Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 5 (February 15)

Greetings!

We had a great class again!  Because our class followed Valentine's Day, for the Quick Write I had the students write the annual "Literary Love Letter."  They could write to an author, a character, a part of speech, a punctuation, etc.  Below are three links to letters written in past years.  I will let you know when I've gotten this year's letters posted on the blog.

Our Words of the Day were chosen for us by Kai Rose

kleptomania -- fr. Greek, kleptes, "theif" and mania, "madness" -- a recurrent urge to steal, sometimes uncontrollable.

affidavit -- fr. Latin, affidare, "he has stated an oath" -- a written statement confirmed by an oath

inconnu -- French, "unknown" -- a  stranger or unknown person

Students handed in the Final Drafts of their Mystery Stories.  I enjoyed reading their rough drafts, but at that time I was looking for mistakes.  Reading through their polished final drafts will be pure fun!

Our next essay assignment is either a Problem/Solution Essay or a Cause/Effect Essay.  Like the Comparison/Contrast essays, these are two part essays.  Generally, the writer should choose one one part as the focus of the essay. For example,  the problem might be stated and multiple solutions discussed.  Or a single cause is the focus and many potential effects of that cause are included.  The pre-write is due 3/1 and the rough draft is due 3/8.

For our discussion of the Short Stories, the students were divided into three groups and assigned one of the short stories.  Each group was to come up with 3 discussion questions for their stories.  They came up with good questions for us to use in our whole class discussion.

For the Grammar portion of the class, students have a packet with explanations and practice exercises that focus on Complex and Compound Sentences.

Remember -- no class next week!

Assignments for Next March 1

-- Problem/Solution or Cause/Effect Pre-Write

-- Read the stories by Dickens, Wilde, Kipling, and Munro

-- Choose 2 stories and write 3 discussion questions for these 2

-- Complex Sentences Worksheets

Links for this Week

Class Notes

Writing 1 2017 Literary Love Letters

Writing 2 2017 Literary Love Letters

Writing 2 2016 Literary Love Letters

Compound Complex Sentences

Have a wonderful weekend and a good break!

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 4 (February 8)

Greetings!

We had a great class this week.  I really enjoy the positive energy and attitudes in the class and the way in which they engage in the class discussions.  

Our Quick Write prompt was the same one that I used with my Northfield students this week:  "What is boring? Why? What can you do about it?"  We discussed how people don't find the same activities, places, or situations boring.  We seemed to agree that common ways of dealing with boredom are leaving the situations, making new friends in the situation, changing the situation, or, if those fail, resorting to using phones and apps.

We often to a "National Day" as part of our Quick Write prompts, but we didn't today.  For an extra credit assignment, students can look up and find the specific "days" celebrated on their birthdays.  

Our Words of the Day, chosen by Madi:

Makimono -- Japanese -- a horizontal hand scroll containing text or a captioned painting

regina -- fr. Latin, the feminine version of rex, "king" -- queen

jojoba -- fr. Spanish jojoba -- a small seed-bearing tree bearing seeds that are the source of an oil used in cosmetics

I handed back the rough drafts of their Mystery Stories.  These were so much fun to read! This is a creative group of students.  Many who might struggle to fill up three pages of an essay had no problem writing double that for their stories.  The primary discussion related to their stories was how to correctly punctuate dialogue.  Next week the Final Drafts are due, and they should bring their rough drafts to hand in with the final drafts.

For our literature discussion, we discussed the question of the essay exam, "Is Sherlock Holmes a Hero?"  For this, I had the class divide into two "yes" groups and one "no" group.  We had a mini-debate, and students shared their perspectives, giving examples and specific details to support their opinions.  At the end, a few students switched sides.  I look forward to reading their essay exams.

Last week I gave them their next book, Great Short, Short Stories.  This is a compilation of stories from Europe and American.  For next week, we start with Russian stories.  They have a worksheet that is front and back.  They should fill out one side for one story and the other side for another story.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Extra Credit -- Find the National Days for your birthday

-- Final Draft of Mystery Story

-- Read Pushkin (p. 162), Chekhov (p. 26), and Tolstoy (p. 169)

-- Fill out Short Story Worksheet

-- No Grammar

Links this Week

Class Notes

National Days Calendar

Short Story Worksheet

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 3 (February 1)

Greetings!

We had a good class this week; we were able to cover our writing assignments, the literature sections, and some grammar work.  

For the Quick Write, we acknowledged Alexander Selkirk, who was left on a deserted island for 5 years.  His true story became the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.  Students were to write about 5 items that they would bring along with them.  If that prompt did not interest them, they could write about their favorite fancy desert in honor of National Baked Alaska Day.

Our Words of the Day -- 

chipolata -- fr. Italian cipollata, an onion-flavored dish -- a small sausage in a narrow casing, more popular in Britain

patisserie -- fr. French pastiz, pastry < Latin pasticium, pasta -- a shop where pastry, especially French pastry, is made and sold

solitaire --  fr. French < Latin solitarious, solus, alone -- a game played by one person, a diamond set alone

 

Students handed in their rough drafts of their Mystery Stories.  I haven't started reading them, but these are usually my favorite pieces of writing from this class.  In this second semester, I enjoy seeing the progress and improvement in their writing.

During our Literature portion of the class, I had the students break into small groups to discuss the Sherlock Holmes short stories.  I walked around and heard some good discussion.  I also noticed a tendency for some to get momentarily off-topic, but it usually only last a couple comments.  Small groups often give more students opportunities to talk about a literature selection.  As a closing to our Sherlock Holmes book, the students are to complete a Take-Home Essay Exam, "What Makes a Hero."  In this open-book essay, I would like them to first define what a hero is and then use that definition to explain if Sherlock Holmes qualifies.

The Grammar section of the class focused again on primary sentence elements, identifying incomplete sentences, and prepositional phrases.  We were able to get some work done during class, but the three worksheets are all due next week.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House" 

-- Sherlock Holmes Final Essay Exam

-- 2 Grammar Worksheets

     The Five Basic Sentence Patterns

     Sentence Types

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Sherlock Holmes Final Exam

Alexander Selkirk 

National Baked Alaska Day

The Five Basic Sentence Patterns

Sentence Types

If you've got a Super Bowl Party planned, have fun!  

Have a great week!

Mrs. Prichard

Greetings!

We had a good class this week; we were able to cover our writing assignments, the literature sections, and some grammar work.  

For the Quick Write, we acknowledged Alexander Selkirk, who was left on a deserted island for 5 years.  His true story became the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.  Students were to write about 5 items that they would bring along with them.  If that prompt did not interest them, they could write about their favorite fancy desert in honor of National Baked Alaska Day.

Our Words of the Day -- 

chipolata -- fr. Italian cipollata, an onion-flavored dish -- a small sausage in a narrow casing, more popular in Britain

patisserie -- fr. French pastiz, pastry < Latin pasticium, pasta -- a shop where pastry, especially French pastry, is made and sold

solitaire --  fr. French < Latin solitarious, solus, alone -- a game played by one person, a diamond set alone

 

Students handed in their rough drafts of their Mystery Stories.  I haven't started reading them, but these are usually my favorite pieces of writing from this class.  In this second semester, I enjoy seeing the progress and improvement in their writing.

During our Literature portion of the class, I had the students break into small groups to discuss the Sherlock Holmes short stories.  I walked around and heard some good discussion.  I also noticed a tendency for some to get momentarily off-topic, but it usually only last a couple comments.  Small groups often give more students opportunities to talk about a literature selection.  As a closing to our Sherlock Holmes book, the students are to complete a Take-Home Essay Exam, "What Makes a Hero."  In this open-book essay, I would like them to first define what a hero is and then use that definition to explain if Sherlock Holmes qualifies.

The Grammar section of the class focused again on primary sentence elements, identifying incomplete sentences, and prepositional phrases.  We were able to get some work done during class, but the three worksheets are all due next week.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House" 

-- Sherlock Holmes Final Essay Exam

-- 2 Grammar Worksheets

     The Five Basic Sentence Patterns

     Sentence Types

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Sherlock Holmes Final Exam

Alexander Selkirk 

National Baked Alaska Day

The Five Basic Sentence Patterns

Sentence Types

If you've got a Super Bowl Party planned, have fun!  

Have a great week!

Mrs. Prichard