We had a good and productive class this week. My hope is that our Fall Break refreshed everyone.
I shared with the class my personal dislike for Halloween. Even as a little kid I didn't like the masks, trick or treating, etc. that are associated with this day. I also don't give much attention to the present cultural fascination for zombies, vampires, or werewolves. (I've got better things to set my mind upon.)
That said, I took my Quick Write idea from the list of suggestions from the class: What has been your scariest moment? Their responses included carnival rides, fears of certain rooms when they were little, and situations outside in the dark.
Our Words of the Day:
icon -- fr. Greek, eikon, likeness, image -- a picture or image; a person or thing that is revered or idolized
idee fixe -- fr. French, "fixed idea" -- an obsession or idea that you can't get out of your head
id est -- fr. Latin, "that is" -- that is to say, in other words -- commonly abbreviated i.e.
exempli gratia -- fr. Latin "for the sake of example" -- for example, such as -- commonly abbreviated e.g.
idiot savant -- fr, French, "learned idiot" -- a person with learning disabilities who has exceptional skills in a particular area
The class has settled into a good routine; while we may not spend the same amount of time on each area from week to week, we almost always have the same agenda. Following our beginning of class activities, we go through any of the homework that I passed back while they were busily writing their Quick Writes. If necessary, we go over any homework, especially grammar, that might have cause any problems.
Students handed in the rough drafts of their Examples/Illustrations Essays. They also handed in with these their Pre-Writes. If for any reason a student can't hand these in at class, he/she can e-mail it to me. I will hand them back next week and the Final Drafts are due November 10.
We learned about Adverbs during our Parts of Speech presentation this week. Our three teachers had a good video that they had put together. We heard about Adverbiology and Adverbs, Inc. They also had two worksheets that the students were able to finish in class. (The video will be posted on the blog.)
We are starting a new book -- Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (ACC). Some students have already read this book, and many have seen some kind of performance. As part of the introduction, we discussed the literary terms allegory and episodic narrative. They were given a handout with introductory information, a study guide, and a list of vocabulary words. Like our work with Animal Farm, students can choose from a list of critical thinking questions with each reading assignment. Unlike Animal Farm, rather than finding their own vocabulary words, students have a list of words to choose from. Also, instead of a worksheet to fill out, they are to put their vocabulary words on the same sheet that they answer the study guide questions.
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Read Stave One of ACC
-- Read the Introduction handout
-- Answer 3 Study Guide questions
-- Write out definitions for 4 Vocabulary words
-- No Grammar -- finished in class
-- No Writing
Links for this Week
Class Notes
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Prichard
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