Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 6 (September 30)

 Greetings!

We had a full day in class today.  I'm sure enjoying this group of students!

Quick Write

Today's prompt was inspired by the fact that is was on this day, September 30, in 1890 that Yosemite was named a national park.  I'm afraid I gave some incorrect information.  Yellowstone was the first national park, not Yosemite.  For the prompt, students were to write about some "great out of doors" adventure.  For responses, I heard about some close calls and some good times in nature.

Words of the Day

Vernacular -- fr. Latin verna (home-born slave) & vernaculus (domestic; native) -- "home-style language;" common language

Colloquial -- fr. Latin com (with) & loqui (to talk) -- language of a conversational style

Dialect -- fr. Greek dialektos (talk, conversation, speech) and fr. PIE -leg (to collect, gather, or pick out words) -- language specific to a particular region

Idiom -- fr. Latin idiomas (peculiarity in language) -- a figure of speech; words that have meanings other than their literal meaning

Homework Check

Usually after the beginning of class activities, I check in with the students about any homework questions.  We discussed assignments on Google Classroom.  I want to clarify an issue relating Google Classroom and the Grades Report that is emailed.  If students are missing an assignment, it will say "missing" on Google Classroom.  When I import the scores onto a Google Sheets spreadsheet using a grade book app, the missing scores are changed to zeros.  

Another note about homework.  I don't have a specific day that I correct homework, but the plan is to have it done and returned for the following class period.  When I'm done correcting work, I will update Google Classroom to reflect both the paper homework that was handed in during class and the assignments finished on Google Classroom.  

Writing Discussion

Students handed in the rough drafts of their Personal Essays.  We also discussed the final drafts of their Descriptive Essays that were returned.  These were graded using a rubric that takes a holistic view of the writing process. It considers the following categories:  Focus, Content, Organization, Sentence Structures, and Mechanics. (For this essay, I did not grade the Focus area because I did not require an introduction, conclusion, or thesis statement.)

Next Week we will meet in small groups for Writing Circles.  I've posted on Google Classroom a handout that they can fill out beforehand -- we will also have time in class.  It's a short 4 question survey.

Literature Discussion

We talked again about Animal Farm and the characters of Napoleon, Boxer, Squealer, Clover, and the dogs.  We covered ideas about leadership, manipulation, and propaganda.  In that discussion were comments about some similarities between this book that was written in 1944 and today's culture.  For next week, the students are to read chapters 9 & 10 and to take a quiz on Google Classroom.

Grammar Discussion

In class this week we had our first student presentation.  We heard about Interjections from Noah, Sarah, and Peytan.  They had a video that categorized interjections and an activity that had the students write sentences using words from a list of interjections.  They have a worksheet that requires them to identify interjections.  Remember, these worksheets must be corrected before they are handed in; students must indicate on the worksheet that it has been corrected.

As a part of the Parts of Speech project I would like students to evaluate the presentations.  There is a link to the evaluation below.

Assignments for Next Week

Discussion Question -- Personal Essay (Google Classroom only)

Writing Circle Preparation

Read Chapters 9 & 10 of Animal Farm

Take Home Quiz #2 (Google Classroom only)

** No extra credit option for Chapters 9 & 10

Interjections Homework

Interjections Evaluation

Links for This Week

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 6 (September 30)

Interjections Video

Yosemite National Park

Have a great Fall weekend!

Blessings, 

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 5 (September 23)

 Greetings!

We had a good class this week and covered a lot of information.  

Quick Write

For our Quick Write, students had 2 options:  1) For what are you willing to pay "top dollar,"  and for what items would you be willing to go the cheap route? and 2) Do you or someone you know have a notable collection.  As always, they could always take the "Whatever" option.

Words of the Day

This week our words were "cheap" and "extravagant."  Rather than discuss their etymologies, we explored 2 online resources:  Visual Thesaurus and Thesaurus.com.  Both of these sites are great tools for writing.

Writing Discussion

Students handed in their final drafts of their Descriptive Essays; I always want them to hand in the rough drafts so that I can compare them to see what revisions have been made.  As soon as we're done with one paper, we move right along to the next one.  Their next essay is a Personal Essay.  For this essay they should choose a personal experience or a topic that is of strong personal interest to them.  As a part of the discussion, we went over introductions, thesis statements, and essay structure.  The rough draft is due next week.

Literature Discussion

We did not take time to talk/discuss our book Animal Farm because I wanted to give students more time to work together on their parts of speech presentations.  We'll spend more time with the book next week.

Grammar

This week students spent about 30 minutes in their Parts of Speech groups planning what they will do for their chosen parts of speech.  I roamed through the room and heard good comments, and I also shared some ideas of activities other students have done.  In the list of links below are 3 samples of videos that students have done to explain their parts of speech.   I'm looking forward to our first presentation, which is the Interjections group, next week.  

A Quick Comment about Homework & Scores

As I mentioned in the email before sending out the Grade Reports, if a student wants to know if he/she is missing work, then Google Classroom is the place to look.  If a student wants to know scores and percentages, then the weekly email is what you should look at.

Assignments for Next Week

(No Writing Circles Preparation mentioned on the Checklist.)

Personal Essay Rough Draft

Read Ch. 7 & 8 of Animal Farm

3 Reader Responses

Interjections group preparation

All other groups, keep preparing

Links & Resources for this Week

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 5 (September 23)

About the Personal Essay

Adjectives Videos 

Adverbs Video from 2016

Verbs Video

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 4 (September 16)

 Greetings!

This week's class was productive, but I always find myself wishing we had more time together.  They are a great group of students!

Quick Write

This week's prompts was a little more academic.  On September 16, 1620, the Mayflower departed from England.  In addition to bringing faith to this new land, the Pilgrims helped lay the foundation for democratic, self-government for the sake of community well-being in their document, the Mayflower Compact.  I had the students write about what they felt were essential rights AND responsibilities.  These could either be attributed in a large scale to humanity as a whole or closer to home (e.g. I have a right to my personal space and a responsibility to keep it clean.)  AND, if they were not thinking so deeply, they could write about their favorite fall beverage!

No Words of the Day this week.

Writing Discussion

I handed back rough drafts and went over common mistakes.  Students were to start a document in their folders or notebooks titled either "Watch out for ..." or "Areas to Work On."  On this page I want students to keep track of their own common writing mistakes.  We will refer to this list often over the course of the year, using it to set personal writing goals and to gauge progress.

Literature Discussion

We're reading Animal Farm, and this week we had a good discussion about our reading.  We talked about the primary characters and a timeline of the plot so far.  We also did a little singing. If you have been in the hallway, you would have heard animal noises to the tune of La Cucaracha and Clementine.  

Grammar Discussion

Students were to have taken their pre-test, which I handed back this week.  For pre-tests, students are given a base score, regardless of the number correct.  Since we are covering Parts of Speech using the memory device IVAN CAPP, we had a short contest for our mascot.  A number of students contributed drawings and pictures.  I'll let them know the winner next week.

I've fielded a number of questions about the Parts of Speech presentations.  Students have been put in groups of 3, and they are to research and come up with explanations about their assigned parts of speech.  Additionally, they are to come up with an activity/game/video for the class.  Some students use PowerPoint or other types of presentations.  Sometimes videos are helpful.  I've extended the first presentation.  Instead of starting next week, I've pushed the first presentation off until Sept. 30.  Interjections and Verbs will present on that week.  STUDENTS SHOULD CONNECT WITH THEIR GROUP MEMBERS TO PLAN!

Parts of Speech Groups

Interjections -- Peytan, Sarah, Noah

Verbs -- Estelle, Johnny

Adjectives -- Megan, Ava, Rhyan

Nouns -- Grace, Jaden, Eliana

Conjunctions -- Molly, Charissa, Katelyn

Adverbs -- James, Phoebe, Joren

Prepositions -- Chase, Will, Liam

Pronouns -- Kevin, Evan, Ike

Assignments for Next Week

Descriptive Essay -- Final Draft

Discussion Question -- Top Character Quality

Week 4 Take Home Quiz

Read Chapters 5 & 6

Reader Responses for Chapters 5 & 6 

Links for This Week

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 4 (September 16)

Quick Write -- Sept 16

Discussion Question -- Descriptive Essay

Parts of Speech Checklist

Grammar Worksheets KEY

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 3 (September 9)

Greetings!

We had a good class today.  The students came into class ready to learn, and we had a productive time.  

Quick Write

Sept. 10 is National Swap Ideas Day, and it encourages us to share a creative or helpful idea with someone and trade them for their thoughts in return. 

• Where do you go to get good ideas?  

• What great ideas do you have to share with others?  

• What kind of group that you’d like to be in to share ideas.

On Sept. 8, 1930, the American company 3M began marketing a transparent adhesive tape that later became known as Scotch® tape.  On Sept. 10, 1846, American inventor Elias Howe was granted a patent for his sewing machine, which revolutionized garment manufacture in the factory and in the home.  

• What is one of your favorite inventions/gadgets?  

• What invention do you think the world needs? 

Words of the Day  (These were invention-related words to go with our Quick Write.)

Patent -- fr. Latin, patere, to lie or be open; including litterae patentes, which means open letters. -- a document that is a license issued by the government conferring rights of ownership of an invention.

Innovation -- fr. Latin innovare, to change or renew -- a new method, idea, or product

Enigma -- fr. Greek ainigma, a dark saying or riddle -- a problem, puzzle, or mystery

Revised Syllabus

This week I was going to hand back the rough drafts of their Descriptive Essays and go over common writing errors, but I'm afraid my week took a turn that I had not expected.  I was with my mom from Friday to Tuesday until she passed away on Tuesday.  The papers weren't graded, so I pushed back the due dates of some of the writing assignments.  I will have the rough drafts back to them next week and will have all of the homework corrected and updated on Google Classroom.

Google Classroom

I reminded the students that if they don't do an assignment on Google Classroom, they should leave it alone.  I will update the scores for work that was handed in during class.

Literature Discussion

The class has read the first 2 chapters of Animal Farm and done their first set of reader responses.  Next week we will have a 4-Square Discussion on Chapters 1 - 4.  (More on that next week.)

Grammar Topics

I gave the students two documents to help them plan for their parts of speech presentations.  Students signed up for their parts of speech.  (See the list below).  Students should connect with one another over this week, and they will have time next week in class to prepare for their presentations.

As an Extra Credit assignment, they can submit a picture of "IVAN CAPP" (our mnemonic device for the parts of speech) to be voted on as a class favorite to use as a mascot for this unit.  As a class, they decided to make this a competition.  May the best IVAN CAPP win!  We will vote next week, so if a student hasn't done a picture but wants to, there's still time.

Parts of Speech Groups

Interjections -- Peytan, Sarah, Noah

Verbs -- Estelle, Johnny

Adjectives -- Megan, Ava, Rhyan

Nouns -- Grace, Jaden, Eliana

Conjunctions -- Molly, Charissa, Katelyn

Adverbs -- James, Phoebe, Joren

Pronouns -- Chase, Will, Liam

Prepositions -- Kevin, Evan, Ike

Assignments for Next Week

-- Week 4 Take Home Quiz  (on Google Classroom)

-- Parts of Speech Pre-Test  (if not finished this week)

-- Parts of Speech Planning Worksheet

-- Extra Credit IVAN CAPP drawing

-- Discussion Question -- Descriptive Essay (on Google Classroom)

Links for This Week

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 3 (September 9)

Parts of Speech Checklist

Grammar Worksheets KEY

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 2 (September 2)

 Greetings!

We had a good class today.  The students were engaged and interacted well with the material and with one another.  

Quick Write

Students had 4 options today:  1) Sept. 1 was National No Rhyme Day  Students could try to rhyme some words that don't have clear "rhyme partners."  2) Sept. 2 is National Blueberry Popsicle Day.  Students could write about favorite frozen treats or foods "on a stick." 3) Sept. 3 is National Lazy Mom's Day, and students were prompted to write about tasks they could do for their moms or tasks that their moms do that they would never want to do.  4)  "Whatever."  Students could write about something else that was one their minds.  

Words of the Day

• Pertinacious -- fr. Latin, pertinax, "very firm, tenacious" -- stubbornly persistent.
• Ulotrichous --- fr. Greek, oulos, "curly, woolly" and thrix, "hair" -- having very curly, wool-like or stiff hair
• Gobbledygook -- a word coined by Maury Maverick in 1944 - means unintelligible, whether in communication is nonsense/gibberish or overly complicated

Google Classroom Instructions

I took a few minutes to go over the CHAT classes email and Google Classroom.  Some students haven't used Google Classroom and are unfamiliar with this resource.  It might take a while to become completely comfortable with all of the necessary aspects of Google Classroom.  

Writing Discussion

The rough drafts of the Descriptive Essay were due today.  They could be handed in on Google Classroom or as paper copies in class.  I will go over these rough drafts and hand them back next week for students to revise into final drafts.  I clarified that all students get a basic score for their rough drafts.  A qualitative evaluation will be given for the final draft using a rubric.

Literature Discussion

We're starting into our book for the semester, Animal Farm by George Orwell.  For a Pre-Reading exercise, they are to compose their thoughts about "What Makes a Hero."  This is due next week, but some students were finished and handed it in this week.  As part of our discussion, we talked about the sub-title for the book: a fairy story.  When we're all done with the book, we'll talk about how our definitions of a fairy tale match with the book.

I gave students an introduction to the book and a study guide.  For each reading assignment, they're to complete 3 Reader Responses, and those could be study guide questions or something from the "Ala Carte" section at the end of the study guide.  They can do a mix of questions and ala carte options.

Grammar Topics

This week I introduced our grammar unit:  The 8 Parts of Speech.  Students will be the teachers -- in teams they'll gather information about their assigned part of speech and present it to the rest of the class.  We will divide up into groups next week.  For their homework, they are to complete a Parts of Speech Pre-Test.  They can complete the paper copy or the Google Classroom copy.

As an Extra Credit assignment, they can submit a picture of "IVAN CAPP" (our mnemonic device for the parts of speech) to be voted on as a class favorite to use as a mascot for this unit.  As a class, they decided to make this a competition.  May the best IVAN CAPP win!

Assignments for Next Week

-- Discussion Question -- Topic & Senses (on Google Classroom)

-- Read Ch. 1 & 2 of Animal Farm

-- Quiz -- Intro to Animal Farm (on Google Classroom)

-- What Makes a Good Leader?  

-- Parts of Speech Pre-Test

-- Extra Credit IVAN CAPP drawing

Links for This Week

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 2 (September 2)

Descriptive Essay Rough Draft

Introduction to Animal Farm

Parts of Speech Unit

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature