Writing 1 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 Analogy Essay Final Drafts and End Notes will be due when we get back from break.  Make sure you bring a copy to class for Peer Review.  Grade Reports will be issued over the break, so now is a great time to make up any work that might be outstanding.

The Literature portion of  class was dedicated to poetry. Some students enjoy poetry and some are not crazy about it.  We talked about how poetry is art made with words.  I told them that it is said that poets are born–but the rest of us can learn how to write verse and enjoy it.  :) 

After refreshing ourselves on last week’s poetry selections, we had another Jigsaw Style discussion.  They were given a Poetry Menu with discussion prompts and were assigned a poem.  After thoroughly discussing their insights, they got into mixed groups and related their top takaways.

For the Grammar portion of the class, we had a quick lesson on complements.  Complement is the term used for a word or words that are needed to complete the meaning of an expression.  Last week we studied the use of direct and indirect objects as complements.  This week, we added Predicate Nouns and Predicate Adjectives as complements.  I reminded them of our Venn Diagram of linking verbs–once they have determined if the verb is an action verb (AV) or a linking verb (LV) then they will be able to identify the complement. Here’s some Grammar Code:   PNs and PAs always follow a LV.  Since they are experts at nouns and adjectives from the Fall Semester, determining which is a noun and which is an adjective should be relatively simple.  Make sure to correct those worksheets before you turn them in.

  

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

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Analogy Essay Final Draft

Analogy Essay Endnotes

Read Poetry:  

• Poetry:  Wordsworth (p. 12); Browning (p. 19); Bronte (24); Carroll (p. 29); 

• Hopkins (p. 31); Burgess (39)

• Week 12 Poetry (pdfs on Google Classroom)

• 2 Poetry Responses

• Week 10–Complements Worksheets (Updike)

• Week 10–Sentence Patterns (Mr. Jackson)

• Week 10–Sentence Patterns Practice (Four bakers)

Writing 1 Class Notes 3/21

 Time flies when you are having fun–and it sure flew once again today in Writing 1.  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.”  

Today was our Peer Review day in Writing for the Analogy Essay.  As usual, students chose a partner, traded papers and reviewed each other’s work.  The completed Peer Review paper is due with the Final draft on 4/11.

For the Literature portion of our class, we finished our O. Henry short stories unit with a Jigsaw style discussion.  Students became “experts” on one aspect of the three last stories:  Plot, Theme, or Setting & Characters.  After they had thoroughly discussed, they re-grouped and shared their information.  They were also to come to a consensus on this question:  What was your opinion on “The Ransom of Red Chief”?  It was interesting to discuss because the story was both funny (about a boy so bad and mischievous that his family didn't want him back from the kidnappers) and sad (for the same reason).

After the discussion, I handed out their new books:  Great Short Poems.  This is an anthology of short verse that spans 400 years of English and American literary history.  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.

For our Grammar portion of the class, I gave three worksheets for continued practice in identifying sentence elements for the various sentence patterns that have been covered this semester.  Make sure to correct your own work!

Have a blessed weekend!

Mrs. G

Assignments for Week 11 (March 28)

-- Analogy Essay Peer Review

-- Read Week 11 Poetry

–Raleigh (p.1); Donne (p.); Quarels (p. 4); Milton (p. 5); Bradstreet (39)

-- Poetry Response (2 Poems)

Nouns as Direct Objects

Compound Direct Objects

Finding Direct Objects

Links for this Week: 

“18 Flavors”

“Hector the Collector”

CHAT Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 9 (3/14)

 Hello Dear Students!

Although we missed some students today, we had a great class.  Check out these notes in case you are absent or simply want to keep up to date.

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.

We didn’t discuss “Piemienta Pancake” or “Retrieved Reformation” from last week in Literature.  Instead, we will discuss those plus the“The Ransom of Red Chief” in class next week.  The last story is O. Henry’s arguably most famous–it is a very humorous one that I think they will enjoy.  There is a worksheet, and a Quiz assigned on Google Classroom.  

We spent the bulk of our time in class in a Writing Circles Discussion.  Since the Analogy Essay Rough Draft (and Pre-Write) is due next week, we worked with the structure of that essay today.  After reading a Mentor Text on the analogy of how the stock market is similar to a flea market, students did a scavenger hunt to find the hook, thesis, roadmap sentence among other things.  After that, they were divided into small groups to compare and to discuss how effective the hook and analogy was.  They also had an opportunity to share their ideas on what analogies they will be writing about.  There were some great ones!  Next week is Peer Review day, so make sure to bring a copy of your Rough Draft to class!

Last, for Grammar, we discussed Direct and Indirect objects.  Using some simple example sentences, we identified the direct object–which is the noun or pronoun that “receives” the action of the verb.  The indirect object is used when the direct object alone doesn’t tell the full story.  Indirect objects “receive” the action of the verb indirectly through the direct object.  (Phew!)  A tip is that you will find it right after the verb. For example:

She threw him a kiss.

S AV IO DO

There are two worksheets that ask students to build sentences using direct and indirect objects.  Mrs. G will correct those.

And I will wave goodbye to you for now.  

Blessings!

Mrs. G

Homework

Read “Ransom of Red Chief”

Short Stories Worksheets

“Ransom of Red Chief” Quiz

Analogy Pre-Write

Analogy Rough Draft–bring a copy to class for Peer Review!

Sentence Patterns N-V-N

Sentence Patterns N-V-N-N

Links For This Week

Leprechaun Video

Writing Circles Discussion + Mentor Text

CHAT Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 8 (3/7)

Food, glorious food!  Today’s Quick Write had to do with that topic as it is National Cereal Day.  (Yes–it’s a thing.)  We watched a 1 minute video about ranking sugary breakfast cereals.  They also had the option of writing about their thoughts on that OR writing about their favorite packed lunch ideas and memories.

After that, we refreshed ourselves on the two O. Henry stories that were assigned for Literature this week.  They were a study in contrasts!  “The Furnished Room” is a rare melodramatic (and, frankly, depressing story) whereas “Makes the Whole World Kin” is  more in the style we have come to know from O. Henry:  witty, humorous and ironic.  After a short discussion–and because I must keep these students on their toes– we had a quiz over the second story.  Next week they have two more stories and a Short Story Packet as homework.

We spent most of our class time today discussing Writing.  Both Part 1 & 2 of our Propaganda Projects were due today and I answered some questions on that.  I reminded students to fill out the Endnotes for that project–Endnotes are due next week.

Since we finished one writing project, we started the next one.  They are assigned an Analogy Essay.  We spent some time discussing what makes a good analogy and why they are so important in critical thinking and storytelling.  To that end, we watched about 2 minutes of an excellent Ted Talk and followed it up with an Analogy “Cootie Catcher” game which helped us practice identifying different kinds of analogies.

The Prewrite and Rough Draft are due on 3/21–which is also our Peer Review Day.

Last, we discussed our Grammar concept for today:  Predicate Complements.  These can be either predicate nominatives (renaming renaming subject) or predicate adjectives (describing the subject.)  I didn’t get to explain this during class, so I’ll tell you now why this concept is important.  Predicate Complements come up in daily life  when we have to answer the simple question:

Q:  “How are you?”

A:  I am good.

       Or is it? 

      I am well.

      Oh dear!!

Grammar nitpickers say that the answer to this question should NOT be “good” because good is an adjective–and adjectives always modify nouns.  Since the word being modified is a verb, the answer must be “well”--well is an adverb.

As usual, it is not that simple.  The key is linking verbs!  We discussed linking verbs last week and they ALWAYS need a complement (they are so vain!) which completes the phrase.  Guess what:  complements can be adjectives!

It’s perfectly fine to answer the question “I’m good.”  Don’t let the nitpickers tell you you’re wrong!  They think they understand the concept, but they do not!  But now you do!

As a caveat, “well” can be both an adverb AND a predicate adjective–so it’s OK to use, but normally we only say “I am well” when referring to our health.

They had two worksheets to practice this concept.  They are to complete and correct their work as usual.

Blessings on your weekend!

Mrs. G

 

Homework

Read “Pimienta Pancake” & “Retrieved Reformation”

PDF’s & Audio versions

Short Story Packet #2

About the Analogy Essay

Analogy Pre-Write

Analogy Rough Draft

Predicate Complements

Predicate Adjectives

Links for This Week

Rating American Cereal

Analogy Essay Topic & Game

Example of an Analogy Essay & Tips for Writing

The Hidden Power of Analogy TedTalk (first 2 minutes)