I found a short story that may be more accessible to our sophomores. Perhaps we (sophomore teachers) can come up with a writing prompt to give students so that they can read the story and respond to it during a class period. Then maybe we can give general feedback based on the 6+1 Traits rubric, and then meet as a group to share five papers from our classes?
The short story is called "Split Cherry Tree" by Jesse Stuart. It looks high-interest-ish, and would be good for the start of the school year, I think.
God help us all, this is a website that makes online news stories even shorter. But it would be good for practicing beginning active reading strategies, since the articles are short.
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