Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 7 (2/29)

 Dear Students

Happy Leap Day, everyone!  In honor of leaping around in time, our Quick Write was about time capsules.  We watched a short video on the opening of a time capsule buried by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere in 1795.  Students had three options to choose from on this topic.

For Writing, students we had a productive session of Peer Review on the Rough Draft for their Urban Legend essays.  I am impressed because these students have made a lot of progress on learning and using MLA Style in-text citations and compiling a Works Cited page.  Today, we looked at another example of such a page. I showed them how to refer to a slide show that’s posted on our Classwork Page on that topic. We discussed some insightful questions on details of how to cite things like YouTube videos, figures and what to do if your source doesn't totally pass the CRAAP test.  As an answer to that last question, is that  it’s OK to use a source if it doesn't’ pass the CRAAP test 100%.   HOWEVER that source will be a weaker one.  If you do decide to include it, you need to have other stronger sources to add credibility to your essay.

After you get feedback from me on your Rough Draft, you may revise and turn in your Final Draft on 3/14.

After that, there was a teaching on the “controversial” topic of the Oxford comma in Grammar.  Surprisingly, students had some strong feelings about this!  We learned that although the Oxford comma is really a style issue and is actually optional, mostly only the British and newspapers omit it.  I personally like and encourage the Oxford comma for readability and so that you don’t have to rethink this issue every time it comes up. We also talked about where a comma goes in a series of adjectives.  We had two worksheets on this topic that most students completed and corrected in class.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for a robust Literature discussion over the stories assigned from last class.  I hope we can revisit those gems next week.  The next batch of short stories was assigned along with a Short Story Packet.  Make sure to read all of them–there’s a strong possibility of a “pop” quiz next week!

Homework

Urban Legend Peer Review

Urban Legend Rough  Draft (if you didn’t get it turned in today!)

Commas in Lists

Commas in a Series

Read:  Twain (175); Jewett (87); Tolstoy (169); Checkhov (26)

Short Story Packet #1 (choose 2 stories to respond to; one side for one story and the other side for the other story)

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 6 (2/15)

 The snowflakes flew today-finally!  If you are a true Minnesotan, these are a welcome sight ;)  Tearing our eyes away from the beautiful snow and sunshine, here’s what we accomplished.

Our Quick Write today was a creative one!  After watching this video, students brainstormed some ideas for villains compiled a to-list for this villain’s day off.  It is humorous to imagine Darth Vader’s downtime from being a bad guy.  Does he really binge watch “Golden Girls”? 

After that, we got down to the business of Writing.  Last week, we started working on our Urban Legend essays.  (The Prewrite was due today.)  This essay is a persuasive piece with research, MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited page.  Their job is to find an urban legend, describe it, explain why so many people have believed it, and finally to effectively debunk it.  We discussed the importance of tone, voice and structure last week.

This week, we analyzed a Mentor Text looking  for certain elements in the introduction and conclusion such as the thesis, roadmap sentence and hook.  We discussed how the whole essay comes full circle as the conclusion mirrors the introduction by restating the thesis and mirroring the hook in its memorable parting thoughts.  I asked them to think of  a title for this essay as well.  Next class period, we will examine this Mentor Text for its use of in-text citations.  The Rough Draft is due next class period when we will Peer Review your work.  Don’t forget to post an answer to the discussion question about your topic!

Since the topic of this essay is finding “misinformation” and debunking it, it is important to understand what a reliable source is and how to evaluate its credibility.  A tool to help do that is an acronym called The “CRAAP” test.  This mnemonic device stands for:  Credibility, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose.  They are to watch an Edpuzzle video on this topic and then run one of their sources through this CRAAP test.  They are to complete a worksheet.

Literature

We are continuing on in our short story units now.  After brainstorming some connections and relationships between the four very different stories they read for homework, they broke into small groups to share their findings.  I must say that this class is full of deep (and lively!) thinkers and they made some insightful connections.  For homework, they have four more stories to read and a Short Story Packet to complete

Last, we talked over the topic of commas as they appear in appositives for Grammar. Appositives, a special kind of parenthetical expression, can add flair and are positioned next to another noun/noun phrase to identify it or give additional information.  (The appositive is underlined in the previous sentence.)  After working through some examples, they started work on three worksheets that deal with that concept.

Have a wonderful week off of CHAT and reach out with any questions you might have.  I hope to get Grade Reports out early next week, so keep an eye out for those.

Blessings,
Mrs. G

Homework

Urban Legend Mentor Text

Urban Legend Rough Draft

Discussion Question:  What’s Your Topic?

Edpuzzle:  CRAAP Test

CRAAP Test Worksheet

Read:  Hawthorne (73); Bierce (10); Poe (156); Harte (64)

Short Story Packet #1

Appositive Phrases

Comma Worksheet Appositives and Parenthetical Phrases

Interrupters Phrases

Writing 2 Class Notes--WK 5 (2/8)

 

Greetings!

The weather was unseasonably warm and our class was in high spirits.  What a joy these students are to teach every week!

Secrets!  We had several Quick Write prompts dealing with secrets, surprises or mysteries today.  Students could pick one and respond in writing.  They had fun sharing some mysterious activities by neighbors–both fictional and in real life!

First up for Writing:  we had a debrief on their Mystery Podcasts since they were due this week.  They had some great insights and feedback!  Some enjoyed writing the story, but NOT the podcasting aspect.  Some like the tight parameters and some didn’t because they felt it impinged on their creativity.  I explained that though frameworks can be helpful when writing, I will not be taking points off for not following the format exactly or for any tech snafus that might occur.  They need to post their finished podcast for a peer to review their work.  Have fun listening to your classmates’ creations!

After that, I rolled out their next essay:  Urban Legends Essay.  This assignment is a  persuasive piece that will include MLA citations, research and a Works Cited page.  After going over what the essay requirements will be, we watched a short video on different urban legends and then brainstormed a few.  The Pre-Write is due next week.

On to the Literature portion of our class.  We reviewed the three Russian stories and discussed their themes.  They need to read 4 more stories for next week and do the Short Story Responses.

At the end of class, I gave a very brief Grammar  "power lesson" about the commas that follow introductory elements.  These elements can include interjections, personal addresses, prepositional phrases, and dependent clauses.  They have 2 worksheets to  practice this.  

Blessings on your weekend!

Mrs. G

   

Homework

Mystery Podcast Final Peer Review

Urban Legend Pre-Write

Read Dickens, Munro, Wilde & Kipling Short Stories

Short Story Responses

Introductory Commas

Commas After Introductory Phrases

Links for This Week

Urban Legends Video

 CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 4 (2/1)

Hello All,

It was great to have class again this week amidst this crazy, wonderful, warm winter weather!

As usual, we started out with a Quick Write on the topic of their choosing:  Read-alouds, handwriting, or pies.  They are random–but based on the National Days calendar.  It was fun to hear what they had written about!

We spent the bulk of our time on Writing.  I have returned the Mystery Podcast Script Rough Drafts.  It was so fun to read what the class had come up with–some very riveting stories!  I mentioned that since these pieces are meant to be heard and not read, I didn’t comment on things like mechanics, spelling or format like I normally do for a Rough Draft.  Instead, we discussed how formatting their work more like a screenplay would be helpful during the recording process.

We also took some time to go over the expectations on how they will submit their podcasts & cover art, Final Peer Reviews, and Endnotes.  Students also had some great ideas and technology strategies.  They are welcome to go lower tech (vocaroo.com, phone recording app) to higher tech sound layering apps and sites like Canva, Wevideo and James suggested Audacity.com.  We also talked about what happens to the integrity of the mystery when we add or omit elements like interviews or others’ voices when recording.  I look forward to seeing what creative choices they will make!

Literature

With regret, we are finished with our Sherlock Holmes unit.  We used our Characterization of Sherlock worksheets that were due today to help them make a chart listing the hero's positive and negative traits.  They then got in small groups and had a mini-debate on whether they think Sherlock was actually a hero or not. They have a Sherlock Final Exam that focuses on that topic.  I passed out the new books which are a collection of short stories.  They are to read three for next week and answer the Short Story Questions.

For Grammar, we went over independent and subordinate clauses again.  This time, we practiced identifying those clauses and writing sentences that contain both.  We took some time to work on those in class.  Most students finished–which is good because they have enough on their plates with their podcast Finals! 

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Podcast Final Draft

Podcast Final Peer Review

Podcast Endnotes

Sherlock Holmes Final Exam

Read Short Stories: Pushkin (162), Tolstoy (169), Checkov (26)

Short Story Worksheets

Identifying Ind/Sub Clauses

Writing Ind/Sub Clauses

CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 3 (1/25)

 Greetings!

We had a fun, fast-paced class today where we accomplished a lot and I think we all left feeling energized and encouraged.

We started out with our Quick Write and students had a choice of prompts to write about:

• What is a favorite childhood memory?

• What is one of the best days of your life?

• What was a highlight of your week?

They shared some interesting stories!

After that, we dove into a Grammar lesson about compound and complex sentences.  The point of these lessons is part of our larger goal this semester:  the comma!  We are studying where the commas should go in different scenarios–in this case when using subordinating conjunctions.  To that end, we watched part of a short video and worked through some examples together.  Students should complete and correct their worksheets and hand them in next week.

Next, we switched gears to the Writing portion of our class where we talked about the Mystery Podcast scripts.  Students had some time to Peer Review a classmate’s script using the Peer Review sheet.  If they didn’t finish in class, they should have a friend or family member complete it at home.  Once they get feedback from me, they are clear to begin recording their Final Drafts.

In Literature, we had a short check-in about the Sherlock mysteries we have read so far.  There are mixed opinions on Mr. Holmes’ character, but we can all agree that he is a very interesting person!  We watched a clip from “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” (Jerem Brett).  Some students thought the actor portrayed him well and some were not very impressed! Instead of answering response questions, students are assigned to think deeply about Sherlock’s character using a worksheet I handed around.  It will be a springboard for some writing and is due next week.  Our Sherlock study will conclude with the last two stories that are assigned for next week.

Homework 

Complex Sentences and Commas

The Complex Sentence 1,2,3

Mystery Podcast Peer Review Sheet

Mystery Podcast Script Rough Draft (if not done already)

Read “The Final Problem” & “Adventure of the Empty House”

Characterization of Sherlock Holmes

Links for this Week

Comma Story video

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band”

Audio version of “The Final Problem”

Audio version of “The Adventure of the Empty House”

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 2 (January 18)

 Today’s class absolutely flew by!  I think it must have been because we were having fun?  At least I can speak for myself.  Here’s a recap with some links.

We started our day with a Quick Write as usual.  Students could choose from a list of prompts I had gathered from some of my previous classes:

• What are some of your pet peeves?

• What do you do that really annoys other people?

• What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten?

• What is the best and worst part of your house?

After that, we did a Q & A in the Writing section of our class about our upcoming writing project–Mystery Story Podcast.  The Pre-Write was due today and we shared topic ideas and aspects that are exciting about the project and things that seem daunting.  There were comments that this type of writing is more challenging in some ways–fitting our ideas into this prescribed format–but also these constraints can be helpful.  Some students are way out of their comfort zones, while some are looking forward to seeing their ideas come to life.  We discussed how to add music and how to produce cover art for their podcasts.  They had some great ideas and I am looking forward to their progress. The Rough Drafts of the scripts are due next week (1/25). Bring a hard copy to class for peer review.

Literature

We switched gears to discuss the first two stories from our Sherlock Holmes study.  We read aloud the first few pages from “The Red-Headed League” to discuss some of Sherlock’s remarkable abilities and characteristics.  They had some insightful comments!  For next week, they are to read two of the most famous stories “Adventures of the Speckled Band” and “The Engineer’s Thumb” and answer the four questions.  

Grammar

They have been assigned three worksheets on coordinating conjunctions and some finer points of where the comma belongs.  They are to complete and correct those worksheets for next week.

Homework

Mystery Podcast Script Rough Draft–Bring a hard copy to class for Peer Review!

“...Speckled Band” & “The Engineer’s Thumb” PDF and audio stories & Four Questions

Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions

Is It a Compound Question?

Writing Compound Sentences

Links for this Week

Putting Together Podcast slideshow

Class Blog

Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 1 (January 11)

Hello Dear Students,

It was good to be back together again in the new year!  The sun was even shining, which matched the shining faces I saw 🙂

We started the day out with a Quick Write.  They had a choice to either write about National Kiss A Ginger Day (yes, that’s a real day!) and National Tea Day.

Though I forgot to bring copies of the Syllabus, Homework Checklist and Late Homework Dates information sheets, I assigned them to make sure they’ve signed up for Spring Semester of Writing 2 and take a look at those documents.  They will be instrumental in helping them stay organized.  They are linked below and I will bring hard copies next week.

For Literature, we kicked off the class by introducing our new book:  Six Great Sherlock Holmes Stories by Arthur Conon Doyle.  Some students had seen a TV show or movie based on the stories–and some had read a few stories themselves.  We had a  discussion on what images come to mind when you think of “Sherlock Holmes” and what elements make a good detective story.   Some students were surprised to hear that Sherlock Holmes never actually said, “Elementary, my dear Watson.”  He merely said “Elementary!”  I hope students will thrill at meeting this calculating and intense sleuth themselves.  We read a few pages of the first story aloud and they are to finish reading “Scandal in Bohemia” & “The Red-Headed League” this week and answer 4 questions from the Study Guide.

We went from reading mystery stories, to writing them with our first Writing assignment this year–a mystery writing with a twist.  It’s a podcast! I am excited about this writing project because not only do students get a chance to write a mystery story, they get to build on their skills from the previous semester from the Advertisement project to produce a podcast of their own.  My hope is that they will be inspired to launch out and do a podcast on a subject of their choosing someday soon.  Our world needs their voices!  

Today, we spent some time walking through how to structure their work.  We found that a typical mystery/true crime podcast follows a fairly predictable routine–which will make their job that much easier.  We broke those steps down and discussed different ways they could make it happen. After that, we sampled the first few minutes of such a podcast called “Up and Vanished.”  Students listened to the story and took notes on clues and locations and we noted the rhythm/structure of the podcast.  The Prewrite for this project is due next week.

Lastly, for Grammar, I introduced the comma unit we will be studying this year. We discussed compound sentences and got started on the three worksheets they will need to complete this week.  Don’t forget to correct your work and mark it!

Enjoy your weekend!

Blessings, 

Mrs. G

Homework & Links for This Week

Syllabus

Homework Checklist

Homework & Late Dates

Characteristics of a Detective Story

Read Ch. “Scandal in Bohemia” & “Red-Headed League” 

Study Guide Questions

About Essay 1:  Mystery Podcast

Mystery Podcast Prewrite

“Up and Vanished” Podcast (Mentor Text)*

FANBOYS

Compound Sentences and Commas

Sentence Structures:  Simple and Compound Sentences

Writing 2 Class Blog

*Though the “Up and Vanished” podcast is a good source as a Mentor Text for this project, I am only recommending Episode 1 of Season 1.  It can be intense for more sensitive students and I noticed a few swears in later episodes of Season 1.  For those reasons, please be warned if you proceed to listen farther than what we heard in class.