Writing 1 Class Notes -- December 12

Greetings!

We closed out our Fall semester in great fashion.  I had made brownies, and other students brought in treats.  Our class yesterday was an effort to have a party while finishing up our writing class for the semester.

Our Quick Write was a group effort. Dividing the class into 3 groups, they were each given a list of Christmas Jokes without their punchlines.  They were to either guess what the real answer was or come up with a better one.  Most of the answers were puns or mutations of Christmas related words. Do you know the answer to these?

        1.   What did Adam say on the day before Christmas?

        2.   Who is never hungry at Christmas?

        3.  How do you know when there is a snowman in your bed? 

Some of the jokes were clever, and some were real "groaners."

Following our activity with the Christmas jokes, students handed in their final drafts of their History Essays.  They also handed in any out-standing/ missing assignments.  After I finish grading these papers, I'll send out grades along with my thoughts about points and grades.

We finished our study of A Christmas Carol with a "Final Exam" which was more fun than hard work.  I handed to each student the name of a character in the book.  They then needed to interact with another student who was a different.  For example, Tiny Tim might have to talk with the Ghost of Christmas Past.  Or Charles Dickens might narrate directions to any of the other characters.  The students did a great job at being creative and thinking quickly "on their feet."  The second half of this "exam" dealt with some of the vocabulary words.  Dividing the class into two teams, they were each given a word from one of the Staves that they had to act out in order for the other team to guess.  The words were not simple ones:  solitary, covetous, decanter, withering.  Again, they did very well.

To end the class, we watched two scenes from my favorite version of A Christmas Carol, the Muppets version.

I've enjoyed this semester with this group of students.  They are a fun crew and are growing as writers. I'm looking forward to our Spring semester.

Have a blessed holiday season!

Mrs. Prichard

PS.  The punch lines to the jokes above:

        1.  "It's Christmas, Eve."

        2.  The turkey -- it's stuffed.

        3.  It's all wet.

This week's blog

Christmas Jokes (with punchlines!)

Christmas Jokes

Below is the list of jokes from our Quick Write.  Enjoy!

What did Adam say on the day before Christmas?
It's Christmas, Eve!

Who is never hungry at Christmas?
The turkey - he's always stuffed!

How do you know when there is a snowman in your bed?
You wake up wet!

What would a reindeer do if it lost its tail?
She’d go to a “re-tail” shop for a new one!

Q: Why was Santa's little helper depressed?
A: Because he had low elf esteem.

Q: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
A: Snowflakes.

Last year's Christmas pudding was so awful I threw it in the ocean.
That's probably why the ocean's full of currants!

What's the first thing elves learn in school?
The "elf"-abet!

What do the elves call it when Father Christmas claps his hands at the end of a play?
Santapplause!

What do you call people who are scared of Santa Claus?
Claustrophobic!

What do you call Santa when he has no money?
Saint "Nickel"-less!

What do you call someone who doesn't believe in Father Christmas?
A rebel without a Claus!

What do you get if you cross Santa with a flying saucer?
A UF ho, ho, ho

What do you get if you cross Santa with a gardener?
Someone who likes to hoe, hoe, hoe!

And what goes oh! oh! oh?
Father Christmas walking backwards.

What nationality is Santa Claus?
North Polish!

What's red & white and red & white and red & white?
Santa rolling down a hill!

Where does Santa stay when he's on holidays?
At a Ho-ho-tel

What do snowmen eat for lunch?
Icebergers !

How do snowmen travel around?
By iceicle!

How do snowmen greet each other?
Ice to meet you!

What do you call a snowman in the summer?
A puddle

What's a snowman's favorite Mexican food?
Brrrrrr-itos!

Q: What do you get if you cross Father Christmas with a detective?
A: Santa Clues!

Sherlock's favorite Christmas song:
"I'll be Holmes for Christmas"

How do sheep in Mexico say Merry Christmas?
Fleece Navidad!

What is green, covered with tinsel and goes "ribbet ribbet"?
A mistle-"toad"!

What did the grape say to the peanut butter?
"'Tis the season to be jelly!"

Why did the gingerbread man go to the doctor?
Because he was feeling crummy!

What kind of money do they use at the North Pole?
Cold cash!

What kind of music do elves like best?
"Wrap" music!

Who sings "Blue Christmas" and makes toy guitars?
Elfis!

Writing 1 Class Notes -- December 5

Greetings!

We had a good class yesterday.  Our Quick Write for the morning came from a book entitled Story Starters.  From this book, you can randomly put together writing prompts as third at a time.  Our prompt for today was "I hope this works," said the King/ Queen as he/she jumped out of the way."  They put a lot of thought into their writing, and we had some creative responses.

Following our Quick Write, we worked on some Sentence Building.  I had the students start with a simple Subject-Verb sentence and then had them add a prepositional phrase, an adjective, and an adverb.  After that, they were to make it a compound sentence with the same elements.  Then, they were to incorporate a subordinate clause into the sentence.  This exercise gave us a great opportunity to talk about the different parts of speech and to put that knowledge to work.  For our Grammar Discussion, we also briefly reviewed our discussion from last week about phrases:  prepositional phrases, participial phrases, and gerund phrases.  Little by little we're becoming proficient in these finer points of grammar. 

The students had handed in their rough drafts of their Historical Essays.  I usually compile a list of common errors which I found while reading through these first drafts.  The best way to learn about writing is to simply do it.  From there we can discuss strategies and techniques.  I'm seeing a lot of improvement in their writing.  The final drafts are due next week.  Along with correcting and editing their papers, they are to write "5 Things I Learned from the Corrections on My Rough Draft."  For example, if I circled a contraction and corrected it, they could put "no contractions in essays" as one of the things.  Or if I inserted a comma, they could mention "use commas with introductory phrases."  It's good to correct mistakes: it's even better to know what was wrong and why it needs changing.

We discussed Stave IV of A Christmas Carol.  This is the section where the Ghost of Christmas Past visits Scrooge.  I read aloud portions; it really is a darker, more mysterious section.  Next week, we will finish the book and have a final exam.  So that the students don't worry, the exam will not be a written test.  Nor will any grades be given.  This "exam" will be done in 2 parts.  For the first part, I'll put names of the various characters in a hat, and 2 students at a time will draw names and have imagined conversations considering the personalities of the characters of the book.  For example, what would happen if Bob Cratchitt and Mr. Fezziwig were to meet?  What would they talk about?  The second half will be a game of "What is it?" like the one Scrooge's nephew played.  In other words, our last class for the semester will be more of a party.  Treats are welcome!

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Final Draft of Historical Essay

-- "5 Things I Learned from the Corrections on My Rough Draft"

-- Read Stave V of A Christmas Carol.

-- Optional:  bring treats.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Prichard