We had a good, full class time yesterday.
For our Quick Write, I gave two prompt options: they could write their thoughts, impressions, or stories related to 9/11 (Monday was the 16th anniversary of the bombing of the Twin Towers) or our national anthem, which Francis Scott Key penned as "Defense of Fort McHenry" on September 14, 1814. A number of the students were able to write down all of the words to the song, so we sang it. It gave me goosebumps to here them, especially with the harmonizing at the end.
Our Words of the Day:
verbatim -- Latin, verbum, "word" -- to repeat something word for word
E pluribus unum -- Latin, "out of many, one" -- the motto for the US, recognizing the melting pot and diversity that constitutes our country
prima donna -- Latin/Italian, "first lady" -- traditionally the leading female singer in an opera, but also a temperamental and demanding celebrity
avant-garde -- French, "advance guard" -- art, architecture, music, fashion that is cutting edge, experimental, or innovative
Every four weeks or so I will hand out Missing Homework reports that are generated from My GradeBook. When students get too far behind on work, they often have a hard time catching up. (Note: At this point, students should ignore the grade from My GradeBook. It's a straight percentage and not an accurate indicator of work; it also represents work done in a certain category and not a holistic grade.) Sometimes a student has done homework but forgotten to hand it in. Other times they have done the work, I've graded it, but for some reason it doesn't get in either my paper notebook or the electronic grade book. (I've tried to never mistakes, but haven't quite got that mastered!) Late homework can be handed in without penalty. I also explained to the students that doing the homework is not my responsibility but theirs.
Students handed in the final drafts of their Descriptive Essays and have their next writing assignment: a Personal History Essay. We discussed a number of topics and thesis statements. I introduced my equation for a thesis statement and the template to use to get started:
Equation:
Topic/Subject+ Opinion/StandThesis Statement
Template:
(topic/stand) is/are (opinion/stand) because (reason #1) , (reason #2) , and (reason #3) .
We took more time to discuss our literature, Animal Farm, this week. We made a list of leading characters and discussed which ones we anticipate will play important roles in the rest of the book. At the end of the first chapter, Old Major, a boar, leads the animals in a a rousing version of "Beasts of England." According to George Orwell, this song is a blend of "O Clementine" and "La Cucaracha." I divided the class in half, having one half sing "O Clementine" and the other half sing "La Cucaracha." Then, I played a radio play version that my daughter wrote and recorded for her senior project at Arcadia Charter School. As you might imagine, students singing as animals sounded awful. I apologize to those who couldn't get the song out of their heads.
We spent the remainder of our time in the Parts of Speech groups planning and preparing for presentations. For the presentations, students are to 1) teach about the part of speech; 2) have an activity for the class to reinforce the teaching; 3) give homework for students to practice what they learned. If they want, they can include a video as part of their teaching. Rumor has it that one group is going to make a video. Next week I will show the videos done by a past classes.
We've had to adjust some of the presentation dates due to scheduling conflicts. Below is the new schedule:
Dates of Presentation:
9/21 -- no presentations
9/28 -- Conjunctions (Sarah, Ellie P, Selah) & Pronouns (Bailey, Jacob, Blake)
10/5 -- Nouns (Emma, Corrie, Laura)
10/12 -- Adjectives (Owen, Bryar, Jarrett)
10/26 -- Adverbs (Ellie T, Joey, Aiden)
11/2 -- Verbs (Mike, Joshua, Stevan)
11/9 -- Prepositions (Ana, Morgan, Samantha)
11/16 -- Interjections (Anika, Jack, Ethan)
A note on classroom expectations: On the first day of class we discussed electronics, especially phones, in the class. A couple students asked permission to use their phones to take pictures of the notes on the white board. That is a perfectly appropriate use of the phones in this class, and I'm especially pleased that students were respectful of the class and asked permission. Phones are great tools, but any other time during class they are only distractions that affect the whole class. Thank you for your wise use!
Assignments for Next Week:
-- Read Chapters 5 & 6
-- 3 Reading Responses
-- 3 Vocabulary Words
-- Take Home Quiz
-- Prepare for Parts of Speech Presentations
-- Personal History Essay Rough Draft
Links for this Week:
Class Notes
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Prichard
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