Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 12 (November 19)

Greetings!

We had a good class today. It started with an unusual Quick Write.  November 18, 1928 was the day that Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse film was shown, so students could write about their favorite cartoon or cartoon character.  Also, this week is a birthday week at my house, so I had the student list their favorite birthday meals.  The kicker?  They had to write in their non-dominant hand.  In other words, right-handers used their left hands, and vice versa.  It took a lot of concentration for them to write.

Our Words of the Day today were:  

macho -- fr. Spanish, fr. Latin masculinus, male -- aggressively male; tough

ruche -- fr. French, beehive; fr. Latin, tree bark -- a strip of pleated, gathered fabric

medico -- fr. Latin medicus, physician -- a medical professional

I handed back a lot of Homework today, along with a list of missing assignments.  We're nearing the end of the semester, and I want students to get the full advantage of this class and of the work that they've done. Sometimes, students forget to hand in assignments, sometimes they were gone for gone when an assignment was given, and sometimes homework gets corrected, but I miss getting it in the grade book.  Students went through their folders, and I answered questions.  Also, Engrade is updated.  If students have any questions that arise about the homework, they can send an e-mail. 

The Pre-Write for the History or Biography essays were to be done for this week.  They could hand them in today, or they can hand them in with the rough drafts the week after the Thanksgiving Break.

We had our final Parts of Speech presentation:  Interjections. I am really pleased with the work students have done with these presentations.  They've done well giving explanations and putting together homework.  We will review the parts of speech during the next two weeks.  The test will be on the last week of the semester.

I showed about 5 minutes of my favorite movie version of our current reading selection, A Christmas Carol:  The Muppets Christmas Carol.  We saw the "Marley and Marley" scene and the introduction of the Spirit of Christmas past.  We read the beginning of Stave II for the description of the unusual appearance of the this Ghost.

A Reminder:  Next week is Thanksgiving -- No CHAT classes

Assignments for Week 13 (December 3)

-- Any missing assignments

-- Read Stave III

-- Answer 3 Questions and define 4 Vocabulary words

-- History or Biography Rough Drafts

Links for this Week

Class Notes 

Muppets Christmas Carol link

Steamboat Willie

Schoolhouse Rock -- Interjections

Have a marvelous Thanksgiving!

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 11 (November 12)

Greetings!

Another good week at CHAT under our belts.  We only have 4 weeks of class left -- where has that semester gone?

I gave the students two options for the Quick Write.  Firstly, Veterans Day was acknowledged and celebrated on Wednesday, November 11.  I mentioned to them that this holiday was originally Armistice Day because of the armistice between the Allies and Germany that was signed at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  It is also National Children's Book Week.  The students could either write about someone whom they knew served in the military, or they could write about a favorite children's book.

Our Words of the Day were taken from our reading selection, A Christmas Carol:

garret -- fr. Old French garite -- an attic, usually a small wretched one

trifle -- fr. Middle English tru (idle talk) -- a small thing of little value; a small quantity or amount

caustic -- fr.Greek kaustikos (burning) -- capable of burning, corroding, or destrying living tissue, severely critical or sarcastic

misanthropic -- fr. Greek misanthropos (hating mankind) -- a characteristic of hating mankind

As the class handed in their final copies of an essay, I had a handout for the next essay.  They're really good troupers and have done some good writing this term.  For the next essay assignment, they can choose between a Biography Essay or a History Essay.  We talked at length about the importance of developing a thesis-driven paper as opposed to a report of facts and details.  

Our Parts of Speech Presentation this week was about Conjunctions, and unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties.  It's unfortunate the Apples and PCs don't work very well together.  Our presenters went with a Plan B and put the information on the white board.  They gave a good, thorough explanation.  Next week:  Interjections.

We've started A Christmas Carol.  When I have a chance, I like to read aloud portions of this book.  If you haven't read it aloud as a family, I highly encourage it.  Dickens's language is so descriptive that all of your senses get activated!

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Conjunctions Homework

-- Read Stave Two

-- 3 Questions from the ACC Study Guide

-- 4 Vocabulary Words from ACC

-- History or Biography Pre-Write

Links for this Week:

Class Notes

Conjunctions Video 

School House Rock Video

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 10 (November 5)

Greetings!

Our class was good this week.  I gave the students two options for the Quick Write.  Firstly, we discussed that it was November 5, Guy Fawkes Day.  They got a little history lesson about King James I and the Gunpowder Plot.  Their other option was to write about National Sandwich Day, which was on November 3.  Most students chose to write about their favorite sandwich.

Our Words of the Day were:

res publica -- Latin, res, "thing," and publica, "of the public" -- a public affair, of or belonging to the state or commonwealth

res non verba -- Latin, res, "thing," non, "not," verba, "words" --  deeds, not words

restaurateur -- French restaurater fr. Latin restaurator, "restorer" -- the owner or manager or a restaurant

I handed back a lot of homework this week, including their rough drafts of their Examples Essays.  When I hand back the rough drafts, I like to go over common errors. I want the students to not only correct the spots that I've marked, but I want them to know why they're making the corrections.  The top ones for this week were contractions, the word "things," removing 1st person, and the Oxford/serial comma. As they revise their essays, I want them to list the first five mistakes on the half sheet that was handed out to them.

We had a good Prepositions Presentation this week.  As I told the class, prepositions are difficult to explain but are a little easier to identify.  We had two videos and some homework.

We are now into our second book, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  Most students are familiar with the story but haven't read the book.  This is one of my favorites, so I hope they enjoy it as much as I do.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Stave One of A Christmas Carol

-- 3 Questions & 4 Vocabulary for Stave One

-- Prepositions Homework

-- Final Draft of the Examples Essay

-- 5 First Errors worksheet

Links this week

Class Notes

A Christmas Carol Study Guide

A Christmas Carol Vocabulary

5 First Errors sheet

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

5 First Mistakes

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Topic:  _________________________________

My First 5 Errors

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Primary area to work on

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A Christmas Carol Vocabulary

A Christmas Carol Vocabulary

Choose 4 words from each Stave to define (and find any Latin or Greek roots, naturally!) 

Note:  You may choose up to 5 extra words to do for extra credit.

Stave 1	Stave 2	Stave 3	Stave 4	Stave 5
Unhallowed Entreaty Impropriety Multitude Executor Trifle Resolute Tremulous Legatee Implore Lunatic Rapture Garret Covetous Replenish Credentials Congeal Misanthropic Solitary Intimation Ominous Caustic	Plaque Reclamation Expend Tumult Recumbent Jocund Transition Capacious Tunic Instantaneous Loath Deftly Brigands Lustrous Latent Condescension Corroborate Pillaged Conducive Laden Decanter Aspiration	Consolation Glee Subsequently Withered Seething Demurely Prematurely Goblets Demeanor Conspicuous Shabby Exulted Grog Compulsion Swarthy Ubiquitous Blithe Abyss Intricate Bilious Ensued Dismal	Repute Flaunting Beseech Inexorable Disgorge Repent Relents Replete Reek Scanty Faltered Foreshadow Repulse Slipshod Revered Essence Intercede Dwindle Beetling Avarice Tarry Strive	Gruel Recompense Jiffy Hearty Peals Portly Feign Sealing wax Jovial Pang Waistcoat Illustrious Extravagance Loitered Sidled Endeavor Amends Giddy Poulterer Array Borough Dispelled

A Christmas Carol Study Questions

Stave One Questions ~

1. What is the simile in the second paragraph?

2. Why does the narrator make such a point of Marley’s being dead?

3. Why doesn’t the weather affect Scrooge?

4. How is Scrooge’s nephew different from Scrooge?

5. What do the “portly gentlemen” who come in after Scrooge’s nephew leave want?

6. How does the knocker change?

7. Why does Scrooge like the darkness?

8. What has Marley’s ghost been doing since his death?

9. What is the warning that Marley gives Scrooge?

10. Why are the phantoms upset?

Stave Two Questions ~

1. What was the strangest thing about the way the spirit looked?

2. What is Scrooge’s initial attitude toward the spirit?

3. What is different about Scrooge when he says “Remember it? I could walk it with a blindfold?”

4. Who is Scrooge talking about when he says “Poor boy!”

5. What does it tell us about Scrooge when Dickens observes“a rapidity of transition very foreign to his usual character.”?

6. When Fan comes to pick Scrooge up, we learn a reason why Scrooge may have turned out the way he did. What is this reason?

7. What kind of people are the Fezziwigs?

8. Who is Belle and why was she important to Scrooge?

9. Why does Scrooge say “Remove me.”

10. How does Scrooge try to "extinguish the light"? Does he succeed? What is the light a symbol of?

Stave Three Questions

First Half ~

1. How is what Scrooge is thinking as he lies in bed waiting to see if the spirit appears different from the previous chapter?

2. What does the spirit look like?

3. What is this ghost’s personality like?

4. How has Scrooge’s attitude toward his being escorted by a ghost changed?

5. What is the point of the long description beginning “The house fronts looked black enough, and the windows blacker …” and continuing on for several pages until, “But soon the steeples called good people all, to church and chapel, and away they came, flocking through the streets in their best clothes, and with their gayest faces.”

6. What are three significant things we learn about the Cratchit’s?

7. How is Scrooge affected by seeing the family?

  

Second Half ~

1.What does the Spirit mean when he says But they Know me. See!”

2. What is the point of going to the lighthouse? to the ship?

3. What is the great surprise to Scrooge in the next paragraph (96)?

4. What would Fred think would be a positive outcome of his Christmas invitation to Scrooge?  What happens to Scrooge’s mood as the party goes on? Why do you think this happens?

6. Describe the game called “Yes and No” Scrooge witnesses at his nephew’s Christmas party.

7. What does it mean to say the boy and the girl (Ignorance and Want) are “Man’s children”?

Stave Four Questions ~

1. What does the spirit of Christmas future look like?

2. What is this spirit’s personality like?

3. How does Scrooge feel about this spirit?

4. What is the point of the long discussion between Joe and Mrs. Dilber?

5. What are some of the words Dickens uses to create the mood of the paragraphs that follow?  What is this mood?

6. When Scrooge asks the phantom to let him "see some tenderness connected with a death,” What does the ghost show him?

7. What is the lesson Scrooge learns in this stave that he had not learned before? Why is this stave needed when Scrooge’s attitude had already changed so much.

Stave Five Questions ~

1.       Describe Scrooge when he first awoke on Christmas morning.

2.      Whom does Scrooge encounter?  How does he act?

3.      Compare Scrooge’s interactions from Stave 1 and his interactions in Stave 2.

4.      Explain the role of empathy in Scrooge’s conversion.

5.      How were the three spirits similar?  How are they different?