Writing 3 Class Notes -- October 25

Greetings!

I apologize for the tardiness of my e-mail for the class.  Sometimes life has more details than expected.

I had the students write for 15 minutes from one of the writing prompts in the SAT prep book.  I feel that every time we do the these writing exercises the students develop skills that help them think more quickly and clearly.

We talked at length about the rough drafts that they had handed in over the weekend.  I made some comments on each of the papers which I hope will help them with their organization and content.  On the next rough draft, I will go over specific grammar problems.

I handed out a number of papers that might help with revising and editing their papers, formatting their papers, and documenting their work. 

A couple of notes:
--  NEVER use "there is/are/was/were" etc. in your sentence constructions.
--  Check that each sentence and comment adds to your thesis and fits appropriately within the paragraph.
--  When thinking of expanding your paper, consider adding your own personal analysis of the issue.  Be careful not to add unnecessary information.
--  Regarding citing sources, I sent out an e-mail last week about some blog entries that have information on endnotes and bibliographies.  The students are responsible for learning the MLA guidelines and using them appropriately in their paper.

Check the following blog entries:
A Helpful Site for Research Papers
Purdue OWL
Another Helpful Web Resource

Students, feel free to send you papers, questions, or a portion of your paper to me for help.

Have a great week!  Enjoy this beautiful weather.
Mrs. Prichard

Another Helpful Web Resource

If you google MLA style, or footnotes/endnotes or documentation or in-text citations, you will find a plethora of websites.  In the past blog posts, I've given links to sites that I feel are clear in their explanations.  My goal has been to help you find the place where you can find the information.  Your job is to acquire the information for your own use in writing you paper.

The links given below are from "A Research Guide for Students."


How to write an A+ research paper,
How to effectively deliver a presentation,
How to format a research or term paper,
How to quote passages,
How not to plagiarize,
How to write Footnotes and Endnotes
Examples on writing First Footnotes and Endnotes in MLA Style
Footnotes Sample Page and an Endnotes Sample Page.

Purdue OWL

The Purdue Online Writing Lab is an excellent resource for students.  They have an especially good explanation of MLA style and formatting.

Please go to this site for review.

MLA Introduction

MLA Workshop and Overview

General Format

MLA Footnotes and Endnotes

Formatting Questions

Abbreviations

In-text Citations

Works Cited Page #1

Works Cited Page #2

Works Cited Page #3

Works Cited Page #4

Works Cited Page #5

Works Cited Page #6

MLA Formatting and Style Guide

Citation Style Comparisons

A Helpful Site for Research Papers

I've found a good site with loads of information on the many aspects of writing research papers.  This site is prepared by the Humanities Department as part of "The Guide to Grammar and Writing" for the Capital Community College of Hartford, Connecticut.






If you're needing more information, check out these pages.
A Statement on Plagiarism
Paper Format
Guide to Citations
Works Cited Page
Grammar Helps
Principles of Composition
including a Grammar Index

The Thesis Statement
Transitions
Introductions
Conclusions

Sometimes we're not able to cover everything in class.  I hope this site is helpful.

Writing 3 Class Notes -- October 18

Greetings!

This afternoon we wrote from a list ideas for college application essays.  All of these beginning-of-class writing activities help the students to quickly look at a topic, analyze it, and organize it into an essay. Our vocabulary words came from the end of the alphabet:  zenith, zeal, wily, whimsical, watershed, warrant, wane, and wanderlust.

The rough drafts for their research papers were due today.  The students are in various places in their research and writing.  We talked individually about each student's progress, especially looking for ways to help one another.  A couple of students are having trouble finding enough information.  We discussed other areas they could research so that they can expand their papers.

We continue to discuss ways in which the students can present their information.  Analytical writing includes the following styles for organization:  process, comparison/contrast, classification, extended definition, cause/effect, problem/solution, and evaluation. 

The students are to hand in their rough drafts via e-mail before Saturday.  Besides going over them myself, I will send each student another student's paper.  The students will perform a "peer edit," looking for ways the students could expand their papers, any rearranging or changing the organization, and marking any obvious sentence problems.

Continue to encourage your students to "keep going."  They expressed a common difficulty in finding time and staying focused on the work.  I think they're doing a good job and working hard.  I'm looking forward to reading the rough drafts so that we have something specific to work on.

Bless you week.  Now that the weather is turning cold, we'll have to pull out jackets, sweatshirts, and possibly mittens.
Mrs. Prichard

Writing 3 Class Notes -- October 11

Greetings!

We began class with an ACT writing prompt that required the students to write a "proposal" to a school board suggesting ways to increase a high schooler's time in school in order to fit in more electives.  In the past weeks we've worked together on sample questions so that we could develop our abilities to quickly evaluate the question and then to organize our thoughts.  This week the students worked alone and wrote for 15 - 20 minutes.

For our  Vocabulary Exercises, I listed 6 Latin words and their meanings; from these we discussed derivatives.  [circum (around), corona (garland, wreah, crown) dens, dentis (tooth), cogito (to think), diabolus (devil), dominus (master)]  We thought of many words for circum (circumvent, circumnavigate, circumscribe, circumference, circus, circle) and dominus (dominate, domineering, domocile, domino, domestic).

I handed back outlines that three of the students had handed in.  With a small class (5 students), I feel that we can go over work individually, take time to answer specific questions, and work together on problem areas.  In our discussion we touched on the importance of defining and explaining terms that the average reader might not know.  We also talked about general principles for organizing the research papers.

The first rough draft is due next week.  I know that a couple of students don't feel ready to be at that place.  This is a project that really requires more work to be done outside the class than inside. I mentioned that I'd rather see a poorly written paper than no paper. Please encourage your students to "keep at it." 

Next Week's Assignment:
--  Rough Draft #1

Have a great week!  Work hard!
Mrs. Prichard

Writing 3 Class Notes -- October 4

Greetings!

We began the class with SAT writing prompts.  The students worked for a while on their own before we joined forces to brainstorm about the important points that might be included.  We discussed how to compare and contrast the pros and cons of the questions.  Our Vocabulary Builders were words from the test prep book.  We did a modified version of a "spell down."

We had a productive class this week.  I collected the second set of outlines from the students. This outline was to have full sentences for the points of the outline instead of bullet points or one-word entries.  They were to treat each sentence entry as if it was the topic sentence for a paragraph.  This will go a long way in helping the students compose their rough drafts. 

I had forgotten to check their notecards or research notes this week.  I'll check them next week.  My aim in doing this is to make sure they're keeping up with this part of their work.  We discussed some of the difficulties that the students are encountering as they do their research and write their papers.  A common problem is procrastination.  When the project is big, that's understandable.  Some suggestions from the students included working on it first thing in the day, blocking out a longer uninterrupted time, or putting in 15 minutes at a time two or three times a day.

Since these papers are to be "position papers" and not simply "reports," the task of developing a thesis that needs to be supporting with information continues to challenge the students. 

Next Week's Assignment:
--  Continue researching the topic for the paper.
--  The first rough draft is due in 2 weeks; an appropriate goal would be to have half of it done by next week. 
--  Bring all research notes and materials to class.

Enjoy the beautiful weather,
Mrs. Prichard