Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 6 (September 28)

Greetings!

We had a very full and productive time in class today.  We started with the Quick Write, and I gave them two options:

-- Since it was the birthday of Johnny Chapman (a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed) I had the students write either about their favorite apple recipe/food or about their favorite fall food.  I'm glad to say that we all like apples, and, of course, this is the best time of year to get your fill.  (For those interested in more about Johnny Appleseed here are a couple of good sites:  Biography.com, Wikipedia, and of course the Johnny Appleseed song/prayer)  

-- Friday (September 29) is International Coffee Day, so I asked them to write either about coffee or about their favorite beverage.  Here's some information National Coffee Day.

Below are the Words of the Day, taken from my foreign words and phrases book:

Cappuccino -- fr. Italian, Capuchin, an order of monks who wore light brown habits -- a coffee drink made from espresso, steamed milk, and foam

Carabiner -- fr. German, Karabinerhaken, carbine hook -- a metal ring with a spring catch used by mountain climbers

Carafe -- fr. Arabic, gharrafah, a drinking vessel -- a wide-mouthed glass or metal bottle for serving beverages

Carousel -- fr. French, carrousel, a knight's tournament -- a rotating platform carnival ride with horses as seats.

    Note:  Some may be interested in this bit of trivia  -- a carousel can only have horses, while a merry-go-round can use other animals for the seats of the ride.

When I hand back Rough Drafts to the students, I cover grammar topics that represent the types of errors most common in that current round of papers.  In addition to taking notes, I directed students to add to their page in their notebooks titled "Watch our for . . ."  This list over the course of the year will both chronicle a student's growth and be a source for goal setting.  I also asked them to look at their final drafts of their previous papers and to start a document titled "What I did well . . "  The areas we covered today were commas and compound sentences, comma splice and run-on sentences, paragraph formation, and punctuation with dialogue.

We discussed Jim, Antonia, the Harlings, and Wick Cutter -- all characters from our book, My Antonia.  Next week we will use our literature circles again to discuss the assigned reading portion.  I will e-mail the individual circles so that they can communicate with each other.  Come ready to discuss.

Circle Members:
Circle 1:  David, Carter, Katelyn, Akaya, Caitlin, Julia
Circle 2:  Daniel, Sofia, Audrie, Noah, Taylor, Kayla
Circle 3:  Christianna, Kai Rose, Madi, Emily, Bryce, Isabella

Roles for next week:

Discussion Director -- David, Daniel, Christianna

Illustrator -- Carter, Sofia, Kai Rose

Luminary -- Katelyn, Audrie, Madi

Word Nerd -- Akaya, Noah, Emily

Connector -- Caitlin, Taylor, Bryce

Summarizer -- Julia, Kayla, Isabella

In two weeks, students are to hand in a Project Proposal sheet for their final project for the book.  I would like parents to initial this before they hand it in, so I've attached a copy of the document and provided a link.  If you have any questions, please contact me.

A note about homework:  The past few weeks I've had the students hold all of their homework until the end of the class rather than hand it in bit by bit throughout the class time.  Unfortunately, I think there may be some confusion about what should be handed in. Firstly, if I assigned it, assume that you should hand it in.  However, if you're not sure, you can hand it in to be on the safe side or check with me after class.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read pages 119 - 140

-- 3 Reader Responses

-- 5 Vocabulary Words

-- Final draft (Remember to also bring your rough draft)

-- Literature Circle Preparations

-- Be thinking about your final project

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Johnny Appleseed -- Biography.com & Wikipedia

Johnny Appleseed Prayer

My Antonia Project Proposal

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

My Antonia Project Proposal Form

NAME:  ___________________________________________________

Parent’s Initials:  ___________

My Antonia Project Proposal Form

Description:

At the end of reading My Antonia by Willa Cather, students will present a project related to the book as a whole. Most of the projects are meant for individual work, but some can be expanded to a group project.  (Permission must be acquired for group projects.)  Some of the project ideas involve other media, and you are encouraged to be creative and to choose something that fits your interests, abilities, and personality. 

Due dates:

Project Proposal:  Week 8 (10/12)

Project Presentations:  Weeks 12 & 13 (11/16 & 11/30)

Presentations:

The format for the presentations will be dependent on the types of projects chosen.  Some projects will be suitable for a “science fair” format with stations, and others will be more performance or audio-visual oriented.  We will plan our two days for presentations accordingly.

My Proposed Project: 

   

Why have you chosen this particular project?

  

Will you be working with anyone else?

  

How will you present your project?  (for example, performance, poster board, artwork, written work, etc.)

  

Will you need any special materials for do your project?  If so, do you have plan for getting these?

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 5 (September 21)

Greetings!

We had a full day in class and covered a lot of information.  Students stayed engaged and did a great job.  At the beginning of class, we took care of "housekeeping" items. For those students who eat in the cafe area or buy their lunch there, I reminded them to clean up after themselves and to return their trays.  And, we had a discussion about phones in the classroom.  What students sometimes don't realize is that their small interactions can distract the whole class and even keep us from getting important work done.

I gave two options for the Quick Write.  The first was in recognition of "World Gratitude Day" that started on Sept. 21, 1965 in Hawaii. Students could write about something for which they were grateful.  The other option came as a result of a student's searching for other notable event during September of 1965.  She came up with the first notable printed use of the word "hippie,"  which occurred in the San Francisco Examiner on Sept. 5, 1965.  Students were somewhat aware of what hippies, and more currently hipsters, are, but most chose to write about gratitude.

The Words of the Day:

status quo -- Latin "the state in which" -- refers to the existing state of affairs or condition

joie de vivre -- French "joy of life" -- an exuberant joyfulness in living

carte blanche -- French "blank check" -- complete freedom to act as one wishes, unrestrained power

caveat emptor -- Latin "Let the buyer beware" -- refers to the buyer's responsibility to check the quality of the goods before purchasing

tempus fugit -- Latin "time flies"

alpha and omega -- Greek "Beginning and end"

I handed back the Final Drafts of the Personal Commentary Essays.  The students did a great job on their first essays of the year.  For this round of essays I evaluated them using a rubric that considers the elements of an essay:  Focus (Introduction, conclusion, and thesis), content, organization, and mechanics.  When I handed back the rough drafts, I asked the students to start a page in their notebooks titled "Watch out for . . . " where they could keep track of their common writing errors.  I had meant to direct them today to start a page "What I did well . . . " where they could keep track of the elements of writing that they felt they had done well.  Their list could include my comments of their own observations. Students are more likely to grow and improve as writers when they deliberately think about their own abilities.  (We will discuss this next week.)

Rough Drafts of the Process Essays were handed in today.  (Note:  A couple students mentioned forgetting the essay at home or having printer problems.  They can e-mail them to me whenever that happens.)

Students had done a worksheet two weeks ago on Sentence Patterns.  When I corrected them, I noticed not only many mistakes, but many of the same mistakes, so I thought it best to go over the worksheets as a class.  Projecting the worksheets on the whiteboard, we went over the sentences, labeling subjects, verbs, predicate nouns, predicate adjectives, direct objects, and indirect objects.   They have another worksheet as homework to do more practice.

Finally, the students broke into their Literature Circle groups.  Each student in the group was assigned a role, and as I listened I heard good discussions and information sharing.  One group thought that it might be a good idea to give students two roles so that they would have multiple perspectives.  I was proud of the work they did.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Book II, Sections VIII – XV (p. 94 – 118)

-- 3 Reader Responses

-- 5 Vocabulary Words

-- Sentence Patterns Worksheet

Links for this week

Class Notes

Sentence Patterns Worksheet

Essay Evaluation Rubric

Literature Circles

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Sentence Patterns Practice

For each sentence:

·         Underline the subject once and label it with “S;”

·         Underline the verb twice and label it “V;”

·         Circle the predicate complement, i.e. the Direct Object, the Indirect Object, the Predicate Noun, or the Predicate Adjective

·         Label the predicate complement.  (DO for direct object, IO for indirect object, PN for predicate noun, PA for predicate adjective).

1.   Three of my friends formed a band.

2.   The weather was calm and peaceful.

3.   Max drinks soda with his lunch.

4.   My dog is smelly after his encounter with the skunk.

5.   Our guest is the senator from Maine.

6.   Dad washed his car at the gas stations.

7.   I bought the whole class some candy.

8.   Callie seems the best candidate for the class representative position.

9.   Cindy baked the elderly twelve dozen cookies.

10.       We use expensive pots and pans in the restaurant kitchen.

11.       Uncle Fred told the children stories from his time in the army.

12.       Sue, send me an e-mail about that meeting.

13.       John Glenn was a pilot, an astronaut, and a senator.

14.       Mr. Johnson appears distracted by the TVs at the restaurant.

15.       This unpredictable weather is crazy.

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 4 (September 14)

Greetings!

We had a good, full, yet challenging class time yesterday.  The challenging part first:

For our Quick Write, I gave two prompt options:  they could write their thoughts, impressions, or stories related to 9/11 (Monday was the 16th anniversary of the bombing of the Twin Towers) or our national anthem, which Francis Scott Key penned as "Defense of Fort McHenry" on September 14, 1814.  The bulk of our conversation centered on the second prompt when I asked if students had opinions about professional athletes who did not want to stand while our national anthem was played.  We had some strong views that included comments about respect, tradition, the armed forces, and Black Lives Matter.  Not all of the students had the same perspective, experiences, or opinions, and I'm sure that there were more comments that students wanted to make before I closed out the conversation. 

I want to highlight the points that I made to the class:

-- Most situations are more complicated than we realize, and we rarely have all of the details. We have more access to information with the internet, so we feel that we are fully informed about events or people, but we need to remember to check the accuracy of reported facts and data. 

-- We don't fully know or understand everyone's experiences and need to be careful to not make judgments about others based on our own experiences or on what we've heard second or third hand.

-- It is vital that we learn to listen to one another intently and humbly, not only to the words spoken but also to the heart behind the comments.  Many times we will find that we have some of the same core values or concerns but differ in what we see as solutions.

-- Our class needs to be a safe place to express opinions and to value the opinions of others.  Students must be ready to listen to one another and to ask clarifying questions in order to understand more fully.  If their ears are not open, their neither should their mouths be. 

A note to parents:  The issues that students are exposed to in this generation are much more complicated than those when we were young.  They often hear, see, and read more than they are fully capable of processing given their age and development.  I encourage you to have conversations with them to find out what they are thinking.  We have a tremendous opportunity to direct our children to the Lord and to help them grow in those qualities of compassion, mercy, humility, righteousness, integrity, respect, etc.  The world doesn't need any more "clanging cymbals" (1 Cor. 13:1), but instead a host of strong, wise, grace-filled, Holy Spirit-moved men and women who will bring God to a broken world.  (Stepping off my soap box . . . )

Our Words of the Day:

verbatim -- Latin, verbum, "word" -- to repeat something word for word

E pluribus unum -- Latin, "out of many, one" -- the motto for the US, recognizing the melting pot and diversity that constitutes our country

prima donna -- Latin/Italian, "first lady" -- traditionally the leading female singer in an opera, but also a temperamental and demanding celebrity

avant-garde -- French, "advance guard" -- art, architecture, music, fashion that is cutting edge, experimental, or innovative

Every four weeks or so I will hand out Missing Homework reports that are generated from My GradeBook.  When students get too far behind on work, they often have a hard time catching up.  (Note:  At this point, students should ignore the grade from My GradeBook.  It's a straight percentage and not an accurate indicator of work.)  Sometimes a student has done homework but forgotten to hand it in.  Other times they have done the work, I've graded it, but for some reason it doesn't get in either my paper notebook or the electronic grade book.  (I've tried to never mistakes, but haven't quite got that mastered!)  Late homework can be handed in without penalty.  I also explained to the students that doing the homework is not my responsibility but theirs.  

Students handed in the final drafts of their Personal Commentary Essays and have their next writing assignment:  a Process Essay.  We discussed a number of topics and thesis statements. I introduced my equation for a thesis statement and the template to use to get started:

Equation:

     Topic/Subject

  +  Opinion/Stand

Thesis Statement

Template:

     (topic/stand)     is/are      (opinion/stand)     because      (reason #1)      ,      (reason #2)     , and       (reason #3)     .

For the remainder of the class, I introduced Literature Circles to the students.  In these groups of 6 whose purpose is to discuss some aspect of their assigned reading, each person has one of these roles to play:  discussion director, illustrator, luminary, connector, word nerd, or summarizer.  I divided in the class into their groups for next week, and they decided the roles for themselves.  

Roles for next week:

Discussion Director -- David, Daniel, Christianna

Illustrator -- Carter, Sofia, Kai Rose

Luminary -- Katelyn, Audrie, Madi

Word Nerd -- Akaya, Noah, Emily

Connector -- Caitlin, Taylor, Bryce

Sumarizer -- Julie, Kayla, Isabella

A note on classroom expectations:  I appreciate the comments from the students and hope that we can get to know one another better and have quality discussions.  On the first day of class we discussed electronics, especially phones, in the class.  This week I asked a couple students to put their phones away, and it looked a couple of time like others had theirs out.  Students, consider this your ONLY warning.  If a phone is out in class, I will confiscate it.  The first time this happens I will keep it until the end of class; after that I will keep it until the end of my day, which is 3:30.  Phones are great tools, but during class they are only distractions that affect the whole class.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read p. 70 - 94

-- 3 Reading Responses

-- 5 Vocabulary Words

-- Prepare for Literature Circles

-- Process Essay Rough Draft

-- NO grammar

Links for this Week:

Class Notes

Literature Circle Guidelines

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Literature Circle Guidelines

            When the class divides into small groups to discuss an assigned portion from our literature selection, having specific roles and responsibilities in the groups helps each person engage more actively in the discussion and think more deeply about the book.  Below is a list of roles that will either be assigned or chosen when we break into small groups.

Roles & Responsibilities

Discussion Director

·         Clarifies the assigned question or topic

·         Facilitates group discussion; helps everyone stay on task

·         Asks questions not only about plot, characters, and setting but also deeper critical thinking ones

·         Makes sure that everyone has a chance to speak

Illustrator

·         Draws a sketch to represent a scene from the assigned portion

·         Ties the sketch into the specific discussion points

·         Uses the drawing to further discussion

Luminary

·         Looks in the book for specific quotes that pertain to the assigned question or topic

·         Finds quotes from the book that are powerful, funny, important, puzzling, or worth hearing

Word Nerd

·         Selects words from the text that are unusual or difficult

·         Asks the rest of the group for definitions or finds definitions from dictionary or phone app

Connector

·         Points out relationships between the text and real world situations

·         Compares characters, setting, or plot to similar situations or events

Summarizer

·         At the end of the discussion, summarizes the main points and provides a big picture perspective

·         If applicable, shares the gist of the discussion with the rest of the class

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 3 (September 7)

Greetings!

We had a good day in class this week. Because it was a return-rough-drafts-week, the greater portion of our time was spent going over common mistakes, and this included lots of mini grammar lessons.

We wrote our Quick Writes about television because Sept. 7, 1927 was the date of the first transmission to a television set.  We've certainly come a long way in the past 90 years!

Our Words of the Day were of Latin and French origin.

alma mater -- Latin, "nourishing mother" -- refers to the high school or college from which you graduated

cum laude -- Latin, "with praise" -- a distinction when graduating that refers to a certain grade point average.  Similarly, magna cum laude means "with great praise" and summa cum laude means "with highest praise."

femme fatale -- French, "a dangerous woman" -- a stock character in film noir, in modern film or novels, this is an attractive woman who leads others into dangerous situations

esprit de corps -- French, "the spirit of the body" -- a feeling of pride or fellowship with a certain group of people.

As I mentioned, I spent the majority of class going over the Rough Drafts.  My practice is to keep track of the patterns of mistakes made in these first drafts and then to address them in small grammar lessons.  This week we addressed some format issues, compound sentences, contractions, comma splice sentences, and exclamation points.  In the notes at the end of the rough drafts, I include a "Watch out for . . . " section where I list the 2 - 3 most prevalent mistakes.  I've asked the students to start a page in their notebooks where they will keep track of these.  As we progress through this year's essays, they can use this list for reminders of problem areas or to even set goals for their writing.  For example, if he repeatedly has comma splice errors, on the next essay he could focus on that aspect of his sentence structure.

For the Grammar portion of the class, students were given a set of worksheets about sentence patterns.  I often find that at the high school level, students have had a wide variety of grammar experiences and instructions.  Therefore, some of this may be review and some of it may be completely unfamiliar. If there is ever a problem, please contact me.  The advantage of learning this stuff at an older age is that students are more ready to understand the "whys" of many grammar rules, and therefore they stick in their minds a little better.

For the final few minutes of class, we discussed some of the questions from the study guide about this week's reading assignment for My Antonia.  Most of the students seem to be enjoying the book, and I look forward to spending more time in discussions next week.

A note about our class time:  In these first weeks I have observed a few distracting behaviors here and there in the class.  Students come to Writing 2 directly after lunch, and it may be that it is hard to transition out of "free time" and back in to "learning time."  What students may not realize, but what I clearly notice, is that even small comments or gestures to one another affects the whole class.  Students, please be aware of your interactions; if you are prone to chatting, etc, you may need to choose to not sit by a friend.  Parents, please have a check in with your student about this.  As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or observations, please feel free to contact me.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Final Draft of Personal Commentary Essay

-- Read p. 47 - 69

-- 3 Reader Responses

-- 5 Vocabulary Words

-- Sentence Patterns Practice

-- Compound Subjects & Predicates

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Six Basic Sentence Patterns

Compound Subjects & Predicates

Sentence Patterns Practice (or PDF)

Have a wonderful weekend.  If you're not doing anything, join us in Northfield for the Defeat of Jesse James Days!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Sentence Patterns Practice

For each sentence:

·         Underline the subject once and label it with “S;”

·         Underline the verb twice and label it “V;”

·         Circle the predicate complement, i.e. the Direct Object, the Indirect Object, the Predicate Noun, or the Predicate Adjective

·         Label the predicate complement.  (DO for direct object, IO for indirect object, PN for predicate noun, PA for predicate adjective).

1.   Three of my friends formed a band.

2.   The weather was calm and peaceful.

3.   Max drinks soda with his lunch.

4.   My dog is smelly after his encounter with the skunk.

5.   Our guest is the senator from Maine.

6.   Dad washed his car at the gas stations.

7.   I bought the whole class some candy.

8.   Callie seems the best candidate for the class representative position.

9.   Cindy baked the elderly twelve dozen cookies.

10.       We use expensive pots and pans in the restaurant kitchen.

11.       Uncle Fred told the children stories from his time in the army.

12.       Sue, send me an e-mail about that meeting.

13.       John Glenn was a pilot, an astronaut, and a senator.

14.       Mr. Johnson appears distracted by the TVs at the restaurant.

15.       This unpredictable weather is crazy.