Writing 2 Class Notes–WEEK 9 (October 27)

It was good to see the students again after our Fall Break.  They came back and were ready to learn!

Quick Write

Students responded to an excerpt about intelligent octopuses (yes, that is a legitimate pluralization of that word!)

Words of the Day

Today’s Words of the Day are seasonal in nature.  Students are continuing to compile these words with definitions, etymology and examples and sketches to “make them stick.”

macabre (adj)–ghastly; having weird, uncanny or exotic features; from Latin “chorea Machabaeorum” or “Dance of the Maccabees” a medieval stylized representation of the slaughter of the Maccabees; French “danse macabre” denoted a figure representing death who enticed people to dance with him until they dropped dead.

confection (n,v)--a sweet preparation of fruit, a preserve, a candy; the process of compounding, preparing, making something; something made up or confected.  Latin “confectionem”--a preparation, a medicament” the making by means of ingredients, act of compounding different substances into one preparation; in late 14C. Also “something prepared or made with sugar or syrup.”

masquerade (n,v)--A costume party at which masks are worn; a masked ball.  A disguise or outward show; a pretense.  From “mask”--1530’s “a cover for the face; a false face from French “masque”; medieval Latin masca “specter, nightmare.”

Homework Check

We did a brief check in on homework.  It can be challenging to have several assignments going at once–part of being a student in this style of classroom–and also as they move ahead academically. We talked about due dates. I hope to send out grade reports after I have graded the Rough Drafts this week which will be helpful.

Literature

There are a lot of characters in My Antonia and it's easy to get them mixed up!  Since we are wrapping up this novel, we did a fun review.   Each group was given a blank “Character Tracker Sheet,” a glue stick and 3 baggies.  Students were  to match the "descriptions", "connections to others" and "important quotations" in the correct category.  They wanted to  make this a competition.  We didn’t quite get it finished but plan to finish and present it next week.

Final Exam on My Antonia will be assigned next week.

Writing

The Classification OR Extended Definition Essay Rough Drafts and Prewrites were due today.  The final is due November 11.

Grammar

Today’s grammar discussion continued our unit on Phrases.  Today it was Participial Phrases.  Using these phrases correctly is key to “leveling up” your writing.  Using a Google Slide presentation and taking notes, we discussed how these phrases are “masquerading” as verbs, but they are really adjectives describing a noun/subject.  The participles end in “ed” or “ing.”  Students had a chance to write a few practice sentences and they were assigned homework.

Homework

Character Tracker Activity

Ext. Def/Classification PreWrite

Ext. Def/Classification Rough Draft

Participial Phrases

Identifying Participial Phrases

Links for This Week

Quick Write (10/27)

 

October 13–Week 8

 Quick Write

Today we had a choice of options revolving around events that happened on October 13 in different years in history–ranging from ancient to modern. We really skipped around!

Words of the Day 

No words of the Day today

Writing

Today we continued discussing our next essay:  either a Classified Essay or an Extended Definition.  We brainstormed topics for both and partnered up to read and discuss some examples.  There are more examples posted on Google Classroom. For our previous papers, we followed a 2-step process (rough draft to final draft).  For the rest of the papers we write this year, we'll follow a 3-step process:  pre-write (which could include a mind map or outline) to a rough draft to a final draft.  We did some brainstorming for both types of essays.  Students can choose which type of essay they would like to write.  The pre-write and rough draft are due on October 27.

Grammar

We’re continuing with a unit on phrases in sentences.  Students have reviewed preposition phrases and we covered gerund phrases last week.  For this week, students will be doing two worksheets dealing with infinitives.  Infinitive phrases combine the word “to” with a verb.  (For example, to sing, to jump, to swim, etc.)  Infinitive phrases can function as nouns, adjectives or adverbs.  These phrases can also have adjectives or direct objects.  One example from the worksheet had an infinitive phrase that was functioning as anou, and in the sentence it was the direct object.  No one said grammar was easy!!  (See posted information/videos for more teaching on infinitive phrases).

Literature

Students went into their small Literature Circles to discuss My Antonia.  I wandered around and heard some of their conversations.  They all seemed to be prepared for their groups.  Students should fill out an evaluation on how prepared they thought their group members were.  We’ll continue with the book and reader responses for the next assignments.  Students should keep

Reading and also working on their final book projects.  They submitted their proposals today.  

Homework

Ext. Def./Classification Pre-Write

Ext. Def./Classification Rough Draft

Examples of Ext. Def/Classification Examples

About Phrases  information)

Infinitives Practice

Infinitives Phrases HW

Literature Circle #2 Evaluation

Links for this Week

Quick Write

Class Notes Week 7–October 6

Once again, it was a jam-packed class.  We are accomplishing a lot in our short time together!  Students are really getting into a good groove.

Words of the Day

We have been starting with this portion of our class, and I did warn students that there will be a quiz on these words by the end of the semester.  It would be a good idea to review these words periodically.  These two words are Fall-related.  Can you see how these words are related to the season?

quietus (noun)--death that is a relief/eterna rest; death of an argument.From Latin “quietus est”=he is quiet; his debt is paid.

Students were asked to write about their own personal quietus–the welcome end of something in their lives.

deciduous (adj)–falling off or shed seasonally or at a certain stage of development in the life cycle.  Latin→de=down; off +caedere→to fall.  Related to the words decay and decadence→to fall from a condition of health or perfection. 

Quick Write

Students viewed and responded to the painting Wanderer Above the Sea of Clouds by romantic German painter Caspar David Friedrich. 

Homework Check

I touched on the fact that I had sent out detailed grade reports during the past week.  Students should note that each assignment is very important.  If something is not turned in, it says “Missing” on Google classroom.  Those marked “Missing” will automatically be transposed into a“0” when imported to the grade book.  After three weeks, I will no longer grade work.  

Another noteworthy item is that the gradebook is broken up into weighted categories.  You can now easily see your progress in each category and how that impacts your overall grade.  Since grades are weighted, figuring out your own grade would be a very complicated math problem!  If you calculate your total points and it doesn’t reflect the grade you are receiving, it might be due to the weighting.  

Writing

Students submitted their Personal Essay Finals today.  As usual, once we hand in one essay, we start the next one.  For the next round, students will have the opportunity to choose which essay they’d like to write:  Classification Essay, or  Extended Definition Essay.  

We are also transitioning from a two-step writing process, to a three step process.  Students will not be required to perform a Pre-Write, Rough Draft and Final draft.  Pre-Write is due Oct. 27.

In that vein, we briefly discussed the pre-write strategy of Mind Mapping.  We explored some online tools and there is an Extra Credit assignment where students will have the opportunity to play with these tools to create a mind map on any topic of their choosing and submit it for extra credit.

Grammar

So far, the Grammar worksheets have been a fairly simple review.  We are moving on to a unit on phrases in sentences.  This week there are two worksheets that have to do with the Gerund Phrase.  We viewed a YouTube video and there is an additional video linked in with the homework.

Literature

We are still chugging along in My Antonia.  Students have noticed that Wlla Cather has changed scenes from the Nebraska countryside to the more urban setting of Black Hawk and Lincoln.  This setting change also signals a change in the characters–from the halcyon days of childhood the more practical reality of adulthood.  

Students will be discussing three events from the book (up to page 140) in our Literature Circle #2 Discussion next week.  They were assigned groups and they chose the roles they will prepare as homework for next week.  This week the 3 Response Study Questions are Extra Credit.

Finally, students have been assigned a culminating project for this book.  They will need to submit a project proposal next week.

Homework

Classification Essay/Extended Definition

Online Mind Map (Extra Credit)

Identifying Gerunds (with Videos)

The Gerund Phrase

Literature Circles #1 Prep

3 Responses (EXTRA CREDIT)

My Antonia Project Proposal

Links for this Week

Quick Write