Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 11 (Nov. 13)

 Hi Everyone!

Another fast-paced class today. Once again, I emjoyed each and every one of you!

We kicked off with our Quick Write.  After a min-lesson on the [6] sentence opener, the VSS (very short sentence) students had an opportunity to practice using it. I gave them a choice of writing prompts:

• National Parents as Teachers Day

• National Fast Food Day or

• Tell some current faves: songs, Youtube channel, Podcast or game.

Literature

Today was the Peace Like A River Final Exam. Students took that in class. Since we finished the novel, we will spend the last few weeks of this semester studying the genre of magical realism. Though I forgot to mention this after the test today, they are assigned to watch a video on this topic and answer the questions on a Google Form quiz.

Writing

After the exam, students practiced identifying a few elements in a sample introduction and conclusion. I want them to notice the style elements, topic-clincher rule, the clear thesis and the roadmap sentence. They have a worksheet as homework due next week.

After that, I rolled out the next essay. This has become one of my more favorite pieces of writing that I get to assign and read. It is called the Urban Legends Essay. This assignment will require them to explain a Urban Legend/conspiracy theory/Mandela effect and they will also have to effectively debunk it. They will need to research and include MLA Style citations and a Works Cited page. After going over what the essay requirements will be, we watched a few short videos on different urban legends and discussed the Mandela effect. After that, they got in small groups to brainstorm a few of their own. The Key Word Outline is due next week.

Please note, there is a change in due dates for the last writing assignments. See below:

Victorian Invention KWO due–11/20 (WK 12)               🦃~~Thanksgiving Break~~🦃 Victorian Invention Essay due–12/4 (WK 13) Final Edits due–12/18 (WK 15)

Grammar

With the few minutes we had left, instead of starting a new grammar topic, students got in pairs to play a Phrases Matching game. No grammar homework this week!

That’s it! Have an awesome weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Watch the Magical Realism video (linked in quiz below)

Magical Realism Quiz questions (GC)

Urban Legends Key Word Outline (with sources)

Introductions & Conclusions worksheet

Links for this Week

Quick Write #5

About the Urban Legend Essay

Phrases Matching game

CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 10 (11/6)

 Did you see the amazing moon last night?  God’s creation is amazing! Anyway–

We started the class with our Visual Vocabulary words:  gist and fealty.   We also had a Door Quiz over the acronym ICE for in-text citations:

I=Introduce C=Cite E=Explain

www.asia.b–when, while, where, as, since, if, although, because

Writing

Speaking of writing, today was our Peer Review day for the Process essays. Using a checklist, students gave some high quality feedback to their peers. Students that met this deadline received points for completing it on time. I am hoping that feedback will be incorporated as they continue to polish their essays.They are due next week.

Grammar

Today’s grammar discussion continued our unit on phrases. Today it was participial phrases.  Using these phrases correctly is key to “leveling up” your writing.  Students took notes on how participials look like verbs, but they function as adjectives because they describe a noun/subject.  Participials usually end in “ed” or “ing.”  Students had a chance to write a few practice sentences and they were assigned homework.  

So far we have learned the phrases:  prepositional, infinitive and participial.  For homework they are to complete a Phrases Review, which is posted as a Google Form on Google Classroom.

Literature

Today we played a board game that was a review for the Peace Like A River exam.  Each group had a game board, a stack of cards and a penny.  As they flipped the penny, they moved their piece forward and answered questions on our novel. Hopefully students will feel prepared to take the Final Exam in class next week.

Have a blessed weekend!

Mrs. G

Homework

Process Essay due next week

Prepare for PLAR Exam

Participials–1

Participials–2

Phrases Quiz

–Take the Edpuzzle on Phrases/Verbals first!

Links for this week

Visual Vocabulary #5

Class Blog (archived notes)

CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes--Week 9 (10/30)

 Dear Students,

We were rolling quite along today and spirits were high!

Quick Write

Today students added the [5] www.asia.b sentence opener to their Style checklists. We also discussed when it is appropriate to use a comma for this clause.  The Quick Write options for today were a choice of topics on National Days:  National Hermit Day, National Cat Day OR National Frankenstein Day.  They are required to use a [5] sentence opener today. If they use a [2], [3], [4] OR Visual Vocabulary today, they will receive extra credit for each one!

Literature

We started the Literature section for today with a quiz over chapters 18 & 19.And now they have reached the pinnacle climax of our story!  The students have been enjoying our novel and it is coming to an end.  They are to finish it this week and do a Response worksheet–by filling out an obituary for one of the characters. You may choose ones that actually did die--Jeremiah, Andreeson, Tommy Basca, Israel Finch--and write their obituary.  On the other hand, you may choose a character who didn't die in the story and use some creative license to imagine how they would have lived their lives after the story ends and before their death. Next class, we will be prepare for the final exam by playing a Peace Like A River board game.

We touched base on the podcast project that they should begin working on. We went over a “Putting it All together" slideshow. Students got in small groups to share ideas and I fielded some questions on details.

Writing

Today, the Process Essay KWO’s were due. They needed to have at least three sources for this one, so I checked for that and gave credit to students who met the deadline today. I also answered a few questions related to this topic.

Since they will need to cite three sources and also a visual image for this essay, we practiced To help students include these quotes smoothly, we use the acronym ICE. We had a mini-lesson on this concept today. Next week, there will be a Door Quiz on what the acronym ICE stands for.

I=Introduce C=Cite E=Explain

They will also need to complete a Works Cited page for this essay. I handed out a sample of what that should look like and posted a slideshow on details. Since most academic writers use online helps, I encouraged students to consult the MLA Style Center if they have questions about how to format a citation for their Works Cited page. Online citation generators like My Bib or Owl Purdue are also VERY helpful.

No Grammar Today!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Final Edits Personal Essay

KWO Process Essay

Process Essay–bring a hard copy for peer review!

Quotes, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing Worksheet 

Read Ch. 20-23 (finish book)

Reader Response–Obituary

Start working on your podcasts!

Links for this week

Quick Write

About the Process Essay

MLA Slideshow + Summarizing/Paraphrasing + Quoting Slides

Putting Your Podcast Together

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 8 (10/23)

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

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

Writing

Before we started the Writing portion of today's class, I gave students some time to fill out the Decorations portion of their Style Sheets. Since the emphasis of this past narrative/descriptive essay was to use vivid language, it will be helpful to keep that list of literary devices handy as we move forward.

Speaking of Personal Essays:  those were due before break. I have graded them and they were handed back today. Before they can move forward with editing their work, I gave the class a tutorial on how that should be done because I am doing the revision process a bit differently this year.

In order for students to improve their writing, they must learn to fix the mistakes they make so that they will not continue to commit the same errors.  On your graded essays, you will see  numbers/letters on the physical copy (and on GC copy) that correspond to the explanation of the errors. These explanations are the “Grammar & Content Codes”.)

Directions:  

• Number all the marked errors on your paper for both grammar and content issues. 

• On a lined sheet of binder paper, work through each of your errors by writing the rule you violated and show me what you would need to do to correct the error. You do NOT need to rewrite the entire essay. Instead, write the rule and isolate/fix the error. 

• These handwritten corrections are due on the Final Edits due date along with your original and graded essay. 

• Staple your Edits to your  essay and hand in at class OR scan and turn in your handwritten Edits and submit a copy of your Essay (with numbered errors) on Google Classroom in the Final Edits assignment for that essay.

• Please write neatly.

• If you are not satisfied with the initial grade your essay earned, you may fix all the errors you isolated and resubmit your essay. 

We practiced this process on a sample paragraph. Final Edits are due next week.

Last, I introduced the next essay which is a Process Essay. Kicked around some possible topic ideas and read about the parameters of this essay. Next week we will go into more detail on MLA citations and Works Cited pages.

Your KWO is due next week. Please note that the template for this one may not be that helpful depending on how many steps your process has. You may need to divide it differently than the template allows for. It actually may be super helpful to categorize your process into three stages. The template also has a place to record your sources and the visual.

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.  As homework, students should listen to my example and answer some questions about the assignment. For next week, students should post an answer to the question on Google Classroom about their project’s theme.  Once approved, work can begin.  Presentations will be 12/4 & 12/14.  

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

Process Essay KWO

Personal Essay Final Edits

Infinitives Homework–1

Infinitives Homework–2

Read PLAR Chapters 18-19

Be ready for an in-class quiz!

PLAR Project Overview Quiz

What Is Your Podcast Theme–question

Links for this Week

Visual Vocabulary

About the Process Essay

PLAR Podcast Project

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 7 (10/9)

 Hello All!

Quick Write

We got right to it this morning as I taught a mini-lesson on the [4] who/which clause Dress-up. After learning about essential vs. non-essential clauses,we added that Dress-up to our Style sheet. Students will now be required to use one of those per paragraph in their essays and to practice using it today in our Quick Write–along with a  [2] -ly adverb opener. They will need to indicate those with a [#]. As usual, bonus points will be given for each Visual Vocabulary word they use. Today’s topic choices were: 

NATIONAL HERO DAY

NATIONAL MOLDY CHEESE DAY

NATIONAL PRO-LIFE CUPCAKE DAY 

Literature

Today was our Literature Circles discussion.  This is usually highlight because students prepare for and lead their own small group discussions!  Each one has been assigned a role which they prepared for last week as homework.  First, they were put into their role groups to confer on their questions, quotes and illustrations. After that, they got into their assigned mixed groups, and I set the timer–the room was abuzz with insightful comments!  They will receive a grade on their preparation, participation and input from the other group members.  As homework, they are to read Peace Like A River Chs. 15-17 and take the Take Home Quiz #2. 

Grammar

So far, the Grammar worksheets have been a fairly simple review.  We are moving on to a unit on phrases in sentences.  This week there are two worksheets that have to do with the Gerund Phrase.  We flew through the teaching, so please note that the slideshow is posted as well as two additional videos in case you need more help.

Writing

Today there was no instruction on writing, however the Personal Essays were due. Most students submitted them on GC. I will grade them over the break. Please note: the Final Edits will be due Oct. 30 NOT Oct. 23. Changes are updated on the syllabus/homework checklist.

Homework

Quick Write #3 and [4] -ing sentence opener

Phrases Intro + Gerunds Slides

Gerunds–1

Gerunds–2

Literature Circles Evaluation

Read PLAR Ch. 15 & 17

Take Home Quiz #2

Links for this week

Literature Circles Discussion–Roles & Groups