Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 3 (9/12)

 Hi All!

We got right to it today with our very first Quick Write. Every other week students are given a topic, five minutes and a few parameters. Then I play some music and our goal is to write continuously during that time. Today, before writing, we talked about their first stylistic Dress-Up technique which is -ly adverbs. After talking about what an adverb is and what an adverb isn’t we looked at a long list of options. They stowed their papers in the binders and got a clean sheet of paper.

Then I gave them a choice of writing prompts: either school pictures OR the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I am giving extra credit for every -ly adverb used and for any visual vocabulary words that are used. So far, we’ve learned ostentatious and fatalistic.

Writing

In the writing portion of our class, we dove a bit deeper on the Key Word Outline. After talking through the attributes of a basic paragraph (see handout), we used the KWO on J.M. Barrie that was due today to write a basic paragraph. I modeled the choosing the topic and 5-7 key facts. Then I wrote the first few sentences. I gave students time to finish the paragraph emphasizing the topic-clincher rule and indicating any -ly adverbs used. After sharing their finished paragraphs with a partner, I handed out an article about AI. For homework, please read the article and create one KWO for each paragraph (three total) then write one basic paragraph summarizing all three KWOs. Hand in both pieces of writing next week–and there will be a door test on the topic clincher rule!  

Grammar 

Today, we talked through the parts of speech group projects.  A sign up sheet was circulated for students to choose their own groups. (See 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 still submit a picture by midnight tonight of "IVAN CAPP" to be voted on as a class favorite to use as a mascot for this unit. 

Homework

KWO & Basic Paragraph (AI)

–Handwrite one KWO for each paragraph (3 KWOs total)

–Write one basic paragraph summarizing the KWOs

Grammar Pre-Test–correct it (due 9/25)

Read Peter Pan Chs. 5 & 6

Reader Responses–Enneagram

Links for This Week

Win a Prize!--IVAN CAPP drawing

Parts of Speech Group Assignments

Quick Write– (-ly adverbs)

Wr 1 Class Notes--WK 2 (9/4)

Hello All!

I appreciated the students’ hard working attitudes today as they dove into another great day of learning together. After a quick check-in about Google Classroom and how to turn off notifications, we got started.

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 in your 3 Ring Binders. Speaking of that, as we passed in homework, I gave students credit for having their binders assembled and ready.

In the Writing portion of the class, I introduced a very important skill: Key Word Outlines. Students will be writing and using these throughout their year, so we spent today laying a good, solid foundation. After reading a biography on our author J.M. Barrie we took a stab at writing a KWO on that information. For each sentence, students are allowed to use 3 words; symbols and numbers don’t count toward this. An outline like this is an excellent way to critically think about what one is reading AND to synthesize the text–thereby making it your own. You do not have to worry about plagiarism when you use this method AND it helps us organize our thoughts for the next step of writing (or speaking.) Today, for the first paragraph students were invited to copy my KWO from the board, the next section we did together. The last section they can finish on their own as homework.

After that, we switched gears to Literature–Peter Pan.  We talked about some  Victorian vocab and practices. One of those practices is that little boys usually wore what we’d consider “dresses” until they are potty trained and they normally had long hair. When they turned two it was common to have a “breeching ceremony” where they received their first pair of pants or breeches, cut their baby curls and were paraded down the sidewalk because now they are considered a “big boy.” Typically a sad time for all mothers 🥲. It dovetails nicely with what the quote we discussed from the beginning of chapter one: 

 FDR in 1890–before his 

“breeching ceremony”

“You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.” 

I gave them time to think about some more questions pertaining to chapters 1 & 2 and to  discuss with their small groups. I was very impressed with some of their insightful comments about J.M. Barrie in relation to this Peter Pan story. They are to keep reading and be prepped for an in-class quiz over the reading next week.

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.  I introduced them to Mr.  IVAN CAPP and invited them to submit a picture for a contest (optional.) Next week we’ll split into groups to begin work on this project.

Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Blessings,

Mrs. G

Homework

Read Chapter 3 & 4  Peter Pan

Be ready for a quiz!

J.M.B. KWO

LInks for This Week:

Visual Vocabulary #1

About Key Word Outlines

Parts of Speech Project

IVAN CAPP Drawing Contest (optional)

 

Writing 1 Class Notes Week 1--(Sept.28)

 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:  A timed in-class writing assignment. I gave them a prompt, handed out Blue Books and set the timer for 20 minutes. The rationale for this assignment is to simply get their writing juices flowing AND to give them a baseline of their skill level. My hope is that by the end of the year, they will see vast improvement in their ability to write clearly and effectively. I “suffered” along with them by participating myself.  I do hope the music and the snack may have softened the blow just a bit. (I hope everyone comes back next week. 🙂)

After that, we got right into the nitty-gritty class details: expectations, homework deadlines and the syllabus. I talked about the importance of “budgeting” for about one hour each weekday to Writing class. I suggested they map out their week by designating a chunk of homework to that day.  

For example:  

Fridays=literature 

Mondays=grammar worksheets

Tuesdays & Wednesday=essays & writing

By chunking it down, they will avoid having that work pile up. I will read    They have an assignment of having a parent sign the Guidelines–they can bring them in next week or submit on GC. 

Included in our class business was a slide show that presented a sort of “carrot and stick” approach to generative AI. I hoped that this would be a “pep talk” about the importance of learning how to think critically and write clearly. 

The carrot:  Writing is simply thinking–it’s thinking made manifest. To think is a God given gift. The author John Warner said that “To outsource writing and reading is to cease being human.” We took a minute to discuss the validity of that statement. 

The stick: We talked about acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI and I reviewed the consequences of using AI to do your homework or write essays instead. 

On to more delightful topics: our Literature selection for this semester –Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.  Today, we read Peter’s origin story from  chapter 2 Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. This book was written for adults in 1906 and in it we get a glimpse of Peter before he is more fully developed in Barrie’s later work, Peter Pan & Wendy. Definitely different from the Disney version! 

For homework, students should finish that chapter and continue on to chapters 1 & 2 of Peter Pan. Then they should complete the Reader Response.

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

Signed Guidelines & Assembled Binders

Finish Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens ch. 2

Read Peter Pan chapters 1 & 2

Audiobooks

Reader Response–new book “Fortune Teller”

Links for this Week:

Writing 1 Assignments Checklist

Writing 1 Syllabus

Homework and Late Dates

About the Author J.M. Barrie

Scanning handwritten homework tutorial

How to turn off notifications tutorial

Warner, John. More than Words. Basic Books, 4 Feb. 2025.

End of the Year Wrap Up!

 Dear CHAT Writing 1 & 2 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.

Grading Thoughts:

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.

Essay Grades:  “Trigger Warning!”😉

A unique aspect of this grading system is that each student can earn 100% on each essay if they simply complete the checklist.  I find if they have met all the requirements on the checklist, their writing is poised, polished and sounds pretty darn good!  

On the other hand when a student has missed a required element (or two), the checklist has not been completed.  Therefore, the assignment has not been completed.  Therefore the essay cannot be graded.  🫠

When (not if) this happens, the essay is returned “In Process”-- aka 0 points.  But hear me out!  This zero is due to the parameters of the Google Classroom grading system and is temporary!  Don’t get frustrated at this point!  Simply stick with the revision process.  I like to emphasize that the “0” in this case is like the oil light on the dashboard of your car.  It simply indicates that the essay needs your attention—perhaps only ten minutes to sit down, look at your work and your checklist.  Any missing element is pinpointed and very specific.  

The feedback I have gotten from students is that even though it might be super ANNOYING to see a “0” on an essay that you’ve sweated over, it has really helped to force the editing process. They have told me that once they are over the initial shock, the revision goes really fast and, in the end, they have earned 100%--and have an essay they can be really proud of. As a writing tutor, I have seen huge improvements in students’ writing and I have appreciated the objectivity the checklist presents—no guesswork for students or tutor.  You either do the checklist or you don’t do the checklist. By the end of the year, students become very familiar with the mantra:  

Do what you check; check what you do!

Grading Categories:

For this class, I gave points for Quick Writes & Visual Vocabulary, short assignments, literature assignments, grammar exercises, and longer essays. The final drafts of the essay assignments were graded using a checklist that included style elements, structure, organization, and formatting requirements that varied for each assignment. 

The scores for class work are divided into the following categories:  Quick Writes & Visual Vocabulary, 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/Visual Vocabulary points are 15% of the total grade, the Writing assignments are 30%, the Literature homework is 28%, and the Grammar work is 27%. 

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 parent) will receive an email with percentages and a suggested overall grade for this semester. Though I have had to part ways with the external grade book that I’ve used to send reports in the past, I trust the reports I do send will be just as easy to understand.  If you have any questions, first check Google Classroom.  If you still have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.  

Blessings to all,

Mrs. G

Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 15 (May 8)

 Writing 1 Class Notes–Week 15 (May 8)

Greetings everyone!

We had a stupendous final day of Writing 1 at CHAT for the 2024-25 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–even the ones who do not enjoy performing.  I am proud of you all!

After getting set up, we had a short class business meeting, and then we were ready to begin.  Using the beautiful program, (designed by Casha Enge) our dynamic Emcee duo of Evelyn and Saige took charge and explained the judging criteria and the flow of the event.  A panel of six judges used their own scoring system (thoughtfully designed by Claire) to evaluate the poem and the delivery style–and though it was difficult, they did come up with a winner!  In fact, since there was a tie for first place, they had to rock/paper/scissors for it.  

  

Congratulations to first prize winners Ashley (who won the toss) Saige!

Please watch Google Classroom for a link to the photo album from this event (thanks to Kathryn 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 two 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

Writing 1 Class Notes--WK 14 (5/1)

 Greetings!

This week was our penultimate class for the year -- the one before the last one!

We had a lightning fast round Visual Vocabulary today in order to get our last two in before we took the Spring Visual Vocabulary Quiz.  Our words today were garrulous and abrogate.  We talked them through and students jotted down the definitions.  This was great, because the vocabulary quiz was “open worksheet.”  What a great reward for taking great notes all semester!

After that, I gave the students five minutes to review for the Grammar Test and to make sure all was in order for the Vocabulary Quiz.  Since their homework was a Sentence Patterns Review that they finished and corrected, they should have done really well on it!  I had them help me correct it when it was all over and then we were ready to switch gears.

The rest of the class time was dedicated to committee work for the big event next week.  As we discussed, it takes a lot of work to pull off a successful event.  When students have “skin in the game” with planning and organizing an event, I find there’s a high level of ownership and engagement.  After discussing how the committee work should flow,  they were split  into groups and got busy dividing and conquering their committee’s punch list.  I encouraged them to exchange contact information.  The theme was decided upon:  Game Show!  I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with–it should be fun!

Their final writing assignment, a Reflection Paper, is due next week.   For this paper, they are to write about what they learned this year, what they learned about themselves this year, and what did and didn't work well this year.  At the bottom of this email is a link to an article about the value of reflection as a part of learning.

Next week is the final week, and I will accept homework until Sunday, May 11 at 11:59 PM.  My experience is that once the CHAT classes are done, students really lose momentum for completing late homework.  My plan is to get final grades out within the week.  

Blessings on your weekend!

Mrs. G

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Any old homework

-- Reflection Paper

–Practice your poems!

–Committee work