We had a great class this week. We began with our Quick Write, which noted the birthday this month of Johann Sebastian Bach. I asked the students to write about the importance of music in their lives. We came up with a number of words to describe the value of music for us: meaningful, emotional, educational, inspirational, energizing, etc.
Our Latin Roots of the Day were:
ign -- L. fire, to burn -- English derivatives: ignite, ignition, igneous, ignitable
inter -- L. between -- English derivatives: interstate, interstellar, intergalactic, interrupt
The students were to bring their Letters to World Leaders to class this week, along with mailing addresses. I supplied the envelopes and will mail them this next week. I'm really curious and excited to see what kind of responses they get. For those who didn't have their letters ready this week, they can bring them the next.
The Final Drafts of the Cause/Effect or Problem/Solution Essays were due this week. I had given them rubrics that I will use to evaluate the essays, but didn't make it clear that they were to do a self-evaluation. We took some time for them to do this before handing them in. I clarified with them that they aren't grading themselves, but reflecting on the work they did. I will correct them, as usual, and will use this rubric to evaluate the papers. I find that I'm often a harder grader when I use the rubrics because of the clear guidelines and definitions for each category.
As soon as one essay is finished, we progress to the next, which is an Evaluation Essay. For this essay, students are to assess the value of a product, organization, trend, store, etc. In order to evaluate, they must also determine the criteria by which to judge their topic. The Pre-Write should be done next week, and the Rough Draft is due the week after our Easter Break.
The focus for our Grammar study this week was use of the semicolon and the colon. Many students mistakenly use one with the other was required. Below are some links to videos the further explain correct usage of these punctuation marks. We finished our worksheet in class, so no Grammar homework this week.
Finally, we talked about one of my all-time favorite short stories: "A Pair of Silk Stockings" by Kate Chopin. Every year when we read this story, I find that most of the students respond similarly to the young mother who comes unexpectedly into some money and spends in a certain way. Typically, they read it as teenagers, not as mothers. If you're interested, I have a copy of the text of the story on my blog. I'd be interested in how others might interpret this story. I also have a link to a slide presentation that explains the context of the story.
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Evaluation Essay Pre-Write
-- If not finished, Letter to World Leader
-- NO Grammar Worksheets
-- Read Pirandello (p. 149) and de Maupassant (p. 134)
Links for this Week:
Class Notes
Have a marvelous weekend!
Mrs. Prichard
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