Writing 1 Class Notes -- November 14

Greetings!

As always, we had a productive class.  I really enjoy this group of students.  For our Quick Write today, we played a word game, Give Me Five, that I had gotten while in England.  The game consists of a deck of cards with categories (Fruits and Vegetables, Items found in a Bedroom, Pets, Types of Meals, etc.) and letter of the alphabet.  Either I or a student drew a card, and the students had to write 5 things that fit that card. The students got points for any answers they had written that were unique; in other words, they were the only ones who had written that answer.  We played a few rounds.  I like activities like this because it 1) plays with words; 2) causes everyone to be involved; 3) forces the students to think creatively; and 4) is interactive and helps us to continue to develop good class dynamics.

I handed back their final drafts of their Biographical Essays. As the students work on revising their rough drafts into final drafts, I'd like to remind them to carefully pay attention to corrections and comments that I made on the rough drafts.  The rough drafts are to be learning opportunities.  The final drafts are opportunities to show that they've been learning.  I was pleased to see that some students not only made grammar and punctuation corrections, but rewrote sections or added more material.  They are all becoming more skilled as writers of essays.  The students are to be working on their next writing assignment, a Historical Essay, over their break. In class we discussed how to go about developing a thesis around an historical event.  This can be a challenge, so they can feel free to send an e-mail if they have any questions.

Before our discussion of A Christmas Carol, we talked about the specific challenges of the book (an older style and more challenging vocabulary) which led to a discussion of learning styles.  If the book is difficult for a student, an audio book would be acceptable.  In addition to discussing some of the vocabulary, we read aloud a few sections from the second "Stave" in which the Ghost of Christmas Past appears.  Personally, I feel that this is such a rich book that we could take a lot more time than we do to "unpack" the images, themes and symbolism. 

No class next week.  Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Assignments for Next Week:
-- Write Historical Essay rough draft
-- Read Stave 2;  Write answers for 2 questions for the First Half and 2 questions for the Second Half.
-- Write meanings and roots for 5 vocabulary words for the Stave.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Prichard