Writing 1: October 2023

Thursday, October 26, 2023

Writing 1 Class Notes–WEEK 9 (October 29)

Hello All!

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 finished Ender’s Game this week which means it was time for the final exam :) Students took the exam in class and afterwards each received their own copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They read a handout about introducing the novella and even though there is no reading assigned yet, were able to get a head start. There is a video posted about the book and they have a quiz over the introduction as homework.

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

We have now finished the IVAN section of our mnemonic device and are moving on to CAPP. Today’s grammar topic was C=conjunctions. There were no student presentations today–instead I gave a short lesson while students took notes over the three types of conjunctions. They have two homework sheets for practice. Important: If you have given your Parts of Speech Presentation, please fill out a Self-Assessment and turn it in. (I neglected to explain this in class. Reflection is an important part of learning, so take a minute to complete this.)

Homework

Introduction to A Christmas Carol

Quiz on Introduction to ACC

Essay 3 Rough Draft

Essay 3 Prewrite

Essay 3 Peer Editing Worksheet

Parts of Speech Self-Evaluation

Conjunction–1

Conjunctions–2

Links for This Week

Quick Write (10/26)

Craft Moves Chart

Charles Dickens YouTube video

Friday, October 13, 2023

Writing 1 Class Notes--Week 8 (October 12)

Hello 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.

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 “Who is This Special Person?” Presenting an award, a best man’s or maid of honor’s speech, a birthday or graduation, introducing a speaker, the foreword to a book, a eulogy–all could present occasions to pay tribute to a person who is important to you and others.

The subject of this essay should be an “average” person in your life with an “above-average” story. We did spend some time brainstorming, sharing topic ideas and getting started on our Prewrite. 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 the Parts of Speech presentations, and today we had the Nouns group. They gave a short teaching, using a well-done Google Slideshow. Unfortunately, the highly anticipated Kahoot! game experienced “technical difficulties.” The group will have the opportunity to play the game next week after they have tweaked their approach. There are two homework assignments to practice identifying nouns–some of them finished the worksheets in class.

We finished IVAN for Grammar and I forgot to assign the IVAN Reviews! Please complete a review for each part of IVAN. There are 4 Google Forms posted for each part of speech. (Each review form has 10 questions.)

Literature

We have zoomed through Ender’s Game this year–we’re already on the home stretch! Students should read the last chapters (14 & 15) and do the 3 Responses worksheet. Next class period, we will have an in-class exam over the novel.

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

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

IVAN Review–Interjections

IVAN Review–Verbs

IVAN Review–Adjectives

IVAN Review–Nouns

Read Ender’s Game ch. 14 & 15

Friday, October 6, 2023

Writing 1 Class Notes--Week 7 (October 5)

Greetings All!

What a beautiful day! The beautiful autumnal colors are reminding me of God’s goodness towards us–he is SO faithful! Yes–we have a good inheritance in Him (Psalm 16:6).

In that vein, we started today off by reframing any negative thinking we might have by replacing those thoughts with those of gratefulness. I asked students to list three things they are grateful for before looking at some funny pictures I posted. The instructions were to come up with something creative to write in response as their QuickWrite today. Not surprisingly, they generated some inventive writing.

We spent the bulk of our time in class on Grammar today. Both the verbs and the Adjectives groups presented today. After their lessons and activities, I did some teaching on adjectives. I think some students were surprised that some words they hadn’t realized were adjectives are actually “adjectives in disguise.” Since adjectives modify nouns, simply check to see if the adjective is modifying a noun. If so: BINGO. You’ve got an adjective. Articles (a, an, the) and possessive pronouns (my, his, your, etc) and words that answer what kind, which one, how many and how much can be surprising as well. There are two worksheets on adjectives that are due next week. Make sure to correct them before turning them in!

Switching gears, we discussed the deadlines for Writing. Next week, the Final drafts for Essays 1 & 2 are due. Along with submitting their Final Drafts, students need to submit all of their process pieces: Pre-Writes, Peer Reviews & Endnotes for each essay. I handed out one copy of the Endnotes worksheet so we could read it together to make sure expectations are understood. I explained that the Endnotes are an opportunity for them to reflect on their writing and there is real value in this “meta-cognition” exercise. Reflecting on their own writing encourages ownership and helps students think beyond the “product.” That is where the real magic is.

Though we didn’t have time to read aloud today, students are to keep reading Ender’s Game (Chs. 11-13) and complete the Quiz posted on Google Classroom.

Homework

Adjectives Homework 1

Adjectives Homework 2

Adjectives Evaluation