Greetings!
We started our class thinking about "Gratitude." I shared with the class that research shows that people who develop intentional habits of expressing gratitude have stronger cognitive functioning, better immune systems, and a greater degree of happiness. For our Quick Write prompts today, students could choose from these options:
- What is a simple pleasure that you are grateful for?
- What is something that you are looking forward to?
- Who is someone who could really use a "thank you note?"
The students had some great comments, and we decided that next week we would write some real thank you notes. I will bring envelopes and stamps and the students are to bring addresses. (What a great group this is!!)
Our Word of the Day came from Ethan:
apocalypse-- fr. Greek apokalupsis, "to uncover or reveal" -- something viewed as prophetic revelation; a revelation; also something perceived as catastrophic
For class this week, we had extras on Zoom due to the bad roads. We had enough on Zoom to make a small group for our literature discussion
Students have handed in the Pre-Writes and Rough Drafts of their Mystery Stories. Most of them enjoyed writing these, and many felt that they wrote more than they usually wrote. This kind of writing required some different planning and a different kind of thinking. I am looking forward to curling up with a cup of coffee and reading my pile of Mystery Rough Drafts.
We are 4 stories into our book of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and the consensus this week was that the "Speckled Band" was more interesting than "The Engineer's Thumb." Most agree that there was something satisfying about following clues and deducing solutions. Someone mentioned the "red herrings" in the story about the speckled band. These false clues and distractions add another layer of interest.
For the Grammar portion of class, we worked again on complex sentences. In our unit on Commas, we also need to learn about sentence structures. You won't understand where the comma goes with regards to dependent clauses in complex sentences if you don't know what a complex sentence is. You won't know the difference between an independent and dependent/subordinate clause if you don't understand what the essential elements of a sentence are. All of grammar is interconnected, and the students are doing a great job at working to understand these intricacies.
Assignments for Next Week:
Spring Writing Survey (This is a Google Form on Google Classroom. It is not due for 2 weeks, but students can do it right away if they would like)
Holmes: Read “The Final Problem” & “The Adventure of the Empty House"
Characterization of Sherlock Holmes (Students can do this on the document attached to the Google Classroom assignment OR they can print it and do it with pen/highlighter on paper.)
Grammar: Wk3 - Complex Sentences & Commas
Grammar: Wk3 - The Complex Sentence
Links for This Week
Track My Grades (note -- if you can not find your password in the email sent to you, please let me know.)
Class Notes
The Final Problem (audiobook on YouTube)
The Final Problem (video with Jeremy Brett)
The Adventure of the Empty House (audiobook on YouTube)
The Adventure of the Empty House (video with Jeremy Brett)
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