Writing 2 -- Grades are Coming!

Dear Parents & Students,

I've just about finished calculating the grades for the first semester and am getting ready to send out an e-mail with a breakdown of grades for Writing 2.  Please remember that I am a “tutor,” and these are suggested grades for you as homeschooling families to consider.

Before I send them out, let me share my thoughts about grades.  As I homeschooled, I didn't give my children grades because I felt that grades were far too subjective.  Learning to write well is a process, and I am more concerned that my students stay engaged in the process than I am in the final products.  As I regularly tell the class, each paper is the “rough draft” for the next paper.  When teaching students to be good writers, I give a lot of consideration for growth and improvement. Each student has a starting place; over time I look for him or her to learn the mechanics of grammar, good writing techniques, and analytical thinking skills; they then move on from that original starting place.

Letter grades are a funny thing.  For some students, it becomes the only motivation for doing well.  For some, it becomes a measure of worth as a person or an academic learner.  I personally don't like these "side effects" of the grading system.  On the other hand, grades can be a valid reward for working hard, being diligent, and understanding the materials.  Incentives and consequences are a part of life; God uses them, too.  I tend to be an "easy grader" and like to see my students encouraged to do their best.  Becoming a good writer is hard work, and too often students are discouraged before they’ve given themselves a chance to succeed.

For this class, I gave points for attendance, participation, short assignments and longer papers.   For those who are putting together transcripts, this semester would be considered .50 English (or Language Arts) credits.  The grades are divided into the following categories:  

• Assignments (Quick Writes, misc. Extra Credit, Words of the Day Test)
• Grammar (Worksheets, presentations, Parts of Speech Post Test)
• Literature (Study Guide responses, Vocabulary, Quizzes, Tests)
• Writing (Pre-Writes, Rough Drafts, Final Drafts)
• Composite Grade (an overall grade that also takes into consideration class participation/behavior and timeliness of homework.)

The first four categories are not evenly weighted.  For example, the points for the Quick Writes are not as important as the points for the essays.  The percentages per category are specific to the number of points possible for that category and the number of points earned.

Each student (and their parents) will get an e-mail with percentages and suggested grades for this semester.

Blessings,

Tammy Prichard

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 15 (December 14)

Greetings!

We had a fun final week of the class.  I intentionally had my tests for the class the week before the last week so that the pressure is off and we can have do fun writing/grammar/word/Christmas related activities.  

Our Quick Write this week was participation in and Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest.  Instead of writing, I had the students doing some drawing.  Those who were interested submitted their pictures and we voted on our favorites.  Everyone did a great job.

While they were doing their artwork, I passed back homework, including their tests, and I also taped the title of a Christmas song on their backs, which I will explain later.  After our Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest, I reminded them that all homework needs to be handed in today, and I also talked a little bit about grades.  (My thoughts and practices about how I grade and how students and parents should view them will be the subject of a later e-mail.)  I will take any work until midnight tonight, after that I will be compiling grades, not grading homework.  Best case scenario -- I will have grades out in the next week, but since I got essays in from all of my classes, the grades may not get done until after Christmas.

After we took care of that business, we played our Christmas Jeopardy game.  This game combined information about our book, My Antonia, some Christmas Trivia, and some Christmas movie trivia.  Here's where the song titles on their backs come in.  They could not talk but could only hum the songs in order to find out or let others know what titles they had.  The teams for the game were "Jingle Bells," "O Christmas Tree," "Deck the Halls," and "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  The version of Jeopardy that I used subtracted points for wrong answers, so the scores for the game went up and down.  It was a good review and they did a great job.

At the end of class, we played a Mad Libs game with the poem, "Twas the Night Before Christmas."  We had bowls full of noses and Santa's greasy little belly. 

I've really enjoyed this class; we have a good rapport and the students produced some good work.  I'm looking forward to next semester!

Assignments for Next Week

-- NOTHING!!

Links for this week:

Class Notes

Mad Libs for "Twas the Night Before Christmas." 

Ugly Christmas Sweater page

Writing 2 Christmas Jeopardy Game

Have a blessed Christmas!

See you next year!

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 14 (December 7)

Greetings!

We had a great class today.  Well, at least I thought so.  I gave the students a test today, so they might not have thought so.

Before our test, we had our usual Quick Write.  The prompts for the day were related to December 7:

1941 -- The bombing of Pearl Harbor  (write about Hawaii, World War 2, etc.) 

1963 -- The first instant replay done for a televised for the Army-Navy game (write about favorite sport that you like to watch)

1969 -- Frosty the Snow Man is first televised (favorite Christmas movie)

Before the test, I went over the rough drafts of their Comparison/Contrast Essays.  I always take time after the rough drafts have been handed in to discuss common errors related to grammar and writing.  Today's topics included Introductions/conclusions/thesis statements, formatting, writing names, comma splice sentences, avoiding the word "things," and commas with compound sentences.

We then took our  Words of the Day Test.  The test was fairly easy with matching, multiple choice, true/false, and fill in the blank.  At the end of the class, we went over the answers, and I'm hoping they did well.  (Some of my PSEO students who had been in Writing 2 last year commented on the fact that they don't remember any of the words, but that they had fun learning them.)

Next on the agenda were the final projects for our book, My Antonia.  We had a Jeopardy game, a mock newspaper from the time, and an original song sung by a duet.  I think the class has mixed feelings about the book projects.  For my part, I was really pleased by the class's work and creativity.  Well done!!

In the first semester, I like to give my tests on the week before the last week of class so that we can have a party on the last day of class.  Students should bring the Christmas poems that we didn't get to this week.  I have plans for them!  We'll also play some Christmas & word-related games.  Students are welcome to bring snacks to share with the class.

Since next week is the last week of the semester, all homework needs to be handed in on that day.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Final Draft of Comparison/Contrast Essay

-- Hand in any late/missing homework

-- Be ready for a Christmas Party!

Links for this week

Class Notes

Words of the Day Test

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Word of the Day Test

Name:  _______________________________

Word of the Day -- Final Test

A.      Match the words from the Words of the Day list with its synonyms.

Chapeau	Enthusiasm
Lollygag	Mystery
Elan	Verifiable
Enigma	Boredom
Bona fide	Cap
Ennui	Curry
Vindaloo	Blunder
Faux pas	Dawdle

B.     Fill in the blank with the missing words of the sentence. 

1.      Pictures of the kitty’s ____________________ are all over the internet.

2.      The orchestra practiced the ____________________ for its evening concert.

3.      Correcting everyone’s grammar was an ____________________ for the grammar nerd.

4.      The tourists appreciated the significance of the ____________________ in the old monastery.

5.      The standing ovation prompted the band to play an ____________________.

6.      A reunion at my ___________________ means I will see many old friends.

7.      Ms. Lewis is rehearsing her part as a dangerous ____________________ in the new play.

8.      We each ordered a ____________________ from our barista.

9.      Jane used a ____________________ to hook her water bottle to her backpack.

chaconne	cappuccino	alma mater
encore	blep	carabiner
femme fatale	icon	idee fixe

C.      Circle the correct answer to complete the sentence

1.      Soup du jour is soup

a.       made of  yogurt.

b.      served at a potluck.

c.       of the day.

d.      served to juries.

2.      A carafe is used for serving

a.       pizza.

b.      salads.

c.       soup du jour.

d.      beverages.

3.       A man known for savior faire is

a.       lazy.

b.      headstrong.

c.       sophisticated.

d.      dangerous..

4.      A situation that seems inexpressible has a quality of

a.       je ne sais quoi.

b.      idee fixe.

c.       carte blanche.

d.      exemplar gratia.

5.      You might say “C’est la vie,” but I say,

a.       “Bah humbug.”

b.      “Hallelujah.”

c.       “Whatever.”

d.      “Crud.”

6.      Mr. Jones held his umbrella and poked me with the

a.       ferrule

b.      lovone

c.       halo

d.      waffle

7.      My father fixed the hinge by putting the _______ in place.

a.       pintle

b.      plenty

c.       palladium

d.      plank

8.      “En garde” said the two

a.       bakers.

b.      zookeepers.

c.       fencers.

d.      pigeons.

D.      True or False

________  1.  An aglet is the plastic end of a shoe lace.

________  2.  A person with charisma is mean and arrogant.

________  3.  Enchiladas are best served with ice cream and sprinkles.

________  4.  Déjà vu describes the feeling that a situation has already occurred.

________  5.  People call out “bon voyage” when a cake comes out of the oven.

________  6.  A request for second helpings is signified by RSVP.

________  7.  The opisthenar  is a multi-colored cape worn by native Antarcticans.

________  8.  A poobah is a pompous, self-important person.

________  9.  “E pluribus unum” refers to the diversity that constitutes our country.

E.      Match the phrases with their meanings.

cum laude	French, “joy of life”
avant-garde	Latin, “Let the buyer beware”
esprit de corps	French, “a terrible child”
joie de vivre	Latin, “with praise”
exemplar gratia	Latin, “for the sake of example”
enfant terrible	French, “advanced guard”
caveat emptor	French, “the spirit of the body”

F.      Fill in the blank with the missing words of the sentence. 

         1.         The root of this word, ________________,  is French, and it meant a knight’s tournament. 

         2.         The writer of the paper quoted the scientist ________________.

         3.         The designer was given ____________________ to decorate the new home for the president.

         4.         Traditionalists do not like to have others mess with the ____________________.

         5.         “Son, if you don’t get a job,  you’ll end up as part of the ________________________.

         6.         We were adventurous and ordered the ____________________ at the new Indian deli.

         7.         Cinderella could no longer keep up the ___________________ that she was a princess.

         8.         A _______________________  is a temperamental and demanding celebrity.

status quo	charade	carousel	prima donna
verbatim	lumenproletariat	vindaloo	carte blanche

EXTRA CREDIT:

Explain what a “ghost word” is.  Circle the words below that qualify as a ghost word.

poobah

petrichor

gravy

esquivalience

Dord