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”
Links for This Week
Example of an Analogy Essay & Tips for Writing
The Hidden Power of Analogy TedTalk (first 2 minutes)
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