Thanksgiving Thoughts -- Grades & Grace

 

Happy Friday!!

I want to give a quick update on the grades for this semester.  We have only 3 weeks left before the end of the term, and I want to commend the students for their hard work.  As homeschoolers your schedules are not as disrupted as those of public or private schools, but this year has been far from normal.  Using Google Classroom and attending classes via Zoom has been both a benefit for distance learning but also a challenge for keeping work and grades organized.  I've just finished triple checking my folder of hand in homework, my paper grade book, Google Classroom, the GradeSheets, and a few stray emails, and I believe everything is 90% accurate.  Here are some notes about grades:

• If you can't find the link to your student's individual GradeSheets, send me an email and I will re-send a link.  (Search in your Inbox for "GradeSheets" first)
• On the GradeSheets, any homework that has not been handed in is marked M, which averages into the score as a zero.  Because we have just finished Week 12, I am not accepting any homework that was due before Week 8 (October 22).  
• On the GradeSheets, each assignment has a link to the Google Classroom assignment.
• If a student has handed in some homework that I've missed, please let me know.

As we head into our Thanksgiving break, I think that it's an important time for some self-care. I have heard Christians say that we should have joy during this time, and I always want to jump in and interrupt and correct them.  As Christians we are faced with the same challenges of this pandemic, the election chaos, and economic situation, BUT WE GET TO HAVE JOY. God has abundant grace, compassion, peace, and comfort for us; these difficult times give us lots of opportunities to learn how to access and take hold of what God has for us.  (For example,I know that God gives grace and comfort, but pretending that I'm NOT sad because I won't see my children at Thanksgiving and Christmas because they can't travel is just plain silly. Instead, I need a little bit more of a peaceful quiet time to soak in that grace.)

As I tell my students, you got that little sermonette free of charge.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Blessings on your family time whether it's face to face or virtual.    

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 12 (November 19)

Greetings!

We had a great class today.  Students have worked hard this semester, and it shows in their attitudes and the quality of their work!

For our Quick Write today, I had students come up with some ideas for our weekly Quick Writes.  By now, they have an idea of what works for a good Quick Write, so it will be good to have ideas from them.  Usually, I type up a numbered list and students choose random numbers every week.

We covered 3 Latin roots in our Words of the Day. As I explained to the students, having some background knowledge about Latin roots will help them decode unfamiliar words that they might encounter in their academic careers.

ambi - Latin, ambiguu, having double meaning or both -- derivatives:  ambidextrous, ambiguous, ambidexterity

aud - Latin, audire, to hear -- derivatives:  auditory, audio, audience, auditorium.  (by the way, audacious comes from audacia, boldness)

aqua -- Latin, aqua, water --  derivatives:  aquatic, aquarium. aqueduct, aquifer

While the students are busily writing their Quick Writes, I hand back their homework.  Following our beginning of class activities, we discuss the homework.  This week I handed back their final drafts of the Biography Essays.  They've done a wonderful job writing!  I'm waiting for a few students to give me their rough drafts with my corrections before correcting their final drafts.  I've asked students to hand in their rough drafts when they hand in their final drafts.  I like to compare their drafts so that I can see what improvements they've made.  

Students should be working on the Pre-Writes and Rough Drafts of their Comparison/Contrast Essays, which are due the week after Thanksgiving Break (on 12/3)

For the Literature portion of the class, we talked about our presentation for our book projects for My Antonia.  We watched 2 videos that the students from previous years had done for their book projects.

Finally, in the Grammar portion of the class, we did a review of the phrases that we had previously worked on, including prepositional phrases, participle phrases, and gerund phrases.  During our next class we will go over infinitives.  Verbal phrases can be really confusing.  For example, when we looked at gerund phrases (verbals that serve as nouns) we had a sentence that had a verbal phrase that was an object of a preposition, and they gerund had its own direct object.  So it was a direct object of a verbal as the object of a prepositional phrase.   Confused??  Most of the students had glazed eyes and spinning heads by the end of class!

Finally, I encouraged the students to check their GradeSheets to make sure that what I have recorded is accurate and to see if they are missing any homework.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!  Be blessed!!

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Week 13 (12/3)

-- Quick Write for 11/19

-- Comparison/Contrast  Essay Pre-Write and Rough Draft

-- Discussion Question for Writing

Links for This Week

Class Notes

My Antonia Book Review

My Antonia Trailer

Here's the presentation schedule:

December 3

Michael M

James

Ethan

Carson

Nalani

Benjamin

Ava

Ingrid

Tyler

December 10

Jesse T

Josh

Bennett

Jessie M

Anna

Kara

Michael S

Ellie

Josie

Maddy

Grace

December 17

Philip 

Elliot

Leighton

Zach

Peter

Levi

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 10 (November 12)

 Greetings!

We had a good class this week.  We had a few more in our Zoom class, reminding me of what a blessing it is to have Zoom as an option these days!

For our Quick Write we used these 3 prompts:

• What would you do if you were locked inside your favorite department store overnight?

• What would you do if you woke up one morning to find yourself invisible? 

• What would you do if you were able to communicate with animals?

Our Words of the Day followed a Latin root theme of omni, which means "all."

omnibenevolence -- Latin, omni, "all," bene, "good," and volo, "to be willing; have the power to do" -- Unlimited kindness and generosity

omnia vincit amor -- Latin -- love conquers all

omniarch -- Latin, omni, "all" and arch, "lead, command" -- the ruler of everything

omnific -- Latin, omni, "all" and facere, "to make, to do," -- capable of doing everything

Students handed in their final drafts of their Extended Definitions or Classification Essays, so it was time to introduce the next essay, which is a Comparison/Contrast Essay. We talked at length about the challenge of composing a strong thesis statement for this essay. When students write about similarities and differences between topics, they should have a reason for the comparison. I also explained 2 different ways to organize a Comparison/Contrast Essay.

We have finished My Antonia and took some time to discuss the end of the book. Some people were sorely disappointed that Jim and Antonia did not marry. Others liked the book and the descriptions, and some did not like the book at all. We will start sharing our book projects on 12/3. Following our wrap up of My Antonia, the students divided into small groups to discuss the reading from Giants in the Earth.

Here's the presentation schedule:

December 3

Michael M

James

Ethan

Carson

Nalani

Benjamin

Ava

Ingrid

December 10

Jesse T

Josh

Bennett

Jessie M

Anna

Kara

Michael S

Ellie

Josie

Maddy

Grace

December 17

Philip 

Elliot

Leighton

Zach

Peter

Levi

No Grammar for next week!

Great job this week! Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Grapes of Wrath section and answer the question (GC)

-- Comparison/Contrast Pre-Write

-- Comparison/Contrast Rough Draft

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Quick Write 11/12

About the Comparison/Contrast Essay

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 10 (November 5)

 Greetings!

I can't believe that we're 2/3 of the way through this first semester.  At the beginning of the year, I think many of us were uncertain about how school would go, but the students have been amazing.  Working with Google Classroom, attending class via Zoom when necessary, and wearing masks has not daunted this great group of students. Pat yourselves on the back and thank God for his abundant grace!

I gave a plethora of options for the Quick Write today. 1) Nov. 5, 1605 is Guy Fawkes Day in England, which commemorates the plot to blow up parliament, the king, and his family. 2) Nov. 5, 1872 is the day that Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting (it was not yet legal for women to vote); 3) Nov. 5, 1935 is the day Parker Bros. launched the Monopoly game; 4) Thursday was National Donut Day; and finally, 5) Thursday was National Men Make Dinner Day.  Students could write about violence vs. civil discourse, women in politics, board games, donuts, or men who cook.

Our Words of the Day were common Latin abbreviations, some I often use in notes to students and others students might encounter in their reading:

i.e. -- Latin id est, "that is"-- this signals an expansion on a comment.  (Make sure you do your homework, i.e. your rough draft and worksheets.)

e.g. -- Latin, exempli gratia, "for the sake of example" -- this signals possible examples.  (You must create a project, e.g. an activity, artwork, or game.)

c.f. -- Latin, conferro, "to compare with" -- this is often used in reference materials as a shortcut to point out comparisons

n.b. -- Latin, nota bene, "note well" or "a good note" -- used to draw attention to a side, related comment.

Rough drafts of the Extended Definition and Classification Essays were handed back, so it was time for me to discuss common errors found in the essays.  I especially took time to go over the introductions.  Personally, I think one of the hardest and yet most important aspects of writing an essay is developing a strong thesis statement and giving a clear road map/plan of development.  By the end of an introduction, the reader should know not only the topic, but should know the driving idea (the thesis tells why it's important) and where the essay is headed (the road map tells what subtopics will be covered to support the thesis.)  Strong thesis statements elevate a paper from a report with some details to an essay with a strong purpose.  The Final Drafts are due next week.

Following our discussion of the Grammar topics related to the essays, the students broke into small groups to discuss some sample introductions. They worked together to find the hooks, thesis statements, and road maps.

The last portion of the class was spent discussion active and passive voice, which refers to the verb and whether or not the action of the verb is being done by the subject or the action of the verb is being done to the subject.  e.g. The boy hit the ball (active voice).  The ball was hit by the boy (passive voice).  They have two worksheets to do for this topic.

A quick note about Google Classroom -- I have rearranged the assignments in the category so that the newest assignment is at the top of the list and the assignments are now in order from the newest to the oldest.  (This should save some time for students because they won't have to scroll through the whole list.)  And a reminder -- if you go into Google Classroom from another gmail account, you will not be able to answer discussion questions, fill out quizzes, or turn in homework.  If you're not sure if you are in the right account, look in the upper right hand corner of the screen where the settings and Google apps icon are.  Hover your cursor over the small circle to the right.  This will tell you what account you're in.  

Have a wonderful weekend!  Enjoy this great fall weather, Rumor has it that winter is coming!

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week

-- Complete the My Antonia Final Test (GC)

-- Read the handout of the first chapter of Giants in the Earth

-- Answer the Discussion Question for Giants in the Earth

-- Active & Passive Voice Homework:  Active/Passive Voice, Fun with Active/Passive, Using Active/Passive in Writing

-- Extended Definition or Classification Final Draft

Links for this Week

Class Notes (11/15)

Fall Writing 2 Google Drive folder

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 9 (October 29)

 

Greetings!

We had a full class today, covering all of our topics:  Writing, Literature, and Grammar

We started the class with our Quick Write, For today's prompts, they had 3 options:  They could write about National Chocolate Day (10/28), about National  Cat Day, or about something that refreshes them.  The best advice I got when I first started homeschooling was to figure out what was refreshing and to do it often.   I talked a bit about the fact that because these days are challenging, we all need to figure out how to keep balanced and at peace.  As an addendum to this topic, I referenced an article about the benefits of science. 

Our Words of the Day

biblioklept -- fr. Greek biblio, "book" and klept, "thief" -- someone who steals books

psephology -- fr. Greek I, "small stone" -- the study of elections, taken from the ancient practice of dropping pebbles or small stones in order to cast a vote.

sophomoric -- fr. Greek sophos, "wise" and moros, "foolish" -- conceited and overconfident of knowledge but poorly informed and immature

After our beginning of the class activities, we had a quick check in regarding homework.  I handed back homework and fielded questions about homework.  The pre-writes and rough drafts of their Extended Definition or Classification Essays were due today.  For students who have not finished their essays, they should finish them by the end of the weekend.  If their rough drafts are much later than that, they might not get them back next Thursday. 

As I said, the Rough Drafts of the Extended Definition or Classification Essays were due today.  Students don't have a writing assignment for next week, but next week in class we'll be going through the introductions in writing circles.  Note: I'll make copies of their introductions to bring to class.

We read from My Antonia today. Students were to have read through Book IV,  in which Jim visits Antonia after she comes back with her baby and he comes to Black Hawk for a visit.  We read a number of paragraphs.  We also talked about the final book projects that students are to do for this book.  The proposals were due today, and the projects should be ready for students to present on 11/19.

I've not assigned any more grammar because I don't want to go to the next topic because they didn't do very well with their  verbal phrases worksheets.  We'll work more on those next week.

Have a good weekend.  Who knows, the snow might be gone fairly soon, and we'll have fall again.

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week

-- Finish Pre-Write & Rough Draft if it has not been handed in on 10/29

-- Read Book V (finish the book!)

-- 3 Reader Responses

-- Identifying Participles Worksheet (if not done)

-- Phrases Quiz (if not done)

Links for This Week

Class Notes (10/29)

Quick Write (10/29)

The Hidden Benefits of Silence

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 8 (October 22)

Greetings!

We had a good time in class this week.  This is a good group of students, and I always enjoy the time I have with them in class.

As many of you know, the church has expressed that students must wear masks in the hallways, common areas, and classrooms.  If students are exempt, parents must communicate with Laura Johnson, who will communicate with tutors.  Some teachers allow students to snack and/or drink in their classrooms, but the church doesn't allow food in the clubhouse, which is the room where my writing classes take place. (They can have water.)  This week a few students were snacking, and I let it go.  Next week, only water.    I know that some students are not happy with having to wear masks in class, but they all had great attitudes and seemed willing to bless the church and its leadership.  

Our Quick Write today had 3 options.  First, October is German-American Heritage Month, so I gave students the option to write about their family heritages.  Secondly, on October 22, 1938, Chester Carlson invented the first photocopier.  He presented it to IBM, RCA, and Kodak, but they rejected it because they didn't see the value in a machine that only made copies.  I asked the students to write about their favorite gadget/inventions or about something that they felt needed inventing.  And, as always, students could write about anything else that was on their minds.

We had 2 Words of the Day:  

preposition -- fr. Latin, prae, "before" and positus, "put or placed" -- the word placed before a noun or pronoun to establish a connection to another noun or a verb.

conjunction -- fr. Latin con, "with," and juncto, "to join together" -- the word used to join other words, phrases, or clauses.

Before we talked about our writing, I showed a short video that I had intended to show the previous week when students were writing their Process Essays.  This video is of 2 children writing detailed instructions for their father about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  (link below)

For our Writing portion of the class, we discussed various ways topics that might work for an Extended Definition or Classification Essay.  For the Extended Definition, abstract topics seem to do well because the writer can use examples or analogies to explain the topic.  For Classification Essays, students should think of topics that are composed of various categories. Below are links to websites with examples and further explanations.  The Pre-Write and Rough Draft should be handed into Google Classroom next week.

We spent time going over some of the verbal phrases that are part of our Grammar unit for this fall.  Verbal phrases are challenging because we're trained to look at the verbs as the second part of the sentence and as the action that the subject does.  Students are fairly familiar and adept with prepositional phrases, but gerund, infinitive, and participial phrases can be confusing.  Especially if the verbal takes a direct object or includes a prepositional phrase.  We'll continue practicing identifying these phrases throughout the year.  (See the link below, "About Phrases" for some more information)

For the Literature portion of the class, I went around the room and collected descriptions of the primary characters.  With the exception of a couple half-hearted, non-serious responses, I could tell that the students are getting to know these characters.  They're aware of strengths, weaknesses, and even inconsistencies in Jim, Antonia, Lena, etc.  That means they've done some careful reading and that Willa Cather has done a good job writing.

Have a great weekend.  Peace to your homes!

Mrs Prichard

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read p. 141 - 153 of My Antonia

-- Project Proposal (due 10/29)

-- 3 Reader Responses

-- Extended Dfn/Classification Pre-Write

-- Extended Dfn/ Classification Rough Draft (GC)

-- Discussion Question (GC)

-- Identifying Participles

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Fall Writing 2 Google Folder

About Phrases

Pre-Write Tools

About the Extended Definition Essay

About the Classification Essay

How to Write an Extended Definition Essay

Writing the Definition Essay

The Classification Essay

Learn How to Write a Classification Essay

Extreme Instructions -- PB & J

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 7 (October 15)

 Greetings!

This would have been our fall break, so I feel that we should all get a merit badge for having a good class this week.  For our Quick Write, I asked students to write about a strong opinion that they have.  Then, they were to give three specific points about that opinion.  Following that, they were to think about what the other side might think.  The goal of this Quick Write was to encourage the students to think about how others think about the same topics.  As I told them, being able to actively listen to others while trying to understand their perspectives is a sign of maturity.  In this day and age, God needs us to value those around us, whether we agree with their strong opinions or not.  (By the way, one of the most controversial topics for all classes today was "Does pineapple belong on pizza?")

We had a short Words of the Day portion of class.  Here are our words:

comma -- fr. Latin, comma, and Greek komma, which means a "piece which is cut off." --   The comma is that little bit of punctuation that separates parts of a sentence.

noun -- fr. Latin nomen, "name" -- The noun is the part of speech that names a person, place, things, or ideas.

veb -- fr. Latin verbum, "word" -- The verb is the part of speech that communicates action or state of being.

Students handed in their Final Drafts of their Process Essays.  Now, it's time for the next essay, which is a choice between the Extended Definition Essay and a Classification Essay.  For the rest of the year, students will be doing a 3-step process that includes a pre-write, a rough draft, and a final draft.  The pre-write is any kind of composing that shows brainstorming of ideas and organization.  This can include a formal or informal outline, a mind map, or a digital brainstorming file.  (I have a document in the links below that further expounds on pre-write tools and gives links to some interesting web platforms for making a digital outline or mind map.)  I don't require the students to hand in their pre-writes until they hand in their rough drafts.  Note: Students should work on the gathering and organizing of their information during this next week (in other words, prepare the pre-write) so that the following week they are ready to write the rough draft.

I have 3 short writing-related assignments:  Writing Goals (from our writing circle conversations), Discussion Question for the Process Essay, and a Discussion Question for the Extended Definition/Classification Essay.  

For the Literature portion of the class, we broke into our Literature Circle groups to discuss the current reading assignment.  I walked around and listened to conversations.  One particular aspect that I enjoyed was seeing the artwork that some students had done.  Great job, students! At the end of class, I introduced the My Antonia Project and the Proposal Form.  At the end of our book, we will celebrate by enjoying the creative responses to our reading.  We'll talk more next week!

For the Grammar portion of the class, we discussed verbal phrases, particularly gerund phrases. Verbal phrases can be confusing because they are essentially verbs acting as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.  For example, in the following sentence, "Acting" is a gerund, which is a noun phrase, that is serving as the subject of the sentence, and "preparing" is the action verb of the sentence:  Acting in plays was preparing Tom for his future career.  For next week, students will do some practice with infinitive phrases, which are verbal phrases that are formed with "to" and the stem of the verb.  

Have a wonderful weekend!  Take some time to do something that refreshes and rejuvenates you!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

PS.  I will be away from my computer until Sunday night, so if you have any questions, I will not get to them until Monday.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read p. 119 - 140 of My Antonia

-- Week 7 Reader Responses

-- Literature Circle Evaluations

-- Extended Definition or Classification Pre-Write

-- Writing Circle:  Writing Goals  

-- Discussion Question for the Process Essay  (GC)

-- Discussion Question for the Ext Dfn/ Class Essay  (GC)

-- My Antonia Project Proposal

-- Infinitive Phrases (along with 2 resources explaining infinitive)

-- Identifying Infinitives

Links for This Week

Class Notes

About the Extended Definition and Classification Essays

Pre-Write Tools

My Antonia Book Project

Writing 2 Zoom Recording (10/15)