Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 3 (Sept. 17)

 Greetings!

We had a great class yesterday.  This is a good, conscientious group of students.

We started with a Quick Write.  For today's prompt, I offered them 2 options.  September 15 was Agatha Christie's birthday, and she is known as the "queen of mysteries" with over 80 books to her name.  She also wrote the world's longest running play, The Mousetrap.  Students could write their opinions about mysteries, a mysterious event, or an original mystery.  The other option was related to National Apple Dumpling Day (Sept. 17).  Baked apple goods seem to be the quintessential fall food.  Students could write about apples or some other favorite fall food.  (And, as always, they can always choose the third, "Whatever" option and write on something completely different.)

Following our Quick Write, I went over some Google Classroom "Protocols," hopefully clarifying questions that students have had.

• 99.9% of your assignments are on Google Classroom (GC)
• You can hand in work on GC or in class but NOT BOTH
• If you do the assignment on Google Classroom, remember to "Turn In"  (button in the upper right corner of the window.)
• If you have handed in an assignment during class (the paper version), please the Google Classroom assignment alone.  I will assign a grade and return in.
• Some assignments can ONLY be done on Google Classroom. When that is the case, those homework assignments will be designated (GC)
• For the Final Drafts of your essays, follow these steps IN ORDER:
• Open your Rough Draft document, select/highlight all of the content (Ctrl-A) and copy it (Ctrl-C)
• Open the Google Classroom assignment for the Final Draft and then open the document/template.
• Paste the contents of the Rough Draft onto this document.
• Make corrections and revisions. (DO NOT MAKE CORRECTIONS WHILE IT IS STILL IN THE ROUGH DRAFT DOCUMENT!)
• Turn it in!

This week, students were to take notes of class, and these notes are due in class next week.  Sometimes when we are covering a significant amount of content, I will have students take notes and then turn in copies of those notes.  Students can hand in the paper copies of their notes next week OR upload copies to the Google Classroom assignment.  

I handed back their Rough Drafts of their Descriptive Essays.  I believe that students learn grammar best in the context of their own writing, so I like to take a generous amount of time to go over common mistakes and for them to ask questions from their own mistakes.  I had the students write on post it notes either the error most-corrected on their rough drafts or a grammar issue that they didn't understand.  After they brought these up to the white board, I covered those areas that seemed to need the most attention.  This week, those areas included contractions, the use of numbers, capital letters, and commas with compound sentences.

For the Final Drafts of these essays, students should submit them via Google Classroom (see the notes about the protocols.)  They should also bring to class on Sept. 24 their rough drafts with my corrections.

We talked very little about our book, Animal Farm.  For next week, students are to read Chapters 3 & 4 and take the Quiz. (GC)  I had forgotten to add links for audio book versions last week, so those are in the "Links" list at the bottom of the email.

We are preparing for the Parts of Speech projects, and next week we will take a large amount of time for students to connect with their partners.  Before next week, students should take the Parts of Speech Pre-Test.  This test has been posted on Google Classroom, and students can print it and bring the completed test to class, print it and then upload the completed test to the Google Classroom assignment, or complete the test using a tablet or other touch device.  

Below are the student "teachers" and the parts of speech:

Interjections -- Anthony, Annelise

Verbs -- Danica, Lilia 

Adjectives -- Rachael, Nina

Nouns -- Halle, Eden 

Conjunctions -- Julia, Rachel

Adverbs -- Kaylynn, Grace 

Pronouns -- Tate, Rebecca 

Prepositions -- Elijah, Cyprian

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week

-- Final Draft of Descriptive Essay (GC)

-- Remember to bring the rough draft to class on 9/24

-- Read Ch. 3 & 4 of Animal Farm

-- Take Home Quiz (GC)

-- Parts of Speech Pre-Test (GC)

Links for This Week

Fall Writing 1 Google Drive Folder

Class Notes 9/17

Animal Farm Audioversions

     Youtube version

     Youtube version (with a British accent.)

     Audible (paid subscription)

History Essay

History Essay 

Definition 

An historical essay demonstrates that you have a good knowledge about an event or a period of history and a good grasp of its importance and contributions to our world.  A typical essay will consist not only of the details surrounding the event or period but will reveal an understanding of some of the “big picture” of history. 

Thesis Development 

Writing an essay about a historical topic requires that you make some judgment about the evidence and details.  Generally, a thesis explains the “why” and the “how” of something that happened.  Your thesis should take a stand on an issue or historical problem and requires some judgment and interpretation of evidence.  Your thesis should be as clear and specific as possible. 

Organization 

Information can be presented chronologically (in a first to last sequence), in order of importance (least to most important), or in order of quantity of information (least amount to greatest amount).  Your essay can be divided by themes, geographical locations, or personalities involved.  In writing the essay, you will analyze the facts, not just describe them. 

Tips on Writing 

• Everything you write about should support or be related to your thesis. 
• Be sure that you include enough information and define any unfamiliar terms.  Assume your readers do not know as much about the topic as you do. 
• Prove your arguments:  explain how and why a thing happened. 
• Suitable evidence includes data (facts and figures) and authorities on the subject (what historians know). 
• Use a variety of transitions in the text of your paper. 

• This is not a research paper, but may require some outside reading and note taking.  Remember to take notes in your own words. 
• Keep the language simple. Remember, this is an essay, not a story.  Use good, accurate vocabulary, but not overly flowery words. 

Essay Guidelines 

• Due dates:  Pre-Write due November 14; Rough Draft due November 21; Final Draft due December 12. 
• 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 

Writing 1A Class Notes -- Week 6 (Sept. 26)

Greetings!

Again, another great class.  This group of students brings a lot of positive energy and attitudes to the class.  The prompt for our Quick Write today was the  190th anniversary of Scotland Yard.  We discussed detectives, law enforcement, mysteries, and perspectives about rules.  Students could take the topic(s) in any number of directions.

We skipped the Words of the Day this week because I knew that we already would have a full class.  We'll resume next week.  A new element that I'm adding to the class is the role of a "Class Scribe."  I recently purchased a Rocketbook, that is a digital notebook, and I want students to take turns taking handwritten notes, especially of the examples and diagrams that I put on the board.  Those notes then get shared to the Google Drive folder for the class and a link to them will be included with the Class Notes.

I handed back rough drafts of their Personal Essays.  Whenever I hand back rough drafts, I take a significant amount of time to go over common errors/mistakes so that we can make those mistakes into learning opportunities.  The three most common mistakes this week included the following: 

1. Having the right spelling but it's the wrong word (spell check and auto-correct can be helpful but not always trusted); e.g. costumer/customer, plane/plain, right/write, heard/herd
2. Parallel structure.  If students have a list, all of the elements need to be in the same form, such as all nouns or all verbs with the same endings.
3. Formatting issues.

I took some time to discuss some new guidelines for formatting their papers, moving towards MLA formatted papers.  (Here is a video for formatting in Google Docs, and here is one for doing the same in Word.) Going forward, I would like the students to format their papers in the following way:  1 inch margins, 12 pt. font, double spaced, header in the upper right margin with last name and page number, and a heading on the left side with full student's full name, class name, teacher's name, assignment name, and date handed in. This document is a "sample."  

With all of our essays, I'm having the students designate a section of the note-taking to those "Watch Out For" points that I've noted in the comments section of my corrections.  Along with making revisions for their final drafts, I want students to fill out the little half-sheet titled, "My First 5 Errors."  For this worksheet, students should look at the first five marks that I made on their rough drafts and write what the error was and, if they know, what grammar rule is connected with the error.  Under the First 5 section is a place for them to write about what area they want to improve in.

Our Grammar topic this week included the Verbs Presentation by Ellie, Izzy, and Elliot.  They showed a familiar Schoolhouse Rock video about verbs and then presented their information with a slide presentation.  We played a game of Verbs Hangman that included action, linking, and helping verbs.  They also had some homework for the class. 

There was not enough time for our Literature Circles, so we will have the same groups and same roles for next week's discussion about Animal Farm.  We will be finishing the book, so next week we will also be wrapping up our discussions of the book as a whole.  (Note: Next week I will send home a Take Home Quiz and the following week they will get a final exam for Animal Farm, so they should get caught up on their reading if they are behind!)

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Chapters 9 & 10

-- Prepare for Literature Circles

-- Personal Essay Final Drafts

-- My First 5 Errors worksheet

-- Verbs Homework

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Class Scribe Notes

Sample Google Doc with Formatting

School House Rock Verbs Video

How to Format a Google Doc in MLA

How to Format a Word document in MLA

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 1A Class Notes -- Week 4 (Sept. 12)

Greetings!

Again, another great class.  This group of students brings a lot of positive energy and attitudes to the class.  The prompts for our Quick Write today were taken from the National Days Calendar:  National Video Game Day, National Day of Encouragement, and National Milkshake Day.  As always, if none of those options triggered any productive thinking or writing, students could write about something else.  We had good discussions about all three topics.

This week's Words of the Day came from the students and included:

doled--verb --  fr. Middle English, dol, to share-- to distribute shares

muted-- verb -- fr. Anglo-French, ameutir, to make fluid-- to evacuate the cloaca (a bird's process of defecation) (Who knew??)

maxim -- noun -- fr. Latin, maximus, large, great-- a general truth, fundamental principle, or rule

During the Writing portion of today's class I collected the final draft of their Descriptive Essays.  For all of the essays that they will write they are required to hand in the rough drafts with the final drafts so that I can see the specific changes.  Those who didn't do that in class this week can send me a picture or scanned version of their rough drafts with my corrections.  A couple of students mentioned that they had thrown away their rough drafts, so I will correct their papers without them.  I also reminded them that they SHOULD NOT throw away any work from this class until the end of the semester; they should also save all of their essays until the end of the year.

In Writing 1, as soon as students finish one paper we start another.  Their new assignment is a Personal Essay.  We discussed a number of topics and thesis statements. I introduced my equation for a thesis statement and a template for thesis statements that include a plan for development.  

Equation:

     Topic/Subject

  +  Opinion/Stand

Thesis Statement

Template:

     (topic/stand)     is/are      (opinion/stand)     because      (reason #1)      ,      (reason #2)     , and       (reason #3)     .

We also  took time to discuss the elements of an introduction and conclusion.  The introduction should include a hook, a thesis statement, and a "road map."  The conclusion mirrors the introduction and should restate the thesis, summarize the main points, and leave parting thoughts with the reader.  

Our Grammar topic this week included .some short videos that previous classes have done for their parts of speech presentations.  Students are not required to do videos, but sometimes showing example of work others have done sparks new ideas for students. The links to those videos are listed below.  Our first Parts of Speech presentation, Interjections, will be next week.  When students present their part of speech, they should either bring copies of the homework (25 students and 1 teacher) OR email the homework to me by the Tuesday before class so that I can make copies.  If they are showing a video or slide presentation, they can use their own computers or email them to me.  

The literature discussion about Animal Farm centered on a group effort to complete a quiz on the first four chapters.  I divided the class into 6 groups, and they had to discuss the questions and find the answers in the book all together because they would all get the same grade.  I enjoyed hearing their conversations about the material they had read.  Note:  There has been some confusion about the assignments for the book.  When I give the assignment for "Reader Responses," that means their answers to the study guide questions or the ala carte responses.  Their vocabulary worksheets do not need to be handed in until the end of the book.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Ch. 5 & 6 of Animal Farm

-- 3 Reader Responses

-- 3 Vocabulary Words

-- Personal Essay Rough Draft

-- Preparation for your parts of speech presentation

     -- Interjections (Bennett, Josh, Jesse) next week

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Adverbs Video

Nouns Video

Verbs Video

Personal Essay

Take Home Animal Farm Quiz (Ch. 1 - 4)

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Drafting the Essay

Writing a Thesis

– A thesis statement expresses a main idea that can be developed with stated reasons.  This statement is usually an opinion, feeling attitude, belief, or point of view about the topic.  It should not be a statement of fact that needs no development.

– The thesis must create an adequate focus for the paper.  If the main idea is too broad, it cannot be adequately developed on one paper; if it is too narrow, an entire paper is not needed to develop it.

– The thesis can be the first sentence of the introduction, or can be placed anywhere in the introductory paragraph.

What kind of information to include?

– Include information that proves, illustrates, explains, or defines the thesis.

– Support your thesis and give specific information and concrete details that include examples, facts, statistics, and other concrete information.

– The specific details should relate directly to the main idea.  Supporting sentences often explain how the specific detail proves the thesis statement.

– Supporting sentences should express unity.  Every sentence should support the thesis.

Building Strong Sentences

– Plan your sentences using a map or outline

– Put your sentences in a logical order.  Sentences that have a logical connection and consistency illustrate cohesion.

– Two tools that help make sentences coherent are transitions and repeated key words.  These help clarify the relationship between ideas.

Organizing Supporting Sentences

– The most logical ways to organize supporting statements are

            Time relation (present to past OR past to present)

            Space relation (near to far OR far to near; circular; height positions)

            Order of importance (often the strongest supporting sentences come first and last)

Writing the Introduction

– Because the introduction establishes the reader’s attitude toward the topic and toward the writer, it is the most important part of the essay.

– The introduction should

            Get the reader interested in the topic (attention-getter)

            Provide background information about the topic (factual material)

            State the thesis of the essay (main idea)

– Attention-Getter and Background Information         

Some essays start gradually by getting the reader ready for the thesis.  Background information gets the reader in the mood for the rest of the essay.

– Strategies for attention-getting and background information:

A good story or anecdote

History, facts, or initial information

An appropriate quotation

A problem the reader should know about concerning the topic

A question that limits your topic

A statement that popular ideas about your topic are wrong

A reference to something historical, something in the news, a current event, or a literary work

A strong opinion.

– Appeal to Audience:  address the audience of the essay. 

– Length and Placement:  how much background information to provide depends upon the length of the essay and the strategy the writer uses to get the reader prepared for the thesis.

– Thesis or Thesis statement:  This sentence should be in the introduction in order to create a focus for the essay.

Body Paragraphs

– Each paragraph in the body of the essay develops one main point that supports the thesis.

– The body paragraphs usually follow the traditional paragraph pattern of topic sentence, supporting sentences, and conclusion.  Not every paragraph necessarily has a stated topic sentence, but every paragraph has a main idea.

– Effective body paragraphs use transitions within and between paragraphs to create coherence.

Order of Body Paragraphs

– You can organize your paragraphs in a number of ways; the important consideration is to make the order clear and logical to the reader.

– Possible presentations:

            Chronological order

            Order of importance

            Combination of plans

Conclusion

– The conclusion is the final paragraph.  If the essay is very long, the conclusion might be more than one paragraph, but usually have only one paragraph.

– Strategies for concluding:

– Refer back to the story, problem, question, or quote that began the introduction

– Emphasize the important point.  Remind the reader of the thesis of the essay and how its major details are developed.

– Avoid beginning the conclusion with “in conclusion” or “finally” or “to summarize.”  This is obvious to the reader.

– Do not repeat the thesis statement word for word and list the major details explained in the introduction.

– Avoid beginning a new argument in the conclusion.