Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 2 (September 5)

Greetings!

We had a good class this week.  Last week we took care of the business part of class.  This week we dove into writing and grammar instruction.

Before we began, however, we had our  Quick Write.  This week, because my town of Northfield is celebrating the Defeat of Jesse James Days, the writing prompt was "Write something with a Wild West" theme.  I'm afraid I butchered a western accent for the sake of atmosphere, but the students were pretty forgiving.  For the Word of the Day, students selected "katezenjammer" (noisy uproar and clamor) and "oxymoron"  (a comment that seems contradictory and incongruous).  Coincidentally, Writing 2 also chose "katzenjammer."

We discussed the basic parts of a paper:  introduction, body, and conclusion.  While the body of a paper is important, the introduction and conclusion are key elements that can determine the success of a paper.  They handed in the rough drafts of their Descriptive Essays.  I will hand them back with corrections and marks.  They will then make corrections and hand in their final draft on September 14.

Since we spent a lot of time during our first week going over how the class is run, we didn't get to the Grammar section of the class.  Because of this, we covered 2 weeks of grammar this week.  Firstly, we discussed the basic composition of a sentence.  I have an equation that I use for sentences:  Subject + Verb + Complete Thought = Sentence.  Common errors in forming sentences are run-on sentences, comma splices, and fragments.  For the second half of the lesson, we talked about the 8 Parts of Speech, focusing this week on Verbs.

The students had read the Introduction of Animal Farm for this week, and we'll discuss Chapters 1 and 2 next week.  This is an interesting book, and when we've gotten farther into the book, they students will have an opportunity to make some connections between literature and history.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read Chapters 1 & 2 in Animal Farm

     -- Pick 2 questions from the Study Guide, one from the Discussion section and one of the Short Writing Exercises.

-- Finish the Grammar Worksheet.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Prichard