Greetings!
It was so good to be in class again. The students all brought good, attentive attitudes to the room, and I think we're going to have a good year together. Many of the students are new to me, so we'll hopefully be able to quickly get to know one another. In my classes, I incorporate full class and small group discussions, which I think we can still do in a socially distanced manner.
Our first order of business for our class periods, after praying, of course, is to complete a Quick Write. The prompts for these are usually light-hearted, but occasionally the topics require a little more serious thinking. For today, I asked students to write about what they would put in a "Back to School Survival Kit." Each student shared aloud one or two items, and snacks, drinks, and music were the top choices of items that students wanted to help them get their homework done.(You'll notice the embedded link -- it is for the Google Classroom assignment. I will include these homework links in these emails; they will be especially helpful for students who were absent, who forgot what an assignment was, or who lost an assignment.)
We had a small group of students joining the class via Zoom, and I'm hoping it worked well for those students. This is an option for any students who might miss a week for one reason or another.
Most of our first morning together was spent in getting acquainted with materials and some of the logistics of the class. I'm trying something new this year: I handed out a complete Materials Packet for the whole semester, which included essay explanations, writing-related material, literature study guides, grammar worksheets, extra Rocketbook pages, etc. I recommend that students put all of this material in a 3-ring binder or separate folders. If the binder has inside pockets, the front pocket could be for homework to hand in and the back one could be for homework that is returned. In the past I've handed out materials one week at a time, but this year I thought having everything at the beginning would help avoid the issue of any missing papers should a student be unable for any reason to be in class.
One piece of paper from the packet needs both the student's and the parent's attention: the Class Policies handout. Students are to read it and put their names (not initials) in the top margin, and then I would like parents to read it and initial it. Thank you! (You can do the paper version or the Google Classroom version.)
I also took time to check in on the chatclasses emails, Google Classroom, and the Rocketbook app. I will include that information on another email.
The primary focus of this class is learning research principles, ethical documentation practices, and advanced writing skills. Before we embark on the longer research paper, students stretch their writing muscles in a shorter essay on a topic of their choosing. This should be a topic about which they know a considerable amount but still need to do a little research to add details or specific information. The Essay #1 is explained here, and these are the Google Classroom assignments for the Outline/PreWrite and the Rough Draft. Students can hand in paper copies in class next week, but I would also like them to copy their essays onto the templates attached to these Google Classroom assignments.
Another aspect of the class that I'm especially looking forward to is the student-led discussion/teaching on various topics. Most of the topics related to becoming a high quality research paper writer are smaller yet interrelated. On the syllabus, students will find the dates and topics spread out throughout the weeks of the semester. In class and online, students have signed up for topics (2 each) that they will help teach. More on this next week.
If you are new to my classes, this is what the weekly Class Notes will look like. I'll tell you about Quick Writes, classroom discussion, and writing assignments. I'll include links to the Google Classroom assignments and attach any pertinent materials. At the bottom of the email I'll list the homework and any links. (I've found that most students simply scroll to the bottom of the email to get homework info.) These class notes will be the record of what we cover in class.
Have a great weekend! Enjoy our beautiful weather.
Blessings,
Mrs. Prichard
Homework for Next Week:
(Note: Any assignments that are designated GC must be completed on Google Classroom)
-- Class Policies -- signed & initialed
-- Organize your materials packet (binder? folders?
-- Read #16 - 18 in 30 Steps to a Research Paper
-- Essay #1: Outline and Rough Draft (GC)
Other Links for this week:
Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 1 (Sept. 3)
Note: The Class Notes blog post will not contain any of the hyperlinks to Google Classroom information or to Google Drive documents.
Writing 3 Google Drive folder
30 Steps to a Research Paper pdf
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