Hello All!
Good to be back in the saddle at CHAT! I hope we are all refreshed and raring to go!
First, we had a Quick Write that was a bit looser than we have had in the past. Students were given a choice of “March topics” to write about: Minnesota Day, Teen Mental Health Day, or National Grammar Day.
Writing
Over the break they worked on their Writing from Pictures composition–and that was due today. After passing those in, it was time for our new writing topic: The “Franken-Essay.” In this assignment, students learned (or refreshed themselves) on how to write an effective introduction and conclusion. Then, after choosing a composition that they have submitted in this past year, the last step is to fuse the new introduction and conclusion. In the end, you will have a robust five-paragraph essay.
We started by exploring different possibilities for writing a good hook. After that, students analyzed an introduction and conclusion for an example essay on the subject of cotton balls. (Yes, I said “cotton balls”:)
They silently found and underlined the three topics in the introduction/conclusion that were presented in the body paragraphs. They found the hook and background information in the introduction, observed how the topics were restated in the conclusion, and noticed how the writer states the “most significant” of the topics in the conclusion and presents NO NEW INFORMATION in that conclusion.
Last, they got together in their writing circles to compare their answers and discuss the effectiveness of this method.
After debriefing as a large group, we looked at the checklist and the The “Franken-essay” is due next week–along with the KWO, Rough and Final draft as usual. NOTE: You are writing a KWO, RD & FD for the new Intro/Conclusion only. You have already written the body paragraphs from a previous composition!
Literature
Last, we reflected on the themes and characters of the short stories that were assigned last class period in Literature: “The Gift of the Magi” & “After Twenty Years.” After reflecting, they got into small groups to discuss and report their findings back to the class. We found that even though they are very different stories, we could still find common themes on generosity, honesty, and the struggles of the working class. They are enjoying these O. Henry stories and have two more for next week along with a Short Story Packet. I gave the warning to make sure to read carefully for next week as there is a STRONG possibility there might be a “pop” quiz. 😉
Grammar
We sifted gears and took some time to discuss our grammar topic: Subject complements. I told the students that linking verbs are so vain: they always need a “complement”! We took out the linking verb Venn Diagram that we used during the last class to remind us of linking verbs examples.
If a complement can either renames the subject, it is called a “predicate noun.” If the complement describes the subject, it is called a “predicate adjective.” I wrote a few simple examples on the board and then students had time to work on the worksheets. They should use the KEY to correct their own work and are due next week.
Blessings on your weekend!
Mrs. G
Homework for the Week
Read “Makes the Whole World Kin” & “The Furnished Room”
Links for this Week
Hooks Slides & In-class Discussion
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