From the comments coming from students, they are able to make the most of this cold weather by snowboarding, skiing, etc. I keep reminding them to be safe out on the slopes.
Our Quick Write this week was "Follow Shakespeare's Example." I read a quote the other day that whenever Shakespeare couldn't find the right word, he would make one up. I wanted the students to either make up new words that they thought should be a part of our vocabulary OR share their favorite word. Taking comments from the class, they had a lot of words to share.
Our Words of the Day were:
rinforzando -- Italian -- a sudden crescendo or increase in volume
balalaika -- Russian -- a three-stringed, triangular shaped instrument similar to a guitar
chapati -- Hindhi -- a round, flatbread
laus Deo -- Latin -- praise be to God
We discussed the three short stories for this week. While some stories are funny and light-hearted, or deep and profound, these were were darker and more depressing. Short stories give us an opportunity to get a "taste" of some of our classic American authors.
For next week, we will read stories by Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Stephen Crane. They are writers from the early 1800's. Instead of filling out the charts that we've used for the past two weeks, I would like the students to come to class with 2 discussion/ critical thinking questions for each story. As we discussed in class, these should be questions that do not require simple, one-word answers. These are questions that could have multiple answers; they usually ask "how" or "why" as opposed to "what" or "when" or "who."
For the remainder of the class, the students worked in groups to edit some sample sentences. One of the hardest activities for young writers to do is to edit their own works. Any easy way to orient their thinking towards re-writing and revising is by working through someone else's sentences.
I have their Cause/Effect Rough Drafts and will hand them back next week. No writing assignments for the week.
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Read Harte (p. 64); Twain (p. 175); Jewett (p. 87); Crane (p. 34)
-- Write 2 Discussion Questions for each story
-- no grammar or other writing
This week's blog & links:
Class Notes
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Prichard
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