Sunday, February 4, 2018

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 solitarioussolus, 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


If you've got a Super Bowl Party planned, have fun!  
Have a great week!
Mrs. Prichard

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