Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 8 (3/13)

 Visual Vocabulary

Our words today were hackneyed (adj) and boon (noun).  Students worked with those words today.

Writing

The “Franken-essays” were due this week.  Now that they have had some practice writing effective introductions and conclusions, they are ready to sink their teeth into some proper essays.  

I introduced the “Thank Me Essay.”  After we watched the Ted Talk on “The Power of Saying Thank You.” In  this short talk, the speaker asks why we don’t simply ask the people we know and love to thank us for specific things.  Why is that so hard to do?  She posits that we don’t do it because if we do dare to do that, we are making ourselves vulnerable. When we ask to be thanked:  what if the person neglects us, abuses that knowledge OR what if they actually do thank us?  How would we react?  What an interesting concept!

For this essay, students will follow the “My Dog Model” (as passed out in class) to write an essay that describes three things you would ask a loved one to thank you for. The Key Word Outline is due next week (either bring it to class OR scan and upload it to GC.  I won’t be accepting submissions after the due date for that one ;It’s worth 20 points!)  

Next week, we will talk Style (dress-ups, sentence openers.  However, if you want to get a jump on drafting your essay, the template is posted right now.  It will be due Week 10 (March 27th.)

Literature

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.

Grammar

Last, 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 this week

Read “Pimienta Pancake” & “Retrieved Reformation”

PDF’s & Audio versions

Short Story Packet #2

Thank Me KWO (due next week for 20 pts!)

Grammar

N-V-N

N-V-N-N

Links for this week

The Power of Saying Thank You Ted Talk by Laura Trice

About the Thank Me essay

Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 7 (3/6)

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

“Franken-essay”

Predicate Complements

Predicate Adjectives

Read “Makes the Whole World Kin” & “The Furnished Room”

Short Story Packet #1

Links for this Week

Hooks Slides & In-class Discussion

About the “Franken-essay”

Linking Verb Venn Diagram

CHAT Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 6 (2/20)

 Hello Dear Students!

We made it to our first break of Spring semester–and I think we are ALL ready for it!  We had a good class that started out with a change of seating.  I am hoping this change will encourage students to stay on task er hmm.

After they got into their new seats, we began the class with two new Visual Vocabulary words:  cynical and audacious.  I am sure the students were a bit cynical about Mrs. G’s audacious new seating chart. 😉  By the quiet learning I observed today, I’d say the seating chart was a success.

Writing

Next, we checked in about our Writing From Pictures assignment.  After re-capping the process on the board, I handed out the Checklist and a sample assignment.  Students were given some time to read and think, and then they got in groups to compare their Key Word Outlines and to discuss the sample and Checklist.  

I circulated and gave them credit if they met the deadline for the KWO.  When time was up, I fielded some questions that they couldn’t answer in their small group and assigned the Writing From Pictures essay which is due after break (3/6).  

They should choose one set of pictures (“The Battle of the Windmill” or “Two Kids Looking in a Window”) and write a story based on the pictures.  Use the checklist to help you remember all the required elements.  Since dialogue is required in each paragraph, students should look over the “Dialogue Mini-lesson” slides and take the quiz (GC.)

Grammar

After that, we had a mini-lesson on helping, linking and be verbs and used a  Verb Venn Diagram to complete two worksheets on different sentence patterns:  N-LV-N & N-LV-ADJ.  Varying sentence structures is one way to make your writing more interesting.  Many students finished in class, but if not, they are to be finished as homework.

Literature

Today’s class was the last day of discussion about Animal Farm because we have officially finished it!  Before students take the Animal Farm Final Exam (posted on Google Classroom), I wanted to pause and allow students to think deeply about the connections between characters, themes, symbols and allegorical elements of the novella.  We accomplished this by diving into a “Hexagon Discussion.”  Honestly, I was impressed with the deep thinking that took place–I heard many insightful connections!  Because our discussion time was short, we didn’t have time for each group to share their most profound connection.  However, they wrote their assertions and noted their connections on a worksheet. Students will be graded on the quality of their assertions.

I passed out our next book which is a collection of short stories by O. Henry.  They are to read two of them and complete a Short Story Worksheets.

I hope your break is brimming with rest, relaxation and some time with a good book!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework for this week

Writing from Pictures KWO (due today)

Writing from Pictures Composition

Dialogue Quiz

N-LV-N

N-LV-ADJ

Animal Farm Final Exam (GC)

Read:  “Gift of the Magi” & “After Twenty Years”

Short Story Worksheets

Links for this week

About Writing from Pictures

“Dialogue Mini-Lesson” slides

Writing Discussion slides

Venn Diagram of Verbs

Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 5 (2/13)

 

                                      Greetings!

The weather was seasonably cold today and I had more than a few out with different viruses.  We are one week away from a break, and I sense we are in need of some time off!  These students are a joy to teach–even when circumstances are challenging.

Since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, our Quick Write today was on the subject of conversation hearts.  After watching a short video on this candy’s history, students brainstormed as many aspects of, things about and topics pertaining to this subject.  I even challenged them to come up with as many “Gen Z” messages as possible.  The heart shaped lollipops helped this process along!  Students also made some Valentine’s for a friend or family member.  Sweet!

Literature

We have read up to chapter 8–almost done with the book, so we took some time to think about all the different characters we’ve met so far. They had some time to brainstorm 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses of one of them.  For homework, they’ll need to write a “character sketch” that details these aspects of their chosen character.  They should finish the novel and complete the Reader Response questions.

For Writing, I gave the students a few minutes to review the assigned reading for today–specifically about the “Battle of the Windmill” in chapter 8. After reading that short section aloud, I passed out a series of pictures from the graphic novel Animal Farm by Odyr which depicts this episode. Although the pictures suggest a story, they are fairly minimal.  I told the students that their job is to describe the events depicted in each picture.  Simply report.  

In order to think about the events effectively, one must ask questions!  This is something we have been practicing in our Quick Writes since last semester:  who, what, (what are they thinking/doing/saying/feeling) when, where, why, how?  And then a level deeper:  what happened before the picture?  After?  Outside the picture?  What may have happened before or after?  In this way, students begin to access their thinking and imagination using the novel and the pictures as a base.  

After taking notes on the process, we made a Key Word Outline for the first two pictures together.  They wrote their own outline for the third picture and then compared it with a table mate.  Their homework is to finish this KWO and post it (or bring it to class) for next week.  They are welcome to make any changes to their story from what we competed in class together.  Four points per picture (plus the topic and clincher is plenty.  Changes will happen organically as they begin to write.) 

I gave an option to use a different set of pictures if they’d rather.  The second set has nothing to do with Animal Farm, and will challenge them to come up with a completely new story based on each picture.  Though the KWO is due next week, the three paragraph composition will be assigned next week (due March 7).   

At the end of class, I assigned the Grammar worksheets, practicing identifying and classifying prepositional phrases.  Prepositional phrases function either as adjective phrases or adverb phrases, and it can be tricky to tell what kind of phrase it is.  They have these as homework.

Blessings on your weekend!

Mrs. G

   

Homework

Read Ch. 8 & 10 Animal Farm

Ch. 9 & 10–3 Responses

Animal Farm Character Sketch

About Writing from Pictures

Writing from Pictures KWO

Classifying Prep Phrases

Prepositional Phrases -- Adj or Adv

Links for This Week

History of Conversation Hearts–video

Animal Farm The Graphic Novel

CHAT Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 4 (2/6)

Hello All,

We’ve hit a cold snap in Minnesota, but that didn’t keep these lovely Writing 1 students from the task at hand this week.  It was good to be together again!

Our Visual Vocabulary words today were delineate and discordant.  We took a few minutes to discuss the words. They wrote some sentences (and drew pictures!) to help cement these words into their brains.  I always look forward to reading these sophisticated words in their writing!

Writing

Before they passed their Visual Vocabulary sentences in, we added two new sentence openers to our style sheets and practiced writing sentences using the #3 -ly adverb opener and the #4 -ing opener.

These will be added to our checklists for the next compositions!

Last week we discussed different propaganda techniques used on Animal Farm AND that are commonly used in the media today.  They are to choose an advertisement and analyze it for propaganda as well as use of any literary devices.  This assignment is due next week, so I took the opportunity to check their progress and answer any questions. Before moving on, we took a minute to learn the persuasive techniques of ethos, pathos, and logos. We learned that pathos is the most common technique in advertising today.  Playing on consumers’ emotions seems second nature to ad agencies.  Logos–logical facts and stats are also powerful.  Ethos is like the bandwagon technique in some ways–it appeals to a person’s credibility  by showcasing their achievements and  accomplishments.   (If you want to play ball like Michael Jordan, wear this brand of shoe!)  After that, I called students’ attention to this page for a longer list of literary devices to use in their analysis.  Those are due next week.

Literature

We are moving along in Animal Farm and are up to chapter 6.  We broke into groups and had a 4 Square Style Discussion over the significant events in those chapters. Each group member was assigned a role and we had some great participation.  After the small group discussion, each group presented their most significant or surprising takeaways to the large group.They demonstrated some wonderful critical thinking!  I told the students I wish we had the entire class time to just talk about the book and many agreed.  Instead of reader response questions, they have a take home quiz to complete on Google Classroom.

Alas, time moves on and Grammar awaits.  Today’s topic was on a Simple Sentences Review and the other was practice on prepositional phrases.  Make sure to correct your work before you turn it in!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Advertisement analysis (due next week)

Read Animal Farm ch. 7 & 8

AF Take Home Quiz #2

Simple Sentences Review

Prepositional Phrases Practice

Links For This Week

Style sheet

Ethos, logos, pathos slideshow

4 Square  discussion