I started the class by having students make name cards to put in front of themselves. With a full class, I need all of the help I can get to learn their names. 
Our Quick Write for today was in recognition National Bow Tie Day, which was on August 28. I asked the students to describe their personal fashion styles. One thing that we all are learning about one another is how different our personal preferences are. We had a mix of likes and dislikes about jeans, shoes, shorts, shirts, etc.
We began our Words of the Day, which this semester will be connected to our vocabulary from Animal Farm. The words listed below provide some background information related to the intent of George Orwell's book.
totalitarianism -- a government system in an autocratic authority (a dictator) maintains control and the general population is subservient to the authority's rule
communism -- a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party owns control of production and distribution of goods and which eliminates private property.
socialism -- an economic and government system that advocates collective or government ownership and/or regulation of property and production
capitalism -- an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of property and production.
Before we proceeded the bulk of our the content of the day, I walked the students through the My GradeBook site. Some of them had already signed in. If you or your student have not done that yet, go to this document, Instructions for My GradeBook, for instructions. As I told the students, they might never need to go to this site if they are keeping track of their homework. However, if they are absent for a number of weeks or have forgotten if they have handed something in or not, this is a good place to find that information. As parents, you can check it to see if work is getting in or to check on current grade status. It is by no means required of students or parents to regularly check this online grade book.
Students were to hand in their rough drafts of their Descriptive Essays. For those who want to hand in digital copies, they can choose any of the following options: email a Word attachment, send a PDF of the paper, share a Google Doc, or share a OneDrive doc. This week I will go over their essays and hand them back next week. They will then make corrections and revise their rough drafts into final drafts.
On the title page of Animal Farm, the author adds the subtitle, "A Fairy Story." We discussed common fairy tale elements (i.e. magic, talking animals, evil villains, heroes, etc.) and then tried to predict what we might encounter in Animal Farm, which also includes political and economic issues. I took a picture of the predictions that I wrote on the board and we'll see how accurate we were when we get to the end of the book. For this next week, students are to read chapters 1 and 2, to complete 3 reader responses (either study guide questions or ala carte options) and to choose and define 3 vocabulary words. They are also to write a response for "What Makes a Good Leader?" (Note: Below are a couple links to audio versions of the book.)
Our last topic of the day was Grammar. During the first semester of Writing 1, I do a Parts of Speech Unit. The 8 parts of speech are the categories for the words we use. This information is fundamental for writing and revising. For this unit, the students are divided into groups and will research and then present a lesson on one their assigned part of speech. These lessons need to include explanations/direct instruction, examples, an activity, and homework for practice. Students were given a handout explaining the unit, a planning worksheet, a review packet, and a pre-test. They are to take the pre-test at home before reading through the review packet. Next week they will sign up for a part of speech.
Assignments for Next Week (Sept. 5)
-- Read Chapters 1 & 2 of Animal Farm
-- Complete 3 Reader Responses
-- Complete 3 Vocabulary Words
-- Sign and get parent's initials for Class Policies handout
-- Complete the Parts of Speech Pre-Test
Links for This Week
Class Notes
Have a beautiful Labor Day Weekend!
Mrs. Prichard
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