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