College+Prep+Writing+LOG-+Spring+semester+2011

Welcome to College Prep Writing- Spring Semester 2011

**January 27 -** Students discussed the two assignments, the introduction, and were assigned to read chapter 1 in //The Brief Bedford Reader// and pay attention to /takes on about "critical reading", the preliminaries, how they assist us in reading, summarizing, elements of "thinking critically" and elements of "a writing strategy". **January 28 -** Turned in SMU registrations. Students discussed the meaning of chapter 2 and took a group quiz. Then they were assigned to write a 300-word description of one of the rooms in their house (i.e. family room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen). The purpose is to show the personality this room has. Remember to use all five of your senses in describing the contents of the room and don't use I, me, or my in the description --- write it in the objective third person point of view.
 * August 30 - ** Students registered for Quizstar and were assigned to write a 300-word response pretending as if they were talking to fifty 7th and 8th graders who want to know "What is Totino- Grace like?

**January 31 -** Students discussed the quiz from Friday and notes, looked over today's assignment and were assigned to read chapter 5 and do all the questions in the sections marked "Questions on Writing Strategy" and "Questions on Language" page 131. Students can/should take notes about important ideas as they read and **always answer any assigned questions in complete sentences.**
 * February 1 - ** Students may have worked on changing some of the words in their description so as to be more specific and clear.
 * February 2 - ** We discussed what good description entails from the example on page 124 and were assigned to revise their room description as per the directions of the assignment sheet. Students should look at these concerns Mr. Kocon wants you to be aware of before handing in tomorrow's assignment.
 * February 3 - ** We discussed the important elements of figurative language, sensory images (using descriptive adverbs & adjective or strong verbs that appeal to all our senses-see, hear, smell, feel, taste), and avoiding using the passive voice as much as possible. Check the "concerns" link from yesterday if you want to review this information. Then students were paired up to help identify good and bad writing in each other's descriptions. The students must hand in their TPYED description tomorrow - **make sure to** electronically **bold sensory images, underline strong verbs, and put an asterisk in front of any figurative language.**
 * February 4 - ** **Students took diagnostic vocabulary test and were assigned to read chapter 4 and do the questions on "Writing strategy" for the essay "Champion of the World" for Monday.Agent Martin, CSS.**

Mr. Kocon checked homework, gave assignment sheet for the narrative essay, gave an example of a childhood story, and assigned the outline for Friday, also the typed rough draft is due on Monday, and Final draft is due on Wed, Feb 16.
 * February 7 - ****Students discussed the difference between narrative and anecdote and between showing versus telling in their writing. Please click on this link for examples and the homework assignment.**
 * February 8 - **Students discussed writing of "showing v. telling", how good description is essential for any narrative, and created maps of neighborhoods. The students were assigned to read the next two essays, "Fish Cheeks" and "The Chase" and answer the questions on "Writing Strategy" for tomorrow.
 * February 9 - ** We discussed the important elements of writing good description are critical when writing a good narrative essay.
 * February 10 - Students discussed the literary techniques of Amy Tan in her essay. OUtlines due tomorrow.**
 * February 11 - ****Students worked in groups of three demonstrating their writing skills in a study guide named "Tools of the Trade."**
 * Students who were absent were to complete this study guide on their own by downloading it from the link above. Students were to have a typed draft of their narrative essay on Monday.**


 * February 14 - Students were to get feedback from a peer today checking for "a proliferation of figurative language, strong verbs, and sensory images with a prominent allusion or two" thrown into the essay. Students were to revise the content of the essay if their essay seemed lacking in any area: purpose, plot, introduction, closing, sentence fluency, climactic moment. The Final draft is due Wednesday.**
 * February 15 - **Students worked in groups giving feedback to their classmates and **discussed how important openings and closings are for essays. Click on these links to see examples from class. Narrative essays are due tomorrow. Students are required to hand in their score sheet as well. click here for another example of an opening for an essay.**
 * February 16 - **Students worked on vocabulary unit 1 exercises which are due on Tues, Feb 22 and handed in their essays.
 * February 17 - **Students worked on sentence fluency. REview the notes on Sentence Fluency if you wish, and do the assignment about writing a short horrific scene demonstrating the long and short, alliteration, parallel structure. etc.
 * February 18 - **Students handed in their five favorite words, reviewed sentence fluency in "The Sacrificial General" and worked on short and long sentence variety. Students were to register for class on turnitin.com and read chapter 6 doing the questions on "Writing Strategy" for the essay titled "On Compassion". If you didn't finish the paragraph on short/long sentence fluency finish it for Tuesday. Also, the vocabulary exercises are due on Tuesday as well (see Feb 16).

** February 25 - ** In class, students reviewed the outline's content and how the paper will be graded. The typed rough drafts are due on WEDNESDAY, with the final being due on Friday, March 4. ** March 1 - ** Students reviewed compound sentence structure and complex sentences with adverb clauses in them. Some outlines were checked and discussed. Students are to have a TYPED ROUGH draft of their essay on examples for tomorrow. ** March 2 - ** Students critiqued other students' papers in class. Students are to continue to revise their papers which are DUE FRIDAY, March 4. ** March 3 - ** Students critiqued other students' papers in class. Students are to continue to revise their papers which are DUE TOMORROW, March 4. ** March 4 - ** Students handed in their papers and worked on vocabulary unit 2, which is due on Monday. ** March 7 - ** Students reviewed making a summary of an article by summarizing each paragraph into one sentence and then after they are finished, reading over all of the sentences and capture the essence of the article by summarizing all the information into 3-4 sentences. vocabulary and the summary assignment are due tomorrow. ** March 8 - ** Students corrected vocabulary worksheets, summary exercise, and were assigned to read and write a summary for the article "Zeroes as Heroes". Vocabulary tests for unit 2 and some review words of unit 1 is scheduled for Thursday. ** March 9 - ** Students discussed article "Zeroes as Heroes". Vocabulary tests for unit 2 and some review words of unit 1 is Tomorrow. ** March 10 - ** Students discussed article, took test, drew numbers for selection of topics for research project. It is suggested that you should check the [|possible topics list] for the Research project before arriving to choose tomorrow. ** March 11 - ** In class, students reviewed their papers (good and bad aspects of students' writings) and were passed back. Topics were selected for their research papers so if students wished to get a head start on their research paper they could.
 * February - 22 **After reviewing notes about illustrations/examples, students looked at two different paragraphs using examples. Students were assigned a paragraph from the essay "On Compassion" and told that they were to outline the main points of it. Answers to the "Writing Strategy" questions for the essay titled "On Compassion" and vocabulary worksheets will be corrected tomorrow as well.
 * February 23 - ** The vocabulary worksheet and questions from Friday were corrected. There will be a vocabulary test for unit 1 words on Friday! Students Deconstructed the essay "On Compassion" and were assigned to read the essay "Homeless" and deconstruct the essay for tonight's homework. Top Five Word list.[[file:Top Five Words.xls]]
 * February 24 - **The class reviewed some of the "good" qualities of writing in their past essays and received instructions on making a thesis for tomorrow. Students were encouraged to start brainstorming on their topic as well as studying for the VOCABULARY TEST for tomorrow.
 * February 25 - **The class reviewed the deconstructed essay on "Homeless" and were assigned to create their outlines or graphic organizers for Monday and start on their rough drafts (if they wished since they are due on TUESDAY). If you are having trouble with your outlines look at these samples from the essays we have read in class.

** March 21 - ** In class, received Unit 3 vocabulary words and exercises. They are due on Friday. Students are to start finding articles for their research paper. ** March 22 - ** Researching in Library. Students were to complete the "Preliminary Research Activity" (handout given in class). If you were absent, please download this copy Have 2 articles brought to class for tomorrow. Students will work on making their annotated bibliography for one of their articles which is due on Thursday. For instructions about the annotated bibliography, the students were given a handout. ** March 23 - ** NO SCHOOL, STUDENTS SHOULD WORK FROM HOME, BRING ALL ASSIGNMENTS DUE YESTERDAY TO SCHOOL ON WEDNESDAY. DO THE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY and bring it in on Thursday. The second ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY is due on Monday, March 28. For a [|complete timeline and description of the research paper] click on this link. ** March 24 - ** Researching in Library. Checked Preliminary Research Activity. Took in any Annotated Bibliographies. Due to the school closing Annotated bibliographies will be accepted tomorrow. The second Annotated Bibliography is due on MONDAY. The vocabulary worksheets for unit 3 are due tomorrow as well. ** March 25 - ** Collected annotated bibliography #1, corrected vocabulary worksheet for unit 3, and reviewed the proper formatting for online entries for your works cited pape. The second Annotated Bibliography is due on MONDAY. Check link (of March 23) to review assignments for the research paper. The College Readiness Assignment was given out for extra credit. Make a dinner meal for your family over the weekend and have a parent sign off that you did so. (Putting in a Frozen Pizza and serving it to your family does not qualify as making a meal- in case you wanted to know.)

** March 28 - ** Collected annotated bibliography #2. Students could correct entry mistakes in annotated assignment that was passed back for tomorrow. vocabulary test tomorrow. Students reviewed the MLA format in making the works cited page which is due on WEDNESDAY. Click on this resource if you like to have what we reviewed in class. ** March 29 - ** Took vocabulary test, discussed the two methods of note taking: note cards, each with a single note, citation, heading; or the note page, with a full citation at the top and numbered individual notes from the source on that one page, with a page number next to each individual note if the source has pages to it. A typed works cited page is due on Thursday. All students going on retreat Wednesday night MUST HAND IN THEIR WORKS CITED page ON WEDNESDAY. The next deadline is a note check on Monday. ** March 30 - ** Works Cited page is due tomorrow. Check this helpful hint if you have trouble typing the works cited page with the Googledocs program. Students worked on reading sources and collecting notes. ** March 31 - ** Collected WC pages, reviewed sentence structure. Students are to be working on their next deadline for the research paper. ** April 1 - ** Reviewed in-text citations, passed back works cited pages, Students are to bring their notes from their sources on Monday. ** April 4 - ** Reviewed sentence structure, citations, and checked notes for their research papers. All the notes should be finished and shown to Mr. Kocon by THIS Wednesday. STUDENTS should bring sources tomorrow to class to work on taking notes for research. ** April 14 - ** Students received Checklist for paper and final scoresheet. Specific citation issues were addressed with the help of the online Bedford Reader. ** April 15 - ** In groups of threes, s tudents gave feedback to others about their research papers. Students are to revise their papers, the hardcopy of the research paper is due on Wednesday, April 20, and an electronic copy of the paper must be submitted to turnitin.com by Thursday, April 21. ** April 19 - ** Students worked on grammar exercises concerning numerals and numbers. Paper is due tomorrow.
 * April 5 - **Students worked on taking notes. All note cards or note sheets are due tomorrow.
 * April 6 - **Students discussed the five kinds of support used in paper and how to make the outlines. Click on the link for a look at the sample of the outline form. Question to consider before making the outline.
 * April 7 - **Students handed in outlines, checked notes, worked on vocabulary unit 4- which is due on Monday.
 * April 8 - **Students talked about plagiarism, how and when to cite information in a research paper. Students are to work on their rough draft, and finish vocabulary unit 4- which is due on Monday.
 * April 11 - **Students checked their vocabulary worksheets for unit 4 and reviewed how to make an analogy (an example was given in class) and the essentials of making a good research paper. Students are to create an analogy for tomorrow and share it with the class. Students also received guidelines on plagiarism and were instructed to read it, so as to avoid this pitfall in the upcoming paper. The next deadline for the research paper is the rough draft which is due on Thursday of this week.
 * April 12 - **Students are to work on their draft of their research papers. STudents will have class time tomorrow to type up the remaining part of their rough draft.
 * April 13 - **Students are to work on their draft of their research papers. Rough drafts are due tomorrow.
 * April 18 - ** Students reviewed the proper way to use numbers (spelling them out /writing the numerals out) in a research paper. They are to apply these rules to their paper.
 * The research paper is due on Wednesday, April 20, and an electronic copy of the paper must be submitted to turnitin.com by Thursday, April 21.**


 * April 20 - ** Students turned in papers, reviewed vocabulary for test TOMORROW, and discussed the compare/contrast essay.

** April 21 - ** Students took a vocabulary test. NO homework, enjoy your Easter. ** April 25 - ** Students looked at compare and contrast writing and were to finish the group questions individually in their notebooks. **Students who did not turn in their paper to TURNITIN.COM on time, have suffered a 2 point deduction on their paper. They must do so before Thursday or suffer another deduction**. ** April 26 - ** Students discussed the questions about compare and contrast essays. Research papers were passed back. **Students who did not turn in their paper to TURNITIN.COM on time, have suffered a 2 point deduction on their paper. They must do so before Thursday or suffer another deduction**. ** April 27 - ** Students discussed the next paper and were told to have their idea sheet filled out by Friday. Students were assigned to reread the essay "Neat People vs Sloppy People" and do one of the following activities: figurative language, specific details, sentence fluency, and word choice. ** April 28 - ** Students discussed the writing features of Suzanne Britt; the idea sheet for the next essay should be completed by tomorrow, the rough draft by Thursday, May 5, and the final draft by Tuesday, May 10. ** April 29 - ** Students looked at the organization of the essay "Neat vs Sloppy People" and deconstructed an outline. See outline. Mr. Kocon checked students ideas for next essay, assigned a formal outline of the paper for Monday. **The rough draft by Thursday, May 5, and the final draft by Tuesday, May 10.** ** May 2 - ** Students were to answer the writing strategy questions 2,3,4,5, and the Language questions 1, 5 for the essay "Lee and Grant: A Study in Contrasts" for tomorrow.

** May 3 - ** Students were assigned to start their essays: the class discussed questions from yesterday and talked about requirements to make this essay better after outlines were passed back.

** May 4 - ** Students worked on their drafts. Students must submit their paper to TURNITIN.COM by Thursday AM.
 * May 5 - **Students peer reviewed the rough drafts using a score sheet.
 * May 6 - **Students peer reviewed the rough drafts using a score sheet.
 * May 9- **Students discussed Dave Barry's essay and reminders about tomorrow's paper.
 * May 10 - **Students handed in papers and were assigned vocabulary unit #5 to finish by Thursday's class.
 * May 11 - **Students were reminded to finish their vocabulary packet and submit their essays to Turnitin.com . Students read the opening pages for chapter 12 on Definition and were to answer the questions in their notebook for tomorrow.
 * May 12 - **Students were reminded to turn in their papers to turnitin.com if they haven't already done so. Also read the Gloria Naylor essay and do all the questions about Writing Strategy and question #3 about Language.


 * May 16 - **Students were reminded to turn in their papers to turnitin.com if they haven't already done so. ( another 2 pt deduction will be made by Tuesday by 9AM). Vocabulary will be corrected and the discussion about the Naylor essay will be finished.
 * May 17 - **Students were to write a 150-200 words about a time when they were stereotyped or when they stereotyped someone else. (discuss the situation, feelings, attitudes surrounding the incident)
 * May 18 - **Students worked on comma rules and discussion.
 * May 19 - **Students reviewed the good and bad in their essays of compare and contrast, and were assigned their last essay.
 * May 20 - **Students reviewed comma usage, were assigned to answer the six questions (on page 402) concerning their topic, and reminded to study for their vocabulary test for Monday. There may be some comma questions on the quiz as well.
 * May 23 - **Students took quiz on vocabulary and comma usage and were to work on their essay of definition, which is due on Thursday. (electronically submitted and hard copy).
 * May 24 - **Students read an essay about "Pride" and then continued working on their essay of definition.
 * May 25 - **Students worked on essay in class.
 * May 26 - **Students handed in books, essay, did evaluations took test. Tomorrow, students will share an essay of their choice.
 * May 27 - **Students read their celebrated writings of the semester. Congratulations to all, may you touch many lives in the bright future that awaits every one of the students in College Prep Writing.