The prompt for Week 5 in Writing 2 was:
NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of ........
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of impatience for Spring! All the students can hardly stay in their seats for class because of the nice weather. Mrs. Prichard sometimes has to remind them that she's at the front of the class, not out the window. They can not stop giving spring time activities when Mrs. Prichard asks for an example.
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of human saturation. Everywhere I look, I see people all around me.
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of Writer's Block! How terrible to have Writer's Block when the whole class is about writing. They've researched and asked others what to write about but simply can not get creative with it. It's a very trying time for the students of writing, but they know that they can get through it.
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of pen flipping!
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of sleepiness, and it is spreading rapidly as more and more students begin to bob their heads in preparation to fall asleep on the spot! Eye witnesses say, "The students look like zombies ready to eat our brains."
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of being sick of winter. Symptoms include trying to wear shorts when it's 30 degrees out, becoming restless, complaining about the cold, and slipping on ice. This illness usually affects people around mid-February.
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of books. The ones they've picked out are flimsy flicks with no real morals. The bookcase itself is terrible! Thin, cracking wood and rusty nails literally hold together literary crap. There is no cure for this case full of books except fire. I am ashamed to even admit their condition. So long to the sanity. Bring on the bookcase.
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of Writer's Block. No one seems to know what to write about for today's Quick Write. They try this and try that, but still they cannot come up with anything.
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of sneezing. No one can finish a complete sentence because the sneezes stop them. Even Mrs. Prichard cannot stop sneezing because the sneezes are contagious and we cannot figure out a way to stop. We need to find a method or way to find a solution to stop the sneezing.
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of cabin fever! Symptoms are: anxiety, inability to sit still, no focus, slight insanity, weight gain, and/or lethargy. If you see any signs, please report to the authorities before it spreads.
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NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of having lots of people writing about its bad cases. I mean, I looked around and everybody is writing a bad case about it. So there must be something wrong.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Literary Love Letters, 2017
Below are submissions by the Writing 1 class for the Quick Write prompt to write "Literary Love Letters."
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Oh long and drawn out explanations, how I love the way you explain mountains, trees, and crystal streams. I love the way that you drone on and one and one about the majesty and serendipity of all the wondrous places you paint with your words, but my favorite part is the way that all of this doesn't tie ino the plot. It's only there for immersion.
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Dear Onomatopoeia,
I love the way you can spice up any story. You make it come alive. With the words "Crash! Bang! Boom!" one is able to better picture what may have happened or is happening.
You help everyone express what they heard or saw. The best children's book are filled with you. You make stories come alive.
From a lover of exciting stories
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Dear Book Series,
Boy, do I love a good book series. It's always nice to know that when you finish one book, there's another on the way. It's a good feeling when you finish one good book, that six or seven of maybe more are sitting there waiting to be read. There's a nice amount of depth to the story that is enjoyable to read when you know that the story has just begun and you can really familiarize yourself with the characters and the story.
A lover of books
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My favorite thing to write is a rhyme
It's how I spend most of my time
Yes, my heart is pure and true
Dear Literary Device, I love you.
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Oh how I love C. S. Lewis's, the Chronicles of Narnia series. With such vivid and imaginativ e writing, not to mention the subtle Biblical ties in his books. I just can't step away from these books that I just can't stop loving.
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Oh long and drawn out explanations, how I love the way you explain mountains, trees, and crystal streams. I love the way that you drone on and one and one about the majesty and serendipity of all the wondrous places you paint with your words, but my favorite part is the way that all of this doesn't tie ino the plot. It's only there for immersion.
------------------------------------
Dear Onomatopoeia,
I love the way you can spice up any story. You make it come alive. With the words "Crash! Bang! Boom!" one is able to better picture what may have happened or is happening.
You help everyone express what they heard or saw. The best children's book are filled with you. You make stories come alive.
From a lover of exciting stories
------------------------------------
Dear Book Series,
Boy, do I love a good book series. It's always nice to know that when you finish one book, there's another on the way. It's a good feeling when you finish one good book, that six or seven of maybe more are sitting there waiting to be read. There's a nice amount of depth to the story that is enjoyable to read when you know that the story has just begun and you can really familiarize yourself with the characters and the story.
A lover of books
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My favorite thing to write is a rhyme
It's how I spend most of my time
Yes, my heart is pure and true
Dear Literary Device, I love you.
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Oh how I love C. S. Lewis's, the Chronicles of Narnia series. With such vivid and imaginativ e writing, not to mention the subtle Biblical ties in his books. I just can't step away from these books that I just can't stop loving.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 5 (February 16)
Greetings!
We had a good class this week even though I made to take frequent breaks to sneeze or deal with my runny nose. Our Quick Write prompt this week was to finish and elaborate on this sentence: "NEWS ALERT! Writing 2 has a bad case of the ...." For students who are willing, I will put their Quick Writes on the class blog.
Our Words of the Day:
equa/equi -- Latin, "same/even/level" -- equal, equation, equality, equinox, equilibrium, equate, equidistant
ex/e -- Latin, "put out of" -- exclude, exterior, exclaim. excavate, exhale
extri/extra -- Latin, "outer, outside of" -- extricate, extraterrestrial, extract, extraction, extraordinary, extrovert
Students handed in the Final Drafts of their Mystery Stories. If a rough draft was handed in late, I will get it back to them within the week so that the final draft can be brought to class after our break. We are now ready to start our next essay. Students can choose between a Cause and Effect Essay or a Problem/Solution Essay. Both of these are 2-part essays, and the students need to consider which part should receive the most attention. For example, if when writing a Cause/Effect essay, the cause is simple but the results (effects) are more complicated, the focus of the essay should be on the effects.
I handed out their next book for this class: Great Short, Short Stories. I love short stories because they are a microcosm of the key literary elements but are more of a bare-bones sketch than a full, deep picture. Most short stories are either character-driven or plot-driven; few are setting-driven. The assigned stories are listed below.
We took a longer time to work on our Comma studies. As I corrected the worksheets, I saw that we needed some more time to go over subordinate clauses/complex sentences, introductory elements, and items in a series. After a quick review of these topics, I divided the class into groups. Their first assignment was to review as a group to make sure each one of them could explain subordinate/dependent clauses to someone else. We used the rest of the time to work through the other two uses for commas: introductory elements and items in a series.
We do not have class next week, so they have two weeks to do their assignments.
Assignments for March 2:
-- Read the following short stories
-- "The Coffin Maker" by Alexander Pushkin
--"The Three Hermits" by Leo Tolstoy
-- "The Sphinx Without a Secret" by Oscar Wilde
-- "Wee Willie Winkie" by Rudyard Kipling
-- "The Open Windoe" by H. H. Munro
-- Fill in the charts on the two short story worksheets
-- Pre-Write for Cause/Effect or Problem/Solution Essay
-- 3 Comma Worksheets (if not completed in class)
Links for this Week:
Have a great weekend and a lovely break!
Mrs. Prichard
Commas and Items in a Series
Use a comma to separate words and phrases in a series. Present usage advocates the use of the comma
before and connecting the last two words of a series; some writers,
however, prefer to omit the comma before and.
This comma is called the “series comma” or the “Oxford comma.” When etc. ends a series, it should be
preceded and followed by a comma. Use
commas to separate pairs of words in a series.
Use a comma between adjectives preceding a noun when they are coordinate
qualifying words.
Examples:
·
The vendor sells hot dogs, pretzels, hamburgers,
and soft drinks.
·
For my birthday I got a sweater, a pair of
gloves, a hat, and several other items.
·
Last week a sale of chairs, beds, desks, etc.,
was advertised in the newspaper.
·
Official and nonofficial, national and state
agencies attended the convention in Boston.
·
The boss agreed on a form for a shortened,
simplified uniform report.
EXERCISES
1.
It makes me wild mad crazy and frustrated when teachers give too
many assignments about commas.
2.
Your brother dropped by with your suitcase blanket lamp
books and box of junk.
3.
The corn beans squash tomatoes and various things I
don’t recognize are coming up in the garden.
4.
If you’re going upstairs please carry this basket of
clothes the pile of mail and whatever those things are over there in the
corner.
5.
He collected stamps from Great Britain Ireland Spain France
Italy Switzerland and Germany.
6.
We toured the quaint old mining town in Flagstaff, Arizona.
7.
For our picnic, I packed peanut butter and jelly ham
and cheese and egg salad sandwiches.
8.
My mother washed by favorite brown flannel shirt.
9.
I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go to Florida California
Texas or Mexico for spring break.
10. My
parent’s cousins neighbors Mr. Smith and Miss Larson came to my recital.
Commas with Introductory Elements
Use a comma after certain introductory elements.
(1) Use a comma
to set off a mild exclamation such as well, oh, or why at the
beginning of a sentence. Other introductory words, such as yes and no,
are also set off with commas.
|
EXAMPLES
|
Oh, I see.
|
Yes, she has
that book.
|
(2) Use a comma
after an introductory phrase or clause.
|
EXAMPLES
|
At the bend in the road, turn right.
[two prepositional phrases]
|
|
Signaling carefully, she
changed lanes. [participial
phrase]
|
|
|
To water the garden, use
the sprinkler. [infinitive
phrase]
|
|
|
When the artists painted, they followed several rules. [adverb clause]
|
EXERCISE A In the following sentences, insert
commas where they are needed. If a sentence is already correct, write C to
the left of the item number.
|
Example
|
1. On the shores of the Nile, a great civilization was born.
|
1.
No the Egyptians were not just farmers.
2.
Concerned with the afterlife Egyptian rulers built
great tombs for themselves.
3.
Built for monarchs and nobles many great stone tombs
contained supplies for use in the afterlife.
4.
While he was alive the king had his picture painted.
5.
On the wall of his tomb a picture shows the king
hunting.
6.
Well it shows how the king once hunted.
7.
When I saw the jewels I thought the kings were rich.
8.
Why they believed they could take jewels to the next
life.
9.
Based on things found in tombs the assumption can be
made that they believed they could take almost everything!
10. In Egypt
great riches have been found in these tombs.
Introductory Elements & Commas Worksheet
Introductory Elements
·
If a sentence
does not being with the subject, it may open with an introductory element that
tells when, where, how, or why the main action of the sentence
occurs. Separate that introductory
element from the main part of the sentence with a comma.
·
Use a comma
following phrases that begin with if, when, although, because, and other
subordinating conjunctions
·
Introductory prepositional
phrases can be set off by commas if it is necessary for a clear understanding
of the sentences meaning.
·
If the
introductory element is short, and the sentence cannot be misread if the comma
is omitted, you can omit the comma.
EXERCISES
Underline each introductory
element and punctuate the sentence with the appropriate commas. Be careful to look also for other places in
the sentence that require commas. (Hint:
Not all sentences have introductory phrases, and some are compound
sentences.)
1. Discovering
the book under the chair she went to the den and read until dinner time.
2. When
I couldn’t find the cookies I ate an apple but my brother ate some candy.
3. Driving
home from the party Paul and I got lost.
4. Feeling
sick Debbie complained about going to school and her mother let her stay home.
5. Before
my aunt came from Chicago we bought tickets to the community play because I was
in it.
6. Agnes
gets out her skis whenever it snows.
7. I
think I will go out for dinner when Tom finishes his chores.
8. After
they finished their breakfast they took the dog for a walk and I did the
dishes.
9. Because
the road was glazed with ice many cars slipped on the highway and ended up in
the ditch.
10. When I
looked through the newspaper I couldn’t find the article she told me about, but
I had already seen the information online.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 4 (February 9)
Greetings!
Another great class! Our discussions were good, and we learned quite a bit, too.
I asked the students to write "Literary Love Letters" for the Quick Write this week. Every year I use this as a prompt during the class closest to Valentines Day. I have a collection of these letters written by previous students. (See the links below,)
Our Latin roots for our Words of the Day:
dict -- Latin, "to say/speak" -- derivatives: dictate, dictation, dictionary, contradict, predict, dictator,
dorm -- Latin, "to sleep" -- dormant, dormancy, dormitory, dorm
duct -- Latin, "to lead" -- conduct, conductor, introduce, introduction, reduction, abduct, deduct
When I handed back homework, if students were missing any pieces of homework, they got a print out listing that homework. Now that I'm more familiar with My GradeBook, I'm hoping to get these out every 3 - 4 weeks so that students don't get behind with their work. Students and parents can also check on progress. For specific information for signing in, follow the link at the bottom. (Please contact me if you have any questions.)
I handed back the Rough Drafts of the Mystery Stories -- these were all very well written papers. We discussed the most common errors found in the essays: punctuation with dialogue, appropriate verb tenses, run-on and comma splice sentences, and paragraph divisions. I chalk up to the story-telling aspect of this assignment, but many students wrote their longest papers so far. The Final Drafts are due next week. (Note: A couple students have mentioned having a hard time with the creative writing nature of this assignment. If this was the case, they have permission to write an essay that is either a narrative essay or one that discusses some "mystery.")
We've finished our Sherlock Holmes stories, and we discussed what the students wrote in their Take Home Essays, "What Makes a Hero?" As I had thought would happen, the class was divided on their opinions about Sherlock Holmes character and heroic capabilities. I listed their ideas on the board, and after some discussion, we had some points and counterpoints written on the board.
Next week they will get their next books, Great Short, Short Stories.
Finally, I gave a quick but brief explanation of restrictive and non-restrictive clauses along with appositives and parenthetical phrases. They have 3 worksheets for next week.
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Final Draft of Mystery Story
-- 3 Comma Worksheets
Links for this week:
Class Notes
Have a great weekend! Rumor has it that warmer weather is coming!
Mrs. Prichard
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