Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 7 (March 3)

 Greetings!

It was so good to see the students; including our week off and the week my son subbed for me, it's been 3 weeks since I've seen their smiling faces. 

Below are our Quick Write prompts for the day.  

• Tuesday, March 1, is National Minnesota Day!!  What do you like the most about Minnesota?  What might you say to convince someone to move to or at least visit Minnesota?  If you were to have visitors from a far away place come to Minnesota, what sights would you like them to see?
• Wednesday, March 2, is World Teen Mental Health Day.  What does it mean to be mentally healthy?  What do you do to be mentally healthy?  How do you help others who might be struggling with their own mental health?
• Friday, March 4, is National Grammar Day  (It’s “imperative” that we “march forth” on this day!)  Write either a rant or a praise about what you think of this system for understanding language and communicating with one another.

We usually do a quick Homework Check between our beginning of class activities and instruction.  Students can hand in their work for this week when they come to class next week.  With the exception of their rough drafts.  Those should be finished and put on the Google Classroom assignment for the Problem/Solution or Cause/Effect Rough Draft. 

Speaking of the  Problem/Solution or Cause/Effect Rough Draft, we took some time for each student to share about their topics.  The framework for this essay is fairly straightforward.  As we went around the class sharing topics, I was impressed with wide variety of topics and their good ideas.  I look forward to reading their rough drafts this week.

We turned our attentions to our short stories.  We watched a short Lego animation of a story that is assigned for next week, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country."   After that we broke into small groups to share funny stories that had happened in their lives.  It seemed that a number of the students had not read all of the stories assigned for this week.  When that happens, I often find a good "pop quiz" is in order.  

For our Grammar lesson, we're still learning about commas.  We've looked at commas with compound sentences, commas with complex sentences, and commas with introductory phrases/clauses.  This week, we are adding commas to sentences with appositives and phrases that "interrupt" a sentence.  We did almost half of the assigned work during class, so that students could ask questions.  

Have a great weekend.  

Blessing,

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week

• Short Stories by Twain, Crane, Jewett, Gilman

• 2 Short Story Worksheets
  

• Week 7 - Appositive Phrases

• Week 7 - Appositive & Parenthetical Phrases

• Week 7 - Interrupters Phrases

Links for This Week

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 7 (March 3)

Quick Write (3/12)

Week 7 Short Stories -- Audio Versions

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Appositives & Parenthetical Comments

Appositives

An appositive renames the noun or pronoun it follows.  If omitting the appositive would change the meaning of the sentence, then do not set it apart with commas.  If the “renaming” does not change the meaning, then use commas.

 Parenthetical Comments

Parenthetical comments are those which can be left out but are included to add color or personality to the sentence.

Exercises:

Insert the commas for the appositives.

1.      Pride and Prejudice a book by Jane Austen is one of my favorite novels.

2.      Houston the largest city in Texas was named after Sam Houston.

3.      The speaker who had risen from his chair to begin his talk fell off the platform.

4.      The athletes for whom the party was given broke into singing the school song.

5.      The dog that ran under the chair was the one who had eaten her shoe.

6.      The truck that changed around the corner finally broke down across the street.

Insert commas for the parenthetical phrases.

1.      Believe it or not I haven’t been home a single night this week.

2.      I know Susan was at the party I spoke with her myself bu she may have left early.

3.      Then I thought oh dear I’ve lost my wallet.

4.      I have an idea let’s call Robert and Jill and take them out for dinner.

5.      Your mother called an oh yes she said you left your history book at home.

Misc. Sentences

1.      The clock which had been ticking very loudly burst a spring and flew off the wall.

2.      Down in the valley where the grass is greener than it is anywhere else you can see the men on tractors and other equipment.

3.      My friends Hannah and Rebecca whom I haven’t seen for six years are coming to visit me this week.

4.      The old car that sat in the driveway all winter was finally hauled away.

5.      The man who broke into our house while we were away was arrested.

Videos for Infinitive and Appositive Phrases

Watch and take notes if it would help. Infinitive Phrases



 Appositive Phrases

Comma Worksheet -- Appositives & Parenthetical Comments

1.6 – Appositives

An appositive renames the noun or pronoun it follows.  If omitting the appositive would change the meaning of the sentence, then do not set it apart with commas.  If the “renaming” does not change the meaning, then use commas.

1.7 – Parenthetical Comments

Parenthetical comments are those which can be left out but are included to add color or personality to the sentence.

Exercises:

Insert the commas for the appositives.

1.       Pride and Prejudice a book by Jane Austen is one of my favorite novels.

2.       Houston the largest city in Texas was named after Sam Houston.

3.       The speaker who had risen from his chair to begin his talk fell off the platform.

4.       The athletes for whom the party was given broke into singing the school song.

5.       The dog that ran under the chair was the one who had eaten her shoe.

6.       The truck that changed around the corner finally broke down across the street.

Insert commas for the parenthetical phrases.

1.       Believe it or not I haven’t been home a single night this week.

2.       I know Susan was at the party I spoke with her myself bu she may have left early.

3.       Then I thought oh dear I’ve lost my wallet.

4.       I have an idea let’s call Robert and Jill and take them out for dinner.

5.       Your mother called an oh yes she said you left your history book at home.

Misc. Sentences

1.       The clock which had been ticking very loudly burst a spring and flew off the wall.

2.       Down in the valley where the grass is greener than it is anywhere else you can see the men on tractors and other equipment.

3.       My friends Hannah and Rebecca whom I haven’t seen for six years are coming to visit me this week.

4.       The old car that sat in the driveway all winter was finally hauled away.

5.       The man who broke into our house while we were away was arrested.

Week 6 Grammar Lessons

Greetings Class!

Due to the shortness of this week's class, we didn't have time to discuss the material that you need to know for the worksheets.  Below are some links for video lessons that might prove helpful.

Appositives:
Grammar Lesson 20.2 -- Appositives
How to Use Appositives
Appositives -- SAT Boot Camp
School House Rock -- The Tale of Mr. Morton
Commas & Appositive

Subordinating Clauses
Subordinating Clauses -- SAT Boot Camp 
Subordinate Clauses
Subordinated Conjunctions Classroom song
Grammar Lesson 21.4 -- Subordinating Clause 

Appositives & Parenthetical Comments

1.6 – Appositives

An appositive renames the noun or pronoun it follows.  If omitting the appositive would change the meaning of the sentence, then do not set it apart with commas.  If the “renaming” does not change the meaning, then use commas.

1.7 – Parenthetical Comments

Parenthetical comments are those which can be left out but are included to add color or personality to the sentence.

Exercises:

Insert the commas for the appositives.

1.       Pride and Prejudice a book by Jane Austen is one of my favorite novels.

2.       Houston the largest city in Texas was named after Sam Houston.

3.       The speaker who had risen from his chair to begin his talk fell off the platform.

4.       The athletes for whom the party was given broke into singing the school song.

5.       The dog that ran under the chair was the one who had eaten her shoe.

6.       The truck that changed around the corner finally broke down across the street.

Insert commas for the parenthetical phrases.

1.       Believe it or not I haven’t been home a single night this week.

2.       I know Susan was at the party I spoke with her myself bu she may have left early.

3.       Then I thought oh dear I’ve lost my wallet.

4.       I have an idea let’s call Robert and Jill and take them out for dinner.

5.       Your mother called an oh yes she said you left your history book at home.

Misc. Sentences

1.       The clock which had been ticking very loudly burst a spring and flew off the wall.

2.       Down in the valley where the grass is greener than it is anywhere else you can see the men on tractors and other equipment.

3.       My friends Hannah and Rebecca whom I haven’t seen for six years are coming to visit me this week.

4.       The old car that sat in the driveway all winter was finally hauled away.

5.       The man who broke into our house while we were away was arrested.