CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes--Week 9 (3/20)

 Hello!  

We are in the thick of it and the weather is turning warm.  Just as spring should be!  We had another great class together today.  Here’s what we did.

Quick Write

The topic today was designed to get students thinking about success, qualities in others they admire, people they admire and fictional characters they’d love to meet IRL 🙂.  They were given five minutes and they could choose whichever topic piqued their interest.

Writing

Today we had a check-in on their Weakness as Strength essays that were assigned last week.  The subject of this essay is to think deeply about how to switch your perspectives on some character traits in order to see it from the positive side. Sometimes, in our weaknesses, we make mistakes; sometimes our mistakes require us to give an apology.  So today, we explored the art of a proper apology.  Although it’s not customary to write a note of apology–we usually do this in person–we took the opportunity to think deeply about how to give and receive an apology.  We watched a few short videos on this topic.  After that, each student picked out some stationary and they got started. Their finished apology notes are due along with their essays next week.  

While they were writing, I went around and gave them credit if they met the deadline for their KWO.  Their KWOs were due this week and most students look like they are tracking well.  

Two more sentence openers were added to our checklist for this next assignment and today, we learned the [5] adverbial clause opener and the [1] subject opener. The [5] sentence opener is very straightforward if you remember the WWW.ASIA.B  dress-up.  You just start the sentence with that. The only trick is to make sure to use a comma after the adverbial clause.  Remember:

AC, MC  

That stands for adverbial clause COMMA main clause.  (You need to use a comma after the www.asia.b clause when you use it to start the sentence.)   For example:

[5] When you use this adverbial clause, you must put the comma after the clause.

 The subject opener is SUPER SIMPLE!  It's what you write as a default--which is why I leave this one until last.  You simply start the sentence with a subject.  (You may use an adjective or article to precede if necessary.)  Don't overuse this because it can be very tedious to read.  For example:

[1] This sentence opener is very easy.

Literature

This class is enjoying our short story unit and today we had an enjoyable Literature Circles Discussion.  After refreshing ourselves on the other three stories from last week, we spent the rest of the time focusing on “A Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin.  In this Jigsaw style discussion, students became “experts” on one aspect of the story:  Plot, Theme, or Setting & Characters.  After they had thoroughly discussed, they re-grouped and shared their information.  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!  

Our topic for Grammar was fairly simple. There are two worksheets on Hyphens and End Marks & Abbreviations.  Though we didn’t have time to work together in pairs on these, I did post an information sheet on hyphens in case more support is needed.  They are to be corrected and are due next week.

Homework

Weakness as Strength Essay

Note of Apology (& videos)

Read:  Larsen (110); Anderson (1); Hardy (56); London (122)

Audio versions

Short Story Questions

Using Hyphens

End Marks and Abbreviations

Links for this week

About Weaknesses as Strength Essay

Literature Circles Discussion

Hyphens Rules

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 8 (3/13)

 Visual Vocabulary

Our words today were modicum (noun) and brusque (adj).  Students worked with those words today.

Literature

Today, we had a review day.  After putting the students in groups, they had some time to talk over the main points of the stories we have read so far:  plot, characters, tone, etc.  After they had reviewed, it was time for the promised quiz.  It pays to be prepared for class!

Writing

The “Franken-essays” were due this week.  Now that they have had some practice writing effective introductions and conclusions, they are ready to sink their teeth into some proper essays.  

I introduced the “Strength as Weakness Essay.”  We watched the Ted Talk on this topic, where the speaker discusses his disabilities and how his mind was blown when he realized that, when applied to different contexts, these disadvantages could actually be  “superpowers.”  I love this concept!  We took a few minutes to brainstorm ideas and discussed two options to organize this essay.

 

Option 1:  take three weaknesses and discuss how they can actually be strengths in other settings/contexts.

Option 2:  take one weakness/character flaw and discuss three ways they can be strengths in other settings/contexts.

The Key Word Outline is due next week (either bring it to class OR scan and upload it to GC.  I won’t be accepting submissions after the due date for that one ; It’s worth 20 points!)  Next week, we will talk Style (dress-ups, sentence openers.  However, if you want to get a jump on drafting your essay, the template is posted right now.  It will be due Week 10 (March 27th.)

Grammar

We are forging ahead with our comma unit and today’s topic was a review on where to put the commas in dates and addresses.  There are two worksheets due next week–they are to finish and correct them.  Please note, the worksheet “Commas in Dates and Addresses”

Homework 

Read:  Chopin (30); Mansfield (130); Pirandello (149); de Maupassant (134)

PDF and Audio Versions

Short Story Packet #2

Weakness as Strength KWO

Weakness as Strength Essay (if you want to start early; not due until 3/27)

Commas in Dates and Addresses

Commas in Dates, Addresses and in Letters

Links for this week

“How Our Weaknesses Can Become Strengths” Ted Talk by David Rendall

About the Strength as Weakness Essay

CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 6 (2/20)

 Hello Dear Students!

We made it to our first break of Spring semester–and I think we are ALL ready for it!  Some surprised me by not knowing that we have next week off–I think that’s a good sign.  ;)

We began the class with two new Visual Vocabulary words:  nascent and panacea.  

Writing

Next, we checked in about the Writing From Pictures assignment.  After re-capping the process on the board, they got in groups to compare their Key Word Outlines and to discuss the pictures they chose and the Checklist.  I heard some great ideas and it seems like they are enjoying this creative writing assignment.

I circulated and gave them credit if they met the deadline for the KWO.  When time was up, I fielded some questions that they couldn’t answer in their small group and assigned the Mystery Pictures essay which is due after break (3/6).  

Literature

We are continuing on in our short story units now and today we had a Literature Circles discussion.  After discussing different types of conflicts found in literature and generating some examples on the board, they broke into small ”expert” groups to draw a diagram plot on an assigned story from last week and to discuss its main conflict.  

We hovered in our expert groups and didn’t end up organizing into mixed groups for those discussions. 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

Grammar

Because we devoted more time to a quality literature discussion, instead of a live grammar lesson, I will post a video in case some extra support is needed.  Today’s topic of commas was about how 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.)  As they were discussing their short story, I handed out 3 worksheets that deal with that concept.  They are to finish those as homework.

I hope your break is brimming with rest, relaxation and some time with a good book!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework for this week

Mystery Pictures KWO (due today)

Mystery Pictures assignment

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

Short Story Packet #1

Appositive Phrases

Comma Worksheet Appositives and Parenthetical Phrases

Interrupters Phrases

Links for this week

Literature Circles Discussion

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 5 (2/13)

                                    Greetings!

The weather was seasonably cold today and I had more than a few out with different viruses.  We are one week away from a break, and I sense we are in need of some time off!  These students are a joy to teach–even when circumstances are challenging.

Since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, our Quick Write today was on the subject of conversation hearts.  After watching a short video on this candy’s history, students brainstormed as many aspects of, things about and topics pertaining to this subject.  I even challenged them to come up with as many “Gen Z” messages as possible.  The heart shaped lollipops helped this process along!  Students also made some Valentine’s for a friend or family member.  Sweet!

Literature

On to the Literature portion of our class.  We reviewed the three Russian stories and discussed their themes of poverty and integrity.  Once again, I was impressed with some of their insights and their ability to think critically.  It was also very clear there were some students who hadn’t read the stories.🫣  I warned them that they never know when a pop quiz might happen–so they should make sure to do their readings each week!

They need to read 4 more stories for next week and do the Short Story Responses.  Read all four; answer one side for one of the stories; the other side for a different story.

Writing

We started another writing project today which is writing a detective story a la Sherlock Holmes.  After reading a hand out about characteristics of detective stories, I assigned a pair of pictures to each student.  The pair of pictures assigned are moody and suggestive of a story, but very open ended. I gave another  option which was to choose a series of three pictures for their mystery stories. Like our last round of writing from pictures, though the images are suggestive of a story, they are minimal.  That leaves room for lots of creativity!  

We very briefly reviewed the basics of asking good questions and making a Key Word Outline for this assignment.  Those KWOs are due next week.

To wrap up today’s lesson, students had a chance to play a round or two of Mystery Mansion.  They grouped up and used the cards to take turns telling the story.  They had fun with this and it was good practice for the upcoming assignment!

At the end of class, I handed out the Grammar  worksheets.  The topic is 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.  I wasn’t able to do any teaching on this, but the concept is laid out in the directions.  If you have any questions, just reach out.  Remember to correct your own work!

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework for this week

Short Story Responses

About Writing A Mystery from Pictures

Mystery Pictures KWO

Commas After Introductory Phrases

Introductory Commas

Links for this week

History of Conversation Hearts–video

Animal Farm The Graphic Novel

Mystery Mansion Game & Characteristics of a Detective Story document

CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 4 (2/6)

Hello All,

We’ve hit a cold snap in Minnesota, but that didn’t keep these lovely Writing 1 students from the task at hand this week.  It was good to be together again!

Our Visual Vocabulary words today were clemency and munificent.  We took a few minutes to discuss the words. They wrote some sentences (and drew pictures!) to help cement these words into their brains.  I always look forward to reading these sophisticated words in their writing!

Writing

Before they passed their Visual Vocabulary in, we added two new sentence openers to our style sheets and practiced writing sentences using the #3 -ly adverb opener and the #4 -ing opener.

These will be added to our checklists for the next compositions!

Though we are wrapping up our Sherlock Holmes unit, the mystery writing continues as their Writing from Pictures assignment was due today.  We will start our next writing assignment next week.

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. It was a great display of critical thinking and public speaking.  I was impressed with their efforts!

After that,  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 have two worksheets on independent and subordinate clauses again.  This time, they will identify those clauses and write sentences that contain both.  Due to the fact that we didn’t have time to work on those in class,  I plan to make and post a quick teaching video in case anyone needs support learning these concepts.

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Sherlock Holmes Final Exam

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

Short Story Worksheets

Identifying Ind/Sub Clauses

Writing Ind/Sub Clause

Links For This Week

Style sheet

Hero Debate

 

CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes--Week 3 (1/30)

 Hello, Dear Students!  

Back with another action-packed and learning packed class!

We started out with a Quick Write on a very out-of-the-box subject:  Yodeling!!  In honor of National Yodel for your Neighbors Day today, we learned a few facts about this art from and then I asked the students to think of as many writing topics on this subject as possible.  We also had some fun trying to “break” our voices into a yodel and listening to some experts.  

We started the class by narrating this week’s Writing homework assignment.  As a class, we told back the process of making a Key Word Outline for the series of pictures they chose from last week.  Then in table groups, they shared their outlines and storylines with each other.  I think they are enjoying this inventive writing assignment!  I circulated and gave credit to the students who met today’s deadline–either on GC or on paper.  They must submit their KWOs with their Final Draft next week.

After that, we had a mini-lesson on how to properly write dialogue using quotation marks and proper punctuation (they have an Edpuzzle video to watch on that at home) and then I handed out the Checklist for the composition and an example.  It is due next week.

Switching gears, we turned to Literature, and had a 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! 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.  They should read those and answer the questions.

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.

That’s it!  Keep up the good work and reach out if you have any questions.

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Writing from Pictures Assignment & Checklist

Edpuzzle–Punctuating Dialogue

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

4 Questions

Characterization of Sherlock Holmes

Grammar

Complex Sentences and Commas

The Complex Sentence 1,2,3 & Comma video (optional)

Links for this Week

Yodel Quick Write

About Writing from Pictures & Tutorial

Jeremy Brett in “Mystery of the Speckled Band” YouTube

Audio version of “The Final Problem”

Audio version of “The Adventure of the Empty House”

CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 2 (1/23)

 Today, we started our Visual Vocabulary words for Spring.  This is where we work with some ACT/SAT vocabulary words; we learn the definition, the part of speech, and use it in a sentence.  I gave them this semester’s worksheet where the words will be cumulatively compiled.  They turned in the sentences or prompts that they completed to help cement this word in their memories and to “furnish the mind” as writing teacher Andrew Pudewa says. I hope to see some of these words in composition this semester!  The words today were:  cajole and iconoclast

Writing

I have been looking forward to today’s lesson–an “inventive” (creative) writing assignment.  I handed out a series of three pictures.  Although the pictures suggest a story, they are fairly minimal.  I told the students that their job is to describe the events depicted in each picture.  Simply report.  

After that, they are to think about the pictures.  I asked them “how do you think?”  After pondering a few minutes, we concluded that in order to think, one must ask questions!  This is something we have been practicing in our Quick Writes last semester:  who, what, (what are they thinking/doing/saying/feeling) when, where, why, how?  And then a level deeper:  what happened before the picture?  After?  Outside the picture?  What may have happened before or after?  In this way, students begin to access their thinking and imagination.  The great news is that ANYONE can do this!!

After taking notes on the process, we make a Key Word Outline for the first two pictures together.  They wrote their own outline for the third picture and then compared it with a table mate.  Their homework is to finish this KWO and post it for next week.  They are welcome to make any changes to their story.  Four points per picture (plus the topic and clincher is plenty.  Changes will happen organically as they begin to write.)  I gave an option to use a different set of pictures if they’d rather.  The second set has only two pictures, so they will need to “fill in the blank” for the missing picture.  The three paragraph composition will be assigned next week (due Feb. 6).  We are working those creative writing muscles for writing an original mystery story of their own.

Literature

We switched gears to discuss the first two stories from our Sherlock Holmes study.  We did a quick preview of our mysteries for next week and I recommended the BBC version of the Sherlock mysteries featuring Jeremy Brett available through YouTube. (Watch them AFTER you’ve read the stories ;)  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

Man & Woman At Table OR Cereal Surprise KWO

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

Grammar Worksheets

Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions

Is It a Compound Sentence?

Writing Compound Sentences

Links for this Week

Visual Vocabulary #1

About Writing from Pictures