Writing 2 Class Notes--Week 14 (April 25)

 Greetings!

This week was our penultimate class for the year -- the one before the last one!

We started the class period with a Quick Write, and today's prompt was connected with the fact that it is National Poem in Your Pocket Day coming up in April.  In fact, all of this month is National Poetry Month!  I gave the students a sheet of paper with an extra large pocket outline. They were to write a poem within the lines of that pocket.   

This week, they took the Mastering the Comma Test.  After having done the and corrected the Review from last week, they should have done really well on it!  

Their final writing assignment, a Reflection Paper, is due next week.   For this paper, they are to write about what they learned this year, what they learned about themselves this year, and what did and didn't work well this year.  At the bottom of this email is a link to an article about the value of reflection as a part of learning.

After all that business, we watched a few poetry performances and rated their poems and delivery style.  There were some insightful comments about how poets use their voice, style, gestures and facial expressions.  The point of this is to gather inspiration on how to effectively deliver their own poetry next week for our Poetry Event.  

The rest of the class time was dedicated to committee work for the big event next week.  As we discussed, it takes a lot of work to pull off a successful event.  When students have “skin in the game” with planning and organizing an event, I find there’s a high level of ownership and engagement.  After discussing how the committee work should flow,  they were split  into groups and got busy dividing and conquering their committee’s punch list.  As a requirement, they were to exchange contact information and fill out an Exit Ticket to hand in at the end of class.

Next week is the final week, and I will accept homework until Saturday, May 4 at 7:00 AM.  My experience is that once the CHAT classes are done, students really lose momentum for completing late homework.  My plan is to get final grades out within the week.  

Blessings on your weekend!

Mrs. G

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Any old homework

–About the Reflection Paper

–Reflection Paper

–Practice your poems!

–Committee work

--Poetry Event Slideshow (Canva)

Links for this Week:

Sarah Kay “Hands”

Isabella Callery “Thoughtless Cruelty” by Charles Lamb

Harry Baker “I’ve Got 99 Problems and Maths Ain’t One” & “Dinosaur Love”

The Value of Reflection Papers

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 13 (April 18)

 Hello There!

Today was another great day with this group.  They are such a blessing as we continue to work and learn together.

As usual, we started the day with a Quick Write–since we are working our way through poetry, the prompt today was to try their hands at Haiku.  I think we realized how challenging this seemingly simple art form is!

After that, students had the opportunity to try their hands at writing some original “autobiographical” poetry.  We watched a video of local poet Rudy Francisco perform a piece called “My Honest Poem”  After that, we compared the delivery style to George Ella Lyon’s autobiographical poem “Where I’m From”--they had some insightful observations!  Students had time in class to compose their own autobiographical poem in a style of their choice or based on the “Where I’m From” poem template.“I could tell some really got into “the zone” writing these and my hope is to hear some of these performed at our Poetry Event.  

Speaking of the  Poetry Event, which will be the last day of class , we spent the rest of the class getting into more details about this project.  It takes a lot of work to put on an event like this, and to split up the labor,  each student signed up for a role on a committee.  Their grade on this project will depend on not only their poetry performance techniques, but also how well they worked as a group. They are to answer a Discussion Question about their first and second preferences of which committee they’d like to participate in. They should also begin to narrow down the poems they would like to perform.  **A conversation regarding Poetry Event Dress Code came up in class.  I posted Poll in the form of a  Discussion Question asking students to give their opinion. 

The last piece of Literature work for this week is to choose their favorite poem from this unit and complete a One-Pager about it.  They will be asked to comment on poetic devices, poetry’s style and connections to other poems they have read.  I encouraged students to really lean in to this assignment as it will be their last, ever One-Pager from Mrs. G ;)

To conclude our Grammar for the year, I have a Final Sentence Patterns Test that they will take next week.  For this week, they have a review sheet that they should complete and then correct. (The Key is on the Google Classroom assignment.)  Correcting their own work will further help them review and will be much more beneficial than waiting a week to see if they got the answers right.  

We didn’t touch on Writing in class today, because I am still working grading their Evaluation Essay Rough Draft.  Because of that delay, I have pushed back the Final Draft due date to the last day of class.  

We have a couple fun weeks planned to finish out our year, so let's make sure you get caught up on any late work.

Assignments for Next Week:

–Which Committee? Discussion Question

–Dress Code Poll

--Choose 2 poems for your contribution to the Poetry Jam (Here is the scoring/committee information)

–Finish composing “Where I’m From” poem ( if not finished in class)

–One-Pager

-- Complete the Evaluation Essay Rough Draft (if you haven’t finished it)

Complete the Mastering the Comma Review sheet and correct it. (Bring the corrected version to class)

Links for This Week

Rudy Fransisco’s “My Honest Poem” video

“Where I’m From” George Ella Lyon audio

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 12 (4/11)

 The weather is really starting to turn Springy now!  The buds are budding and the sun is shining–our spirits are lifted!  We had another great class with this group!

We started out with a great Quick Write today focused on rhyme schemes.  We discussed different styles of rhyming scheme–even Limericks!  After reading a few examples, they got to try their hands at crafting their own Limerick or lines of nature-based rhyme.

After that, students got out their Evaluation Essay Rough Drafts for the Writing portion of the class.  They traded with a partner and performed their last Peer Review of the year.  After they receive feedback from me, they can begin revising their Rough Drafts.  Final Drafts are due 4/25.

For Literature, we had a Poetry Devices Scavenger Hunt.  After discussing different Poetic Devices like onomatopoeia, imagery, and enjambment, we took a short poem by William Carlos Williams called “This is Just To Say”.  It had been assigned as homework, and some students were puzzled as to why this has become such a famous poem!  We watched the poem being performed, we practiced identifying devices together in the large group.  After that, I assigned groups and they were given time to read and “scavenge” their own poems for different devices.  We had time for a few rotations of this.  They found that there were some favorites among this batch–especially poems by Billy Collins.

After that, I handed out one Grammar worksheet on italics and quotation marks.  Students had some time to work the one worksheets in class, the other one is posted on Google Classroom (along with the KEY to correct your own work.)

 

That is all!  Blessings on your weekend!

Mrs. G

Homework

Week 13 Poems

Poetry Response Packets

Week 12 Grammar 

–Italics & Quotation Marks

–Using Italics

Evaluation Rough Draft (if not finished)

Evaluation Peer Review

Links for This Week

“This is Just To Say” performed by Helena Bohnam Carter

Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 11 (3/38)

 As is typical the week before Spring Break, we had a few absent from our class today.  One of the beauties of homeschooling is that we can take trips with the family as is needed and necessary with very few  repercussions!  We missed those who were gone, but had a fun class anyway.  If you were absent, be sure to check these notes very well ;)

For our Quick Write, students are continuing their efforts to write some original poetry.  Last week, we wrote list poetry.  This week, they generated questions of all kinds and then attempted to arrange them into a poetic form.  

  

For Writing, I reminded the class that their Evaluation Essay Rough Drafts will be due when we get back from break.  Make sure you bring a copy to class for Peer Review.  I hope to get Grade Reports out over the break, so it’s a great time to make up any work that might be outstanding.

For the Grammar portion of the class, we had a special lesson on the semicolon.  Most people (students and adults alike) are confused about the bit of punctuation; they use it as a comma or as a colon.  I use the Reese's peanut butter cups as an object lesson.  Ask your students about how the semicolon is like this candy.  They also have 2 worksheets to practice putting semicolons and colons in the right place. Since we missed the grammar from last week, we took the opportunity to catch up on that in class as well. We practiced working with parentheses, dashes, and ellipses Most of the students finished these worksheets in class.

After that, we had a little fun.  We played a game called “Poetry for Neanderthals”--a fun add-on to our poetry unit.   Normally, poets use thoughtful phrases and descriptive words, but a Neanderthal isn’t capable of such flowery language.  They only speak in 1 syllable words.  We broke into teams and played a few rounds.  The object was  to get their teams guess a specific word using only one syllable words as clues.  If you slip-up, the other teammate gets to club you with a stick!  (In this classroom version of the game, the opposing team member whacked the table with an inflatable club!)

That’s all, folks.  Happy Easter!  He is Risen!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Evaluation Essay Rough Draft

Read Poetry:  Read Wilcox (33), Thayer (34-35), Sandburg (p. 53-54), Williams (p 60-61), Johnson (41), Dunbar (p. 41 – 43)

• Week 12 Poetry (pdfs on Google Classroom)

• 2 Poetry Responses

Grammar:  Wk10 - Dashes & Parentheses

Grammar:  Wk10 - Parentheses & Dashes

Grammar:  Wk10 - Ellipsis

Grammar – Wk11:  The Colon

Grammar – Wk11:  Using the Semicolon and Colon

Writing 2 Class Notes 3/21

 Time flies when you are having fun–and it sure flew once again today in Writing 2.  You students are such a joy to teach!  Here’s a recap of all we accomplished in class today:

We are kicking off one of my favorite parts of the year in CHAT Writing:  Poetry!  For our Quick Write today, we talked about the genre of poetry called “List Poetry.”  Normally such a poem contains a few lines of explanation, followed by a list and ending with a few more lines of explanation.  It can be musical, funny, rhyming or whatever tickles your fancy.  After listening to “18 Flavors” and “Hector the Collector” by childhood favorite Shel Silverstein, students tried their hands at writing their own “list poetry.”  

For the Literature portion of our class, we finished our short stories unit with an in-class quiz, then we started our next unit–poetry.  Our poems come from a book titled 101 Great American Poems, and they will be reading a chronological collection of poems, starting with poetry from the early 1800s to that of the mid-1900s.  Students have the books, but I will also post the poems on Google Classroom.  

We talked about how each week from here on out students will read all the assigned poems and respond to two of them.

Here are their options:

1. Fill out a Poetry Worksheet for one or both

2.  Write a paragraph about the poem(s) that analyzes the poem; discuss what you think it means and why you like or don't like it.

3.  Instead of writing a paragraph, record a video commentary about the poem.  Youtube LiveStream or some other app on a device is OK as long as it can be seen by me.

4.  Do a piece of art that connects with the content and meaning of the poem.  

5.  Make a video of your recitation of the poem.  Our poetry unit will culminate in a Poetry Jam (poetry contest.)  More details on that to come.

We switched gears to discuss for Writing to discuss the final "from scratch" essay–an Evaluation Essay.  (Our next–and last paper–is a Reflection Essay.   The Essay Re Write will be omitted.  See the updated syllabus.)  They will choose a topic–a restaurant, an app, a news story, etc.–and they will evaluate it.  The key issues for this paper are criteria, judgment and evidence.  

After discussing the particulars of this paper, we had a Writing Circles Discussion.  Students were given a Mentor Text (example essay) on either podcasts, pizza or pens.  After doing a silent “scavenger hunt” for things such as the hook, thesis, roadmap sentence, etc, they were put into groups to discuss their findings.  They were also to discuss the merits and pitfalls of their particular Mentor Text.  Hopefully that will give them ample ideas for their own Evaluation essay.  The Pre-Write and Rough Draft are due on 4/11 (after our Break–see updated syllabus.)

With that time flown and gone, I decided that there will be no Grammar worksheets due next week.  You are welcome!

Have a blessed weekend!

Mrs. G

Assignments for Week 11 (March 28)

-- Read Week 11 Poetry 

-- Poetry Response (2 Poems)

- Poetry: Read Emerson (4-5); Longfellow (6-10); Holmes (21), Whitman (22-26),Dickinson (29 - 32)

        Week 11 Poetry Pt. 1 -- Emerson, Holmes, Longfellow

         Week 11 Poetry Pt. 2 -- Whitman, Dickinson

–About the Evaluation Essay

-- Evaluation Essay Pre-Write

-- Evaluation Essay Rough Draft

Links for this Week: 

“18 Flavors”

“Hector the Collector”

Writing Circles Discussion–With Mentor Texts

Updated Syllabus

CHAT Writing 2 Class Notes–Week 9 (3/14)

 Hello Dear Students!

We had a great class today–as usual!  

Since Sunday is St. Patrick's day, we started our class with a thematic Quick Write.  After watching a short video on the origins of Leprechauns, students were invited to respond creatively.  There were some fun ideas of what a conversation between you and a Leprechaun might sound like.

First off, we had a brief check-in about Writing.  The Urban Legend Final Draft and Endnotes are due next week.  If you still haven’t handed in your Rough Draft for me to grade, then today is your wake-up call and make sure you submit that ASAP so that you can begin your Final Draft.  There's a light at the end of the tunnel with one more “from scratch” essay after this.  We’re almost there!

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 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.  After looking at some rules for using hyphens, students worked in pairs to complete a worksheet.  There is a second worksheet on End Marks and Abbreviations.  They are to be corrected and are due next week.

Blessings on your weekend!

Mrs. G

Homework

Urban Legend Final Draft

Urban Legend Pre-Write

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

Audio versions

Short Story Questions

Using Hyphens

End Marks and Abbreviations

Links For This Week

Leprechaun Video

Literature Circles Discussion

Hyphens Rules