Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 4 (September 15)

 Greetings!

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

Visual Vocabulary

Our words today were paucity and lackadaisical.  After studying the words, we took a minute to write sentences using them correctly.

Writing

Last week we filled out a Story Sequence Chart about the fable “The Wind and the Sun.”  I asked the students to memorize the blank chart and we had a quiz at the beginning of class.  After that, I checked on their finished Wind/Sun SSC’s.  Most students were successful at taking the key ideas from the fable and answering the questions about characters/setting, plot/conflict & resolution of the story. I emphasized that this is a bit different from a Key Word Outline in that students are to take the basic ideas and embellish them from their imagination.  They are a starting point for their stories, and students are free to riff off using their SSC’s.I assigned the next step today which is to take their SSC and write three paragraphs to retell the fable.  (You may write more if you’d like.)  They are to make sure to include the Dress-Ups:  -ly adverbs, who/which clause and to use strong verbs (not the “Banned Verbs” see, said, go.)  This assignment is due next week.  I have an example posted on GC if students need it!)

Literature Discussion

We're reading Ender’s Game, and this week they had a small group discussion using the 4 Square Discussion model to discuss the content. Students were assigned Chapter 5-6 and 3 Responses.  They will also need to complete a Week 4 Take Home Quiz.

Grammar 

As I mentioned last week,  we are having a short contest for our IVAN CAPP mascot. Students can still submit a picture to Google classroom, and we’ll vote on their favorite.  The winner will win a prize!  The drawings will be posted on Google Classroom.  

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, and also a short worksheet.  Some students use Google Slides, Canva or other types of presentations.  Sometimes videos are helpful. We used a large portion of our class time to work in groups to prepare these presentations. Students will likely need to connect outside of class to finish their presentations, so they also exchange information.  Our first presentation will be October 3.

Assignments for Next Week

Retelling “The Wind and the Sun”--3 paragraphs

Read Chapters 5 & 6

Week 4 Take Home Quiz–Chapters 5-6

Read Chapters 5 & 6

Work on Grammar presentations

Links for This Week

Visual Vocab. #2

Parts of Speech Checklist + Resources

Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 3 (9/12)

We had a good class today.  The students were ready to learn and we got a lot accomplished.

How does one think?  I propose that thinking is really made up of asking and answering questions.  And since writing=thinking, it makes sense to spend some time cultivating the skill of asking good questions. When you get good at asking questions, you will never lack for anything to write about!  Our Quick Writes This year will be focused on the skill of asking good questions.  This time, students were given the topic of Pencils.  In three minutes, students each generated as many as possible:

things about

topics pertaining to

aspects of 

PENCILS

as they could think of.  They had some GREAT ideas!  Each week we do it, the better they will become.

                                                        Grammar 

Today, we talked through the parts of speech group projects.  A sign up sheet was circulated for students to choose their own groups.  (If you were absent, I assigned you a group. See the list below).  

Group assignments are based on the mnemonic device IVAN CAPP.  Each letter stands for a part of speech. Students will be presenting their part of speech using the model:

1. I do (explain the concept)

2. We do (lead the class in a short game)

3. You do (assign the class a worksheet designed by your group)

Each component of the presentation should take no longer than five minutes–15 minutes max. total. Students will have time next week in class to prepare for their presentations. 

They got started on a Grammar Pre-Test to see how much they already know about the parts of speech.  They have two weeks to complete and correct it at home.  (KEY is posted on GC.)  They will receive a base score no matter how many they have incorrect.  At the end of the semester, they’ll re-take it and see how much they have learned!

 

As an optional assignment, they can submit a picture of "IVAN CAPP" to be voted on as a class favorite to use as a mascot for this unit. 

We didn’t take time to discuss Ender’s Game in Literature today.  Instead, we will have a more in-depth discussion next week for a Literature Discussion. For homework, they will read chapters 3 & 4 and complete 3 Reader Response questions.

Writing

In the writing portion of our class, we shifted from writing a Key Word outline for factual articles into a different type of outline used for narratives (stories).  It is called a Story Sequence Chart.  Instead of choosing 3 key words from each sentence as in a KWO, I modeled how to answer questions for each part of a story:  setting/characters, plot/conflict & resolution.

I wrote a blank Story Sequence Chart on the board and students copied it in their notes.  I asked students to memorize it for next week.  (There will be a quiz on it!)

Then we filled in the template together after reading Aesop’s fable “The Wind and the Sun.” Students are to finish it as homework and bring it next week.  (I attached a copy of my SSC you can look at if you need extra help.) In the future, we will rewrite the fable using that chart.

Links for This Week

Win a Prize!--IVAN CAPP drawing

“Wind and the Sun” Story Sequence Chart we made in class

Parts of Speech Groups

Updated Assignment Checklist

Homework

Grammar Pre-Test–correct it (due 9/26)

Read Ender’s Game Chs. 3 & 4

3 Responses

Story Sequence Chart, Template & Source Text–Complete the template & bring it next week

Writing 1 Class Notes--Week 2 (Sept. 5)

I appreciated the students’ hard working attitudes today as they dove into another great day of learning together.

We started out class with some housekeeping and some announcements:

1. Please clean up after yourselves after class.  No wrappers on floor; push in chairs 🙂

2. Turning in HW:  EITHER turn it on digitally OR turn it in manually.  NOT BOTH 🙂  (I have posted a tutorial on how to scan handwritten homework.)

3. AI:  Grammarly has added a generative AI aspect to their free program.  For this reason, I am asking students to avoid (uninstall) Grammarly if they have it on their browser.  We discussed the difference between the basic AI tools on Google Docs/Word vs. “generative” AI.  The goal is to use authentic word choices and develop a writer’s voice.  When we rely too much on the suggestions that AI generates, the paper we meant to write can end up VERY differently.  AI can be a wonderful tool to use–later.  And not in CHAT writing. 🙂

We had our first edition of Visual Vocabulary (VV).  Today, we learned:  ostentatious and fatalistic.  These words are taken from SAT/ACT vocabulary lists and each week we do VV, students are given the definition, the part of speech, the synonym and antonym.  Then they write a sentence using the word in context. We will be adding to the list throughout the semester–so don’t lose that worksheet–keep it behind the Vocabulary/QW tab! 

After that, we switched gears to Literature–Ender’s Game.  We talked about the fact that our protagonist is very young and considered a prodigy.  They are to read chapters 1 & 2 and do three study guide questions or 1 a la carte option. (In class I assigned all the questions.  Only choose three!)

In the Writing portion of the class, we continued on the topic of child prodigies.  We read a source text on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and make a key word outline for paragraphs one and two.  Students are to finish it at home.  We discussed two Dress-Ups (-ly adverb and who/which clause.)  I also went over the title rule:  grab readers’ attention and repeat 1-3 words from the last sentence of the last paragraph.  They are to write three paragraphs using 1 dress-up per paragraph.  Students should:

1.  Write a KWO 

2. Write a Rough Draft.  Print it (see me if this is a problem).  

3. Have an Editor read and mark on Rough Draft.

4. Write a Final Draft.  

5. Hand in all four pieces.  EITHER on GC OR in class.  (Keep it all together!)

In the last few minutes of class, I introduced the Grammar project students will be working on throughout this semester.  Next week, we’ll talk in more detail.  For now, know that for this project, students will be the teachers–in teams they’ll gather information about an assigned part of speech and present it to the rest of the class.  We will divide into groups next week and meet Mr.  IVAN CAPP  

Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Read Chapter 1 & 2 Ender’s Game

3 Responses

About Writing from Notes–Mozart (with Dress-Ups)

Mozart KWO

Mozart–3 paragraphs

LInks for This Week:

Scanning Homework Tutorials

Visual Vocabulary #1

Ender’s Game Audiobook

Parts of Speech Project

Writing 1 Class Notes--Week 1 (Aug. 29)

 Hello Writing 1 Students and Parents!

We've started out our new school year well.  I'm looking forward to working with this group of students.  Below are the Class Notes for this week.  Every week I will send out notes similar to these.  I include the topics of the class and the direction of instruction.  At the bottom of each email I list the homework and links to the blog, to the Google Classroom assignments,  and to any other helpful information.

We got right into the nitty-gritty class details right away:  Class Guidelines, homework deadlines and Syllabus.  They have an assignment of having a parent sign the Guidelines–they can bring them in next week or submit on GC.

After that, we had a 10 minute Ice Breaker game where students got into groups, rolled the dice and answered corresponding questions.  It was a low-key way to connect with classmates and hopefully learn something new.  While they were engaged, I went around and checked on their Writing 1 Binders to see that they are complete–one of the first assignments.

Our Literature selection for this semester is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.  We will start the  novel next week, but for this week, they are to watch the introduction video on Google Classroom and complete the Quiz.

In Writing, our first exercise was to make a Key Word Outline on Source Texts about Orson Scott Card and Science Fiction.  Outlining is a very powerful tool in learning to write well–it forces us to read and synthesize material so that we can express it succinctly. 

As a class, we read a source text on Orson Scott Card.  For each sentence, we chose the three (and three only!) most important, (“key”) words.  Abbreviations and symbols are “free” and don’t count toward the three.  After we compiled a KWO for the first paragraph, students wrote one on their own for the next paragraph.  We gathered their ideas on the board and, after that, flexed our public speaking muscles.  

How do you test whether an outline is good or not?  You tell it back using your outline.  Students paired up and took turns telling back their outlines to each other. I think some were surprised about how challenging this can be!  The technique is deceptively simple:

Read

Think

Look up

Speak

Can you remember what your symbols mean?  Were you able to tell it back successfully?  Then your outline is “good!”

For homework, students should outline a text about science fiction.  They will tell it back to someone at home and then have that person sign their KWO.  It is due next week.

No Grammar this week -- we'll jump in with both feet next week! 

Assignments for Next Week

(Note:  The links will take you to the Google Classroom post for the particular assignment.  If you plan to do the paper version, you can ignore the link.  If an assignment is labeled "GC," that means that is something that must be done on Google Classroom. These are usually quizzes or questions)

Writing 1 Class Guidelines (signatures needed)

Before school started assignments–Students can still do these:

Welcome Back #1

Welcome Back #2

Assembled Binders

“Science Fiction” Key Word Outline

Links for this Week:

Writing 1 Assignments Checklist

Writing 1 Syllabus

Homework and Late Dates

Ender’s Game Preview Material

Ender’s Game Introduction Quiz

Ender’s Game Audiobook (free version)

Key Word Outline

End of Year Wrap-Up!

 Dear CHAT Writing 1 Students & Parents,

I've just finished calculating the grades for the Spring semester, and you will be finding them in your inbox in just a few minutes.  As tutors, we give you suggested grades for you as homeschooling families to consider.

Allow me to share my thoughts on grades.  As I homeschool my own children, I don’t give them grades.  I feel that grades are far too subjective, especially coming from their mother.  Instead, I teach my own children for mastery, and we don’t proceed with a topic until they are ready, no matter how long that takes.  In a class setting, knowing where each student is with regards to his/her understanding of a topic is not always possible, so any grade given is not a complete representation of what the student learned or accomplished this year.

Letter grades are a funny thing.  For some students, it becomes the only motivation for doing well.  For some, it becomes a measure of their worth as people or as  academic learners.  I personally don't like these "side effects" of the grading system.  On the other hand, grades can be a valid reflection and reward for working hard, being diligent, and understanding the materials.

When teaching students to be good writers, I give a lot of consideration for growth and improvement. Each student has a starting place; over time I look for him or her to learn the mechanics of grammar, good writing techniques, and analytical thinking skills.

For this class, I gave points for Quick Writes, short assignments, literature assignments, grammar exercises, and longer essays. The final drafts of the essay assignments were graded using a rubric that divided the papers into the following categories:  focus, content, organization, and mechanics.  

The scores for class work are divided into the following categories:  Quick Writes and Miscellanea, Writing, Literature, and Grammar.  A student may have been strong in one area and not in another, and this will be reflected in these categories.  These scores are also weighted; in other words, not all of the categories have the same importance.  The Quick Write points are 15% of the total grade, the Writing assignments are 30%, the Literature homework is 28%, and the Grammar work is 27%. (You will see that each of these categories has subcategories.  This is  for the purpose of keeping the internal category weighting correct.)

The grade breakdowns for Writing 1 & 2 are as follows:

98% - 100% (A+), 93% - 97% (A), 90% - 92% (A-),

87% - 89% (B+), 83% - 86% (B), 80 % - 82% (B-),

77% - 77% (C+), 73% - 76% (C), 70% - 72% (C-),

67% - 69% (D+), 63% - 66% (D), 60% - 62% (D-),

55% - 59% (Pass), 50% - 54% (Fail); 0% - 49% (Incomplete)

Each student (and parents) will receive an e-mail with percentages and a suggested overall grade for this semester. (Note:  You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the document.)   I’ve seen each student improve with each paper and have truly enjoyed my interactions with this class.  Good Work!

Blessings to all,

Mrs. G

Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 15 (May 4)

 Greetings everyone!

We had a marvelous final day of Writing 1 at CHAT for the 2023-24 school year.  We have covered so much over the course of the year, that our heads are full; but the weeks go by so quickly that it seems hard to think that we're at the end.  

As the culminating event, students have been working towards staging our class Poetry Event.  They all had a role to play on on a committee and they worked collaboratively to make this event a success.  I am proud of the way they communicated, split up the work and let their talents shine as they organized and then performed their poetic pieces.   Though I  know that some students do not enjoy poetry, I appreciated their good attitudes and risk-taking. I was especially touched by the quality and the authenticity  of original poems that were shared.  What a talented bunch!

After the Committees met to put the finishing touches together and we had a short class business meeting, we were ready to begin.  Using the beautiful program (designed by Abigail Bach) our Emcee duo of Grant and Broden took charge and explained the judging criteria and the flow of the event.  The judges (Hannah, Lydia & Evangeline) did a great job of evaluating the poem and the delivery style–and though it was difficult, they did come up with a winner!  

The top 5 were given a small prize and first prize won a T-Shirt.  

Congratulations to first prize winner Niles Benson!

Please watch Google Classroom for a link to the photo album from this event (thanks to the documentation committee for putting that together!)

Now that it is all over, I want to let you know that I am working on getting all the grading finished.  I have given students until Friday @ 11:59 PM  to hand any work in.  Final Grades will be out sometime next week.  If for some reason that won't work, please contact me. Look for 2 emails from me:  one that explains how I grade and then the grades themselves.  In the meantime, you can look at Google Classroom to get a pretty good idea of your grade.

This has been a great year with these students.  They're bright and engaging, and they've worked hard this year. I look forward to working with some of them again in Writing 2!

Blessings,

Mrs. G