It's great to be back at CHAT again. Students were lively and alert, and I have good material planned for this semester that I'm excited to teach.
We began the day, as usual, with a Quick Write. In Bulgaria, January 20 is "Babin Den," which is "Grandmother's Day." Tradition says that when the grandmothers hold their newborn grandchildren, they pass on their wisdom. I asked the students to write about their own grandmothers.
Our Words of the Day this semester will taken from a selection of SAT Word flashcards. I let students pick four words from the deck. (We won't have a test on the words this semester, but I still like to help students expand their vocabularies.) Our words this week were:
choreographer -- n. a person who creates dance compositions
covet -- v. to desire jealously
cicadas -- n.a large insect, similar to a locust
estrange -- v. to make hostile or alienate
The next item on my agenda for class was "New Stuff." I handed out the Syllabus for the semester and gave a concise overview of our Writing, Grammar, and Literature units. I'm trying something new this semester. I gave each student an Individual Assignment Log. This chart has the assignments for the semester and places to either check off or put in scores for assignments. I feel this will be helpful for students who like to know ahead of time what assignments are coming up and who like to check items off a list. If this is not a helpful tool, students don't need to do it.
We begin the semester reading Sherlock Holmes Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I love mysteries, and most students enjoy these reading assignments. We talked about key characteristics of detective literature and some specific detectives that we know. Students were given a handout with background information and also a study guide for the short stories.
The first writing assignment for this term is a bit of a shift from our regular essay writing. Last year, students asked if we could do some creative writing. So, I changed my coursework a bit to include that. Since we're reading about Sherlock Holmes, I've assigned the students to write a Mystery Story. Some students will find this to be great fun, while others may have a harder time. The Pre-Write is due next week. For some inspiration, students can check out the stories on the blog from last year's students. (Check the right hand sidebar for the story pages.)
Last semester, we focused on the 8 parts of speech for our Grammar. This semester, we will focus on phrases and clauses. Careful writers use these groups of words to liven and "bedazzle" the sentences and paragraphs of our essays. We started this week with 2 worksheets on Misplaced Modifiers and Dangling Modifiers.
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Read A Scandal in Bohemia and The Red-Headed League
-- Answer 4 Study Guide questions for either or both of the stories
-- Mystery Story Pre-Write
-- 1 Grammar Worksheets
-- 5.4 (# 1 - 15)
-- 5.5 (# 1 - 10)
Links for This Week
Class Notes
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Prichard
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