Thursday, September 30, 2021

Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 6 (September 30)

 Greetings!


We had a full day in class today.  I'm sure enjoying this group of students!

Quick Write
Today's prompt was inspired by the fact that is was on this day, September 30, in 1890 that Yosemite was named a national park.  I'm afraid I gave some incorrect information.  Yellowstone was the first national park, not Yosemite.  For the prompt, students were to write about some "great out of doors" adventure.  For responses, I heard about some close calls and some good times in nature.

Words of the Day
Vernacular -- fr. Latin verna (home-born slave) & vernaculus (domestic; native) -- "home-style language;" common language
Colloquial -- fr. Latin com (with) & loqui (to talk) -- language of a conversational style
Dialect -- fr. Greek dialektos (talk, conversation, speech) and fr. PIE -leg (to collect, gather, or pick out words) -- language specific to a particular region
Idiom -- fr. Latin idiomas (peculiarity in language) -- a figure of speech; words that have meanings other than their literal meaning

Homework Check
Usually after the beginning of class activities, I check in with the students about any homework questions.  We discussed assignments on Google Classroom.  I want to clarify an issue relating Google Classroom and the Grades Report that is emailed.  If students are missing an assignment, it will say "missing" on Google Classroom.  When I import the scores onto a Google Sheets spreadsheet using a grade book app, the missing scores are changed to zeros.  

Another note about homework.  I don't have a specific day that I correct homework, but the plan is to have it done and returned for the following class period.  When I'm done correcting work, I will update Google Classroom to reflect both the paper homework that was handed in during class and the assignments finished on Google Classroom.  

Student Led Discussion
Two groups of students presented to the class today.  First we heard about Note-taking from Eliana and Leighton.  The Madeleine and Levi gave us important bibliographical information related to Works Cited pages.  In addition to hearing about Evaluating Sources from Tyler & Carson, here's the plan for next week:

Week 7 (10/7)

Paraphrasing & Summarizing

1. Gabi Fletcher

2.   Ethan Barns

Mosaic Plagiarism

1. Madeleine Choe

2.   Kara Smith

Common Knowledge

1. Michael Miller

2.   Ethan Barns


Student Group Discussions
After our presentations, I divided the students into small groups to discuss their topics and to work on their thesis statements for their research papers.  Their Research Proposals were due this week, and a preliminary outline is due next week.  As I've told students, the work for the first part of the semester is pretty light, but now it's picking up.  The first rough draft is due in two weeks!

Assignments for Next Week


Links for This Week
Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 6 (September 30)

Have a wonderful Fall weekend!
Blessings!
Mrs. Prichard





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Friday, September 17, 2021

Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 4 (September 16)

 Greetings!


This week's class was productive, but I always find myself wishing we had more time together.  They are a great group of students!

Quick Write
This week's prompts was a little more academic.  On September 16, 1620, the Mayflower departed from England.  In addition to bringing faith to this new land, the Pilgrims helped lay the foundation for democratic, self-government for the sake of community well-being in their document, the Mayflower Compact.  I had the students write about what they felt were essential rights AND responsibilities.  These could either be attributed in a large scale to humanity as a whole or closer to home (e.g. I have a right to my personal space and a responsibility to keep it clean.)  AND, if they were not thinking so deeply, they could write about their favorite fall beverage!

No Words of the Day this week.

Writing Discussion
In class we continued our discussion about choosing topics.  We also talked at length about developing thesis statements.  The Research Paper that the students will be writing will be a thesis-driven paper.  Many times, coming up with the essential question that drives a paper can be one of the hardest aspects of writing this research paper.  

We also took time this week to do some peer evaluations.  In small groups, students read one another's rough drafts of their essays.  They are to revise their rough drafts into final drafts.  

Assignments for Next Week

Links for This Week
Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 4 (September 16)

Blessings,
Mrs. Prichard

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Friday, September 10, 2021

Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 3 (September 9)

 Greetings!


We had a good class today.  The students came into class ready to learn, and we had a productive time.  

Quick Write

Sept. 10 is National Swap Ideas Day, and it encourages us to share a creative or helpful idea with someone and trade them for their thoughts in return. 

  • Where do you go to get good ideas?  

  • What great ideas do you have to share with others?  

  • What kind of group that you’d like to be in to share ideas.

On Sept. 8, 1930, the American company 3M began marketing a transparent adhesive tape that later became known as Scotch® tape.  On Sept. 10, 1846, American inventor Elias Howe was granted a patent for his sewing machine, which revolutionized garment manufacture in the factory and in the home.  

  • What is one of your favorite inventions/gadgets?  

  • What invention do you think the world needs? 


Words of the Day  (These were invention-related words to go with our Quick Write.)
Patent -- fr. Latin, patere, to lie or be open; including litterae patentes, which means open letters. -- a document that is a license issued by the government conferring rights of ownership of an invention.
Innovation -- fr. Latin innovare, to change or renew -- a new method, idea, or product
Enigma -- fr. Greek ainigma, a dark saying or riddle -- a problem, puzzle, or mystery

Revised Syllabus
This week I was going to hand back the rough drafts of their Essay #1 and go over common writing errors, but I'm afraid my week took a turn that I had not expected.  I was with my mom from Friday to Tuesday until she passed away on Tuesday.  The papers weren't graded, so I pushed back the due dates of some of the writing assignments.  I will have the rough drafts back to them next week and will have all of the homework corrected and updated on Google Classroom.

Google Classroom
I reminded the students that if they don't do an assignment on Google Classroom, they should leave it alone.  I will update the scores for work that was handed in during class.

Student-Led Discussion
This week Kari and Philip gave us good information about standard MLA formatting for papers.  Below are our next presenters for Week 6

Week 6 (9/30)

Evaluating Sources

1. Tyler Kretsinger

2.   Carson Berry

Note-Taking for Research

1. Eliana  Hammond

2.   Leighton Hanish

Bibliographical information

1. Madeleine Choe

2.   Levi Martens



Writing/Research Discussion
The other topic of the day centered on choosing and narrowing a topic.  We did some in class brainstorming using sample topics, and the students have some homework to do more of that.  

Assignments for Next Week
-- MLA Quiz (either the paper version or the Google Forms version)

Links for This Week
Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 3 (September 9)


Blessings,
Mrs. Prichard
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Thursday, September 2, 2021

Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 2 (September 2)

 Greetings!


We had a good class today.  The students were engaged and interacted with the material and with one another.  
Quick Write
Students had 4 options today:  1) Sept. 1 was National No Rhyme Day  Students could try to rhyme some words that don't have clear "rhyme partners."  2) Sept. 2 is National Blueberry Popsicle Day.  Students could write about favorite frozen treats or foods "on a stick." 3) Sept. 3 is National Lazy Mom's Day, and students were prompted to write about tasks they could do for their moms or tasks that their moms do that they would never want to do.  4)  "Whatever."  Students could write about something else that was one their minds.  

Words of the Day
  • Pertinacious -- fr. Latin, pertinax, "very firm, tenacious" -- stubbornly persistent.
  • Ulotrichous --- fr. Greek, oulos, "curly, woolly" and thrix, "hair" -- having very curly, wool-like or stiff hair
  • Gobbledygook -- a word coined by Maury Maverick in 1944 - means unintelligible, whether in communication is nonsense/gibberish or overly complicated
Google Classroom Instructions
I took a few minutes to go over the CHAT classes email and Google Classroom.  Some students haven't used Google Classroom and are unfamiliar with this resource.  It might take a while to become completely comfortable with all of the necessary aspects of Google Classroom.  

Student-Led Discussion
Over the course of the semester, students will take the floor and explain various topics related to research or writing. (Here's the link to the list of topics and student names.) Next week we will hear about MLA paper format from Kara and Philip.

Writing & Research Topics
The rough draft of their short essay was due today.  I will go over those this week and hand them back next week for the students to revise into final drafts.  We transitioned into a discussion about the research paper, which is the focus of this class.  We discussed reasons why writing a research paper is important.  In small groups I had students brainstorm the steps they think they would take to write a well-researched, well-written, and well-documented paper.  They all agreed that this is a fairly complicated process.

Grades & Scores
I had intended to use Google Classroom's grade book, but it doesn't seem to give parents access to scores, just completed and missing homework.  So, I've found an app to use with Google Sheets that imports Google Classroom scores.  I will send out weekly scores to the students and parents.  If you don't want to get the weekly updates, let me know.  (I'm aware that our inboxes can get way too full.)

Assignments for Next Week
Preparations for your Student-Led Discussion topic
Brainstorm possible topics for your research paper
2 Extra Credit options

Links for This Week
Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 2 (September 2)
Essay #1 Outline (due 9/2)

Blessings!
Mrs. Prichard














Tamera M. Prichard
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