Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 9 (March 24)

Greetings!  

On Thursday when I drove up to CHAT, the back roads were ice-covered and a little treacherous.  By the time classes were done, the snow had almost all melted.  That's Spring in Minnesota for you!

I used two dates and two men as the prompts for this week's Quick Write.  The first was March 23, 1776 when Patrick Henry proclaimed to the citizens of Richmond, Virginia, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty of give me death!"  The second date was March 25, 2228, the supposed birth date of Captain James T. Kirk, born somewhere in Iowa.  This man's mission was "to boldly go where no man has gone before."  I asked the students to write either about passions they would give their all to or about a life's adventure or dream.

For our Words of the Day, we had words that contained all of the vowels (a, e, i, o, and u):

armigerous -- entitled to bear heraldic arms; an armour-bearer

epuration -- purification; removing officials or politicians considered to be disloyal

inquorate -- unable to proceed due to an insufficient number of members

ossuaries -- a container or room in which the bones of dead people are placed

uvarovite -- an emerald green variety of a garnet

sequioia -- a redwood tree

Students handed in the Final Drafts of their Problem/Solution or Cause/Effect Essays. They worked hard on these and should pat themselves on the backs.  Their writing improves with each essay!

I introduced our next writing assignment: an Evaluation Essay.  In an essay of this type, students can take a current issue, a product, a place, a business, or a performance and evaluate it using criteria explained in the essay and supporting their opinions with specific facts and data.  I choose this essay to be the last one for Writing 2 because it uses bits of the other types of essays that we've written this year and in Writing 1 (description, process, comparison, etc.).  In class we specifically discussed forming good thesis statements and developing criteria with which to assess the quality or value of their subjects.  The Pre-Writes for these essays are due when we get back from break.

In the Grammar section of class we reviewed direct objects and indirect objects.  Students gave some sample sentences, and we dissected the sentences, labeling the parts of speech.  Since we are on the topic of Sentence Patterns, we proceeded on to Predicate Nouns and Predicate Adjectives.  The four patterns we've discussed so far are:

N - V - DO (noun - verb - direct object)

N - V - IO - DO (noun - verb - indirect object - direct object)

N - LV - N (noun - linking verb - noun)

N - LV - Adj (noun - linking verb - adjective)

We took a little longer with the Writing and Grammar portion of the class and only had time to discuss one of the short stories, "A Pair of Silk Stockings."  This has always been one of my favorites because the interpretations that students have vary so greatly.  Some read the story and claim the mother is selfish and foolish; others feel compassion for the mother.  Follow the link to the 007Mom post and read the story for yourselves.  Let me know what you think.

For our next class period, students will need to read the short stories for April 7 along with the stories for February 18.  The are listed below.

Assignments for April 7:

-- News Story Pre-Write

-- Predicate Nominative and Predicate Adjective Worksheets

-- Indirect Object Worksheet for extra credit

-- Read the following short stories:  

     -- February 18:  Pushkin (p. 162); Tolstoy (p. 169); Chekhov (p. 26)

     -- April 7:  Pirandello (p. 149); de Maupassant (p. 134)

-- Write 3 Discussion Questions for 3 of the short stories 

Links for This Week:

Class Notes

Evaluation Essay

"A Pair of Silk Stockings" (007Mom blog post)

Silk Stockings Slide Presentation

The Three Hermits (audio)

A Malefactor (audio)

Direct Objects & Indirect Objects PowerPoint

Predicate Nouns, Pronouns, and Adjectives Video

We do not have class next week!  Enjoy the break, and be blessed this Easter!

Mrs. Prichard

Evaluation Essay

Evaluation Essay

Definition

            In an essay of evaluation, a writer acts like a roving critic, exploring the significance of your topic.  The purpose of an evaluation essay is to demonstrate the overall quality (or lack thereof) of a particular product, business, place, service, or program.  To develop an essay of this type, think in terms of a subject’s value, impact, and significance; its strengths and weaknesses; its place in the scheme of things.

Choosing a Subject

            An Evaluation Essay explores a particular event, a current trend, an extended project, a recent decision, a new product, and so on.  Consider recent experiences, conversations, and headlines for possible ideas.  It can focus on current events, political or social events, or developments in medicine or technology.

Thesis Development

While any evaluation involves injecting some form of opinion, if an evaluation is done properly, it should not come across as opinionated.  Instead, the evaluation should seem reasoned and unbiased. 

Organization

In order to give a clear representation and reasonable, unbiased discussion of your topic keep the following elements in mind:

• Critera – This refers to the elements or qualities that demonstrate an ideal for any similar situation.  Having clear criteria establishes your paper with facts and details so that it does not appear to be only an opinion.  For example, if evaluating a restaurant, you would choose the common characteristics of menu items, cleanliness, staff, prices, etc. 
• Judgment – This establishes whether or not your topic meets the appropriate criteria that you’ve chosen to consider in your evaluation.  Using the example of a restaurant, if you’ve chosen as criteria the quality of food, the judgment states whether or not the particular restaurant offers food that meets or exceeds this stated quality.
• Evidence – These are the details that support your judgment of the criteria.  Again, in the restaurant example, if you have determined that the quality does not meet a certain standard, give an explanation that serves as evidence.

Generally, each body paragraph of an evaluation essay is going to focus on one specific criterion, which should be fully explained, followed by the judgment and a variety of evidence offered as support.  Because of this, it is important that any evaluation contains several different criteria, judgments, and evidence.

Essay Guidelines

– Due dates:  Pre-Write due April 7; Rough Draft due April 14;  Final Draft due April 21

– Essay length:  800 – 1000 words (between 3 and 6 pages)

– Rough drafts can be typed or hand-written, but must be double-spaced.

– Final draft format:

– Typed (if this is not possible, please let me know)

– 1 inch margins

– Name and date on the upper right hand corner

– Number the pages on the lower right hand corner

– Title centered above the text of the essay

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 8 (March 17)

Greetings!

This week in class we started with a Quick Write that asked about family heritage since it was St. Patrick's Day.  While my kids are "mutts," a blend of 8 or 9 nationalities, we have incorporated some Scandinavian traditions into our family celebrations.  As I write this, I'm thinking that it would be fun to incorporate some those British, German, and Scotch-Irish elements into our family, too.

The Words of the Day were short words or words for very small items:

aglet -- fr. OF aiguillette, a small needle -- the plastic or metal end of a shoelace

chad -- origin unknown -- a small round or square bit of paper formed when a hole is punched

grommet -- fr, OF gromette, curb of a bridle -- a metal or plastic ring encasing and reinforcing a hole

vim -- fr. an Americanism; fr. Latin vis, energy, force -- a lively and enthusiastic spirit

mauw -- fr. German, maul, muzzle -- the mouth, throat, or gullet of an animal

I handed back the Rough Drafts of the Cause/Effect or Problem/Solution Essays.  The class did a wonderful job with this assignment.  When I hand back rough drafts, I like to use that as an opportunity to go over common errors.  Students can learn points of grammar with worksheets, but it makes the most sense in the context of their own writing.  Our list included such items as not using contractions, avoiding "there is/are" sentences, avoiding the word "things," subject-verb agreement, noun-pronoun agreement, etc.

For the past few weeks, during the Grammar portion of class we've been learning about various types of phrases.  This week we concluded this unit by reviewing infinitive phrases.  Students shouldn't be surprised if they are confused.  These are really advanced grammar topics and are not as simple as picking out the subject or verb of a sentence.  When verbs (action words) morph into adjectives (participles) or nouns (gerunds) or nouns/adjectives/adverbs (infinitives), it gets pretty complicated.  We're now leaving phrases, and will be exploring types of sentences and elements in a sentence.

The class had read 4 Short Stories for this week; to close out the class we watched a Lego version of Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaverous County.

Assignments for this Week:

Read the following stories:  Chopin (p. 30), London (p. 122), Mansfield (p. 130), Gilman (p. 50)

Write 3 Discussion Questions per story

Final Drafts of Problem/Solution or Cause/Effect Essays

Grammar Worksheets -- 9.2

Links for this Week:

Class Notes

A Pair of Silk Stockings (audiobook)

The White Silence (audiobook)

If I were a Man (audiobook)

Direct and Indirect Objects video

Have a beautiful week!

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 7 (March 10)

Greetings!

My apologies for the lateness of this e-mail.  We had a busy weekend with a conference and out of town guests.

Our Quick Write was an interesting one.  I told the students that they could ask me three questions, and I would answer one of them.  The questions have been fun to answer:  what's my favorite Bible verse? what's my favorite food to cook? where my favorite vacation spot? and finally, who is my favorite student?  (I weaseled out of that one!)

Our Words of the Day:

New words:

nutriceutical -- foods used for healing

retail therapy -- shopping for comfort

webliography -- a list of electronic documents

Old words

humble pie -- forced humility; to be forced to apologize

wiseacre -- a person who pretends to be smart but is obnoxious

kickshaw -- a delicacy or trinket

The Rough Drafts of the Problem/Solution or Cause/Effect Essays were handed in this week.  These two part essays take a little more time to write, but these students have become strong, thoughtful writers.  I look forward to reading through them this week.

We have started into our next book, Great Short Short Stories.  The stories for this week were a bit macabre and dark.  Unfortunately, not all of our classic literature have pleasant themes.  Our stories for next week have some humor and compassion.  Instead of discussion questions, students are to fill out short story worksheets; they are really more like charts than worksheets.  They will read 4 stories and fill out 3 charts.

We are continuing to work on phrases for the Grammar section of the class.  We did a quick review of Prepositional, Participle, Gerund, and Infinitive Phrases. For their homework they are to finish side one of Phrases, Part 2.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read Bret Harte (p. 64), Mark Twain (p. 175), Sarah Orne Jewett (p. 87) and Stephen Crane (p. 34)

-- One worksheet (front and back) for 3 of the four stories

-- Phrases, part 2 (front side only)

Links for this week:

Class Notes

Librivox -- Luck of Roaring Camp

The Notorious Jumping Frog -- Lego Version

Librivox -- A White Heron

The Veteran -- Youtube recording

Phrases, Part 2, page 1

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Prichard

PHRASES WORKSHEET, Part 2, page 1

PHRASES WORKSHEET, Part 2

Infinitive and Appositive Phrases

INFINITIVE PHRASES

Infinitive Phrases:  Infinitive phrases can be used as three parts of speech:  noun, adjective, or adverb.  An infinitive phrase will begin with an infinitive (to + simple for of the verb).  It may include direct objects and/or modifiers

            Examples:

·  To finish her shift without spilling was Michelle’s only goal.  (functions as a noun)

·  Connor hopes to win the approval of his coach by showing up early for practice. (functions as a noun)

·  The best way to survive Mrs. Prichard’s class is counting backwards from 100 until class is over. (functions as an adjective)

·  Calvin, an aspiring doctor, is taking British Literature to give himself a well-rounded education. (functions as an adverb – “why”)

Note:  The word “to” can also be used as a preposition.  If it is followed by a noun or pronoun, the phrase is a prepositional phrase, not an infinitive.

Instructions:  Underline the infinitive phrase.  Label it as a noun, adjective or adverb phrase.

1.     Roger needs to listen more clearly.

2.     Jack has an assignment he needs to complete.

3.     Carol likes to sing in the choir.

4.     The family’s dream was to build a cabin in the woods.

5.     I need a book to read this week.

6.     Let him show you the best way to paint the house.

7.     To write a novel is on my bucket list.

8.     Last year they moved to Texas to run a ranch.

9.     Candy has the patience to babysit her neighbors.

10.            Mr. Hornsby managed to finagle some money from the children.

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 6 (March 3)

Greetings!

A week off from class was a nice break, but it is also good to be back to our CHAT classes.  

Before our Quick Write, I told the students about a opera performance in Berlin by Luciano Pavarotti.  Following the performance, Pavarotti had a record 165 curtain calls and a 67 minute standing ovation.  I asked the students to write about either a memorable concert experience or a singer/group they would like to hear in concert.  While most students like concerts, a few were not as interested in attending any special performances.

Our Words of the Day:

philophaster -- a pseudo-philosopher  (the suffix "aster" implies an incomplete resemblence or counterfeit)

autocrat -- from Greek, auto (self) and crat (rule/power) -- a ruler who has absolute power; 

satrap -- a governor in ancient Persia

epizootic -- a disease spreading through an animal population

trilemna -- a difficult choice involving 3 options

We had a quick check in on our Essays.  For this round of essays, students can choose either a Cause/Effect Essay or a Problem/Solution Essay.  They can even choose to do both essays.  The Rough Drafts for these essays are due next week.

We started our next Literature unit, a collection of Short Stories.  For this week, students read stories by British authors.  The class was in agreement that the Charles Dickens story, "Nobody's Story," was not a favorite.  Dickens wrote from a vague, philosophical perspective that was confusing for most.  The two favorites of the day were "Wee Willie Winkie," a story about a 7 year old who becomes a hero, and "The Open Window," a story about a 15 year old who scares a man with a nervous disorder.  For next week, they are to read 3 American authors and write 3 discussion questions for each story.

Finally, we forayed into a grammar discussion that involved phrases.  Today, our specific topic was Gerund Phrases.  These are verbal phrases are verbs in -ing form that are used as nouns.  As we've discussed in class, sometimes one part of speech can be used in another.  In the homework section, I have three videos that will help explain Gerund Phrases, Infinitive Phrases, and Appositive Phrases.  (We will be discussing the latter in class next week.) I would like the students to watch them before the next class.

Assignments for Next Week:

EDpuzzle Infinitive Video 

EDpuzzle Appositive Video

EDpuzzle Gerund Video

Cause/Effect or Problem/Solution Rough Draft

Read Hawthorne (p. 73), Bierce (p. 10), and Poe (p. 156)

Write 3 Discussion questions for each story

No Grammar Worksheet

Links for This Week:

Class Notes

Videos for Infinitives and Appositives

Video for Gerunds

Note:  The videos listed in the Assignments section of this e-mail are the same as the listed in the Links section; one link goes to the blog and one goes to the EDpuzzle site.  Some students have had trouble accessing one or the other site, so I'm including both.  Students need only watch the videos once.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Prichard

Video for Gerund Phrases

Please watch this video to review gerunds.  Take notes if it will help!

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 6 (March 3)

Oops!  I posted the Class Notes for Writing 1 in the Writing 2 blog.  Please follow this link to the Writing 1 class blog.

Videos for Infinitive and Appositive Phrases

Watch and take notes if it would help. Infinitive Phrases



 Appositive Phrases