As many of you may have heard, yesterday was "Talk like a Pirate Day," and we had a Quick Write along those lines. We had some conversation about common pirate vocabulary: Ahoy, Avast, Aye, Aye! Landlubbers, Jolly Roger, Buccaneer, Crow's Nest. I borrowed Mrs. Nelson's son's pirate coat and hat for the occasion.
We had a good, productive week. I like to put the tables in a U-shape so that we can have open discussions, but I put them in rows this week and assigned seats. They are a marvelous group of students and applied themselves well to our writing, grammar, and literature discussions.
The students handed in their first Final Copies for this class. I look forward to reading them. Since we only meet once a week, the turn around on papers has to be pretty quick, so they are already starting on the next assignment. This week they are to be writing the rough draft of a Process Analysis Essay. They have a handout explaining this essay but should feel free to contact me if they have problems with this essay. We spent a good deal of time discussing how to come up with a thesis. Sometimes this is the hardest part in writing an essay.
For our Grammar discussion, we began a section on phrases. Grammar is not very exciting, but it's an essential aspect of being a good writer. As the students grow as writers, their sentences will become more complex, and they may feel the challenge to be grammatically correct.
We took a longer time to talk about our literature, My Antonia. They've done some careful reading and shared some insightful comments. The section we had read for the day included an episode in which a poor immigrant father takes his own life. Willa Cather does a beautiful job of painting word pictures of the people and the surroundings. Acceding to their requests, some of the students circled up on the floor for our discussion.
Assignment for next week:
-- Read Book II, Sections I – VII (p. 70 – 94) of My Antonia
-- Read the Study Questions in order to be prepared for the discussion.
-- Write the rough draft of your Process Analysis Essay
-- Extra Credit: Watch any of the videos from last week and list 3 things you learned
Enjoy this beautiful Fall weather!
Mrs. Prichard
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