Thanksgiving Thoughts -- Grades & Grace

 Happy Saturday!!

I want to give a quick update on the grades for this semester.  We have only 3 weeks left before the end of the term, and I want to commend the students for their hard work.  As homeschoolers your schedules are not as disrupted as those of public or private schools, but this year has been far from normal.  Using Google Classroom and attending classes via Zoom has been both a benefit for distance learning but also a challenge for keeping work and grades organized.  I've just finished triple checking my folder of handed in homework, my paper grade book, Google Classroom, the GradeSheets, and a few stray emails, and I believe everything is 90% accurate.  Here are some notes about grades:

• If you can't find the link to your student's individual GradeSheets, send me an email and I will re-send a link.  (Search in your Inbox for "GradeSheets" first)
• On the GradeSheets, any homework that has not been handed in is marked M, which averages into the score as a zero.  Because we have just finished Week 12, I am not accepting any homework that was due before Week 8 (October 22).  
• On the GradeSheets, each assignment has a link to the Google Classroom assignment.
• If a student has handed in some homework that I've missed, please let me know.

As we head into our Thanksgiving break, I think that it's an important time for some self-care. I have heard Christians say that we should have joy during this time, and I always want to jump in and interrupt and correct them.  As Christians we are faced with the same challenges of this pandemic, the election chaos, and economic situation, BUT WE GET TO HAVE JOY. God has abundant grace, compassion, peace, and comfort for us; these difficult times give us lots of opportunities to learn how to access and take hold of what God has for us.  (For example,I know that God gives grace and comfort, but pretending that I'm NOT sad because I won't see my children at Thanksgiving and Christmas because they can't travel is just plain silly. Instead, I need a little bit more of a peaceful quiet time to soak in that grace.)

As I tell my students, you got that little sermonette free of charge.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Blessings on your family time whether it's face to face or virtual.    

Mrs. Prichard

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

 Greetings!

We had a great class today.  Students have worked hard this semester, and it shows in their attitudes and the quality of their work!

For our Quick Write today, I had students come up with some ideas for our weekly Quick Writes.  By now, they have an idea of what works for a good Quick Write, so it will be good to have ideas from them.  Usually, I type up a numbered list and students choose random numbers every week.

We covered 3 Latin roots in our Words of the Day. As I explained to the students, having some background knowledge about Latin roots will help them decode unfamiliar words that they might encounter in their academic careers.

ambi - Latin, ambiguu, having double meaning or both -- derivatives:  ambidextrous, ambiguous, ambidexterity

aud - Latin, audire, to hear -- derivatives:  auditory, audio, audience, auditorium.  (by the way, audacious comes from audacia, boldness)

aqua -- Latin, aqua, water --  derivatives:  aquatic, aquarium. aqueduct, aquifer

While the students are busily writing their Quick Writes, I hand back their homework.  Following our beginning of class activities, we discuss the homework.  This week I handed back their final drafts of the Biography Essays.  They've done a wonderful job writing!  I'm waiting for a few students to give me their rough drafts with my corrections before correcting their final drafts.  I've asked students to hand in their rough drafts when they hand in their final drafts.  I like to compare their drafts so that I can see what improvements they've made.  

We briefly talked about the History Essay. They should hand in the Pre-Write and Rough Draft for this essay on December 3 (our week after Thanksgiving Weekend.)  We talked about the length and focus of the papers.  They can write about an event or about the history of something.  I think they already have some good ideas in their heads. 

For the Literature portion of the class, we had two short activities:  a brief section of video from The Muppets Christmas Carol about the Ghost of Christmas Present and a discussion about aspects of Christmas that are non-negotiables and those that we could/should do without.  Most students say that certain foods and family are the non-negotiables; Santa and commercialism can go.

Finally, in the Grammar portion of the class, we had our last part of speech presentation -- this one about presentations.  Elijah and Cyprian had a good slide presentation about prepositions and a fun game for the students.  I told them all that this class has given the best presentations on these parts of speech that I've seen -- they were all full of complete explanations and fun activities.  They should all be proud of the work they've done!

Finally, I encouraged the students to check their GradeSheets to make sure that what I have recorded is accurate and to see if they are missing any homework.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!  Be blessed!!

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Week 13 (12/3)

-- Quick Write for 11/19

-- History Essay Pre-Write and Rough Draft

-- Discussion Question for History Essay

-- Read Stave 3

-- Stave 3 Study Guide Questions

-- Discussion Question -- Favorite Christmas Food

-- Prepositions Homework

-- Prepositions Evaluation

-- CAPP Review

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 10 (November 12)

 Greetings!

We had a good class this week.  We had a few more in our Zoom class, reminding me of what a blessing it is to have Zoom as an option these days!

For our Quick Write we used these 3 prompts:

• What would you do if you were locked inside your favorite department store overnight?

• What would you do if you woke up one morning to find yourself invisible? 

• What would you do if you were able to communicate with animals?

Our Words of the Day followed a Latin root theme of omni, which means "all."

omnibenevolence -- Latin, omni, "all," bene, "good," and volo, "to be willing; have the power to do" -- Unlimited kindness and generosity

omnia vincit amor -- Latin -- love conquers all

omniarch -- Latin, omni, "all" and arch, "lead, command" -- the ruler of everything

omnific -- Latin, omni, "all" and facere, "to make, to do," -- capable of doing everything

Students handed in their final drafts of their Biography Essays, so it was time to introduce the next essay, which is a History Essay. We talked at length about the challenge of composing a strong thesis statement for this essay. Many times students write reports with facts and details, but write with a stand or opinion to direct the focus of the paper. Their Pre-Write and Rough Draft are due December 13.

We are two "staves" into our book, A Christmas Carol, and we took time to read from the beginning. I think this book has one of the best openings of all books: "Marley was dead to begin with ...."

We saved the last 30 minutes for our Grammar presentation on Pronouns. Tate and Becca had good, complete slides and explanations. They had made homework, so this worksheet is required and the one I made is for Extra Credit.

Great job this week! Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Stave 3

-- Answer 3 Study Guide Questions

-- ACC Discussion Questions

-- Start on Pre-Write and Rough Draft of History Essay

-- Pronouns Evaluation

-- Pronoun Homework from Tate & Becca

-- Pronoun Homework (Extra Credit)

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Quick Write 11/12

About the History Essay

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

 Greetings!

I can't believe that we're 2/3 of the way through this first semester.  At the beginning of the year, I think many of us were uncertain about how school would go, but the students have been amazing.  Working with Google Classroom, attending class via Zoom when necessary, and wearing masks has not daunted this great group of students. Pat yourselves on the back and thank God for his abundant grace!

I gave a plethora of options for the Quick Write today. 1) Nov. 5, 1605 is Guy Fawkes Day in England, which commemorates the plot to blow up parliament, the king, and his family. 2) Nov. 5, 1872 is the day that Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting (it was not yet legal for women to vote); 3) Nov. 5, 1935 is the day Parker Bros. launched the Monopoly game; 4) Thursday was National Donut Day; and finally, 5) Thursday was National Men Make Dinner Day.  Students could write about violence vs. civil discourse, women in politics, board games, donuts, or men who cook.

Our Words of the Day were common Latin abbreviations, some I often use in notes to students and others students might encounter in their reading:

i.e. -- Latin id est, "that is"-- this signals an expansion on a comment.  (Make sure you do your homework, i.e. your rough draft and worksheets.)

e.g. -- Latin, exempli gratia, "for the sake of example" -- this signals possible examples.  (You must create a project, e.g. an activity, artwork, or game.)

c.f. -- Latin, conferro, "to compare with" -- this is often used in reference materials as a shortcut to point out comparisons

n.b. -- Latin, nota bene, "note well" or "a good note" -- used to draw attention to a side, related comment.

Rough drafts of the Biography Essays were handed back, so it was time for me to discuss common errors found in the essays.  I especially took time to go over the introductions.  Personally, I think one of the hardest and yet most important aspects of writing an essay is developing a strong thesis statement and giving a clear road map/plan of development.  By the end of an introduction, the reader should know not only the topic, but should know the driving idea (the thesis tells why it's important) and where the essay is headed (the road map tells what subtopics will be covered to support the thesis.)  Strong thesis statements elevate a paper from a report with some details to an essay with a strong purpose.  The Final Drafts are due next week.

Following our discussion of the Grammar topics related to the essays, the students broke into small groups to discuss some sample introductions. They worked together to find the hooks, thesis statements, and road maps.

The last portion of the class was our Adverbs presentation from Grace and Kaylynn.  They did theirs in a mock news type format and then had a game for the students to play.  (n.n. Grace and Kaylynn had homework for the students to do, so the Adverbs homework from me that is in their packets and on Google Classroom will be extra credit.)  All of the presentations so far have been engaging, well-organized, and very informative.  Well-done, students!

A quick note about Google Classroom -- I have rearranged the assignments in the category so that the newest assignment is at the top of the list and the assignments are now in order from the newest to the oldest.  (This should save some time for students because they won't have to scroll through the whole list.)  And a reminder -- if you go into Google Classroom from another gmail account, you will not be able to answer discussion questions, fill out quizzes, or turn in homework.  If you're not sure if you are in the right account, look in the upper right hand corner of the screen where the settings and Google apps icon are.  Hover your cursor over the small circle to the right.  This will tell you what account you're in.  

Have a wonderful weekend!  Enjoy this great fall weather, Rumor has it that winter is coming!

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Stave Two of A Christmas Carol

-- 3 Study Guide Questions

-- Discussion Question for ACC

-- Biography Final Draft

-- Discussion Question about Biography Essay (GC)

-- Adverbs Homework from Grace and Kaylynn

-- Adverbs Evaluation only (GC)

-- Adverbs Homework (Extra Credit) 

-- Presentation Self Evaluation (for those who have done their presentations)

Links for this Week

Class Notes (11/15)

Fall Writing 1 Google Drive folder

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature