Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 10 (March 27)

Greetings!

We had a good, productive week after our “Spring Break.”  The Quick Write this week was “What did you NOT do during Spring Break?”  Some students wrote their quick writes in double negatives.  For example, “I didn’t not watch a movie.” 

Our Words of the Day were all “Janus words.”  Named after the Roman god who had two faces, these are words that have meanings that are almost opposites.  Below is the list of words that we looked at:

–   To weather can mean "to endure" or "to erode."

–   Sanction can mean "to allow" or "to prohibit."

–   Fix can mean "a solution" (as in "find a quick fix") or "a problem" ("left us in a fix").

–   Clip can mean "to separate" (as in "clip the coupon from the paper") or "to join" (as in "clip the answer sheets together").

–   Left as a verb in the past tense means "to have gone"; as an adjective, it means "remaining."

–   Wear can mean "to last under use" or "to erode under use."

–   Buckle can mean "to fasten" or "to bend and then break."

–   The verb bolt can mean "to secure, lock" or "to start suddenly and run away."

–   Fast can mean "moving quickly" (as in "running fast") or "not moving" (as in "stuck fast").

We discussed our next essay, which is a News Story.  Since the pre-write was due today, they have chosen their topics and have begun some preliminary research.  We discussed the parameters of this essay:  it needs to be a factual event; any interviews must be real; it can be formatted as a newspaper article; it can have a clear thesis or one that is implied.  The rough draft for this paper can be handwritten, but the final draft needs to be typed.

Continuing with our Short Stories, we read our final O. Henry short story, “Ransom of Red Chief.”  This is a classic which is often included in children’s anthologies and has been made into numerous films.  We also learned a new word today:  philoprogenitiveness.   Our next literature unit will include poetry, and the students were given their new books this week.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read the poems by the following poets:  Langston Hughes, William Carlos Williams, Robert Frost

-- No poetry worksheets or discussion questions

-- Rough Draft of News Story

-- There is/are Practice worksheet

This week's blog:

Class Notes

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard