Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 13 (April 23)

Greetings!

We're nearing the end of our classes here at CHAT, and I can sense a change is the atmosphere.  While the students are doing their best to stay engaged, you can tell that the end of the school year is just around the corner.

This week on April 23 was the 10th anniversary of Youtube.  For the Quick Write, I gave the students two options.  They could write something about Youtube, or they could combine the following words (gathered randomly from the class) into a short story:  Ghana, wallaby, walking, and purple.

Our Latin Roots of the Day:

navis -- L. ship -- English derivatives:  navy, nautical, navigate, circumnavigate, navigable, nave

nihil -- L. nothing -- English derivatives:  nihilism, nihilist, annihilate, annihilation, nil

nocto -- L. night -- English derivatives:  nocturnal, nocturne

nova -- L. new -- English derivatives: innovation, novice, novel, renovate, supernova, novelty

Students handed in the Final Drafts of their Evaluation Essays, and in return were given their final writing assignment:  an Essay Re-Write. For these essays, they are to select one of the essays to edit and revise.  This can be what they would consider a "worst essay" or an essay they would like to spend more time on.  They should consider the previously written final draft as the rough draft for their Re-Write.

Next week is a big week for our class.  For me, it's better to have the important, end of the year assignments due the week before the final week.  During the final week, we celebrate the end of the year with some poetry presentations and treats.

To finish out our Grammar unit of commas, we will have a test next week.  Similar to the Comma Review of last week, the test will be 37 sentences that require commas.  In class, we discussed how to study for this test.  They can go over past worksheets and assignments, check out previous e-mails, and read through blog posts from this semester.  To help, I'm sending the answer key for last week's "Mastering the Comma" assignment.

Note:  If you will NOT be in class next week, let me know and I will send you the grammar test to take at home under the watchful eye of a parent.

Finally, the Poetry.  In class, we watched a couple video presentations of poems:  "Chicago" by Carl Sandburg read with period photos and an analysis of "The Red Wheel Barrow" by William Carlos Williams.  Next week we will start our "Poetry Jam."  The class will be divided into teams and as individual players will each present a poem for their teams.  

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Essay Re-Write

-- Study for the Spring Grammar test

-- Prepare at least 1 poem for the Poetry Jam

Links for this week:

Class Notes

Essay Re-Write

Comma Usage Handout (from Week 1)

Purdue OWL:  Conquering the Comma

The Comma Song video

How to Use Commas Correctly video

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Essay Rewrite

Definition

The purpose of this essay is to improve editing skills by rewriting a previously written essay.  Effective editing is a step-by-step process.  One key is to re-read a paper multiple times, looking for only one kind of error at a time.

Editing Plan

As you re-read your paper, look for any errors in the following areas:

·       Complete sentences:  Each sentence should have a subject, verb, and a complete thought.  Look for incomplete and run-on/comma splice sentences.

·       Parallel Constructions:  Faulty parallel construction leads to unclear and awkward sentences.

·       There are/is/was/will be, etc.:  Any sentences with this type of construction must be changed.

·       Punctuation:  Pay close attention to commas and ending punctuation.

·       Agreement:  Make sure all subjects and verbs agree; also look for noun/pronoun agreement.

·       Spelling:  With the spell check function for most word processing software, this is not as much of a problem as it used to be.  However, your computer will not know if you’ve put the wrong word in, or it may autocorrect and change the word from the one you intended.

·       Paragraph construction:  Each paragraph must have a main idea.  Make sure that all of the thoughts expressed in the paragraph are part of that main idea.  Do any sentences need to be moved to another paragraph?  Does the paragraph need to be divided into smaller paragraphs?

·       Organization:  Is the overall organization of the paper logical?  Does each point lead to the next?  Should it be rearranged?

·       Content:  The essay should give sufficient information to support your thesis. Have you included enough background information?  Have you satisfactorily covered the material?  As you re-read, look for ways to expand your essay.  Also, note any information that seems unnecessary. 

Thesis Development

Your essay should have a clearly defined thesis that you explain and support.  Sometimes a thesis is simple and straightforward; sometimes they are more complex.  Your reader should never be confused as to your topic and your decided opinion or stand on that topic.    

Additional Assignment

Along with a revised and improved version of a previous essay, the following are also to be included:

–  Thesis Statement

–  One paragraph entitled “What I’ve Learned as a Writer this Year.”  (100 – 200 words) This paragraph can include thoughts about grammar and mechanics, organization, thesis development, sentence structures, etc.

Essay Guidelines

– Due date:  April 30

– Essay length:  500 – 700 words (between 2 and 4 pages)

– Additional work:  Thesis statement and a paragraph about what you’re learned as a writer.

– Final draft format:

– Typed (if this is not possible, please let me know)

– 1 inch margins

– Name and date on the upper right hand corner

– Number the pages on the lower right hand corner

– Title centered above the text of the essay

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 13 (April 24)

Greetings!

We had a great class yesterday.  Beginning our class with a Quick Write, we celebrated William Shakespeare's birthday (a day late) with our own stories about "star crossed overs."  I asked them to be creative about pairing 2 unlikely candidates.  Of the stories, we had a clever, pun-filled account of a relationship between a stone wall and a window.

Our Words of the Day came from a book of common sayings and their origins.  The phrases we looked at this week were:

"Great Scott!" -- an exclamation taken from Winfield Scott, a general of the Mexican War and an arrogant, pompous presidential candidate opposing Franklin Pierce.

"Hat in the ring" -- a phrase that means to join a political race, taken from Ringstrasse, a city center in Vienna that was a gathering place for those politically involved in the city.  Gentlemen would be visible because of their hats.

"Hobnob" -- to socially mix with those of a higher class taken from the old English word that means "to give and receive."  People would gather at pubs and offer toasts to one another.

"Kit and Caboodle" -- the whole collection of things, taken from a set of tools/objects (kit) and personal items (fr. Dutch boodle)

Students handed in their Evaluation Final Drafts today, along with their self-evaluations.  I had asked the students to use the same rubric that I use to grade/score the papers.  Our next essay is a Re-Write of one of the essays that they've written for this class this year.  They might want to choose a paper that they feel needs improving or a favorite essay that they would like to work more on.

We had a a good amount of time to talk through some of our Poetry selections.  Those who had taken Writing 1, remember our class discussion about William Carlos Williams's short poem, "The Red Wheelbarrow."  While it may seem an insignificant poem, I've always enjoyed unpacking it with students.  We also looked at Carl Sandburg's poem, "Chicago," and Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Less Traveled."  We had a wonderful discussion about the ways we take the unconventional paths in life.

We're winding down our semester of classes, and part of our next two classes will be our "Poetry Jam."  Combining the ideas of a poetry slam (a competition featuring original poems) and Poetry Out Loud (a competition featuring pre-selected poems) students will read or recite poems for the class. James Stephenson, a Writing 1 student, set up a bracket for us to use.  I've divided the students into teams (please remember your number!).  They are to bring 1 - 2 poems next week.  We will take time for some team collaboration before starting.

We ran out of time to discuss the Reflection Paper that I would like them to write.  Next week, as the class's Quick Write, I will be asking them to take a longer time to write about what they've learned about writing and about themselves as writers this year.  I would like each student to take some time before class time to brainstorm their ideas about this topic.  If they would like, they can write some notes or compose a kind of prewrite that they can use to answer this.  I'm attaching a link to a scholarly article about the value of reflection as part of the learning process.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Essay Re-write

-- Select 1 - 2 poems

-- Reflection paper brainstorming

This week's links:

Class Notes

Improving Learning through Reflection

William Carlos Williams information

The Red Wheelbarrow

Carl Sandburg

Robert Frost

Poetry Out Loud

Poetry Slams

Have a beautiful weekend!

Mrs. Prichard