Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 5 (September 22)

Greetings!

Another great day in class!  

In recognition that Thursday is the autumnal equinox (the first day of fall when we have as many hours of daylight as we do night), I asked student to write in their Quick Writes about what they like about fall.  In addition to the changing leaves and "sweater weather," yummy foods like pumpkin and apple cider were mentioned.  Of course, some weren't so happy about the coming cold winter season.

Our Words of the Day from A Connecticut Yankee:

Pandemonium -- fr. Milton's capital of hell in Paradise Lost -- a wild uproar or unrestrained chaos

Lubber -- fr. Middle English lob, a clumsy person -- a big, clumsy, stupid person

Squabble -- fr. Swedish sqvabbel, to quarrel or gossip -- to verbally engage in a petty quarrel

Limpid -- fr. Latin limpidus, clear -- clear, transparent, calm, especially with water

I handed back the graded Final Drafts of the Personal Essays.  I enjoyed this set of essays and look forward to a full year of work from them.  They handed in the rough drafts of their Process Essays, which I will hand back next week.

We took more time with our literature selection.  Dividing the class into small groups, I asked them to discuss one of the themes found in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court:

Education & Training

Religion & the Church

Magic & Superstition

Slavery

Following their  small group discussions, each group shared with the class the key points and thoughts for their themes.

Our Grammar discussion focused on one of the common errors that I find in student writing -- Subject/Verb Agreement.  In sentences, if you have a singular subject, you need a singular verb.  For most sentences, this is obvious, but often in complex sentences the subject and verb are not close to one another.  Students are to do both sides of the worksheet.

Finally, a couple students mentioned that they had not been able to log on to My GradeBook, so here are the code and instructions:

Go to My GradeBook

Initial log in: Classword: JH2J6Z9JN

Initial password:  student's first name and last initial

After you have logged in the first time, you can change the log in information.

Assignments for This Week:

-- Read A Connecticut Yankee:  Ch. 24 - 27

-- Answer 4 Study Guide questions

-- Fill in 8 Vocabulary words

-- Grammar Worksheets

Links for This week:

Class Notes

Washington Post Article on Twain and ACY

Have a great weekend!

Blessings, 

Mrs. Prichard