Writing 1 Spring Words of the Day

Week 1

Today's words were for those little bits and pieces that we might simply call "thingamajigs" or "whatchamacallits."

meme -- fr. Greek mimeme; to imitate -- a digital image combined with text to express a cultural comment.

pintle -- the pin or bolt that is used in hinge.

ferrule -- the metal cap on the end of an umbrella

aglet -- the cover of the end of a shoe lace

Week 2

incunabulum -- fr. Latin incunabula, "swaddling clothes, cradle, birthplace, beginnings," -- a book or pamphlet printed in Europe before the 1500s.  Incunabula are not manuscripts, which are written by hand, but products from the infancy of the printer's art.

infante -- fr. Latin infans, "child" -- Any son of the king of Spain or Portugal, except the oldest or heir apparent.  

lasagna -- fr. Latin lasanum, "chamber pot" -- a baked Italian dish consisting of wide strips of pasta cooked and layered with meat or vegetables, cheese, and tomato sauce.


Week 3

farci -- fr. French, farcir, "to stuff"   -- a food stuffed with finely ground, seasoned meat and vegetables

diktat -- fr.German, diktat, "something dictated; fr. Latin dictare, "to dictate" -- an authoritative decree or statement

limbo -- fr. Latin limbus, "border, edge"-- an intermediate, transitional, midway place.

Week 4

acronym -- fr. Greek, akron, "or tip" -- an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. NASA, SCUBA)

aptronym -- fr. Latin, aptus, "fitting" -- a person's name that is regarded as amusingly appropriate to their occupation (e.g. a florist named Katie Gardener)

capitonym -- fr. Latin caput, "head" -- a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized.  (e.g. Concord/ concord; Polish/polish)

homonym -- fr. Greek homos, "same" -- a word spelled and pronounced like another but has a different origin and meaning  (e.g. the small flying bat and the baseball bat.)  Homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings, e.g. sea and see.

pseudonym -- fr. Greek pseudos, "false" -- having or using a false name, a pen name, or an alias.  For example, Mark Twain was a pseudonym for Samuel Clemens.

Week 5

hoc monumentum posuit -- Latin,  hoc monumentum posuit, "this monument built/erected" -- The abbreviation H.M.P. is often added at the base of a statue or monument denoting who built it or who commissioned the building.

larmoyant -- French, larmoyant, "tearful" -- tearful, maudlin, sentimental

eponym -- Greek, epi, "called after," nym, "named"   -- a person after whom a discovery, invention, place, etc., is named or thought to be named.  Examples:  Kleenex, chapstick, sandwich, cardigan.

Week 6 

ma non troppo -- Italian, "but not too much" -- this term is often used with musical terms, especially tempo-related ones.

pas -- fr. Italian, "step" -- a step or series of steps used in ballet

toccata -- fr. Italian "touch" -- a musical piece for organ or harpsichord characterized by full chords, rapid runs, and high harmonies


Week 7

Our Words of the Day dealt with fears.  I've been using a book by Richard Lederer, Crazy English, for some of our words. The Greek root phobia means "fear" 

acrophobia -- fr. Greek, akron, tip, heights -- a fear of high places  (by the way, the word "acrobat" has the same root, akron)

nyctophobia -- fr. Greek nux, "night" -- a fear of darkness or night

ombrophobia -- fr. Greek ombros, "storm or rain" -- fear of rain or storms (by the way, the word "umbrella" also has the same root.)

phengophobia -- origin unknown  -- fear of daylight

basophobia -- fr. Latin bas, base -- a fear of falling; a fear of standing

arachibutyrophobia -- a fear of getting peanut butter stuck on the room of your mouth

And one more

hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia -- the fear of long words

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 2 (January 23)

Greetings!

We had another full day in class.  The Quick Write is always our first task, following prayer, of course.  Last semester I had the students give me some ideas for quick writes, and I will be using those throughout this semester.  The prompts are numbered, and I call on various students to choose a number.  This week's prompts were #45 -- Write about your pet; and #220 - Who is the best Super Hero?  As always, when students don't feel inspired by the prompts, they can write about anything else that is one their minds.

Our Words of the Day for this week were also chosen by the students.  For most of the class times, I will have a couple students choose words from my book Foreign Words and Phrases.  Some times we will try to guess what a word means, and some times we'll discuss how the original Latin or Greek word arrived at it's current meaning.  To illustrate this point, I chose lasagna as one of this week's words.  Lasagna comes from the Latin word lasanum, which means "chamber pot."  This layered one-dish meal was probably cooked in a pot similar in shape to the chamber pot that early Romans used.  

Our words:

incunabulum -- fr. Latin incunabula, "swaddling clothes, cradle, birthplace, beginnings," -- a book or pamphlet printed in Europe before the 1500s.  Incunabula are not manuscripts, which are written by hand, but products from the infancy of the printer's art.

infante -- fr. Latin infans, "child" -- Any son of the king of Spain or Portugal, except the oldest or heir apparent.  

lasagna -- fr. Latin lasanum, "chamber pot" -- a baked Italian dish consisting of wide strips of pasta cooked and layered with meat or vegetables, cheese, and tomato sauce.

Students are to be working on their Rough Drafts of their Narrative Essays.  We talked briefly developing thesis statements.  This can be one of the hardest part of writing an essay.  Students often don't have difficulties reporting information, but focusing that information on a particular stand or opinion can be more challenging.  I am looking forward to reading their papers.

We have started The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  For discussion of the first two chapters I divided the class into small groups.  Because the class is large, whole class discussions do not always give everyone an opportunity to engage.  As I circulated and joined in the discussions, I was pleased with how focused and thoughtful the comments were.  After the small groups, we talked about what made for a good small group discussion.  We discussed how to make the most of a discussion if you came unprepared, how to respectfully disagree, and how to add meaningful comments.  For next week, they are to read chapters three and four, but they do not have to do any discussion questions.  (Someone asked if they could do questions for Extra Credit. That is perfectly OK.)

We were able to spend more time with our Grammar portion of the class.  We're working on sentence structures this semester, so we started with the simplest of N-V sentences.  We worked as a class on the first worksheet, and they have two worksheets as homework.  

Assignments for Next Week

-- Signed Spring Class Policies

-- Read Chapters 3 & 4 (no study guide questions)

-- Narrative Rough Draft

-- Grammar Worksheets:  

     -- Subject-Verb Agreement

     -- Finding Complete Subjects and Predicates

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Writing 1 Spring Google Drive folder

Narrative Essay

N-V Sentences

Subject-Verb Agreement

Finding Complete Subjects and Predicates  

Sentences: Finding the Complete Subject and Complete Predicate

A sentence is a group of words that has a subject (a noun), a verb, and a complete thought.  This same combination of words is an independent or main clause.  (Note:  Not all groups of words with a noun and a verb are sentences.)  The subjects and verbs of sentences must agree; in other words, if the subject is singular, the verb must be singular.

The complete subject is the simple subject, which is the principal part of the subject, with all its modifiers.  The complete predicate is the simple predicate, which is the verb or verb phrase, with all of its modifiers.

EXERCISE #1

In the sentences below, do two things: 

1.      Draw a vertical line between the complete subject and the complete predicate;

2.      Draw one line under the simple subject and two lines under the simple predicate.

1.      The brave little robin in the tree sang merrily.

2.      Large tractors pulled heavy plows.

3.      Hardworking farmers were loading trailers with hay bales.

4.      The lad produces food for many hungry people.

5.      Good plowing requires the closes attentions of the tractor driver.

6.      Dark green fields of corn will wave here in the summer.

7.      Abundant yields are good news to the farmer.

8.      Farming is a basic industry in the Midwest.

9.      Those bright colored tulips were grown from bulbs imported from Holland.

10.  Many people plant bulbs in their gardens.

11.  Yesterday I filled my vases with yellow and red tulips.

12.  Tall graceful trees bordered Aunt Betty’s flower garden.

13.  She plants some very rare types of flowers with unusual blossoms.

14.  People often tour my aunt’s garden.

15.  I am planning a garden just like hers.

INVERTED SENTENCES

To achieve variety and to add interest to your writing, inverted sentences are frequently used.   In an inverted sentence, the subject may come at the end of the sentence, or it may follow a part of the predicate, dividing the predicate into two sections.

Example:  Both of the following sentences are correct.  The meaning is the same in each; one is inverted, the other is not.

Inverted Order:  In the sky shined the bright stars.

Natural Order:  The stars shined brightly in the sky.

EXERCISES

In some of the sentences below, the order of the subject and predicate is reversed, the predicate coming first.  Underline the simple subject once and the simple predicate twice.

1.      Silently rose the moon over the eastern hills.

2.      A happy man that night he seemed.

3.      Many are the lonely hearts in war time.

4.      Suddenly came a sound like rushing wind.

5.      Never before had I seen such a sight.

6.      Steadfastly loyal to his master was the dog.

7.      There stood the sentinel with bayonet fixed.

8.      In due time arrived the messenger with the general’s orders.

9.      Into the room dashed my frightened brother.

10.  The bright yellow sunlight streamed through the window.

11.  There down the street comes the glittering parade.

12.  Over in the corner leaned Grandfather Mallorey’s hand-carved walking stick.

13.  For once the teacher seemed angry.

14.  Above us hung the sun like a red-hot ball of fire.

15.  Around the corner madly dashed the frightened horse.

Sentences: Subject/Verb Agreement

Sentences:  Subject/Verb Agreement

A sentence is a group of words that has a subject (a noun), a verb, and a complete thought.  This same combination of words is an independent or main clause.  (Note:  Not all groups of words with a noun and a verb are sentences.)  The subjects and verbs of sentences must agree; in other words, if the subject is singular, the verb must be singular.

Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.  Underline the subject of the sentence and circle the correct verb.

1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.

2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.

3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.

4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.

5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.

6. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.

7. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.

8. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.

9. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to watch.

10. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.

11. Either answer (is, are) acceptable.

12. Every one of those books (is, are) fiction.

13. Nobody (know, knows) the trouble I've seen.

14. (Is, Are) the news on at five or six?

15. Mathematics (is, are) John's favorite subject, while Civics (is, are) Andrea's favorite subject.

Sentence Patterns -- N-V

The Equation for a Sentence:

     Subject (Noun)

     Verb

+   Complete Thought

     SENTENCE

Every complete sentence (independent clause) must have these components. 
Additionally, all sentences start with capital letters and have an end punctuation mark.
(i.e. period, question mark, exclamation mark.)

The Most Basic Sentence Pattern:  N-V (also known as S-V)

The simplest sentence has one noun for a subject and one verb. 
The predicate of the sentence is the part of the sentence that gives the verb
and tells what the subject does.  (In other words, everything that is not in the subject)

Exercise #1:

In the chart below, fill in the boxes with a subject and a verb to make a “bare bones” sentence. 
Put a single word in each box.

Simple Subject	Simple Verb
EX:  glass	broke
1.
2.
3.

Using your subjects and verbs from the chart above, “spruce up” your sentences with adverbs and adjectives. 
Do not add any more subject nouns, direct objects, or verbs.

EX:  The expensive, delicate glass suddenly broke.

1.

2.

3.

Exercise #2:

In the chart below, fill in the boxes with a subject and a verb to make a “bare bones” sentence. 
Put a single word in each box.

Simple Subject	Simple Verb
1.
2.

Using your subjects and verbs from the chart above,
“spruce up” your sentences with adverbs and adjectives and at least on prepositional phrase. 
Do not add any more subject nouns or verbs.

EX.  My mother’s expensive, delicate glass from Germany suddenly broke yesterday.

1.

2.

Exercise #3:

In the chart below, fill in the boxes with a subject and a verb to make a “bare bones” sentence. 
Put a single word in each box.

Compound Subject	Simple Verb
EX:  squirrels, rabbits	scampered
1.
Simple Subject	Compound Verb
EX: baby	fussed, cried
2.

Using your subjects and verbs from the chart above,
“spruce up” your sentences with adverbs and adjectives and at least on prepositional phrase. 
Do not add any more subject nouns or verbs.

EX.  The happy little squirrels and rabbits scampered cheerfully through the yard.

The exhausted baby fussed and cried in the crib. 1.

2.

Narrative Essay

Definition

In a personal narrative, you re-create an incident that happened to you over a short period of time.  This incident could be an emotional experience, a silly or serious event, or a frightening encounter.  Narrative writing requires students to think clearly about the details of an event as if it was a plot.  A narrative:

·  Presents a story with a distinct plot.  The plot includes an internal or external conflict.  It has a beginning, middle, and an end.

·  Has a setting of some sort

·  Presented in a specific point of view, usually spoken in the voice of a narrator or character

           

Thesis Development

            As you present your narrative from a certain point of view, you must consider the significance of the event.  Was there a lesson to learn?  Did it change someone’s history?  Does it reveal something insightful about a person, place or circumstance?  These are the variables that will help you form a thesis.

Organization

            Narratives are generally told in chronological order; in other words, you explain the events considering the timeline in which they happened.      

Optional Narrative prompts:

·  Write about a time when you faced a challenge and what the outcome was.  Be sure to narrate the series of events and include specific details.

·  Write a story about when you taught someone something.  It can be anything that you know better than someone else.

·  Think about an event in your life that taught you an important lesson. Write a narrative in which you tell what happened and how you learned a lesson.

·  Write a narrative about a person or character who overcomes a difficult situation.  The character must be a person from history or from literature, movies or television.

Essay Guidelines

– Due dates:  Pre-Write due January 23; Rough Draft due January 30; Final Draft due February 13

– 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, below your name and date

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 1 (January 16)

Greetings!

What a great first day!  It's always good to see everyone after a long  break.  We've added a few more to our numbers, making this a fairly large class.  

As always, we began the class with a Quick Write.  For this week I asked the students to write a letter to themselves.  Starting with "Dear Future Me,' they could write about goals, interests, or questions.  Rather than hand them in, they are to go to the Future Me website, type in their letters, and set the letters to be sent to them on January 1, 2021.

We will continue doing Words of the Day at the beginning of class.  This semester, I will focus on foreign words and phrases; unusual expressions, and Latin roots.  There will be a test at the end of the semester.  Today's words were for those little bits and pieces that we might simply call "thingamajigs" or "whatchamacallits."

meme -- fr. Greek mimeme; to imitate -- a digital image combined with text to express a cultural comment.

pintle -- the pin or bolt that is used in hinge.

ferrule -- the metal cap on the end of an umbrella

aglet -- the cover of the end of a shoe lace

Students were given a shortened version of the Class Policies that they should have you read and sign.  Reminders of class expectations is a good way to start a fresh semester.  I also made some brief comments about having a good system for keeping track of homework and for planning time wisely so that assignments get done.  

Our first Literature selection for the semester is Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  This Victorian novel has interesting characters, thought-provoking themes, and an unusual plot.  Students were given an introduction, a study guide, a character analysis worksheet, a themes worksheet, and a list of major themes.  Every week students will read two  chapters and answer a certain number of questions.  Our second writing assignment will be an essay that analyzes either a character or theme of the book, so while they are reading, they should be building these charts so that the paper is easier to write.

The first essay for this semester is a Narrative Essay.  Narrative essays retell a sequence of events in order to explain something. As with all essays, these should have a thesis statement that expresses the topic and opinion.  I often say that this essay is a "story with a purpose" but it is not a creative writing or piece of fiction.The students should begin work this week, and the pre-write and rough draft are due in two weeks.

Our Grammar focus for this semester will be sentence patterns and sentence structures.  Knowing how sentences are built will help students correct and edit their papers more accurately.  We had time in class to work on the worksheet.

Finally, a note about our class culture.  I enjoy a lively class and encourage discussion and camaraderie among the students.  With 26 students in the class, we will probably break into small groups more often so that each student has an opportunity for his/her voice to be heard.  I will also be "cracking down" on side conversations and off-topic chatter.

Have a great weekend!  Enjoy the snow!

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read the Introduction to Jekyll/Hyde

-- Read Ch. 1 and 2 of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

-- Answer 4 Study Guide questions

-- Narrative Essay Pre-Write

-- Letter to Future Me

-- Grammar -- "What is a Sentence?"

-- Extra Credit

     -- What are aglest if they are metal tipped?  or the ties of a sweatshirt?

     -- On the bottom half of the grammar worksheet, put prepositional phrases between parentheses.

Links for This Week

Spring Writing 1 Technology

Class Notes

Google Folder for Spring Writing 1

My GradeBook Instructions

Class Policies

Future Me

Introduction to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Major Themes in Jekyll/Hyde

Themes Worksheet

Character Worksheet

Jekyll/Hyde Study Guide

"What is a Sentence?" Worksheet

What is a Sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that has a subject (a noun), a verb, and a complete thought.  This same combination of words is an independent or main clause.  (Note:  Not all groups of words with a noun and a verb are sentences.)

In the sentences below, identify which ones are complete sentences (S) and those that are not (INC).

 _____ 1.  When Columbus left Spain with his three books.

_____ 2.  What he wanted to do most this summer.

_____ 3.  The ringing of the bells woke the whole village.

_____ 4.  Just before the beginning of the war.

_____ 5.  My father fought in Paris during World War II.

_____ 6.  The most important city in the Philippines.

_____ 7.  Keith hurried to the station to catch his train.

_____ 8.  Because we were tired after the journey.

_____ 9.  Grass, vegetables, and berries grow in the garden.

_____ 10.  We all celebrated the end of the war.

In the sentences below, underline the subjects of the sentences once and the verbs of the sentences twice.

_____ 1.  We drove the car to Florida.

_____ 2.  Our vacation lasted ten days.

_____ 3.  The resort prepared great meals.

_____ 4.  Every morning we swam in the ocean.

_____ 5.  My favorite meal was shrimp and mangoes.

_____ 6.  In the evenings we built a fire on the beach.

_____ 7.  My suitcase was filled with shells and postcards.

_____ 8.  Next year we will drive to California.