CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes--WK 2 (September 3)

 Hello All!

This is such a fun group of students–I think we are really going to enjoy learning together this year!

We had our first edition of Visual Vocabulary (VV).  Today, we learned:  poignant and blight.  These words are taken from SAT/ACT vocabulary lists and each week we do VV, students are given the definition, the part of speech, the synonym and antonym.  Then they write a sentence using the word in context. We will be adding to the list throughout the semester–so don’t lose that worksheet–keep it the Class Notes tab! 

After reminding ourselves about some major themes of the novel and discussing miracles we started our Literature portion of the class to discuss–Peace Like A River.  We discussed the timeline of the book so far. It was mentioned how the narrative tends to jump around with lots of flashbacks and things told “out of order.” I posted a few questions and gave them time to discuss the high points and help them get those in their minds. The next chapter is the BIG action, so I want them to be ready! Instead of a worksheet over the reading, I will be giving them an in-class quiz to check their understanding.

We dove right into writing with two notetaking techniques: the Key Word Outline and the Stick and Branch method. Both of these useful techniques are skills I hope students will practice and make a lifelong skill. Both have their strengths and are useful in different ways. We discussed that a KWO is helpful when taking notes from a linear or narrative piece of writing. The Stick and Branch method is like a KWO “on steroids” and is much freer form. It is great for taking notes when the source text/talk jumps around or feels a bit disorganized. You can connect ideas easily in this geographic and intuitive form of notetaking. 

We practiced these two techniques on a familiar fable:  “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Using a clip from Andrew Pudewa’s University-Ready Writing, students listened to the fable being read two times through. The first time they created a KWO; the second time through they created the stick and branch style notes. 

After that, we took another run at the method and listened to a 4 minute minute clip from the Sean McDowell podcast. I told them that this length of time is about one quarter of a lecture. As we listened, I took notes live on the whiteboard. Students copied mine or wrote their own and used mine as a reference. Their homework is to do it again with another 10 minute talk of their own choosing:  a sermon, a podcast, a Tedtalk, etc.

Last, we just had time for a brief Grammar Discussion today.  In small groups, we discussed why the study of grammar is important and we talked about some positives and some pain points (diagramming sentences!) We won’t be doing that this year, however we will be addressing some areas of grammar in our study that are typically tricky for students to learn. In my humble opinion, the best way to learn good grammar is to READ a lot–but does come a time for a well-placed worksheet too;) 

Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Notetaking–choose a 10 min. Talk to do “stick and branch” style notes

Read Chapter 4 & 5 Peace Like A River

Quiz next week (in class!)

Material for This Week:

Visual Vocabulary #1

Writing 2 Class Blog (Class Notes Archive)