Writing 2: Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 1 (August 22)

Greetings!

We had a great first class of Writing 2 this week. Following each week's class, I will send out an email that explains what we did in class, supply links or attachments for necessary materials, and include the homework assignments. Please be sure to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

I have two regular beginning of class activities: the Quick Write and Words of the Day. The Quick Writes are short writing activities intended to get students thinking and then putting their thoughts on paper. The prompts can range from deep philosophical ideas to current events to light-hearted topics. This week's prompt involved the Roman god Janus who is the two-faced god who can looks to the future and the past. I asked students to write about what they will miss about summer and what they are looking forward to with the new school year.

Following the Quick Write, our Words of the Day included "Janus words" (also called contronyms) that can have opposite meanings. Our words for this week:

cleave-- this verb means "to split or separate" and also "to join together"

weather -- this verb means "to endure" or "to erode"

fix -- this noun means "a solutions" and also "a predicament"

clip -- this verb means "to separate" and also "to join/attach"

bolt -- the verb means "to secure or lock in place" and also "to suddenly run away"

sanction -- this verb means "to allow" and also "to prohibit"

(Note: Students should be writing these words down in their notebooks on a weekly basis. We will occasionally do activities with them, and there will be an end of the year test.)

Most of the first week of class is spent introducing the class and handing out a number of papers to get us started. I begin every year with a Class Policies document, which explains some guidelines for positive interactions in the class, homework guidelines, and communication resources. I think that I forgot to mention to the students that they need to have you read and sign this and then bring it back to class next week. It's pretty straightforward but feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

The next document was the Syllabus that lists the discussion topics and assignments for the semester. The class is divided into 3 sections: Writing, Literature, and Grammar. Some days we will spend more time on one topic than another, but students should use this as a reference, especially if they miss a week. (Note: If students should miss a week, they should also consult the email with the Class Notes for the times missed for more accurate information.)

The book we will be reading this semester is My Antonia by Willa Cather. This is great piece of prairie literature, and while we don't live in the open plains of Nebraska, we can relate not only to the weather and somewhat similar landscape of the book but also to the familiar Midwestern work ethic and values. To aid in our study of the book, I handed out to the students the following documents: An Introduction, a Vocabulary Worksheet, and a Study Guide. Students should read the pages 1 - 23 for next week and with that reading, provide 3 reading responses. These can be chosen from the list of study guide questions or from the ala carte section. While they are reading, students should also be on the lookout for unusual, interesting, or unfamiliar words and add them to the vocabulary worksheet.

Our next topic of discussion was our first writing assignment -- a rough draft for a Personal Commentary gave the students 2 resources, Pre-Writing Strategies and Drafting the Essay, that they might find helpful but are not required to read. Another handout titled Personal Commentary gives a definition, some ideas for organizing, and the requirements for the essay. Over the course of the year, students will get similar handouts for each writing assignment. Generally, for each essay, students will write a rough draft, which I will go over and make corrections and suggestions. They will then make the corrections and hand in a final draft that will be graded. In this first essay, they are to discuss some topic of interest to them. (They should re-read the guidelines to refresh themselves on the parameters of the essay.)

Our Grammar topics for the semester are listed on the syllabus. These will be introduced next week. We'd had new stuff for the day.