Hello!
Yes, there is snow on the ground. Lots of snow. BUT-the forecast calls for WARM temps this weekend! Looks like we Minnesotans have the last laugh afterall! We had another great class together today. Here’s what we did.
Quick Write
The topic today prompted them to write about parents and children. They have lots of experience with both subjects! They were given five minutes and they could choose whichever topic piqued their interest and include and indicate two style points.
Writing
The cycle continues in Writing 1 class; one essay is due and the next one is rolled out. Honestly, we are on the homeward stretch and this is the last essay I’ll assign to have the pre-writing, drafting and polishing stage. So, be encouraged!
Today, I introduced the Formal Critique. A formal critique is the type of writing that requires you to analyze a piece of writing, and offer your opinion. It's not simply a retelling of events, although you must briefly do that. A formal critique is a step between a “book report” and college-level literary analysis. In a formal critique essay, the focus is on critical thinking and self-examination. This essay is a common upper level writing course assignment.
Today, we talked through the requirements and structure for this paper and we analyzed a sample. Students discussed what they noticed about this piece of writing. For their paper, students will choose a short story, movie, novel or narrative poem that they believe has impacted them. They will also choose two topics to analyze from that piece of writing.
As a class, we talked through some possible topics (setting, message, theme, characters, etc.) and they were given vocabulary suggestions for how to discuss their topics. The Key Word Outline is due next class period (3/26) and the Final Essay is due after break (4/9). This is a change of schedule and the syllabus has been updated. (It’s due a week earlier to allow for more time for Final Edits.)
Literature
This class is enjoying our short story unit and today we had an enjoyable Literature Circles Discussion. After refreshing ourselves on the plot, theme, setting & characters of the stories from last week, we spent the rest of the time focusing on “A Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin. They were to come to a consensus on this question: What is your opinion about Mrs. Sommers' choices for how she spent her money? Once again, they had some wonderful insights! They are to read the next batch of short stories for next week and do the worksheet. There will be a Quiz over this week’s and next week’s reading in class next week–so make sure you are prepared!
Grammar
We had a fairly simple topic today. There are two worksheets on Hyphens and End Marks & Abbreviations. If more support is needed, I did post an information sheet on hyphens on GC. They are to be corrected and are due next week.
Homework
Read: Larsen (110); Anderson (1); Hardy (56); London (122)
Links for this week
About Weaknesses as Strength Essay
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