Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 10 (November 4)

 Greetings!

We had a full day, but the we do every week!  We had some difficulties with Zoom today.  I'm not really sure what happened, but I've recorded the class and posted it on Google Classroom.  The link is at the bottom.

Quick Write

For today, we had a few options:

• November 3 was National Sandwich Day
• November 4 was National Candy Day
• November 5:  Guy Fawkes Night (1605) and the day Susan B Anthony was arrested (1872)
• And as always -- the "Whatever" option

Students could write about favorite sandwiches, candy, and political activism.

Words of the Day

Autumn -- fr. Latin autumnus, "increase" -- the season of harvest between summer and winter

Equinox -- fr. Latin aequus, "equal" and nox, "night" -- the time when day and night are equal length

Cornucopia -- fr. Latin cornu, "horn" and copiae, "plenty" -- a horn-shaped container containing food, drink in endless supply

Susurrus -- fr. Latin susurrus, "humming, whispering" -- a soft murmuring or whispering sound

Hibernaculum -- fr. Latin hibernaculum, "winter residence" -- the winter quarters of a hibernating animal

Homework Check

Usually our first concern after our beginning of class activities is to check in regarding homework.  Because last week was a rough draft week for all 3 of my CHAT classes, I did not enter all of the scores for the other homework.  That will be done by next week.

Writing Discussion

I handed back their rough drafts of the Extended Definition or Classification Essays.  (Those who didn't get theirs back will get their rough drafts by Saturday)  We talked about these common writing errors:  the word 'things" and "there is/are" sentences..  Students should revise their rough drafts into final drafts. They were also given an 1/2 sheet to list their first 5 corrections on the their essays and their primary area to work on.  Those who still need to hand in their rough drafts, should send me an email as soon as they've submitted their essays on Google Classroom.

Literature Discussion

We've finished My Antonia by Willa Cather and discussed whether we liked or disliked the book.  The students made many astute comments about the content and quality of the writing.  For next week, students should read the handout with the first chapter from O. E. Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth.  This is a classic about immigrant life on the prairie. As they read this piece, they should pay special attention to the description of the place that they feel will have an effect on the story.  For next week they should also complete a final exam that is posted on Google Classroom.

Here's the schedule for our My Antonia book projects:

November 18 -- Tate & Joe, Grace A, Rachael T, Annelise S

December 2 -- Michael C, Sofia P, Nina N, Danica, B, Katelyn G, Gracie M

December 9 -- Lilia W, Eden R, Julia S, Cale B, Anthony S

(Note:  Those who were absent should sign up for a time.)

Grammar

The grammar topic for today was Active and Passive verbs.  We started both sides of the worksheet and did a few as a class.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Quick Write (11/4)

-- Final Draft of the Extended Definition or Classification Essay

-- First 5 Corrections

-- Read Chapter 1 of Giants in the Earth

     While reading, highlight or underline aspects about the land/place that you feel affect the story

-- My Antonia Final Exam

-- Active to Passive Voice

-- Passive to Active Voice

Links for This Week

-- Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 10 (November 4)

-- Week 10 (11/4) Zoom Recording

Have a wonderful weekend!  Enjoy your extra hour of sleep!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 14 (December 14)

Greetings!

Every Thursday this semester it's been delightful to see the smiling faces of this class.  I love this place in the school year when we've gotten to know one another and have a productive learning community.

We started class with a Quick Write, using these prompts that came from their list of suggestions:

Option 1:  What is your favorite Christmas tradition?  Describe it.

Option 2:  What is the hardest thing you’ve ever done.? Tell about it.

Option 3:  What is something you’ve always wanted as a little kid?  Why?

Our Words of the Day were winter-related words:

solstice -- from Latin solstitium, from sol, "sun" and sistere, "stopped, stationary" --  the time or date at which the sun reaches its maximum or minimum declination, marked by the longest (June 21) and shortest (Dec. 22) days.

hibernate -- from Latin hibernare, from hiberna ‘winter quarters’, from hibernus ‘wintry’ -- when a plant or animal spends the winter in a dormant state.

apricity -- from Latin apricus, "having lots of sunshine" or "warmed by the sun" -- the warmth of the sun (We talked about how cats are especially good at finding that one sunny spot in the house.)

subnivean -- from Latin sub, "under" and nives, "snow" -- the area between the surface of the ground and the bottom of the snowpack.

The Rough Drafts of their Comparison/Contrast Essays were handed back, and I commented on how much I enjoy teaching writing because I get to learn about so many topics from their essays.  I covered some common writing issues/errors, including writing dates and numbers, correcting comma splice sentences and revising "there is/are" sentences.  The Final Drafts are due next week.

To end our Grammar portion of the class for the semester, I have 2 short assignments:  a phrases review Nearpod presentation.  Nearpod is an online platform for presentations that includes interactive capabilities.  Students should sign in with Google using their chatclasses email.  At the end of the presentation I have a short 4 question quiz.  I also have a Phrases Final Exam for them to take for next week.

The rest of our class was spent enjoying the Book Projects for My Antonia.  This included a set of memes, some artwork and inspirational quotes, a children's ABC book, a quiz, and some yummy baked goodies.  I'm afraid I don't have pictures this week.  I was so busy enjoying the presentations that I forgot to take them.

We will finish up our projects next week.  Everyone who hasn't already presented will present.  Speaking of next week, I like to spend that last week before Christmas doing fun stuff.  We can't have food in the classroom, but we can set up a table in the hallway for treats and eat out there.  Students are invited to bring goodies.  

Since we're almost at the end of the semester, students should finish up any work they have not done.  In the assignments list, I've included a couple past assignments in case students have forgotten to do them.  (All assignments are on Google Classroom in case students no longer have the paper version.)  ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE WEEK 15 (DECEMBER 17).  I will accept work until midnight on that day, but nothing after that.  

Note:  Students, if you hand in any work that is late, please also send me an email so that I can record it.  

You've worked hard this semester; just a few more sleeps until our long Christmas break!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week:

Quick Write 12/10

Comparison/Contrast Final Draft

Comparison/Contrast Pre-Write (missing many of these!)

Discussion Question -- Improved!

Discussion Question -- Christmas Fun!

My Antonia Rubric -- Self-Evaluation

Verbals Practice #1

Verbals Practice #2

Phrases Review (Nearpod)

Phrases Final Test

This Week's Links

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 14 (December 10) 

My Antonia Project Self Evaluation Rubric

Name:  _________________________________

Description of Project

  

SELF EVALUATION

Rate yourself and your project

	0	1	2	3	4
Connection to the Book	Not at all connected	Vague connection	Some connection	Good connection	Strong connection
Project Quality	No effort; no product	Weak effort; poor product	Some effort; satisfactory product	Good effort; commendable product	Exemplary effort; insightful & impressive product
Presentation	No presentation	Vague & indistinct comments	Clear but incomplete comments	Clear & thorough comments	Thought-provoking & perceptive comments

TEACHER EVALUATION

Rate yourself and your project

	0	1	2	3	4
Connection to the Book	Not at all connected	Vague connection	Some connection	Good connection	Strong connection
Project Quality	No effort; no product	Weak effort; poor product	Some effort; satisfactory product	Good effort; commendable product	Exemplary effort; insightful & impressive product
Presentation	No presentation	Vague & indistinct comments	Clear but incomplete comments	Clear & thorough comments	Thought-provoking & perceptive comments

COMMENTS:

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 5 (Sept. 19)

Greetings!

We worked this week and covered a lot of material in class.  As always, we started our day with a Quick Write. Yesterday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day (here is the official website and here is a Wikipedia article and here are the Muppets!)  Most of the students were unaware of this notable event.  As an alternative, they could write about super heroes.  I look forward to reading their responses.

This week's Words of the Day included:

valise-- noun -- fr. French, valigia, of obscure origin-  a small piece of luggage that can be carried by hand

autocratic-- adjective -- fr. Greek, autokratis, ruling by oneself-- characteristic of an absolute rule; tyrannical, despotic

unmollified-- fr. Latin, mollificare , to make soft--  to NOT be pacifed, calmed, or made more temperate.

candid -- fr Latin, candidus, white, shining -- to be open, frank, sincere

IMPORTANT NOTE:  I had told the students that there would be a test at the end of the semester for their words of the day.  Instead, we will have a test at the end of second semester for the second semester words.  The Words of the Day will include unusual foreign words and Latin roots. 

In connection with the returned homework, we discussed their Final Drafts of their Personal Essays.  As I grade the final drafts, I use a rubric for a more holistic look at their work.  (The rubric is attached and is on this blog post.)  For the first essay, I'm a pretty easy grader.  As we progress through the year, we will use these rubrics to set writing goals and students will use them to evaluate their own writing.  For example, in the Focus category, students will be thinking about whether their thesis statements are compelling and thought-provoking or simply a statement that combines the topic and opinion.

We did not take a lot of time for My Antonia this week.  (I wanted to cover a lot of ground with our grammar topics)  I checked in with the class about their book projects that they will complete and present at the end of the semester.  Some students are planning to work in groups, and some have already come up with individual project ideas.  The proposal form is not due until Week 8, so they have time to brainstorm.  When they know what they want to do, they should turn in the proposal (with a parent's initials) so that I can OK it.  There is some great positive energy about these projects, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they produce.

We spent the remainder of the time in Grammar discussion.  I've had the students do work sheets for Parts of Speech review, and we briefly discussed these.  Every word in every sentence falls into one of these categories:  interjections, verbs, adjectives, nouns, conjunctions, adverbs, pronouns, and prepositions.  When we are correcting or revising our own writing, we need to know what parts of speech might be causing problems.  Likewise, many parts of speech do the work of other parts of speech in a sentence, sometimes making grammatical structures more confusing.  (e.g. the verb "swimming" would be doing the work of a noun in this sentence:  Swimming is my favorite sport.)

Following our parts of speech review, we discussed the basic construction of a sentence, and I'm including some photos of "equations" that I use to explain sentence elements. 

 
A common writing error that students make is to think that dependent clauses are independent clauses because they have a noun and a verb.  However, because the clause began with a subordinating conjunction, it loses its sentence status and is not a "complete thought."  Another common error is to omit the comma before the conjunction in a compound sentence.  If you feel confused, it's because grammar can be awfully confusing and is not as straightforward as we would wish. 

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read pages 94 - 118 of My Antonia

-- 3 Reader Responses

-- 5 Vocabulary Words

-- My Antonia book project -- proposal due Week 8

-- FANBOYS worksheet

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Essay Rubric

International Talk Like a Pirate

Talk Like a Pirate Wikipedia

Muppets Talk Like a Pirate

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard