Hello All!
I appreciated the students’ hard working attitudes today as they dove into another great day of learning together.
We started out class with a QuickWrite which was about something we all have experienced: mistakes and regrets. We used a mentor sentence and analyzed it for grammar and language and recorded those Craft Moves on a chart they will be compiling throughout the semester. After that, we tried our hands at a five minute QuickWrite. I challenged students to incorporate a complex compound sentence, a metaphor and or vivid verbs! In partners, we shared a word, a phrase or a sentence before turning those in.
After that, we switched gears to Literature and focused on our novel, Peace Like A River. After refreshing each other about the major themes of the novel, we had story time! I read aloud the first few pages so we could get a feel for the characters, setting and conflict. It’s a gripping opening and I think students are excited about reading it. They are to read chapters 1-3 and do three study guide questions.
In the Writing portion of the class, we turned our minds back to thinking about mistakes and regrets. I assigned Essay 1 “My Favorite Mistake”. It’s a reflective piece of writing where students will need to be able to both recall the event that happened, and also reflect on how the mistake impacted their life–positive or negative. They read an example essay and, using highlighters, they marked examples of areas of writing that were either expressing (recalling) and areas that are reflecting on the impact of the event. I handed out the Pre-write and students had a short time to begin their essay. Though I didn’t bring paper copies of the essay description, it is posted on Google Classroom, and it can be accessed there. The Rough Draft template is posted and they should begin their essays this week. Next week we’ll have more time devoted to writing in a Writer’s Workshop, and again in Week 5 for this essay.
In the last few minutes of class, we touched on the topic of why learning grammar is important. We watched a short video from Grammar Girl where she gives us some insight on why the study of grammar is important in our world today. I recommend the students give the Grammar Girl podcast a listen sometime. As an “exit ticket” students got in groups to come up with three reasons grammar is important and three questions they have about grammar. Some groups had a hard time coming up with questions, but we’ll cover more grammar topics in the weeks to come.
Enjoy the beautiful weather!
Blessings,
Mrs. G
Homework
“Who Am I (As A Writer)? from Week 1
About Essay 1 “My Favorite Mistake”
Work on Essay 1 “My Favorite Mistake”
Read Chapter 1-3 Peace Like A River
LInks for This Week:
Craft Moves Identification Chart
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