W elcome to my professional portfolio!
Teaching Tools
- Great Openings Lesson Plan
- Give Me a 6
Great Openings
is a wonderful learning tool I use before I teach my students how to write short stories. I've found that students know a great opening when they read one in a book, but they often use a hook or onomatopoeia when they write their own pieces. This lesson is an eye-opening way to break writers out of their molds and provide them with examples of other ways to begin stories.
After I explain the opening options, I separate my students into small groups or partners and provide them with a stack of books. Their task is to skim the first page of each text and identify which type of opening the books have.
When the students begin writing their stories, they are required to identify the type of opening they are using. I've found that students are willing to try a new approach to writing instead of writing the same old way once they've been shown something else.
.Date: September 2006
My Role: Collaboration with school librarian
Objective: Help Students Vary Openings
File Size: pdf
Give Me a 6
is a handy tool I give students to reference when they are writing so that they can achieve a score of a 6 on the NJASK: New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge standardized test which all students in grades 3-11 take in the state of New Jersey.
Date:Spring 2008
My Role: I drafted this after listening to a variety of test-prep speakers.
Objective: Help students achieve a high score on a writing sample
File Size:pdf
Writing Samples
- Historical Article: A Sure Bet:MSAA
- Profile Article: Ready to Extinguish
- Memoir: Haunted By Beads of Blue
- Memoir: I've Got Nothin'
- Memoir: Stuck on the Wall
A Sure Bet: MSAA
is a historical article focused on the the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America's South Jersey Headquarters located in Cherry Hill, NJ.
Date: March 2008
My Role: Sole writer
Objective: Chronicle the relationship between the MSAA and it's role in helping those affected by Multiple Sclerosis in southern New Jersey
File Size: pdf
Ready to Extinguish
is a profile about a new firefighter and the training procedures required of all firefighters, including volunteers.
Date: September 2007
My Role: Sole writer
Objective: Examine the life of a new firefighter
File Size:pdf
Haunted by Beads of Blue
is a memoir that zooms in on the last moments I spent with my grandmother and the lingering memory of her eyes. It is a memoir of color, focusing on hues of blue and white.
Date: April 2008
My Role: Sole writer
Objective: A memoir of color
File Size: pdf
I've Got Nothin'
is a comedic, reflective personal narrative about growing up and feeling as if I, physically, had less than my peers. It showcases the hypochondriac tendencies of my youth.
Date: November 2007
My Role: Sole Writer
Objective: This is one chapter of my Nonfiction Book Proposal--still a work in progress.
File Size: pdf
Stuck on the Wall
is one of my favorite pieces from my personal collection. In this memoir I analyze the feelings I have about the plaque hanging in my parents' family room, symbolizing my long-gone status as my high school's valedictorian.
Date: April 2008
My Role: Sole Writer
Objective: A memoir about objects
File Size: pdf