CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 2 (1/22)

 Today, we started our Visual Vocabulary words for Spring.  This is where we work with some ACT/SAT vocabulary words; we learn the definition, the part of speech, and use it in a sentence.  I gave them this semester’s worksheet where the words will be cumulatively compiled.  They turned in the sentences or prompts that they completed to help cement this word in their memories and to “furnish the mind” as writing teacher Andrew Pudewa says. I hope to see some of these words in composition this semester!  The words today were:  cajole and iconoclast

Writing

I have been looking forward to today’s lesson–an “inventive” (creative) writing assignment.  I handed out a series of three pictures.  Although the pictures suggest a story, they are fairly minimal.  I told the students that their job is to describe the events depicted in each picture.  Simply report.  

After that, they are to think about the pictures.  I asked them “how do you think?”  After pondering a few minutes, we concluded that in order to think, one must ask questions!  This is something we have been practicing in our Quick Writes last semester:  who, what, (what are they thinking/doing/saying/feeling) when, where, why, how?  And then a level deeper:  what happened before the picture?  After?  Outside the picture?  What may have happened before or after?  In this way, students begin to access their thinking and imagination.  The great news is that ANYONE can do this!!

After taking notes on the process, we make a Key Word Outline for the first two pictures together.  They wrote their own outline for the third picture and then compared it with a table mate.  Their homework is to finish this KWO and post it for next week.  They are welcome to make any changes to their story.  Four points per picture (plus the topic and clincher is plenty.  Changes will happen organically as they begin to write.)  I gave an option to use a different set of pictures if they’d rather.  The second set has only two pictures, so they will need to “fill in the blank” for the missing picture.  The three paragraph composition will be assigned next week (due Feb. 6).  We are working those creative writing muscles for writing an original mystery story of their own. There are examples of student written mysteries posted on the Writing 2 Class blog.

Literature

We switched gears to discuss the first two stories from our Sherlock Holmes study.  We discussed the more memorable moments from the stories and then we watched a few minutes of the BBC version of “The Red-Headed League” featuring Jeremy Brett. We discussed whether or not this actor was a good match for Conan Doyle’s Sherlock.  For next week, they are to read two of the most famous stories “Adventures of the Speckled Band” and “The Engineer’s Thumb” and answer four questions.  

Grammar

They have been assigned three worksheets on coordinating conjunctions and some finer points of where the comma belongs.  They are to complete and correct those worksheets for next week.

Homework

Mystery Story KWO

“...Speckled Band” & “The Engineer’s Thumb” PDF and audio stories & Four Questions

Grammar Worksheets

Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions

Is It a Compound Sentence?

Writing Compound Sentences

Links for this Week

Visual Vocabulary #1

About Writing from Pictures

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 1 (January 15)

 Hello Dear Students,

It was good to be back together again in the new year!  Even though some may not be that excited to start up again, I am proud of them for all they had been learning this past year.  There’s much to be grateful for!

We started the day out with a Quick Write.  Today’s topic was a choice between:

JANUARY 15–NATIONAL BAGEL DAY

JANUARY 15–NATIONAL HAT DAY or

JANUARY 17–NATIONAL CLASSY DAY

After that, we previewed the Spring Syllabus, Homework Checklist and Late Homework dates.  We highlighted the important due dates and took a brief look at what this semester has in store.  I told them a good strategy is to use the Homework Checklist to help them parcel out their work during the week to avoid having it all pile up at the last minute. Students should plan to work on this class at least 30 minutes per day.

For Literature, we kicked off the class by introducing our new book:  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Stories by Arthur Conon Doyle.  Some students had seen a TV show or movie based on the stories–and some had read a few stories themselves.  After handing out the book, we had a discussion on what images come to mind when you think of “Sherlock Holmes” and what elements make a good detective story.  

Some students were surprised to hear that Sherlock Holmes never actually said, “Elementary, my dear Watson.”  He merely said “Elementary!”  We watched two short videos on Sherlock and the fact that this character is so enduring that he is a palimpsest–he’s been reinterpreted so much over which makes him an enduring and timeless character.   I hope students will thrill at meeting this calculating and intense sleuth themselves.  

We read a few pages of the first story aloud and they are to finish reading “Scandal in Bohemia” & “The Red-Headed League” this week and answer 4 questions from the Study Guide.  As they encounter new words, they are assigned to define three words per story on a Vocabulary Sheet.

Lastly, for Grammar, I introduced the comma unit we will be studying this year. We discussed coordinating conjunctions–FANBOYS and compound sentences. They got started on the three worksheets they will need to complete this week.  Don’t forget to correct your work and mark it!  KEYS are posted in GC.

Enjoy your weekend!

Blessings, 

Mrs. G

Homework for This Week

Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle videos (in class)

Read Ch. “Scandal in Bohemia” & “Red-Headed League” 

Study Guide Questions

Sherlock Holmes Weekly Vocabulary sheet

FANBOYS

Compound Sentences and Commas

Sentence Structures:  Simple and Compound Sentences

Class Material this week

Comma Reference Sheets

Syllabus

Homework Checklist

Homework & Late Dates

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 14 (December 11)

 We had a wonderful day in class today.  A lot of the hard work of the semester is over, so our "work" today was a little more fun.

Our Visual Vocabulary words for today were:  laggard and efface.These words will show up on our end of the semester quiz next week–so make sure to review those.  The slides are posted on Google Classroom.

Writing

The Urban Legends Essay was due last week and I handed the graded/coded essays back. The Final Edits are due next week. If you haven’t turned it in yet, I encourage you to hurry. You will need to budget enough time to complete the Final Edits by the end of the semester. 

Grammar

The class was assigned a Fall Grammar Test about parts of speech and verbal phrases. I sent home a paper copy of the test to be taken at home.  They can use their notes to answer the questions at home. Just like with the worksheets, students must correct their own work and SHOW those corrections in order to receive full credit.

The best way of learning grammar is through lots of reading and writing. Direct instruction of grammar is important and helpful, and combined with literature and writing it can be pretty potent.  Next semester we'll be working on commas!

Literature

The rest of class was used for presenting our Peace Like A River projects.  Each one of them showed not only that the students had a good grasp on the details of our novel, but they also had a strong understanding of the themes and motifs of the book.  All around it was a fantastic day.

Next Week

Our last week of the semester is next week, December 19.  All work should be handed in by that date.  They should not wait until then to do their work and hand it in.  I will not accept any work submitted after midnight on Sunday, December 21st.

Next week we will have our "Class-mas Party."  I will bring warm drinks, and students can bring goodies if they like. (Please label if there are allergens.)  

We will have a ZAP! Game based on what we have learned this semester, a quiz on our Visual Vocabulary.  After that we will have some time to enjoy some Christmas cheer.

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Assignments for Next Week:

Review Visual Vocabulary words

Fall Grammar Test–open book/notes

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 13 (December 4)

 Hello All!

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and I cannot believe this semester is coming to a close–that means we are starting to wrap things up.

Quick Write

Today we discussed the last sentence opener of the semester: the Subject-Verb opener aka the [1]. These are the very ordinary, run-of-the-mill sentence patterns that are our default to use. This is the reason we call it the [1] AND why it is taught last. We naturally use this in our writing and my job as a writing teacher is to help students branch out and use all those other wonderful sentence patterns for variations and interest. Nonetheless, it is useful to call attention to this useful pattern and use it sparingly.

After that, we were ready to write about some special Christmas traditions your family does. The topic choices were:

December 4–NATIONAL SANTA’S LIST DAY

December 6–NATIONAL ST. NICOLAUS DAY 

December 8–NATIONAL TIME TRAVELLER DAY

Writing

Urban Legend Essays were due today.  I answered a few questions and we reviewed how to make your own Style list to make sure all the style points are included in each paragraph. I hope to get the essays back ASAP so that students can perform the Final Edits and turn them in by the last day of class.

Speaking of final edits, the Process Essay Final Edits were also due today. As a reminder, that is where students use the Grammar and Content Codes to isolate and fix the errors that are coded on their essays. Those must be handwritten, stapled to the paper essay and rubric I handed back to them. This is a requirement for all students. As an option, if a student wishes to improve their grade for this essay, they may edit and polish using the codes and Resubmit their paper for a regrade. CAUTION: Thinking of resubmitting? Great! Just know that every code I mark needs attention. A resubmission that fixes only two out of ten errors is like washing one sock—it doesn’t really help anyone, and it wastes my time. Aim high and revise them all.

Literature

There is a one-week extension on the Magical Realism One-Pager assignment. Since I saw that the syllabus states it is due next week–extra credit to those who finished it today.

We spent the rest of our Literature time today listening to the students present their Peace Like A River Podcasts. I know some of them were nervous to play these for the class, and I am proud of each one for putting themselves and their work out there. I find that students really rise to the occasion when there is a real, live audience. Today, we heard Brecken, Liam and Wesley present their awesome projects while students colored and enjoyed a cup of popcorn. Next week, the rest of the class will present their projects. By the way, meeting deadlines is such an important academic skill. To that end, if you are late to post your podcast, points will be deducted. The podcasters we heard from today earned extra credit for putting themselves out there. Since I had to cut Wesley’s short, I posted it below if you’d like to finish it!

Grammar

“If I were a rich man!”  This week’s grammar discussion centered on Indicative and Subjunctive moods of verbs.  We have been examining different aspects of verbs–phrases (prepositional, gerunds, infinitives and participial).  We have considered voice–passive/active.  Today we looked at mood–indicative and subjunctive.  Now we know that  the subjunctive mood is mainly used to express a wish and sometimes for a demand.  We listened to the last 3 minutes of a  podcast by Grammar Girl on the subject.  The subjunctive worksheet is due next week.

Blessings on your weekend!

Mrs. G

Homework

Writing catch-up–if needed

PLAR Podcast Presentations–get ready for next week

Subjunctive Homework Worksheet

Links for this Week

Quick Write #6

Grammar Codes

Content Codes for Expository Essays

Podcast Presentation Schedule

Grammar Girl Podcast–Subjunctive Mood

Wesley’s Podcast

Writing 2 Week 12–11/20

 Dear Students,

The weather is turning and we are all ready for a break! But before the break:  one last class!  

Visual Vocabulary

I opened class with a Bellringer activity to practice paraphrasing. After that, we did our usual visual vocabulary words.  This week the words are: jaded and gambit. We had some chess players who were a bit jaded with the vocabulary word gambit.

Writing

 Today, their KWO’s for their Urban Legend essays were due. During their work time today, I circulated and gave credit to those who met their deadline. I will close this assignment by midnight tonight. Part of learning how to be a good student is learning how to budget time wisely. I hate being a stickler about deadlines–on the other hand, since we are on about a three week essay cycle, and I know from experience that once a student gets behind, it is very difficult to dig out of that hole. That is why I tend to be strict about writing due dates. On that note, I have changed the due dates for this last essay, see below:

Urban Legend KWO due–11/20 (WK 12)               🦃~~Thanksgiving Break~~🦃 Urban Legend Essay due–12/4 (WK 13) Final Edits due–12/18 (WK 15)

In preparation for writing the final essay this semester, which incorporates some research, we had a Writing Circle discussion about MLA Style citations. Students have been handling this skill fairly well, but supporting claims using citations can always use some practice. Each small group was given a folder with directions on how to cite the most common sources:  books, online articles, podcasts, videos/Youtube, and movies. After taking a look at those, I gave each group a stack of cards with an example of each type of source. Their job was to compose a Works Cited entry AND show how to cite the source in their writing. They were very engaged in this task! 

 

Literature

Now that we are finished with Peace Like A River, we have turned a corner and for the last few weeks of the semester, we’ll dive into the genre of Magical Realism. Today, we discussed the high points of that genre and discussed whether or not PLAR fits. Over the break, students get to listen to two short stories that are vivid examples of magical realism. They should complete a  One-Pager assignment  on the stories ”Chivalry” by Neil Gaiman and “The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu.  I am looking forward to the discussion afterwards!

Don’t forget to keep working on your podcasts over the break! We will start our presentations after break! See schedule below:

Grammar

They are assigned the two worksheets on Active & Passive voice.  There is a video linked on one of the worksheets with tips for using this voice in their writing.

Homework

Urban Legend Essay

Process Essay Final Edits

Listen to “Chivalry” & “The Paper Menagerie” (audio)

Magical Realism One-Pager

Active to Passive Voice

Passive to Active Voice–2

Peace Like A River Podcast 

Links for this week:

PLAR Podcast Presentation Schedule

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 11 (Nov. 13)

 Hi Everyone!

Another fast-paced class today. Once again, I emjoyed each and every one of you!

We kicked off with our Quick Write.  After a min-lesson on the [6] sentence opener, the VSS (very short sentence) students had an opportunity to practice using it. I gave them a choice of writing prompts:

• National Parents as Teachers Day

• National Fast Food Day or

• Tell some current faves: songs, Youtube channel, Podcast or game.

Literature

Today was the Peace Like A River Final Exam. Students took that in class. Since we finished the novel, we will spend the last few weeks of this semester studying the genre of magical realism. Though I forgot to mention this after the test today, they are assigned to watch a video on this topic and answer the questions on a Google Form quiz.

Writing

After the exam, students practiced identifying a few elements in a sample introduction and conclusion. I want them to notice the style elements, topic-clincher rule, the clear thesis and the roadmap sentence. They have a worksheet as homework due next week.

After that, I rolled out the next essay. This has become one of my more favorite pieces of writing that I get to assign and read. It is called the Urban Legends Essay. This assignment will require them to explain a Urban Legend/conspiracy theory/Mandela effect and they will also have to effectively debunk it. They will need to research and include MLA Style citations and a Works Cited page. After going over what the essay requirements will be, we watched a few short videos on different urban legends and discussed the Mandela effect. After that, they got in small groups to brainstorm a few of their own. The Key Word Outline is due next week.

Please note, there is a change in due dates for the last writing assignments. See below:

Victorian Invention KWO due–11/20 (WK 12)               🦃~~Thanksgiving Break~~🦃 Victorian Invention Essay due–12/4 (WK 13) Final Edits due–12/18 (WK 15)

Grammar

With the few minutes we had left, instead of starting a new grammar topic, students got in pairs to play a Phrases Matching game. No grammar homework this week!

That’s it! Have an awesome weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Watch the Magical Realism video (linked in quiz below)

Magical Realism Quiz questions (GC)

Urban Legends Key Word Outline (with sources)

Introductions & Conclusions worksheet

Links for this Week

Quick Write #5

About the Urban Legend Essay

Phrases Matching game