Writing 2 Class Notes (Week 12)--November 16

 

I am grateful for these students AND grateful for these last warm days of fall.  I hope you can find some time to enjoy this lovely weather.

Quick Write

Today’s Quick Write was Thanksgiving inspired as we focused on gratitude.  We watched a short video by Brene Brown.  We discussed the difference between these two statements:

It’s not joy that makes us grateful.   It’s gratitude that makes us joyful.

On that note, students filled out a gratitude journal page for their QuickWrite today.  

Homework Check

A reminder to students:  make sure you correct your grammar worksheets and show on the worksheet or the Google Classroom assignment that you're corrected it.  Also, make sure you turn in assignments that you've done on Google Classroom.  Grade reports were sent out last week for students to check which assignments may be missing.

We covered some questions regarding last week’s writing assignment.  They are to post their 12-15 sentence Ad Analysis to the assignment (it will be long!).  After that, they are to come back and post a response in order to complete the assignment.

Writing

Today we delved into the next part of our persuasive writing unit.  Last week, we learned about rhetorical techniques and devices such as ethos, logos, pathos.  We started class with a quick review of the concepts.  

After that, I introduced the PreWrite for this project.  I told the students that this project has less volume of writing (as in an essay) but it will require critical thinking and creativity.  Since we learned last week that “writing is thinking” this project will put that into practice.

The assignment is to write a script for a 30-60 second advertisement.  They must use the persuasive techniques we have learned.  The example advertisement we looked at was for a made-up product–a sunhat called “San Francisco Sun Hats”.  In groups and using a blank prewrite page, students brainstormed ideas and did a “dry run” of writing a script.  For their own project, they can use those ideas and develop them or they can start over with an idea of their own.

After writing their script, students will create an advertisement.  Theyhave the option to produce an audio ad (like one you’d hear on Spotify) or a visual ad (like one you’d see on Youtube).  

We discussed different technology options from least techie to most techie, here they are:

1. Vocaroo.com–free, very simple voice recording

2. Voice memo on your phone

3. Point and shoot on your phone

1.  iphone has options for video editing

4.  Wevideo.com–A free, easy-to-learn video editing platform  

5.  Canva–it’s one we didn’t discuss–but they offer video editing as well

For the last two options, there are a ton of tutorial videos out there.  The Rough Draft (script) is due after Thanksgiving (11/30) and the Final Draft (finished product) is due the last day of class (12/14).

Grammar

“If I were a rich man!”  This week’s grammar discussion centered on Indicative and Subjunctive moods of verbs.  We have been examining different aspects of verbs–phrases (prepositional, gerunds, infinitives and participial).  We have considered voice–passive/active.  Today we looked at mood–indicative and subjunctive.  Now we know that  the subjunctive mood is mainly used to express a wish and sometimes for a demand.  We listened to the last 3 minutes of a  podcast by Grammar Girl on the subject.  Subjunctive worksheet is due next week.

Literature

No time for a lengthy literature discussion today!  Students are to be ready to discuss the genre of magical realism next class by watching a short video on the topic.  After that, they are to listen to two short stories that have magical realism elements.  I hope they love these stories as much as I did!  They are called “Chivalry” by Neil Gaiman and “The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu.  Their assignment after listening to the stories is to complete a One-Pager on both stories.

Homework Links

Quick Write

PreWrite:  Ad Project

Ad Project Rough Draft (script)

Subjunctive Mood Homework

Magical Realism + “Chivalry” and “The Paper Menagerie”

Magical Realism:  One-Pager

Last Week’s work:

Ad Analysis

Forum Post 

Links for this Week

Brene Brown on Gratitude

Ethos, Logos, Pathos (in-class review)

Mini-Lesson:  Rhetorical Devices (copy of Rhet. Devices handout we used in class)

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 11 (11/9)

 Hello Class!

We had a great, fast paced class today where students were engaged and learning well.  I love working with this group!

For our QuickWrite today students watched a short video by Canadian psychologist, author, and media commentator Jordan Peterson.  After watching, they responded to whether they agree with Peterson’s claim that:

Writing is Thinking

We discussed whether they agreed or disagreed and I hope they were inspired to take more ownership of their writing–to learn to be articulate and deadly as Mr. Peterson asserts!

For today’s Grammar discussion, we segued away from the verbal phrases we’ve been learning about and are doing a little detour to discuss active and passive voice.  We talked about the fact that our writing is almost always improved when we use active voice.  It’s more clear, exciting and concise.  However, there are times when we need to use passive voice:  when the force of the action/actor is unclear, and when you intentionally choose to be vague.  A good example is when you want to avoid referring to yourself (using I, me, we pronouns) in academic writing.

In some quick examples, students identified how to tell which voice is being used, and wrote sentences using the two voices.  They were given two homework sheets as homework and got a good start on these during class today.  

Next, we had the culminating exam on Peace Like A River to finish out our novel unit.  After they completed that, we briefly discussed the Literature Presentations which will be due the last two weeks of class.  The schedule of presentations is posted below.  

With the remaining class time was devoted to Writing–and our last “essay” of the semester was introduced.  It’s actually not an essay, but rather it’s a persuasive writing project.  Since the assignment varies from our usual writing deadline structure, here’s an overview of the  timeline:   

First, they will learn about persuasive techniques and common rhetorical devices.  Next, they will use that knowledge to analyze a TV commercial for homework this week. After that, students will use what they have learned about the power of persuasion and write a script for, and produce an advertisement of their own.  This will be due the last week of class.

For homework this week, they are to read and watch two presentations:  a Rhetorical Devices Edpuzzle and a Google Slideshow on Ethos, Logos and Pathos and take the Quiz.  After that, they should write up an analysis and post it to our class forum.

Enjoy the next few warmer fall days!

Blessings, 

Mrs. G

Homework

Active to Passive

Passive to Active

Edpuzzle–Rhetorical Devices

Ethos, Logos, Pathos Slide Show

Ethos, Logos, Pathos Quiz

Brief Advertisement Analysis–(instructions and an example on how to write your analysis)

Advertisement Analysis Forum Response

Links for This Week

Jordan Peterson video

PLAR Presentation Schedule

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 11 (9/2)

 Hello Dear Students,

Today was another full day.  The class was engaged and ready to learn–just what I like!

For our QuickWrite today, students had a choice on whether they would like to reflect on their thoughts about Halloween, or if they’d like to try their hand at writing an epitaph.  Afterall, it is National Epitaph Day today–as weird as that sounds.  They had fun making up a person and writing a few rhyming words to honor them.  Here is an example:

Here lies poor Billy.

Although it sounds silly,

he never ate anything green.

The candy that filled him

is also what killed him

the day after last Halloween.

Literature

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 3 Responses worksheet as usual.  Next class, they will be taking an exam over the novel.  To prepare them for that, we gamified our learning by playing a Peace Like A River board game.  After composing their own question from an assigned chapter, students got in groups and played.  The questions sparked great discussion and were very helpful in reviewing the material.  The game questions and answers are posted on GC and will be helpful in preparation for the test.

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.  They are to complete a Phrases Review, which is posted as a Google Form on Google Classroom.

Writing

We talked about the Rough Drafts of Essay 3 that were due last week along with the Peer Review that was to be completed by a friend or family member at home.  Next week the Final Drafts and Endnotes are due.

Please note:  we are one week behind on the syllabus–we will cover Active and Passive Voice & Rhetorical Devices next week.

Homework

Read Chapter 20-23 Peace Like A River

3 Responses

Study for exam 

PLAR Board Game

Identifying Past and Present Participles

Phrases Quiz

Participles and Participials Phrases

Essay 3 Final Draft

Essay 3 Endnotes

Writing 2 Class Notes–WEEK 9 (October 29)

 It was good to see the students again after our Fall Break.  I hope they all had a chance to relax a bit.  They came back and were ready to learn!

Quick Write

Today our focus was on the dialogue.  We looked at an excerpt of dialogue from Ender’s Game and pulled out some Craft Moves we noticed the writer used. Some of those included indenting when a new speaker speaks, showing rather than telling by using expressive dialogue tags along with  having the characters doing something while they are dialoguing.  Last, we noticed that sometimes the writer used dialogue tags and sometimes he didn’t.  We decided it made the text more “readable”. 

After noting those moves in our Craft Moves chart, I gave them a scenario and students had a chance to write some snappy dialogue keeping those craft moves in mind.

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. I sent out grade reports yesterday which is helpful for students to use to keep track of their progress.

Literature

We took a deep dive into discussing our novel, Peace Like A River today using a strategy called “Hexagonal Thinking.”  After choosing groups, students received a packet of blank hexagons and others that had quotes and themes from the book.   A hexagon has six sides, therefore each term or concept CAN connect to up to six others. Using critical thinking, students decided where the terms best fit in the web of hexagons provided. The goal is to move each hexagon into the position where it BEST fits within the overall web. They could connect any given term to several others, being  intentional with the placement. 

They recorded three of their most powerful connections on a worksheet and shared their best one at the close of the class.

There were many moving parts–and students found there was no one right answer–as long as they could justify their connection. Some students found this invigorating, and some found it a challenging stretch to make these connections. I think they all exercised some critical thinking and had a good time reviewing what they have read in the novel so far.

Writing

Essay 3 Rough Draft and Prewrite were due today.  The homework is to have a friend or family member complete a Peer Review.  It is due next week.The final is due November 9.

Grammar

No grammar discussion this week!  Next week we will cover Participles.

Homework

Essay 3 Rough Draft

Essay 3 Prewrite

Essay 3 Peer Editing Worksheet

Links for This Week

Quick Write (10/26)

Craft Moves Chart 

Writing 2 Class Notes--Week 8 (October 12)

Hi All!

I hope the overcast, autumnal weather is calling you to cozy up with a good book over our break this week.  After a very scientific poll, we all admitted to being very ready for Fall Break!

Quick Write

We started out with the Craft Move of exercising our Writer’s Voice. 

The scenario:  a couple is breaking up in a coffee shop. The assignment is to narrate the moment from the point of view of the barista.  

The barista might be gossipy, cynical, or hopelessly romantic.

OR

Do it in the voice of a sportscaster.

They had fun with this one!

Writing

One reason for being SO ready for a break is that students have worked very hard to meet their deadlines–and this week was a big one.  I appreciate the effort put forth and am proud of them!  This week, Essay 1 & 2 Final Drafts were due along with Endnotes.  The Peer Review worksheet and Pre-write for each essay (if they haven’t turned those in earlier) were also due today.  I will be grading that work over the break.

As is our practice in Writing class, once we turn in one essay, we begin the next.  Essay # 3  is entitled “A Tale of Two ____________”--a compare and contrast essay.  Though we did not read the mentor text by Rick Reilly together, it is posted in our Class Work on GC.  We did spend some time brainstorming, sharing topic ideas and getting started on our Prewrite.  There was some excitement over the topic!   The Rough Draft and Prewrite are both due next class (Oct. 28) and we will do a Peer Review in class.

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 worked on 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!!  (See posted information/videos for more teaching on infinitive phrases if more reinforcement is needed).  If they didn’t turn them in, the corrected worksheets are due next class period.

Literature

This week, the Peace Like A River project was introduced.  Students will choose a project from the list to present in a few weeks.  Over break, students should post an answer to the question on Google Classroom about their project choice.  Once approved, work can begin.  Presentations will be 11/30 & 12/7.  Keep reading your books and complete the Quiz over chapters 15-17 on Google Classroom.

I hope this is a restful AND productive break for you, dear students!

Blessings, 

Mrs. G

Homework

About Essay 3 with Mentor Text

Pre-Write Essay 3

Rough Draft Essay 3

Infinitives Practice–1

Infinities Practice-2

Read Peace Like a River Ch. 15-17

Ch. 15-17 Quiz

Peace Like A River Project

Peace Like A River Project Proposal Question

Pre-Write Essay 1

Pre-Write Essay 2

Peer Review Essay 1

Peer Review Essay 2

Rough Draft Essay 1

Rough Draft Essay 2

Final Draft Essay 1

Final Draft Essay 2

Endnotes Essay 1

Endnotes Essay 2