Class Notes–Week 14 (December 11)

 Class Notes–Week 14 (December 12)

We had a wonderful day in class today.  A lot of the hard work of the semester is over, so our "work" today was a little more fun.

Our last Visual Vocabulary words for today were: amalgamate and alienate.  These words will show up on our end of the semester quiz next week–so make sure to review those.  The slides are posted on Google Classroom.

Writing

The Victorian Inventions composition was due last week and I handed the graded/coded essays back. I forgot to remind you in class, but the Final Edits are due next week. 

Grammar

I handed out the Parts of Speech Post-Test in class today.  It is identical to the Pretest they took at the beginning of the semester.  It is an “open-book” test and can be finished at home.  The KEY is posted and, just like a regular grammar worksheet, it needs to be corrected before it is handed in.  They will receive a base score when it is completed.

The best way of learning grammar is through lots of reading and writing. Direct instruction of grammar is important and helpful, and combined with literature and writing it can be pretty potent.  Next semester we'll be working on sentence structures.

Literature

First, I reminded the class about the A Christmas Carol vocabulary worksheet that is due next week.  If they have been defining four vocabulary words from each Stave as they have been reading, it should be a simple matter of finishing. It is worth 40 pts, so it is a bigger project.  

For homework, they were to invent their own ghost.In small groups, they compared and contrasted their creations. They had fun with this creative assignment to wrap up this novel. After that, we had fun creating some impromptu creative presentations on A Christmas Carol. We will have a test over the novella next week.

Next Week

Our last week of the semester is next week, December 19.  All work should be handed in by that date.  That said, they will be given until Sunday, December 21st to get any last work in.  They should not wait until then to do their work and hand it in.  Next week we will have our "Classy Classmas Party."  I will bring warm drinks, and students can bring goodies if they like.  We will combine work & play:   During the first part of the class,we will have the A Christmas Carol Final Exam and Visual Vocabulary quiz. The rest of the class time we’ll spend enjoying Christmas games, music and holiday cheer. 

Assignments for Next Week:

Review Visual Vocabulary words–quiz next week

Grammar Post-Test–open book/notes

ACC Vocabulary

Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 13 (December 4)

 Students were energetic and ready to engage today.  I can’t believe we are nearing the end of the semester already!

Quick Write

Today, we revisited the topic of using strong verbs in our writing. To that end, we banned the boring, predictable and insipid word said. After brainstorming some alternatives that students listed on their Banned Verbs lists, we were ready to write about some special Christmas traditions your family does. The topic choices were:

December 4–NATIONAL SANTA’S LIST DAY

December 6–NATIONAL ST. NICOLAUS DAY 

December 8–NATIONAL TIME TRAVELLER DAY

After that, we practiced paraphrasing and citing those paraphrases again. Since our practice was about the British Victorian candy called Jelly Babies, each student got to choose a few to sample while they worked on their paraphrases.

Writing

Victorian Invention Essays were due today.  I answered a few questions and we reviewed how to make your own Style list to make sure all the style points are included in each paragraph. I hope to get the essays back ASAP so that students can perform the Final Edits and turn them in by the last day of class.

Speaking of final edits, the Biography Essay Final Edits were also due today. As a reminder, that is where students use the Grammar and Content Codes to isolate and fix the errors that are coded on their essays. Those must be handwritten, stapled to the paper essay and rubric I handed back to them. This is a requirement for all students. As an option, if a student wishes to improve their grade for this essay, they may edit and polish using the codes and Resubmit their paper for a regrade. CAUTION: Thinking of resubmitting? Great! Just know that every code I mark needs attention. A resubmission that fixes only two out of ten errors is like washing one sock—it doesn’t really help anyone, and it wastes my time. Aim high and revise them all.

Grammar

Our last group presented today. The Prepositions group of Jediah, Toby and Aaron taught a mini-lesson, played a game and handed out a worksheet. Good job guys! As usual, I also had two worksheets for them to do. Those need to be completed, corrected and handed in next week. Don’t forget to fill out an evaluation for this group.

Now that we are finished with our presentations, I have assigned a CAPP review. These are 10 point (open book) quizzes that are posted on Google Classroom similar to the IVAN reviews a few weeks back.

Literature

Now that Scrooge has met the three ghosts, we had a discussion today about how Dickens used the ghosts to tell this redemptive story. Students were assigned one of the three ghosts to think deeply about:  what did they show Scrooge? What emotions did Scrooge feel? How did this ghost nudge Scrooge towards his transformation? They were given a worksheet to design their own ghost. It is due next week. There are no Stave 5 questions assigned this week!

Blessings on the rest of your week.

Mrs. G

Homework

Read Stave 5 ACC

Stave 5 Questions

Invent your Own Ghost Worksheet

Prepositions Homework–1

Prepositions Homework–2

Prepositions Evaluation

Conjunctions Review

Adverbs Review

Pronouns Review

Prepositions Review

Links for this Week

QuickWrite (12/4) + Paraphrasing (pt. 2)

Grammar Codes

Content Codes for Expository Essays

About Prepositional Phrases

QuickWrite (12/4)

CHAT Writing 1 Class Notes--Week 12 (11/20)

 Dear Students,

The weather is turning and we are all ready for a break! But before the break:  one last class!  

Visual Vocabulary

I opened class with a Bellringer activity to practice paraphrasing. After that, we did our usual visual vocabulary words.  This week the words are:  felonious and elated. Hopefully, you are not elated about something felonious!

Writing

Today, the KWO on Victorian Inventions was due.  During their work time today, I circulated and gave credit to those who met their deadline. I will close this assignment by midnight tonight. Part of learning how to be a good student is learning how to budget time wisely. I hate being a stickler about deadlines–on the other hand, since we are on about a three week essay cycle, and I know from experience that once a student gets behind, it is very difficult to dig out of that hole. That is why I tend to be strict about writing due dates. On that note, I have changed the due dates for this last essay, 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)

In preparation for writing the final essay this semester, which incorporates some research, we had a Writing Circle discussion about MLA Style citations. Students have been handling this skill fairly well, but supporting claims using citations can always use some practice. Each small group was given a folder with directions on how to cite the most common sources:  books, online articles, podcasts, videos/Youtube, and movies. After taking a look at those, I gave each group a stack of cards with an example of each type of source. Their job was to compose a Works Cited entry AND show how to cite the source in their writing. They were very engaged in this task! 

Literature

Over break, students should read the rest of Stave 4 of A Christmas Carol and answer 3 Questions from the worksheet.  They should also answer the fun Discussion question posted on Google Classroom about who played Scrooge the best on the “silver screen.” 

Though we haven’t had the opportunity to have a full-blown class discussion on this novella yet, I gave the preview that in this Stave, we meet the final ghost.  After break, we will have a discussion and activity on how these three “spirits of Christmas” nudge Scrooge towards his transformation. Last, I reminded the class about the A Christmas Carol vocabulary worksheet that is due 12/11 (WK 14).  If they have been defining four vocabulary words from each Stave as they have been reading, it should be a simple matter of finishing. It is worth 40 pts, so it is a big project! 

Grammar

The Pronouns Group presented today with a fun mini-lesson, game of Bingo and worksheet. As usual, they have two worksheets from me. Don’t forget to fill out the Evaluation for the Pronouns group. Our last presentation on prepositions will be presented when we come back from break on December 4th (Jediah, Toby & Aaron).

That’s all for now. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and break. We have so much to be thankful for!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Victorian Invention Essay–due 12/14

Final Edits–Biography Essay

Pronouns–1

Pronouns–2

Pronouns Evaluation

Read Stave 4 ACC

3 Questions

ACC Discussion Question–Which Scrooge?

Links for this week

Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 11 (Nov. 13)

Hi Everyone!

We had a great class today!  I am always encouraged to see such bright, inquisitive students each week who are engaged and ready to learn!

We kicked off with our Quick Write.  First we had  a mini-lesson on our next Dress-up called strong verbs. We discussed a great way to identify verbs and strong verbs vs. weak verbs. One of the best ways to encourage strong verbs is to ban weak verbs, so we banned our first weak verb:  go/went (come/came.) Students started building a list of alternatives to that oft-used weak verb. We started an alternative word list for these banned verbs and will add to it throughout the year.

 I gave them a choice of writing prompts to practice using strong verbs:

• National Parents as Teachers Day

• National Fast Food Day or

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

Writing

Today, the Biography Essays were due. After they are graded (and coded) I will hand them back. Students will then use their Grammar and Content Codes to perform their Final Edits. 

We took a few minutes to discuss introductions and conclusions using a worksheet. We identified a clear thesis and roadmap sentence, style points and the topic-clincher rule for the sample I handed out. 

In the meantime, it was time to introduce our next and LAST essay for the semester. Students will be researching and writing about a Victorian Invention. It goes well with the time periods of Peter Pan and A Christmas Carol. Today we went over the requirements of the essay and brainstormed some ideas. The Victorian Invention KWO 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

Today’s part of speech presentation was the Adverbs group. They had a mini-lesson, a fun game of  hangman and a worksheet. They also had two worksheets from me. Though I have decided to cancel the Conjunctions worksheets from last week due to printer issues, there was an option for extra credit by doing one of the Conjunctions worksheets from last week; simply turn it in the bin next week. 😀

I hear the weather is going to warm up! Enjoy the weekend!

Mrs. G

Homework

Victorian Invention Essay KWO

Read Stave 3 A Christmas Carol

3 Questions on ACC

Favorite Christmas Foods Discussion Question (GC)

Adverbs Homework–1

Adverbs Homework–2

Adverbs Evaluation

Links for this Week

Quick Write #5 & strong verbs

About the Victorian Invention Essay

Introduction and Conclusion practice

CHAT Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 10 (11/6)

 We are buzzing along in our semester and these students are learning a lot!

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

I=Introduce C=Cite E=Explain

Writing

Speaking of writing, today was our Peer Review day for the Biography essays. Using a checklist, students gave some high quality feedback to their peers. I am hoping that it will be incorporated as they continue to polish their essays.They are due next week.

Grammar

We have now finished the IVAN section of our mnemonic device and are moving on to CAPP. Today’s topic was C=conjunctions.  They had teaching, a very creative activity and a worksheet designed by them. They are to finish the group’s game and worksheet. No grammar sheets from me this week. Make sure to fill out an evaluation for that group.  

We need to adjust our presentation schedule and push it back by one week. Next week, the Adverbs group  will present–see below:

Literature

Students have started the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens has named each of the five chapters of his book “staves”--like the lines on a music staff.  There are five lines/staves in musical notation, and there are five chapters.  It is a carol (song) afterall!  No time for a discussion on  Stave 1 today, but they are to read Stave 2 as homework and answer questions.

Have a blessed weekend!

Mrs. G

Homework

Read Stave 2

3 Questions–Stave 2

Biography Essay

Conjunction Groups’ Game & Worksheet (handed out in class)

Conjunctions Evaluation

Links for this week

Visual Vocabulary #5

Conjunction group video