We had a productive class today. But then, this is always an enjoyable group of students.
Our Quick Write was to write a short story that ends "So the moral of the story is to be careful what you wish for." For our Vocabulary Exercises we listed various verbs that could be used for a persons movement, e.g. walking, prancing, jumping, jogging, spinning, etc. I discussed the value of finding more sophisticated words for their essays. I also brought out one of my copies of Roget's Thesaurus and listed about 25 words related to "traveling on foot." Our English language is so wonderfully diverse and colorful. The students have one extra credit option related to our word study: find the definition and word roots for "peregrinate."
We completed a worksheet dealing with choosing the correct preposition. We also looked at parallel structures, pronouns, and the Oxford comma.
I handed back the students' final copies of their personal essays. They all did a wonderful job. I grade them in three areas: content & organization & mechanics. For these papers, each section was worth 10 points for a total of 30 possible points for the essay. They handed in rough drafts today of their narrative essays.
We had a wonderful discussion about the book, Gulliver's Travels. We've reached the point in Gulliver's travels where he lands on the island with giants and is kept by the king and queen of this island. In addition to the narrative of his adventures, I continue to work with the students to help them find the satire and social commentary in Swift's writings. One student wondered if people reading this at that time would see and understand what Swift was trying to say. Great question!
As always, if you have any questions about the class and the assignments, feel free to to contact me.
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Extra Credit option: find the meaning and roots for the word "peregrinate."
-- Extra Credit option: find the origin of the Oxford comma.
-- Read Chapters 5 - 8.
-- Answer 3 of the 4 questions in the section from the study guide.
Have a great week!
Mrs. Prichard
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