning about chronological, cause/effect, problem/solution, and similarities/differences. We are examining these structures through a non-fiction story about the bubonic plague titled "When Plague Strikes."

Next week, after we finish, students will write a short 3-paragraph essay using one of these text structures. We will then type them, and even take part in a short typing mini-unit! It should be lots of fun!

As always, any questions - email me at jsmith49@scsd.us

Mr. Smith