Writing 1: Writing 1 Class Notes Week 4 (Sept. 15)

Greetings!

I cannot believe how the time flies with these students! What a great group! We covered a lot, but I find myself wishing we had more time.

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!

Writing Discussion

The Descriptive Essays are due next week. Most students are finishing their essays, so I assigned the next one. The next essay is a Personal Essay. For this essay they should choose a personal experience or a topic that is of strong personal interest to them. We touched on topic ideas and thesis statements. The rough draft is due next week.

Literature Discussion

We're reading Animal Farm, and this week we had a good discussion about our reading. We used the 4 Square Discussion model to discuss the content. We also did a little singing. If you have been in the hallway, you would have heard animal noises to the tune of La Cucaracha and Clementine. Students were assigned Chapter 5-6 and 3 Responses. They will also need to complete a Week 4 Take Home quiz

Grammar

Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could have our Grammar portion of class, but we will remedy that next week.

Since we are covering Parts of Speech using the memory device IVAN CAPP, we will have a short contest for our mascot. A number of students contributed drawings and pictures. The drawings are posted on Google Classroom. I'll let them know the winner next week.

Students have been put in groups of 3, and they are to research and come up with explanations about their assigned parts of speech. Additionally, they are to come up with an activity/game/video for the class. Some students use PowerPoint or other types of presentations. Sometimes videos are helpful. I've extended the first presentation. Instead of starting next week, I've pushed the first presentation off until Sept.29 (Week 6). Interjections and Verbs will be presented that week. We will use a bulk of our class time to work on these presentations next week. STUDENTS SHOULD CONNECT WITH THEIR GROUP MEMBERS TO PLAN AFTER CLASS!

Parts of Speech Groups

Interjections -- Celia, Grace, Lydia

Verbs -- Lily, Stella, Maesen

Adjectives -- Doug, Gabe

Nouns -- Vivi, Annie, Phoebe

Conjunctions -- Elliot, Judah

Adverbs -- Teegan, Jack

Pronouns --Kirsten, Avery, Esther

Prepositions -- Zach, Henry

Assignments for Next Week

About the Personal Essay

Personal Essay RD (due WK 6–9/29)