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
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