Greetings!
We had a great class yesterday. These students are coming in with a readiness to learn and are encouraging a positive perspective for one another.
Our Quick Write today was from the National Days Calendar. Yesterday was National Swap Ideas Day, in which people are encouraged to share their ideas and creativity with one another. I asked them to write about any big, outside-the-box ideas they've done or had. They could also write about whether or not they are creative. I've just finished reading their Quick Writes, and this class has a wonderful variety of creative and practical students!
This week students handed in their first paper assignment of the year, their Essay #1 Rough Drafts. (Here's the link to the Google Classroom assignment.) I'm looking forward to reading them. My procedure with student papers is to go through and correct them after they're handed in and then hand them back the next week. Students are to take that following week to make revisions. Next week, when I hand back the papers, we will take some time to do Peer Reviews of one another's papers. I find that students often have insightful and helpful comments about the content and organization of one another's writing. I will bring copies of the essays to class next week.
The content that we covered this week in class centered on types of pre-writing work (i.e. types of outlines) and types of informational essays. In Writing 1 and Writing 2, I assign essays according to a certain type of organizational structure. These essays were shorter, concentrated explanations of a topic that followed certain structures. For example, a student writing a cause & effect essay, might choose to write about the causes of the Revolutionary War and explore both causes and effects. For the longer research papers, students might employ a number of organizational strategies when explaining a bigger topic. Using the example of the Revolutionary War, a student might have a section that is cause/effect, and possibly some narrative elements, and even some extended definition sections to explain the concepts of liberty and freedom.
To give students some practice in thinking in broader terms regarding the types of information and organization that a topic might require, I had them write topics on post it notes that their classmates chose. Every student has 2 topics, and they must think of the types of information that would be needed to fully explain that topic. They should use the "Types of Information Essays" handout to do this. (Here's the Google Classroom assignment. It can be done on paper or typed up into the attached Google Doc.)
Next week we will discuss MLA format. Katie and Laura will lead the discussion.
Have a great weekend!
Blessings,
Mrs. Prichard
This Week's Homework
-- Two Topics & Types of Informational Essays
-- Start thinking about your topic for your longer research paper.
This Week's Links
Class Notes -- Week 2 (Sept. 10)
Mrs. Prichard's Zoom link
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