Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 15 (December 12)

Greetings!

Well, we've had a great first semester.  The students have done some good reading and writing for the class, and I believe we've all learned a bit along the way.

This week, our last class of the term before a nice long Christmas break, was half work and half play.  We began the class, as always, with a Quick Write.  Driving up from Northfield that morning, I heard the radio announcers tell that it was National Ding-a-ling day. (Upon further research, no one really knows the origin or the meaning of said day.) I gave the students an option,  They could use that little bit of trivia as a writing prompt or my singing elf hat.  If they wanted, they could combine them.  

We've finished reading A Christmas Carol, and I gave the students a final test on the book.  It actually was more like a quiz since it was multiple choice.  It wasn't difficult, and we corrected it in class.  We didn't spend as much time talking about the book as I would have liked, but I hope they enjoyed this classic. 

They handed in their Biography or History Essays; I will correct them over break and get them back the first week of the next term.  If any students are not planning on taking the Spring semester of Writing 1, let me know and I will mail these to you.  

For the last bit of the class, students shared their Christmas poetry and readings before we played a great word game, Funglish.  Our family has had a lot of playing this game in which you try to get people to guess a word using only little cards with adjectives on them. The only problem with this game is that it can get a bit loud as you are trying to out-guess your neighbor with the limited clues.  I think everyone enjoyed it.

I will be grading papers next week and will have suggested grades out after the first of the year. I'll be sharing some more thoughts about grades later. Like all of you, this is a busy time of year.  At our house, we're not only getting ready for Christmas, but we're getting my 19 year old son  ready to go to Thailand for a YWAM DTS. 

May the Lord bless you during this busy time. May you enjoy your families and the great gift of Jesus.  I just read in 2 Corinthians 5: 21 this morning:  "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  What an amazing gift!

Until next year,

Mrs. Prichard 

Writing 1 Class Notes -- December 2 (Week 14)

Greetings!

We had a great, almost last week.  Unfortunately, I was late for the first class, Writing 2,  because of the road conditions.  

For the Quick Write, I asked the students to write about their Thanksgiving Days using 10 different adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs.  From their writings, we chose some of their favorite word choices to use for our Words of the Day.  We had a good list of words, and then had a discussion about these words and how they could be changed into other parts of speech.

I handed back to the students their rough drafts of their History or Biography Essays  We discussed briefly some of the common errors.  In the early days of the class, I did a lot of editing of their essays.  As we progress through the various essays, they will do more of that editing themselves.  The final drafts of their essays are due next week.

Next week is our last week for the semester.  The class will be 1/2 final exam and 1/2 party.  For the exam part, the students will take a final on A Christmas Carol.  They should finish reading the book,  The exam is not difficult, and will be one last opportunity to discuss the book.  For the party part, they are to bring some Christmas poetry or reading.  These do not need to be original works.  We will use them to entertain one another.  The may also bring treats if they like.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Final Copy of the History or Biography Essay

-- Finish reading A Christmas Carol and plan for exam.

-- Bring a Christmas poem of short reading to share with the class.

-- Bring treats, opt.

If you haven't signed up for next semester, and are planning to, contact CHAT.  I will be ordering books for next semester soon.

This week's blog

Class Notes

Have a great weekend.  See you on Thursday!

Mrs. Prichard

Bad Writing Samples

BAD WRITING SAMPLES

#1       The amount of grammer and usage error’s today is astounding. Not to mention spelling. If I was a teacher, I’d feel badly that less and less students seem to understand the basic principals of good writing. Neither the oldest high school students nor the youngest kindergartner know proper usage. A student often thinks they can depend on word processing programs to correct they’re errors. Know way!

            Watching TV all the time, its easy to see why their having trouble. TV interferes with them studying and it’s strong affect on children has alot to due with their grades. There’s other factors, too, including the indifference of parents like you and I. A Mom or Dad often doesn’t know grammer themselves. We should tell are children to study hard like we did at they’re age and to watch less TV then their classmates.

#2       The television can be helpful sometimes, especially when people watch the news, but of course we all know that you can’t get everyone to watch the news. Some people watch television to learn about things that go on in our world. And there’s people that watch it cause there’s nothing else to do. People that watch television because there’s nothing else to do are making television harmful because almost all of the shows have something wrong with them like the language, their actions, and some of the things that they show. And most of the kids that watch these shows want to be the same way. Like say that a teenager killed someone, the kids that watch it and think that’s cool and do the same thing when they get older.

            Some shows are learning experienses like a show on saving our economy, if you  watched this you could help save the economy. I think that there are too many people using television in the harmful way such as gaining weight from sitting in front of the television too much. There are also a log of people who stay away from television as often as they can and try to be more active, but still do watch the educational way of shows and that is the education way of doing it. There are also a lot of controversy going on about some of the things they on television. But it you think about it television is very helpful.

#3       As that there are alot of people (weather they are philosophers or not) there are many exceptions to moral rules or laws. One thing I find interesting about Immanuel Kant, are his strong feelings toward not lying at any time ever no matter what and not to deal with the consequences and the considerations of individual situations and circumstances and possible exceptions that need to be accounted for when making a decision of morality and ethics. Immanuel Kant felt strongly that lying was always wrong, he was against it. But whose to say? Wasn’t lying just Kants biggest how shall I say "pet-peeve"? "No lying ever, no exceptions" needs to be addressed more seriously in the future by later philosophers, if you ask me its worth a try. Immanuel Kant was probably one of the most supportive philosiphers of absolute rules in the ethical and moral decision-making systems of thought I have studied.

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 12 (November 21)

Greetings!

Today's class was good.  We covered a lot and had some thoughtful conversations about writing.

The Quick Write for the day came from a creative writing story starters book.  They were to incorporate the following sentence into a short story:  "How could you do this to me?" said the lion tamer as he/she tumbled over the waterfall.  They had some creative responses to this writing prompt.

The Words of the Day were from a dictionary since I'd forgotten my book on foreign phrases at home:

tachycardia --  excessive rapid heart beat

tableau -- a representation of a picture, statue, or scene by one or more persons suitably costumed 

tabloid -- a newspaper or magazine filled with sensational news

taciturn -- inclined to silence

As part of our vocabulary work, we made a scale from taciturn to loquacious, including other words that are synonyms for talking a lot.  Without telling them what either taciturn or loquacious mean, I asked them to locate themselves on the continuum between the two words.  It was humorous to watch the talkative ones put their marks near taciturn, and vice versa.

I collected from them their rough drafts of their History or Biography Essays and their A Christmas Carol Study Guide questions.  I will hand their rough drafts back to them at the next class.

We talked through the questions for Stave III from the Study Guide for our book, A Christmas Carol. This is the section about the Ghost of Christmas Present, and I read aloud to them some of the descriptions.  They had thoughtful and insightful responses to the questions. 

After those small groups, I rearranged the class into different groups to do some editing practice.  Giving them some Bad Writing Samples, they worked together to fix the mistakes.  We then put those corrections on the board.  They're becoming more careful writers with each exercise.

They probably don't need reminding, but we don't have class next week.  They can spend Thursday eating turkey and hanging out with the family, instead.

Assignments for Dec. 5

-- Edit Bad Writing Samples #2 & #3

-- Rewrite 2 paragraphs from the Grapes of Wrath excerpt, writing it in a different tone.

This week's blog posts:

Class Notes

Bad Writing Samples

A Christmas Carol Study Guide

Happy Thanksgiving!  Be blessed!

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 11 (November 14)

Greetings,

We had a good class this week.  For our Quick Write, I had the students make up an adventure, in celebration of the birthday of Astrid Lindgren, the author of the Pippi Longstocking books.  We had real and imaginary persons in a number of adventures.

Our Words for the Day were taken from the vocabulary lists for A Christmas Carol:

jocund --fr. Latin jocundus, pleasant; cheerful, gay, merry

lustrous -- gleaming, radiant, shining

corroborate -- fr. Latin, corroborare, to strengthen; to make certain or confirm another's statement

reclamation -- the act of reclaiming

ubiquitous -- fr. Latin, ubique, everywhere; existing or being everywhere

This week we did an all-class writing exercise.  In writing, students are often not sure what details to include or in what order to write those details.  I had been doing some research about my family heritage and had some details about my great, great, great grandfather, Morten Olsen.  I filled the white board with those details and then set the students to the task of writing a paragraph or two about them.  When finished, we discussed what information they felt was essential and what they felt could be omitted.  I then divided the class into four small groups so that they could compare their paragraphs with one another.  I enjoyed listening to their conversations as they read aloud their writing.

I handed back their Final Drafts of their Examples/Illustration Essays.  We discussed the rubric for the essays.  Since we had talked about Introductions and Conclusions, I payed special attention to those.  We will focus on various points of the rubric with the papers so that they students can consider what aspects of their writing they want to improve.

They were to have worked on their pre-writes for their History or Biographical Essays.  The Rough Drafts are due next week.  One student reminded me about the option of doing both, one for extra credit.  If any students want to do this, I'll never say "no" to extra writing practice.  

We've not done justice to our book, A Christmas Carol.  Next week that will be the focus of our discussion.  They are to read Stave III for next week.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read Stave III of A Christmas Carol. 

-- Answer 3 questions from the study guide for Stave III First Half.

-- Write the rough draft of either the History or Biography Essay

-- Extra Credit:  Re-write the paragraph about Morten Olsen, paying special attention to sentence constructions.  Make it an excellent paragraph.

This week's blogs

Class Notes

Have a great weekend.  It should be a tad warmer, before it turns cold again.

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 11 (November 7)

Greetings!

We started class today with our usual Quick Write.  Since today is Billy Graham's 95th birthday, we wrote on the topic "Evangelism."  Many of the students were only vaguely aware of who this man is, but I have friends and family members who were saved through his ministry.  For those interested, here's the link to the program "The Cross," which his son, Franklin Graham calls his father's last message to America.

Our Words of the Day:

berserk -- Norwegian; literally an ancient Norse warrior who fought with frenzied rage in battle; refers to something wild or violent

je ne sai quoi -- French; literally "I don't know that;"  refers to a an intangible quality that makes something distinctive

macro -- Greek; large & complex; pertaining to a very large scale

dumdum -- Hindi; a city in India; a hollow-nosed bullet that expands on impact

jodhpurs -- Hindi; riding breeches for equestrians

cheongsam -- Chinese; a long dress; a long traditional dress with a slit up the side and a high collar

We welcomed a new student, Jayden, to our class today.

They handed in their Final Drafts of their Examples/Illustration Essay.  Along withe the essays, they were to include their 5 reasons for corrections and the answers to the 2 questions below.  If these were not included today, they can be handed in next week.

1.  What topic are you making clear by giving examples?

2.  What specific examples are you giving to explain your topic?

We combined some Grammar discussion with the introduction of the next essay.  Before I explained the Biography or History Essays, we reviewed the 8 parts of speech and articles (a, an, and the).  Our grammar discussion began when a student asked why I had written "an historical."  For those interested, here's an excerpt from a website:

Except - The rules before "h" are a little tricky, but clear: if a word begins with an "h" sound and the first syllable is stressed (like "hotel"), then it never takes "an". If the first syllable is not stressed (like "historical") then it is possible to use "an". Some usage authorities would say you must use "an" in those cases, but Nohat is not one of those authorities. You find both "a" and "an" used before words like "historical".

They can choose to write either a Biography Essay or a History Essay.  We discussed how to develop a thesis for this kind of essay.  For next week, they are to do some pre-writing that can include any research, brainstorming, mind-mapping, charting, or outlining.  In other words, anything that will help them write their rough draft.

We had just enough time to introduce A Christmas Carol and to read aloud the first page.  I'm hoping they enjoy this book as much as I do.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read Stave 2

-- Choose 3 questions from the Study Guide and write out the answers

-- Prewriting for the Biography or History Essay.

This week's blogs

Class Notes

History Essay

Biography Essay

Pre-Writing Excercises

Have a great weekend!

Pre-Writing Exercises

Getting Started

·        Think right:  believe in yourself and ability to learn; keep trying and learn from mistakes

·        Get organized

–  Use a notebook:  keep track of handouts and assignments

–  Take notes:  notes help you to retain important information and stay focused; write down whatever your teacher writes on the board and specific information about assignments.

–  Schedule study time:  don’t leave assignments to the last minute; schedule regular time

–  Use good resources:  teachers, books, on-line sources, classmates

           

First Steps to Writing

·        Understanding the assignment

–  Make sure you are clear on requirements:

Due Date

Length

Format of paper

Topic restrictions

·        Narrowing the topic

–  Find an area of the topic that you can write about

–  Narrowing tree to divide a general topic or subject into more specific parts until you find a specific topic of interest

–  Brainstorming by thinking of the aspects of the topic or of specific examples and writing down all the ideas that come to mind (can be done in a group)

·        Determining the writing context

–  Purpose:  why are you writing, what your goals are, and what you hope to accomplish; what to include and what to leave out; most writing is to inform, to persuade, or to entertain.

–  Audience:  tailor your statements to the person or group to whom you are speaking; keep in mind your audience’s interests, concerns, values, educational backgrounds, and attitudes.

–  Tone:  the writer’s attitude toward the subject or audience; can range from serious, sarcastic, angry, humorous, condescending, insensitive, compassionate, etc.

·        Formulating a main idea:  think about the direction you might be heading in or what you might write about; stating a tentative main idea will help you generate ideas about your narrowed topic more effectively.

Generating Supporting Ideas

·        Brainstorming:  write down everything you think of regarding this topic; be aware of all the senses; can be done in phrases; can be done individually or in a group

·        Freewriting:  start writing sentences and paragraphs; write everything that comes to mind

·        Listing:  visualize and write what comes to mind;

·        Clustering/ Mind map:  cluster related ideas together; group or organize ideas

·        Dividing:  break the topic into its components; use journalistic questions (who, what, where, when, why how)

Organizing Ideas

·        State the main idea:  narrow your topic into a thesis statement; sometimes this will need to be revised as you gather materials

·        Map your topic:  Use the a table similar to the one below the develop your ideas

Supporting Ideas	Specific Details	Relation to Thesis

·        Outline:  use the formal outline structure to help organize topics of support and subtopics.  The outline below is an example of style.

I.  Introduction

            A.  Specifics

            B.  Specifics 

II.  Suppporting idea #1

            A.  Specifics

            B.  Specifics

                        1.  Details

                        2.  More details

III.  Supporting idea #2

            A.  Specifics

                        1.  Details

                        2.  More details

            B.  Specifics

IV.  Conclusion

History Essay

 Definition

            An historical essay demonstrates that you have a good knowledge about an event or a period of history and a good grasp of its importance and contributions to our world.  A typical essay will consist not only of the details surrounding the event or period but will reveal an understanding of some of the “big picture” of history.

Thesis Development

            Writing an essay about a historical topic requires that you make some judgment about the evidence and details.  Generally, a thesis explains the “why” and the “how” of something that happened.  Your thesis should take a stand on an issue or historical problem and requires some judgment and interpretation of evidence.  Your thesis should be as clear and specific as possible.

Organization

            Information can be presented chronologically (in a first to last sequence), in order of importance (least to most important), or in order of quantity of information (least amount to greatest amount).  Your essay can be divided by themes, geographical locations, or personalities involved.  In writing the essay, you will analyze the facts, not just describe them.

Tips on Writing

– Everything you write about should support or be related to your thesis.

– Be sure that you include enough information and define any unfamiliar terms.  Assume your readers do not know as much about the topic as you do.

– Prove your arguments:  explain how and why a thing happened.

– Suitable evidence includes data (facts and figures) and authorities on the subject (what historians know).

– Use a variety of transitions in the text of your paper.

– This is not a research paper, but may require some outside reading and note taking.  Remember to take notes in your own words.

– Keep the language simple. Remember, this is an essay, not a story.  Use good, accurate vocabulary, but not overly flowery words.

Essay Guidelines

– Due dates:  Pre-Write due November 11; Rough Draft due November 21; Final Draft due December 12.

– Essay length:  500 – 700 words (between 2 and 4 pages)

– Rough drafts can be typed or hand-written, but must be double-spaced.

– Final draft format:

– Typed (if this is not possible, please let me know)

– 1 inch margins

– Name and date on the upper right hand corner

– Number the pages on the lower right hand corner

– Title centered above the text of the essay

Biography Essay

Definition

            A biographical essay demonstrates that you have a good knowledge of a person’s life and a good grasp of that person’s importance and contributions to our world.  A typical essay will consist of an outline of a person’s life, accomplishments and events in life, impact and influence on society and peers, and any background information.

Thesis Development

            The thesis for a biographical essay will be some statement about this person’s contributions.  Your thesis statement for this essay will assert your point of view, opinions, or evaluation of the value of this person’s life. 

Organization

            An obvious organizational plan for this kind of essay is chronological; you cover the main events of the subject’s life as they happened.  Another strategy focuses on a few important events, building up to the one you think is most important.  A third plan divides the person’s life into categories and discusses them one at a time.  In each strategy, you are supporting and explaining your thesis.

Some Helpful Tips on Writing

– Support your thesis with examples and details.

– Give sufficient background information.

– Including more information than is necessary.  It is easy to focus on story-telling and not tie your writing into the thesis.

Essay Guidelines

– Due dates:  Pre-Write due November 11; Rough Draft due November 21; Final Draft due December 12.

– Essay length:  500 – 700 words (between 2 and 4 pages)

– Rough drafts can be typed or hand-written, but must be double-spaced.

– Final draft format:

– Typed (if this is not possible, please let me know)

– 1 inch margins

– Name and date on the upper right hand corner

– Number the pages on the lower right hand corner

– Title centered above the text of the essay