Happy October 1! Fall is definitely here!
This Thursday was National Coffee Day, and since coffee is one of may favorite "comfort foods," I asked the students to write about their "comfy and cozy" place for the Quick Write. They shared what that place looked like and felt like. Being comfortable and cozy also included choice foods, beverages, books, and/or TV.
Our Words of the Day were chosen from my foreign phrases book, with the exception of a word that a student brought in:
Braggadocious -- literally, this word means excessive and obnoxious sniffing; figuratively it describes arrogant and boastful behavior
Caldera -- fr. Latin, caldaria, a cauldron -- a large, basin-like crater on a volcano
Minyan -- fr. Hebrew minyan, number -- traditionally, the minimum number of males (10) required to conduct a religious service
Following our beginning of class activities, we discussed the Rough Drafts that were handed back. I asked students to look at their own essays and find the first error/mistake that was marked. We used these as a starting point to discuss matters of grammar, usage, and writing. Going forward, I plan to use their own writing to teach about sentences and writing strategies. They should keep all of the homework for this class until the end of the year. (Note: Remember to hand in your rough draft along with the Final Draft of your Personal Essay.)
We are now off and running with the student-led presentations about the Parts of Speech. This week the Nouns group gave us a good explanation and some in class activities. We learned about proper, common, concrete, abstract, singular, and plural nouns. The group assigned some homework that we were able to finish in class, which the presenters will correct and hand back. Great job, Nouns Group! Next Week -- Pronouns: Linnea, Jade, Christanna.
Finally, we ended our class time with a discussion of our book, Animal Farm. During these discussions, I like to ask those critical thinking types of questions that start with "Why" and "How." This week we talked about why the "Beasts of England" song had been forbidden and how the motivations had changed. We also highlighted examples of lies presented as truths and how that could even happen. For next week, students are to pick one of the primary characters and give 7 specific traits. This can be in list form with singular words, phrases, or sentences; it does not need to be in essay/paragraph form.
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Read Chapters 9 & 10
-- 3 Vocabulary Words
-- 7 Character Traits
-- Grammar: none
-- Final Draft of Personal Essay
-- Continue working on Presentations
Links for This Week:
Class Notes (with pictures from this week's presentation)
It's a beautiful weekend. Enjoy!
Blessings,
Mrs. Prichard
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