Writing 1 Class Notes -- October 24

Greetings!

We had a good and productive class this week.  This is a hard-working group of students!

For our Quick Write this week, we used cards from a game entitled "Man Bites Dog."  Each student got 6 cards; a noun, adjective, adverb, or verb was on each card.  They object of the game is to develop a headline using those words.  For our writing exercise, they not only created headlines, but wrote a news story to go with it. Once again, we had some creative endeavors.  I love those first minutes of class when their heads are bent down towards their papers, and their pens or pencils are working quickly.

The discussion of our Grammar Quiz/Test took about half of our class time.  I don't think they did as well as they would have liked. From a teacher's perspective, if gives me an idea how much of the grammar instruction is sinking in.    I know that grammar isn't exciting, but it's the foundation for good writing.  An analogy that comes to mind is the house-builder who has quality materials, but shoddy workmanship.  No one is going to give his newly-built house a second look.  These students have a lot of really good ideas and interests.  I want them to be able to express themselves in ways that attracts others to their thoughts and passions.  Because the performance on this test wasn't great, I'll be altering some of the grammar instruction.  Expect some occasional practice exercises to be part of the homework.

They handed in their rough drafts of their Biography Essays.  I'll go over these and hand them back next week.  With each set of essays, I not only see improvements, but I also learn a lot; their topics are fascinating.  If ever for some reason a student can't hand in the rough draft at class time, I will take them until midnight on Saturday.  I correct papers on Sunday evenings and Mondays.  They can e-mail them to me; if a paper was hand-written, it will need to be scanned and then e-mailed.

We finished our study of Animal Farm with a final "exam" that they wrote.  I had each student come to class with 3 questions from the test; I couldn't be prouder of the quality of the questions that we had.  They were insightful and thought-provoking.  I divided the class into two teams and had them answer the questions as a team.  This encouraged even more conversation about the "whys" and "what ifs" of the book.

Our next book is Charles Dickens's  The Christmas Carol.  This is a favorite of mine and a good introduction to Dickens.  I will bring the books to class next week.  For Extra Credit, the students can bring in information about Dickens and/or about Victorian Christmases.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Grammar Worksheets

-- Extra Credit:  Information about Dickens and/or about Victorian Christmases

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

This week's blog

Biography Essay

Grammar Quiz/Test

Grammar Quiz/Test

Grammar Quiz

100 points

Fill in the blank (1 point/ space):

1.       The “equation” for a sentence is ___________ + ______________ + ________________ .

2.       A sentence must also begin with a ______________   _______________ and have an ending _______________________ .

3.       A ____________________ sentence is two or more sentences improperly joined by wrong punctuation, no punctuation, or some conjunction that needs help from some kind of punctuation.

4.       Two main clauses can be joined with a comma and a ______________ conjunction.

5.       List the 8 parts of speech:

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

6.       A _________________ is an action word, state of being word, linking word, or group of words that is the action or the link to the subject of the sentence.

7.       When the subject performs the action of the sentence, the verb is ___________________.

8.       When the action of the sentence is performed by the object, the verb is _______________.

9.       Words or phrases that name a person, place, or thing are called ____________________.

10.   List the functions that a noun may perform:

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

11.    A _______________ is a word used in place of a noun.  An _______________ is a word or group of words to which a pronoun refers.

12.    An _______________ is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies (changes, limits, describes, transforms, qualifies) a noun or pronoun.

13.     Adjectives answer the following questions:

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

14.   An _______________ is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies (changes, limits, describes, transforms, qualifies) a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

15.   Adverbs answer the following questions: 

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

16.   A word or words used to join other words, phrases, or clauses is a ___________________  .

17.   List the coordinating conjunctions:

_______________      _______________      _______________      _______________ 

_______________      _______________      _______________       

18.   _______________  means “time” and refers to the time shown by the verb. 

Give 2 examples for each category of nouns

19.   Common nouns:

20.   Proper nouns:

21.   Compound nouns:

22.   Concrete nouns:

23.   Abstract nouns:

24.   Countable nouns:

25.   Non-countable nouns:

In the following sentences, fix the ones that are incorrect (3 points/ sentence)

26.   Because F. Scott Fitzgerald had to return the publisher’s advance for The Great Gatsby.

27.   Angie Park, strolling down Madison Avenue, near the exclusive store where she used to shop.

28.   While Brett served as a lookout and Matt rifled the teacher’s desk looking for the answers to the test.

29.   Steve Park built a house in Buffalo Bay before he built that house he had lived in Queens.

Prepositional Phrases

In the following sentences, put each of the prepositional phrases in parentheses and decide whether they are adjective or adverb phrases. (13 phrases, total)

30.   Behind the elm tree near the theater, Jeremy discovered a purse filled with money.

31.   Throughout her college career, Marcus dazzled his professors with his accomplishments.

32.   The cat chased the mouse under the table before lunch while Mother was sitting in the sun by the back door.

33.   Whenever I think about my writing classes, I go into a frenzy of fear that I will never be able to write well for my teacher.

Clauses

The following sentences contain a variety of clauses.  Surround each clause in the sentences below with parentheses. (1 point/ sentence)

34.   Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets.

35.   Before he enlisted in the Marines, Bill hunted wild boar in Australia.

36.   Whenever Jill and Craig go on a long trip, they each take a bag of books and a bag of snacks.

Verbs

Mark the following sentences as A (Active) or P (Passive).

37.   Julius Caesar was written by William Shakespeare.  ______

38.   The case of the stolen car was investigated by the police.  ______

39.   Julie warned her sister about being sassy to their mother.  ______

40.   Kelly was encouraged by her friends to go to college.  ______

Indicate whether the verbs in the following sentences are present, past, or future:

41.   I see my neighbor every day.  _____________

42.   If you go to the park, you will see the game.  _____________

43.   When I was a child, I saw Cinderella in the theater.  _____________

44.   Jackie will drive his car to the concert.  _____________

45.   I thought about the concert all day long.  _____________

46.   The Olsons will sell their house sometime next year.  _____________

Writing 1 Class Notes -- October 17

Greetings!

We had a good class today even though we were missing a few students.  For our Quick Write I handed out cards from a game called "Pictureka."  I still don't know the real rules for this game, but they were to choose at least 2 of their cards for a short story.  They were very creative!

I handed back their Final Drafts of their Personal Essays.  They did a great job working over their rough drafts and making corrections and revisions.  In these first rough drafts I did a lot of correcting of grammar mistakes.  In the upcoming essays I will continue to make corrections and suggestions, but I will also put troublesome sections in brackets for them to fix on their own.

Our current writing assignment is a Biographical Essay.  I checked with them about the Pre-Writing part of the assignment.  They were to brainstorm, outline, and do any initial research.  A reminder:  these essays are to have a thesis.  In other words, they are to state some opinion or take a stand about the person about whom they are choosing to write.

We discussed the Character Sketches they wrote for Animal Farm.  This was a great discussion, and they had some pretty insightful comments.  I love the way that they are learning to think about literature.  Next week we will have a Final Exam which they will help write.  I want each of them to bring 3 questions about the book that we'll use for an exam.

Assignments for Next Week:
-- Bring 3 "test" questions for the final next week.
-- Write the Biographical Essay rough draft.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Prichard

Animal Farm Character Sketches

Below are some links that give information about the characters in Animal Farm.

Animal Farm - Comparison of characters to the Russian Revolution
Animal Farm Characters (Schmoop)
Novel Guides website

Biography Essay Links

Below are some helpful links for the students and their biography essays.

Expository (biography) Essay Format

Write any genre website

How to Write a Biography

Hope these help.

Biography Essay Handout

Biography Essay

Definition

            A biographical essay demonstrates that you have a good knowledge of a person’s life and a good grasp of that person’s importance and contributions to our world.  A typical essay will consist of an outline of a person’s life, accomplishments and events in life, impact and influence on society and peers, and any background information.

Thesis Development

            The thesis for a biographical essay will be some statement about this person’s contributions.  Your thesis statement for this essay will assert your point of view, opinions, or evaluation of the value of this person’s life. 

Organization

            An obvious organizational plan for this kind of essay is chronological; you cover the main events of the subject’s life as they happened.  Another strategy focuses on a few important events, building up to the one you think is most important.  A third plan divides the person’s life into categories and discusses them one at a time.  In each strategy, you are supporting and explaining your thesis.

Tips on Writing

–   Support your thesis with examples and details.

–   Give sufficient background information.

Pitfalls to Avoid

–   Including more information than is necessary.  It is easy to focus on story-telling and not tie your writing into the thesis.

Essay Guidelines

–   Due dates:  Rough Draft due October 14; Final Draft due November 7.

–   Essay length:  500 – 700 words (between 2 and 4 pages)

–   Rough drafts can be typed or hand-written, but must be double-spaced.

–   Final draft format:

–   Typed (if this is not possible, please let me know)

–   1 inch margins

–   Name and date on the upper right hand corner

–   Number the pages on the lower right hand corner

–   Title centered above the text of the essay

Writing 1 Class Notes -- October 10

Greetings!

Once again, we had a great Writing 1 class.  I really enjoy working with this group of student.  Since I had a lot planned today, our Quick Write was brief.  Using the first line from Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times," they were to write the first line of the great novels they plan to write.  Or the last line. Or the title.  Even in brevity, they were creative.

We've finished reading our novel, Animal Farm and spent a good portion of our time discussing the final chapters.  Chapters IX and X were, in part, sad conclusions to the story.  The death of a favorite character, Boxer, revealed the depths to which those in power had sunk.  Also, in a set of not-completely unexpected events, the students discovered that the lines between the pigs and the humans had blurred.  For next week, the students are to put together a character sketch for one of the characters in the book.  They should give specific references from the book about the physical qualities, words and actions, opinions of others, and the impact the character has on the story.  They can write their character sketch as a list or in paragraph form.  We will discuss them next week in class.

The next writing assignment is a Biographical Essay.  Unlike a report that simply gives details, they are to write a thesis-driven essay.  Learning to form a thesis is one of the most challenging aspects of essay writing.  I have simple equation for a thesis:  

Thesis = Topic + Opinion/Stand

For the previous essays, we used a 2-step process.  (rough draft then final copy)  For the rest of the year, we'll be using a 3-step process (pre-writing, rough draft, then final copy)  The pre-writing activities include brainstorming, list-making, researching and outlining.  

At the end of the class, we finally reached what all the students had been waiting for:  the Grammar Quiz.  Actually, what I had intended to be a quiz, came out as a full-sized test of 100 points.  We did pages 1 and 2 and will do pages 3 and 4 next week.  Some students had left sections blank or were unsure of the correct answer.  I will NOT correct the tests this week, but will leave them for the students to finish and/or correct.  If they review the handouts again from the first 6 weeks, they will find them helpful for part 2 of our test next week.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Animal Farm's Character Sketch

-- Biography Essay Pre-Write exercises

-- Review all grammar sheets for finishing the quiz/test

Time to pull out the hats and mittens!  Enjoy your weekend.

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 1 Class Notes -- October 3

Greetings!

My apologies for the later-than-usual class notes.  Some weeks just seem to be busier than others

The theme for our Quick Write for this week was "Super Powers."  I donned an apron and had a wooden spoon in hand to demonstrate what my family thinks are my super powers .... running the house and keeping everyone in line.  The students could choose either "Super Mom" or "My Super Powers" as the title for their Quick Writes.  Often, what I intend to be a 5 minute exercise goes much longer once their creative juices start flowing and they are enjoying the writing process.

As is my practice, we use the Rough Drafts for our grammar discussion.  I've found over the years that students tend to make the same common mistakes in their writing.  And often, they repeat those mistakes throughout the course of the class.  This pattern reinforces my thoughts regarding grammar.  It should be taught as rules and with practice exercises, but it really doesn't sink in to our heads until we start writing (or learning a foreign language).  I also encouraged the students to be careful as they edit and correct their rough drafts; the rough drafts are as much a teaching tool as any grammar worksheet I could give them.  Final Copies are due at class time on Wednesday.  A couple of students from the other class mentioned being out of town this weekend.  If a paper can't be handed in at class time, I would like it by Sunday.

We are most of the way through our book, Animal Farm. Using the building and rebuilding of the windmill, we discussed the manipulative ploys of those in control, the ignorance of followers who didn't think for himself, and Orwell's message to his post-World War 2 readers. Our society is not that unlike that of Communist Russia.  The promise of a better life, which primarily concerned material possessions, entices people to the extent that they overlook troublesome issues.  We briefly discussed what you might do if you were an intelligently gifted sheep (the sheep are fairly stupid in the book) and could see through the propaganda and plans of the leaders.  What might you do?  Next week we will discuss the "Character Analysis" assignment.  I would like the students to be considering which character they would choose for this.

Next week I will be giving a Grammar Quiz.  I've given the students handouts each week that we've discussed in class.  This quiz will cover those (Weeks 1 - 6) and some of the topics from our rough draft discussions.  It won't be difficult, but they should review the weekly handouts.  If one of the grammar topics is especially puzzling, the videos that I sent out last week might be helpful.

Assignments for Next Week:
-- Final Copies of the Personal Essay.
-- Read Animal Farm, Chapters IX and X.

-- Choose character for the Character Analysis assignment

-- Prepare for Grammar Quiz 

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard