Writing 2 Class Notes–WEEK 9 (October 27)

It was good to see the students again after our Fall Break.  They came back and were ready to learn!

Quick Write

Students responded to an excerpt about intelligent octopuses (yes, that is a legitimate pluralization of that word!)

Words of the Day

Today’s Words of the Day are seasonal in nature.  Students are continuing to compile these words with definitions, etymology and examples and sketches to “make them stick.”

macabre (adj)–ghastly; having weird, uncanny or exotic features; from Latin “chorea Machabaeorum” or “Dance of the Maccabees” a medieval stylized representation of the slaughter of the Maccabees; French “danse macabre” denoted a figure representing death who enticed people to dance with him until they dropped dead.

confection (n,v)--a sweet preparation of fruit, a preserve, a candy; the process of compounding, preparing, making something; something made up or confected.  Latin “confectionem”--a preparation, a medicament” the making by means of ingredients, act of compounding different substances into one preparation; in late 14C. Also “something prepared or made with sugar or syrup.”

masquerade (n,v)--A costume party at which masks are worn; a masked ball.  A disguise or outward show; a pretense.  From “mask”--1530’s “a cover for the face; a false face from French “masque”; medieval Latin masca “specter, nightmare.”

Homework Check

We did a brief check in on homework.  It can be challenging to have several assignments going at once–part of being a student in this style of classroom–and also as they move ahead academically. We talked about due dates. I hope to send out grade reports after I have graded the Rough Drafts this week which will be helpful.

Literature

There are a lot of characters in My Antonia and it's easy to get them mixed up!  Since we are wrapping up this novel, we did a fun review.   Each group was given a blank “Character Tracker Sheet,” a glue stick and 3 baggies.  Students were  to match the "descriptions", "connections to others" and "important quotations" in the correct category.  They wanted to  make this a competition.  We didn’t quite get it finished but plan to finish and present it next week.

Final Exam on My Antonia will be assigned next week.

Writing

The Classification OR Extended Definition Essay Rough Drafts and Prewrites were due today.  The final is due November 11.

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.  Using a Google Slide presentation and taking notes, we discussed how these phrases are “masquerading” as verbs, but they are really adjectives describing a noun/subject.  The participles end in “ed” or “ing.”  Students had a chance to write a few practice sentences and they were assigned homework.

Homework

Character Tracker Activity

Ext. Def/Classification PreWrite

Ext. Def/Classification Rough Draft

Participial Phrases

Identifying Participial Phrases

Links for This Week

Quick Write (10/27)

 

October 13–Week 8

 Quick Write

Today we had a choice of options revolving around events that happened on October 13 in different years in history–ranging from ancient to modern. We really skipped around!

Words of the Day 

No words of the Day today

Writing

Today we continued discussing our next essay:  either a Classified Essay or an Extended Definition.  We brainstormed topics for both and partnered up to read and discuss some examples.  There are more examples posted on Google Classroom. For our previous papers, we followed a 2-step process (rough draft to final draft).  For the rest of the papers we write this year, we'll follow a 3-step process:  pre-write (which could include a mind map or outline) to a rough draft to a final draft.  We did some brainstorming for both types of essays.  Students can choose which type of essay they would like to write.  The pre-write and rough draft are due on October 27.

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 anou, and in the sentence it was the direct object.  No one said grammar was easy!!  (See posted information/videos for more teaching on infinitive phrases).

Literature

Students went into their small Literature Circles to discuss My Antonia.  I wandered around and heard some of their conversations.  They all seemed to be prepared for their groups.  Students should fill out an evaluation on how prepared they thought their group members were.  We’ll continue with the book and reader responses for the next assignments.  Students should keep

Reading and also working on their final book projects.  They submitted their proposals today.  

Homework

Ext. Def./Classification Pre-Write

Ext. Def./Classification Rough Draft

Examples of Ext. Def/Classification Examples

About Phrases  information)

Infinitives Practice

Infinitives Phrases HW

Literature Circle #2 Evaluation

Links for this Week

Quick Write

Class Notes Week 7–October 6

Once again, it was a jam-packed class.  We are accomplishing a lot in our short time together!  Students are really getting into a good groove.

Words of the Day

We have been starting with this portion of our class, and I did warn students that there will be a quiz on these words by the end of the semester.  It would be a good idea to review these words periodically.  These two words are Fall-related.  Can you see how these words are related to the season?

quietus (noun)--death that is a relief/eterna rest; death of an argument.From Latin “quietus est”=he is quiet; his debt is paid.

Students were asked to write about their own personal quietus–the welcome end of something in their lives.

deciduous (adj)–falling off or shed seasonally or at a certain stage of development in the life cycle.  Latin→de=down; off +caedere→to fall.  Related to the words decay and decadence→to fall from a condition of health or perfection. 

Quick Write

Students viewed and responded to the painting Wanderer Above the Sea of Clouds by romantic German painter Caspar David Friedrich. 

Homework Check

I touched on the fact that I had sent out detailed grade reports during the past week.  Students should note that each assignment is very important.  If something is not turned in, it says “Missing” on Google classroom.  Those marked “Missing” will automatically be transposed into a“0” when imported to the grade book.  After three weeks, I will no longer grade work.  

Another noteworthy item is that the gradebook is broken up into weighted categories.  You can now easily see your progress in each category and how that impacts your overall grade.  Since grades are weighted, figuring out your own grade would be a very complicated math problem!  If you calculate your total points and it doesn’t reflect the grade you are receiving, it might be due to the weighting.  

Writing

Students submitted their Personal Essay Finals today.  As usual, once we hand in one essay, we start the next one.  For the next round, students will have the opportunity to choose which essay they’d like to write:  Classification Essay, or  Extended Definition Essay.  

We are also transitioning from a two-step writing process, to a three step process.  Students will not be required to perform a Pre-Write, Rough Draft and Final draft.  Pre-Write is due Oct. 27.

In that vein, we briefly discussed the pre-write strategy of Mind Mapping.  We explored some online tools and there is an Extra Credit assignment where students will have the opportunity to play with these tools to create a mind map on any topic of their choosing and submit it for extra credit.

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 viewed a YouTube video and there is an additional video linked in with the homework.

Literature

We are still chugging along in My Antonia.  Students have noticed that Wlla Cather has changed scenes from the Nebraska countryside to the more urban setting of Black Hawk and Lincoln.  This setting change also signals a change in the characters–from the halcyon days of childhood the more practical reality of adulthood.  

Students will be discussing three events from the book (up to page 140) in our Literature Circle #2 Discussion next week.  They were assigned groups and they chose the roles they will prepare as homework for next week.  This week the 3 Response Study Questions are Extra Credit.

Finally, students have been assigned a culminating project for this book.  They will need to submit a project proposal next week.

Homework

Classification Essay/Extended Definition

Online Mind Map (Extra Credit)

Identifying Gerunds (with Videos)

The Gerund Phrase

Literature Circles #1 Prep

3 Responses (EXTRA CREDIT)

My Antonia Project Proposal

Links for this Week

Quick Write

 

Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 6–(September 29)

This class was full today.  I sure am enjoying this group of students!

Quick Write

Today’s prompt was responding to a comic that “seemed like a good idea at the time.”  We enjoyed hearing about some of the childhood experiences the students shared.  It’s amazing we all survived!

Words of the Day

Wry–bent, twisted, or turned usually abnormally to one side; made by a deliberate distortion of the facial muscles often to express irony or mockery; cleverly and often ironically or grimly humorous.  From the Old English wrigian=to turn, tend in a particular direction.  Related to wr-words:  wrist, writhe, wriggle, awry

jocular–Wryly amusing, slightly odd and humorous; positive attribute; fun to be around.

Students drew wry emojis and jocular circumstances on the backs of their index cards.

Not only do I encourage students to use these words in conversation and writing, but I warned them I would be giving a quiz over them by the end of the semester.  

Grammar

The first grammar unit was a short review of parts of speech.  There is a Parts of Speech Quiz for students to take this week. This week's grammar worksheets deal with misplaced modifiers, which are adjective or adverb phrases placed in the wrong places.  There is a document describing misplaced modifiers on Google Classroom (link below)

Writing

I have graded and handed back (on Google Classroom) the Process Essay Rough Drafts.   We discussed the fact that the comments/suggestions I make on the Rough Drafts will be aggressive! :0  My goal is to help students turn in the very best Final draft they possibly can.  For that reason, they may be surprised to see so many edits and corrections from me.

 I will be using a rubric to grade this Rough Draft–this is a change from the first essay and it might be an adjustment for students.  I told them not to be discouraged if there are alot of corrections on their Rough Drafts.  It is better to have lots of revisions needed to the Rough Draft than the Final paper–by that point it does NO good.  I want them to benefit from the comments when there’s still time to make revisions.

Process Essay Final Drafts will be due Next week (Oct. 6)

Students were told that my suggestions/edits are a GOOD PLACE TO START.  Please take the edits and expand in order to make the best writing possible.  We also met in our Writing Circles where we discussed our goals for writing.

Literature

We had our Literature Circle Discussion this week.  Students prepared their roles and came to class ready to discuss events in My Antonia thus far.  I heard some good academic discussions  as I circulated.  As part of the assignment, students will need to complete an Evaluation for their contribution to the discussion.

Keep reading your books (p. 94-118) and the 3 Study Guide responses.

I introduced our end of book project.  When we are finished reading My Antonia, the students will complete a project that illustrates some aspect of the book.  It can be an art project, something baked, a paper, etc.  

Homework

About Misplaced Modifiers

Misplaced Modifiers #1

Misplaced Modifiers #2

Parts of Speech Quiz

Process Essay Final Drafts

Read p. 94-118

Study Guide Questions

My Antonia Project Proposal

Links for the Week

Quick Write (9/29)

Class Notes Week 6 (Sept. 29)

Writing 2 Class Notes–(Sept. 22) Week

Greetings,

Class went well today.  The students worked well and were attentive and respectful.  

Quick Write:  

Today in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.  We read a portion of that document today and students had an opportunity to respond.  They could choose to write about the meaning of freedom, the Emancipation Proclamation itself or that era in US history.  They could also write about the photograph of Lincoln and share their thoughts on it.  Of course the last option is that they can choose their own topic, but they MUST write!  Students did a good job keeping those pencils/cursors moving!

Words of the Day: Just one today–

querulous– Given to complaining;Habitually making peevish complaints

Etymology:  Old Fr=querelos “quarrelsome, argumentative”; Latin=querulous “full of complaints, complaining;Root:  quarrel

Students drew a picture or listed a dinner/food that might tempt them to become querulous.

Writing Discussion

The Personal Essay Final drafts were handed back today.  I had some challenges using the rubric on Google Classroom, so instead I used a paper rubric and handed that back today with their grades.  Personal Essays are relatively simple because they are narrative in nature and are a good way to start out the year.  They give me a good idea of where students are in their writing.  However, as the year goes on, the writing will progressively become more challenging.  The goal is to bring students to their next level–I am confident they will do just that.  They turned in their Process Essay Rough Drafts today.

On that note, I  introduced a new concept:   the Rough Draft Rubric.  On the last essay (Personal Essay) students received a base grade if they turned it in.  I made corrections and comments on that.  Those comments are a great way to START—my expectation is that they will  incorporate what I give them and move beyond that.  I should see vast improvements from their Rough Draft to their Final Draft.  To that end, I will be “ruthless” on their Rough Drafts and their scores will reflect that.  We will continue this process throughout the semester.

We discussed thesis statements and introductions.  I also made them aware of “Areas of Concern” that have come up from their last essay.  

I handed out questions for students to answer in preparation for our first Writing Circles Discussion next week.

Literature Discussion

We are prepared for our first Literature Discussion which will also take place next week (a week behind according to the syllabus.)  Students were assigned groups, they chose a discussion role and three events they will discuss next week from our reading so far.  Students will be evaluated using a rubric.

Students are assigned the next chunk of reading:  p. 70-94; they also have Study Questions assigned.

Grammar Discussion

I did a quick review on prepositions and prepositional phrases.  For some students this is new, for some it’s a review.  They have two worksheets they’ll need to finish, correct and hand in for next week.

Homework:

1. Quick Write

2. Process Essay Rough Draft

3. Writing Circles #1 Prep

4. Notes on Introductions/Thesis Statements

5. Literature  Circles #1  Prep (prepare your role for discussion)

6. Read pp. 70-94; My Antonia

7. Study Guide Questions for pp. 70-94

8. Prepositional Phrases

9. Prepositions

10. Links:

11. Literature Circles Rubric

12. Process Essay Rough Draft

13. Rough Draft Rubric

Writing 2 Class Notes Week 4 (9/15)

 Greetings!

I cannot believe how time flies with these students!   It continues to astonish how quick our class times go.  

Quick Write

They had four eclectic  topics to choose from today: 

– Last week–and still today, there are many flags flying at half staff.  The original reason is in observance of Patriot’s Day.  On that day, we remember the victims and the heroes of the September 11, 2001 terror attack that toppled the World Trade Center in NYC and crashed into the Pentagon building in VA.  What thoughts do you have about that tragic event?

–The second reason is that it was announced that Queen Elizabeth had passed away on 9/8.  What thoughts do you have on her passing?  On British royalty? 

OR: 

–Eclectic=(adj) deriving ideas, styles or tastes from a broad, diverse range of sources.  How does the word “eclectic” connect to an experience you’ve had?

–Of course, choice number four is to write on a topic of their choosing.

Words of the Day

awkward (adj) Lack of dexterity or skill; not easy to handle or deal with.  From middle English awk=wrong way around.  The meaning shifted from “perverse→ill-adapted→clumsy

Adroit (adj) having or showing skill, cleverness, or resourcefulness in handling situations; from Old French ‘a =to + droit=”right”;  latin=directum = “right, justice, law”; expresses predominately “a trained right hand”

spurious (adj) fake; counterfeit.  From latin=false; applied specifically to false marriages

On the reverse side of their cards, students were asked to sketch a situation that is awkward and one that is adroit.  They also enjoyed drawing up a spurious ID.  

HW Check:

We spent some time reviewing how to use some aspects of Google Classroom.  Some students have been having trouble turning in assignments–we looked at how to “Make A Copy” of the Rough Draft/Final Essay Templates and how to “Turn In”.  Students can choose to submit their assignments on  paper if they wish, however, I do require all Essays/Rough Drafts to be submitted through Google Classroom.  It is much more expedient for grading and returning leaving students time to revise as needed.  The same process of “Make a Copy” works for other assignments as well–we talked especially about the 3 Reader Responses.  As you type in the box, it will expand to fit your answer.  Please answer the questions with specific examples from the book!  We also discussed changes to the Assignment Checklist–The Personal Essays are due WK 4, Process Essay Rd are due WK 5 (not Wk 6) and the Process Final is due WK 7 (not WK 8).  It has been updated on GC.

Writing Discussion

The Personal Essays were due today.  We keep things moving in Writing 2–when one essay is handed in, we begin our next one.  The next assignment is a Process Analysis Essay.  We discussed topic ideas and thesis statements.  Rough Draft is due next week.

Literature Discussion

We're reading My Antonia, and this week we had a discussion about our reading.  We talked about the timeline of the plot so far.  Next week we will discuss our primary characters and prepare for our first Literature Circles.  

 

Grammar Discussion

Though we didn’t discuss grammar this week, our grammar for these first few weeks is a review of the parts of speech, which are the basic sentence elements.  Students have worksheets this week that review interjections, verbs, and conjunctions.  A reminder:  They must correct their worksheets and turn in the corrected versions.  

 

Assignments for Next Week

Read pages 47 - 69 of My Antonia

Week 4 Reader Responses (p.47-69)  

Interjections Review

Verbs Tenses Review

Action Verbs Review

Conjunctions Review

 

Links for This Week

My Antonia -- Audiobook on Librivox

Quick Write 9/15

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 3 (Sept. 8)

We had a lively class today–this group is fun-loving and had some insightful comments during our discussions.  .

Quick Write

The students had a prompt today about “Fun theory”.  They watched a short video about a company’s attempt to encourage commuters to take the stairs instead of the escalator because it’s healthier.  Does making something “fun” encourage people to make better choices?  

• How would you describe “Fun theory”?

• Describe a time you devised a way to make an odious task more “fun”.

• Pretend you are one of those stairway goers–describe your experience

• How could you incorporate “fun theory” into your life?

• Or whatever!

Words of the Day

I started something new this week for Words of the Day.  I handed out punched index cards with an O ring.  Students are to write the definition and etymology of the word.  On the reverse side, they’ll do a short activity to make the definition “stick”--like make a list or a quick drawing.  Research shows interacting with a word helps us remember it.  I hope to hear students using these words in conversation or to incorporate them in their writing.

(Learning-process related words)

Dilettante–fr Latin delectare, to delight, charm, please; formerly positive connotation, but has shifted to negative connotation.  Means a person who takes up an art, subject or activity merely for amusement; a dabbler

Neophyte–fr Latin neophytus; neo=new; phytos=planted; means a beginner or novice

Literature Discussion

The class has read the first 20-some pages My Antonia and done their first set of reader responses.  We had small group discussions about grammar, and next week we'll have small group discussions about this book.  

 

Grammar Topics

Last week I had the students write 3 - 5 questions that they had about grammar.  They could be specific questions or general, over-arching ones.  This week we used the 4-Square model for asking and answering these questions.  This model requires everyone in the group to listen in order to respond.  One question that I suggested was "Why Grammar?"  I heard lively, grammar-centered conversations going on.  For our grammar topics this semester, we will start with a parts of speech review and then work through different types of phrases.  They will review nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs this week.

 

As I mentioned in the class policies, this year I am doing something different with the grammar homework.  This week students were given keys to all of the worksheets.  After they finish the grammar homework that was assigned for a week, they should correct it and then hand it in.  I want to see what they missed, so they should mark what was incorrect and then fix whatever was wrong.  Doing it this way will be more beneficial to the students.  They can see right away if they know the material.  Each worksheet is worth 10 points, regardless of how long it is.  If a student forgets to correct it, I will hand it back to be corrected.  

Assignments for this Week

–Read pgs. 24-47 in My Antonia

–3 Responses (WK 3)

–Nouns and Pronouns Review

–Adjective and Adverbs Review

Links for This Week

–Piano Stairs

–Grammar KEY