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:
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
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
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