CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes--Week 9 (10/31)

 Dear Students,

We were rolling quite along today and spirits were high!

Quick Write

After a seasonally appropriate Quick Write on the topic of Candy, we got started with the class.

Writing

Today, we continued our unit of summarizing a reference and they will have two weeks to complete this next assignment.  After they’ve chosen to either summarize an article about a Wild West Outlaw (“Butch Cassidy”) or the article on how an detective agency brought some of these outlaws to justice (“Pinkerton Detective Agency”)  they are to write a KWO for 3 topics (paragraphs.)  The outline is due next week–WK 10 (11/7.)   After reviewing the main points of the KWO, we got a good start on a KWO about the Pinkerton Detective Agency.  Some students chose to use my ideas for topics, some decided to choose their own as we began the KWO on the board.  The composition (three paragraphs) will be due the following week–week 11 (11/14.)  If students want to get a head start on it they are welcome to do so–everything is posted on GC, but we will go over the checklist next week.  

Literature

We took a deep dive into discussing our novel, Peace Like A River today using a strategy called “Hexagonal Thinking.”  After choosing groups, students received a packet of blank hexagons and others that had quotes and themes from the book.   A hexagon has six sides, therefore each term or concept CAN connect to up to six others. Using critical thinking, students decided where the terms best fit in the web of hexagons provided. The goal is to move each hexagon into the position where it BEST fits within the overall web. They could connect any given term to several others, being intentional with the placement. 

They recorded three of their most powerful connections on a worksheet and shared their best one at the close of the class.

There were many moving parts–and students found there was no one right answer–as long as they could justify their connection. Some students found this invigorating, and some found it a challenging stretch to make these connections. I think they all exercised some critical thinking and had a good time reviewing what they have read in the novel so far.

Grammar

No Grammar this week!  We will dive into participial phrases next week.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the snow??!?

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

KWO for “Pinkerton Detective Agency” OR “Butch Cassidy”--bring it to class

About Summarizing A Reference (part 2)

“Butch Cassidy” & “Pinkerton Detective Agency” Source Texts

Read PLAR Ch. 18-19

3 Responses

Links for this week

Quick Write

Hexagonal Discussion

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 8 (10/24)

 It was good to see your smiling faces back from break.  We are officially halfway through the Fall semester now.  Can you believe it?!?

Class opened with a Door Test on the Topic-Clincher Rule.  Memorizing and using this rule helps us to write well-rounded paragraphs.  Studies show that using gestures can support memorization; pairing simple actions with words will  help this rule stick in our minds. The “test” was simple: after a practice round, everyone stood up and recited the rule using the actions we learned.  They did great!  

After that, we had our Visual Vocabulary words of the day:  rancor and denizen.  

Writing

We are continuing our unit on summarizing a reference–laying the groundwork for longer essays later in the year.  Last week, the assignment was a two paragraph summary on a reference about Florence Nightingale and those were due today.  Since the teaching was sent out as a set of short videos, we had a progress check-in. They should have incorporated all five of the dress-ups and the new topic-clincher rule.  

After that, we had a mini-lesson introducing Sentence Openers.  We will have six this year and the first one is sentence opener two:  the prepositional sentence opener.  As the name suggests, this sentence begins with a preposition or prepositional phrase.  An example:

[2] In sentence openers, the indicator is a number in brackets before the sentence.

Students got a hand out on that opener. We worked in pairs to identify all the Dress-Ups and practice this new sentence opener.

No writing assignment this week–just catch up on any late work.  I will be sending out grade reports before next class, so use this time wisely!  Next week, we’ll practice summarizing with a little longer assignment and incorporate this sentence opener.

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 a noun, and in the sentence it was the direct object.  No one said grammar was easy!! 

Literature

This week, the Peace Like A River project was introduced.  Students will choose a project from the list to present in a few weeks.  For next week, students should post an answer to the question on Google Classroom about their project choice.  Once approved, work can begin.  Presentations will be 12/5 & 12/12.  Keep reading your books and complete the Quiz over chapters 15-17 on Google Classroom.  Next week we’ll have another book discussion.

That’s it!  Reach out with any questions.

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Catch-up on any late writing assignments

Infinitives Homework–1

Infinitives Homework–2

Read PLAR Chapters 15-17

Ch. 15-17 Quiz (GC)

PLAR Project Proposal & Question

Links for this Week

Visual Vocabulary

PLAR Presentation Schedule

Updated Assignment Checklist

CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 6 (10/3)

 Greetings, Everyone!

We’ve turned the corner into Fall and the weather is still gorgeous.  Time flies with this wonderful group of students!

After checking in about homework, we started the class  with Visual Vocabulary. Today we bandied about the definitions for bandy and entity.  Students are really catching on to these vocab words!  (See the hint for bandy on the left.)

After that, we got to our Writing.  Today’s focus was on learning the last of the dress-ups–strong adjectives and www.asia.b.  The latter is not a website, but a mnemonic device to help us remember the subordinate conjunctions which begin this adverbial clause dress-up.  Students should memorize these www words for a quiz at the beginning of class next week.  (Try to be able to recite them in 3 seconds or less!)  For a more fulsome discussion of these dress-ups, see the slideshow posted on GC. We also learned some rules about how to write numbers in compositions.  The numbers thing is normally a point of confusion for writers at this level.  We filled out a worksheet in class to help solidify the concepts.

They are to choose “The Miller and His Son” or “The Stag and the Pool” to write three paragraphs.  As usual, hand in all four pieces EITHER on GC OR on paper:  checklist, rough draft, final draft and KWO (which is a story sequence chart.)  Follow the directions on your checklist.

Literature

I assigned roles for our big Literature Circle discussion next week (see below.)  You will receive a grade on your preparation and participation and we went over the expectations.  Each student has a part to play in order to make this a fruitful discussion.  They are to keep reading chapters  11 & 12 this week and complete a 3 Responses worksheet.  Any material up to chapter 12 is fair game for the discussion.  I did assign  the 3 Response worksheets this week (left them at home!)  Now you can focus more fully on reading and preparing your roles!

Grammar

Today’s grammar concept was on misplaced and dangling modifiers.  A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word or clause it modifies or describes. Because of this separation, the meaning of the sentence is often  awkward, ridiculous, illogical, or confusing.  A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause that is not clearly and logically related to the word or words it  modifies or describes.  These mistakes can often be amusing:

The waiter served a dinner roll to the woman that was well buttered.

They have two worksheets on this concept that are due next week.

Homework

Retelling Narrative Variations–”The Miller and His Son” OR “The Stag and the Pool”

Literature Circles Roles

Read chapters 11 & 12

3 Responses

About Misplaced Modifiers

Misplaced Modifiers #1

Misplaced Modifiers #2

Links for this week

Visual Vocabulary #3

About -ly adjectives & www.asia.b clause Dress-ups & Numbers Slides