Friday, March 10, 2017

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 7 (March 9)

Greetings!

We had a good day in class this week.  Even thought it was cold out, the sun was shining, and I think we're all feeling that Spring is right around the corner.  (Which reminds me, Daylight Savings Time is this weekend.  Remember to "spring forward.")

Students had two options for the Quick Write this week.  Firstly, March 7, 1876 was the day that Alexander Graham Bell received his patent for the the telephone, and I asked students to list methods/ways that we communicate.  Secondly, yesterday, March 9, is National Barbie day to commemorate the day in 1959 that this doll was introduced at a toy fair in New York.  Students could write about their experiences or opinions of this toy.

We composed a wonderful list of ways that we communicate that include both types and methods.  (See the attached picture) 

Our Words of the Day:
grav -- Latin, "heavy/serious" -- grave, gravity, gravitate, gravitational, grief, aggravate, aggrieve
grad/gress - Latin, "walk/step" -- grade, gradual, graduation, degree, degrade, progress, congress, regress, centigrade
gel -- Latin, "freeze/ice cold" -- congeal, gelatin, gelato, gelee, jelly, Jell-O
greg -- Latin, "flock/herd" -- congregation, congregate, gregarious, aggregate, segregate, desegregate

Usually, right after these beginning of class activities, we do a quick check in with homework.  I don't penalize for late work, but it's always much better to get work in on time because getting behind can be very frustrating for the student.  Additionally, if a student knows that he/she will be gone, it helps to know that in advance so that I can get homework out in advance of the absence.

We are starting a new book, a collection of short stories by O. Henry.  He is one of my favorite short story authors; his word choice is often quirky, and his plots often have unusual twists.  (see the link below)  We began by reading the beginning of "The Gift of the Magi."  Two stories are assigned for next week, along with two worksheets. (Note:  If you check the syllabus, we are a week behind with the short stories.  I decided last week to NOT assign these stories because students were still focused on the Jekyll/Hyde book with their essays.)

During our Grammar section of the class, we continued with commas but added some end punctuation for variety.  The two worksheets for this week included practice punctuating dates and addresses.  We also did come practice as a group with compound and complex sentences.  I'm seeing from the worksheets that have been assigned that we are not all completely confident in with those.

Assignments for Next Week:
-- Read "Gift of the Magi" (p. 10) and "After Twenty Year" (p. 21)
-- Fill out both sides of the 2 short story worksheets.
-- Two Grammar worksheets:
     13. 1 -- End Marks
     13.6 -- Dates & Addresses


Links for this week
Class Notes

Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Prichard

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