Greetings!
We had another good class. This is such a friendly group of students, and they interact well with each other and with our discussion topics.
I gave the students four ideas for Quick Writes. Firstly, it was the Ides of March (3/15), which is the date that the Roman Senators killed Julius Caesar, so they could write about something political. Wednesday was Pi Day (3/14), so they could write about something mathematical. I also gave them a prompt from one of my creative writing books: "Eva looked at the egg in her hand. There was nothing left for her to do but contact the FBI." And finally, if nothing inspired them with these prompts, they could draw a picture of a flower yawning. I had quite a variety of creative responses!
Our Words of the Day were chosen by Daniel
Calvados-- an apple brandy named after the city of Calvados in the Normandy region of France
voortrekker -- a member of one of the groups of Dutch-speaking people who migrated by wagon from the Cape Colony into the interior from 1836 onward, in order to live beyond the borders of British rule.
inamorata-- from the Latin word, amo, "to love" -- a girl friend
mot-- from French, short for bon mot, a pithy, witty word --
I handed back the Rough Drafts of their Cause/Effect or Problem/Solution Essays. Some of the essays tackled pretty significant issues, and the students offered some thoughtful responses. A couple were more light-hearted and creative. Both types were enjoyable to read.As is my practice, I like to go over common errors that I find in the papers in mini grammar or writing lessons. The most common errors include commas with introductory elements, commas with compound sentences, commas with complex sentences, subject/verb agreement and noun/pronoun agreement.
The next item on our agenda was to discuss our Short Stories. This week our discussion was focused on Bret Harte's "The Luck of Roaring Camp." For next week, students should make sure that they read all of the stories because I heard a rumor that there might be another quiz.
For the grammar section, our lesson today was again on complex sentences. For the most part, unless students have practice identifying and then have practice with their own writing, I feel that a lot of grammar instruction goes in one ear and out the other because they don't see an immediate need for the information. That's why I take time talking about their own writing and the grammar issues that I find while correcting.
A note about absences and homework: When students are absent due to an illness, travel, or some other activity, it is up to them to find out what they are missing. All missing worksheets can be found in at least one of the following places: attached to the class notes, a shared Google document (f it's a pdf), or as a blog post (if it's a Word doc). The content of the class and homework assignments can be found in the class notes e-mail, the related blog post, and the syllabus. They can always check with me if something is unclear, but they should also check these other resources.
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Read Chopin (p. 30); London (p. 122); Mansfield (p. 130); Gilman (p. 50)
-- No Worksheets
-- Finish Final Drafts
-- 3 Grammar worksheets
Links for this Week:
Class Notes
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Prichard
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