Another great day in class! We had an unusual Quick Write today. Before giving the students the actual writing prompt, I asked them to write on the board their favorite letters. Today's writing was in honor of National Scrabble Day. Alfred Mosher Butts, the inventor of the game, was born on April 13, 1899. Scrabble entered in to the Toy Hall of Fame in 2004. I asked the students to take the letters they had written and see how many words they could come up with. The top word count for the class was 33 words.
Our Words of the Day (aka Latin Roots)
nihil -- Latin, nothing -- nihilism, nihilistic, annihilate
non -- Latin, not -- none, nonsense, nonexistent, noninvasive, nonprofit, nonfat
nova -- Latin, new -- novel, novelty, nova, super nova, Nova Scotia, innovate, renovate, novice
noct -- Latin, night -- nocturnal, equinox, noctambulist, pernoctate, noctiphobia
I handed back homework and fielded any questions that students might have about any missing work. Any old homework can be handed in; check folders for any missing work.
We discussed our last short story by O. Henry. This story, "The Ransom of Red Chief," is one of my favorites. We talked for a while as a class, but then I broke them into small groups again to discuss about the story. There are two fun videos related to this story: The Ransom of Red Chief and an old Disney movie No Deposit, No Return. Check these out!
Note: It seemed that some of the students hadn't read the story, and this was also the case with the previous assignment. With this in mind, there might be a pop quiz next week, So make sure all of the assigned reading is done.
Our next book is a book of poetry. Some students love poetry, but some don't. I've chosen this specific book because it has well-known shorter poems. Students should read all of the poems by the assigned authors.
I offered the students the opportunity for some extra credit. I know that a lot of students love to draw and/or paint, so for extra credit they can illustrate any short story or poem. In addition, next week we will have a "The Red Wheelbarrow" drawing contest for William Carlos William's poem on page 48.
For our Grammar portion of the class, I gave the students 2 worksheets and a handout for using hyphens.
Assignments for Next Week
-- Read poems by Hughes (p. 51), Williams (p. 48), Frost (p. 44)
-- 1 Poetry Analysis worksheet (front and back); choose 4 questions to answer
-- Punctuation Worksheets 14-2 and 15-3
-- Extra Credit: illustrations for any short story or poem
-- Extra Credit: "The Red Wheelbarrow" illustration contest
Links this Week
Class Notes
Have a great week!
Mrs. Prichard
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