College+Writing++(2012-2013)

=__ Welcome to College Writing (2012-3013) __=


 * IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS / ALUMNI wishing to transfer their PAAC credits from St. Mary's University to another college. Please click on this link: Transfer Credits**

**Resources**
Please read the course description, responsibilities, and policies and then print, sign, and return the form to the instructor ASAP.


 * CLASS LOG: ** PLEASE check this log daily to view homework assignments, deadlines, class activities, and other information.

Chapter 1 is due for Friday (short quiz). Chapter 2 is due by Monday. Students are encouraged to check out the link called description, responsibilities and policies. (See above) **January 30**: A draft of the Description essay is due typed tomorrow. ** SMU PACC registration deadline for $180 dollars and registration form is TOMORROW. ** Those interested in looking at the correct answers for the literary terms, please click on this link: literary terms. **January 31:** Students discussed word choice were put in pairs to help edit essays and reflect on their work. checklist ESSAY ARE DUE TOMORROW. Please bold, underline and put asterisks next to the appropriate places. (see instructions from the assignment-Jan 29) **February 1:** Students handed in paper and were assigned to read Chapter 4 for Monday and do the questions on "Writing Strategy" in their notebook. If students DO NOT KNOW a word(s) in the essay they should definitely look them up and write down the definition in their notebook. Learning new vocabulary is critical to communication and writing.
 * JANUARY 23**: Prayer. Introduction was made, SMU PACC registration was discussed and deadline for $ and registration form is THURSDAY, JANUARY 31. Students were to complete the activity for tomorrow (speech 200 words, encouraging 8th graders that TG is the right school for them). Chapter 1 is due for Friday (short quiz). Chapter 2 is due by Monday. Students are encouraged to check out the link called description, responsibilities and policies. (See above)
 * JANUARY 24**: Student comments were discussed. Speeches were discussed, literary terms sheet corrected, purpose and audience components in writing were discussed. The 6 +1 traits of writing were discussed in relationship to the speeches. Rules about group work and making the class productive were discussed by the class.
 * January 25**: Students took the quiz on chapter 1in small groups. Then they prepared for Monday's class by reading chapters 2 and 5. Students are encouraged to take notes on the reading and start thinking about a descriptive essay about a room in their house. ** SMU PACC registration was discussed and deadline for $ and registration form is THURSDAY, JANUARY 31. **
 * January 28: Second hour: ** Students reviewed chapter 2 and the idea of purpose, then discussed specific details vs. common ordinary language. ** Eighth hour: Discussed the tools of the trade in pairs. **
 * January 29:** Students discussed the assignment on description (draft due on Thursday) and showing vs. telling. ** SMU PACC registration was discussed and deadline for $ and registration form is THURSDAY, JANUARY 31. **


 * February 4**: common mistakes in the description papers were discussed and the questions for "Champion of the World" were checked in.
 * February 5:** Students created neighborhood maps, thought of memorable days of their childhood and discussed how the fig. lang., strong verbs, sensory images, dialogue enhanced Angelou's purpose in the essay "Champion of the World." Students must read the remaining essays in "Chapter 4: Narration" and look over the questions and vocabulary for them by tomorrow.
 * February 6**: Students were encouraged to start their prewriting ( brainstorming, organizing of ideas) for their narrative essay. The typed rough draft ( 3-4 pages) is due Tuesday, February 12. Remember the writing process takes time so get started early. Narrative Essay description.
 * February 7**: Students talked about outlining for narrative essay, read "Fish Cheeks."
 * February 8:** Students discussed and practiced showing versus telling and were encouraged to read the packet about writing and CONTINUE TO WORK ON THEIR NARRATIVE ESSAY. ** The typed rough draft ( 3-4 pages) is due Tuesday, FEB. 12. **

**February 11**: Students discussed ** long/ short sentence fluency. ** Rough drafts are due tomorrow, TYPED. Another note about sentence fluency. **February 12**: students were assigned to sign up for TURNITIN.COM and in groups looked at their drafts. information for CW period 2 password period 8 **February 13:** Students did some review of sentence fluency and discussed their narrative essays.

do Writing Strategy questions for the essay "On Compassion" by Wednesday and decompose the essay "Homeless" by Thursday. example of decomposition of essay. Snow day on March 5. LOOK at the list of topics chosen by each class already by clicking on the link. Works cited page notes Students are to have typed out the works Cited page OF AT LEAST 8 SOURCES for tomorrow, and they should bring in at least 3 or 4 of their sources in class.
 * February 14:** Students handed in their narrative essays and MUST SUBMIT THEM ELECTRONICALLY TO //TURNITIN.COM// BY TOMORROW! Students must read chapter 6 for tomorrow and do Writing Strategy questions for the essay "Compassion" by Wednesday and decompose the essay "on Homeless" by Thursday.
 * February 15**: Students took diagnostic test in quizstar after signing up for class online, then they discussed the first pages of chapter 6. (notes on ch 6) Students must
 * February 20:** Students are to decompose the essay "homeless" for tomorrow. Look at the example from 2/15.
 * February 21**: Students discussed their new essay of example (see handout in class) and were assigned to spend time tonight brainstorming topics by creating clear examples (pictures) and examples of support. Once they have some examples, put together a thesis statement that would need those examples for support. STudents should bring their brainstorming and theses to class tomorrow. Final Draft for Essay of examples is Friday, Mar 1. rough draft due Wed, Feb 27, ouline/organizer Mon, Feb 25.
 * February 22**: Students discussed the first essays and their possible topics for the next essay of examples. An outline or graphic organizer and a thesis statement is due for Monday.
 * February 25**: Students are to write their rough drafts for Wednesday.
 * February 26:** Discussed rough drafts, read samples of example essays in class. Try this exercise to see how you might support a topic sentence with examples of specific details.
 * February 27:** Students read and peer edited each others essays.
 * February 28**: Students discussed the punctuation rules regarding simple, compound, and complex sentences; then, student questions about essays were answered, and the essay "Black Men in Public Space" was read. STudents should bring in their final draft, rough draft (& peer editor sheet), and outline /web in tomorrow. Electronically submit by Friday night by 10 PM to Turnitin.com
 * March 1:** Papers were handed in. Students must electronically submit their papers by 10 PM tonight and in class students practiced writing a summary of an essay.
 * March 4**: Students took pretest on plagiarism and were assigned to read a chapter called "Zeroes as Heroes." and write a one sentence summary for each paragraph for tomorrow.
 * March 6:** Write out an annotated bibliography from the chapter called "Television: Zeros as Heroes." Check the link for complete instructions, also read chapter 3 in the textbook called "Academic Writing."
 * March 7**: Quizzes were discussed, research project and the quality of research was discussed, and students are to decide which topic they will choose by tomorrow. Research paper will be due by April 22.
 * March 8:** Deadlines were discussed and topics were chosen. Please check the link about deadlines for valuable information about the research paper. While the deadline for the final draft is 6 weeks away, some students may want to get a jump on gathering research due to a busy spring schedule. The TG librarians demonstrated how to use the databases and students had time to search. Papers were passed back. For students who were not here to select a topic, by Monday afternoon, Mar 11, I will post a list of topics still open for you to choose. On a First come, first serve basis, please email which one you would like or we can talk on Monday, March 18.
 * March 18**:Students discussed the definition of plagiarism, unintentional plagiarism, what is an "apt phrase"? consequences for plagiarism. Students are to find credible sources for their research topics.
 * March 19**: Students were discussing the major questions to help frame the many perspectives of the research topic. Answers for at least 4 of the questions are due tomorrow.
 * March 20**: Students were to hand in their answers and start finding valuable and credible sources. 8 sources are due by next Tuesday.
 * March 21**: Students discussed using ethos, logos, and pathos in their research paper. See directions for tomorrow's assignment.
 * March 25:** Students checked paragraphs about ethos, pathos, and logos and then were reviewing how to make proper entries on a Works Cited page.
 * March 26**: Students checked their works cited page, read about credible sources and note taking, discussed some common (student) problems of research, and were to bring in 3-4 sources tomorrow and index cards so they may begin taking notes. Computers will be used in class tomorrow if students wish to use noodletools.com or another web based notetaking program.
 * March 27**: Students need to have at least one note card to show the teacher tomorrow and Students should be reading and taking notes for their research paper.
 * March 28**: Students worked on reading and taking notes for their research project. Note cards were checked by Mr. Kocon. **ALL STUDENTS WILL NEED TO HAVE ALL THEIR SOURCES READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND FINISHED GATHERING INFORMATION ON NOTE CARDS BY APRIL 8**. Pace yourself. Don't wait until the last minute.

**April 30:** Students discussed the Compare / contrast essay. Rough drafts are due next Tuesday. Topics are due by tomorrow. Notes about the compare / contrast style. file for writing compare/contrast essay.
 * April 2** : Students took notes from their sources for their research project.
 * April 3**: Students answered some questions concerning the understanding of the research objectives for this paper. Then they read an article as the discussion turned to how to properly paraphrase. Students are to continue taking notes from their sources.
 * ALL STUDENTS WILL NEED TO HAVE ALL THEIR SOURCES READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND FINISHED GATHERING INFORMATION ON NOTE CARDS BY APRIL 8**.
 * April 4**: Students created their own paraphrases and graded students' sample and discussed what constitutes a good paraphrase.
 * April 5:** Students worked on creating note cards and reading sources.
 * April 8**: Students looked at their ethos, pathos, and logos plan and determined if they were successful or needed to find more stories for this paper. A sample outline was discussed, and introductory techniques were to be used in the paper. Note cards were checked and the typed outlines are due on Wednesday, April 10.
 * April 9:** Students notes were checked an analogy was explained in class, and students were given time to create an original analogy to be used in their paper. Introductory technique checklist.
 * April 10:** Students handed in their outlines and discussed how to make in-text citations properly using the MLA style.
 * April 11:** Students got their outlines back and discussed possible problem areas, then were told to start writing their rough drafts, WHICH ARE DUE ON APRIL 17TH. The the class worked on how to use numbers and numerals correctly in a research paper according to the MLA style.
 * April 12:** Students reviewed and took a quiz on using numbers /numeralsin an essay, then were told to write their rough drafts, WHICH ARE DUE ON APRIL 17TH.
 * April 15-16:** Students were working on writing their rough drafts which are due on Wednesday.
 * April 17:** students gave feedback on other student's evidence, identifying examples of logos and pathos and grading them.
 * April 18:** Students gave feedback regarding word choice, and check to see if the in-text citations were properly done as per the works cited page. Students may get additional feedback concerning plagiarism and grammar by submitting their rough draft into turnitin.com by 10 PM Friday. If submitted on time, by Monday, they should be able to see the feedback.
 * April 19, 22:** The students worked on their grammar exercises as they prepare for handing in their papers tomorrow.
 * April 23:** The students handed in their research papers and were assigned all the exercises in the grammar through unit 8 for tomorrow.
 * April 24** : Students reviewed the grammar exercises and wer assigned to complete the rest of the packet for tomorrow. Students must submit toTurnitin.com by today.
 * April 25**: Students reviewed the grammar exercises on apostrophes, commas, colons, dashes, parentheses for the test on Friday. Mr. Kocon will include some questions regarding research as well.
 * April 26**: **Students in PERIOD 2/** since so many students were with their grandparents, the students used the class time to do the next assignment: read chapter 7- Comparison and Contrast. The students were also to take notes and read the first essay called "Neat People vs Sloppy People," and write the answers to the //Writing Strategy// questions in their notebooks. **Students in PERIOD 8/** took the quiz and were assigned the reading for Monday as well.
 * April 29:** The students were also to take notes and read the first essay called "Neat People vs Sloppy People," and write the answers to the // Writing Strategy // questions in their notebooks.
 * May 1:** Students discussed topics and essay "Neat vs Sloppy". Test on research techniques is to be given tomorrow. Deconstruction of Britt's essay.
 * May 2:** Students took test on research techniques and were assigned the writing strategy questions for the essay: "Batting Clean-up and Striking out."
 * May 3**: Students discussed the techniques of parallel structure, juxtaposition, and repetition, and the organization and details of David Barry's essay. Students are to work on their comparison/contrast essay for homework. The rough draft for the essay is due on Tuesday, and the final draft is due Thursday, May 9.
 * May 6:** Students worked on their rough drafts for their compare/contrast paper.
 * May 7:** Students discussed their drafts and were assigned to do the self-checklist.
 * May 8:** Students discussed the structure of the essay and the David Barry and Bruce Catton ones. Students are to bring in their final draft tomorrow and electronically submit it to turnitin.om by Friday at 10 PM.
 * May 9:** Students handed in Essays and were assigned to read chapter 12 and take notes for a discussion tomorrow. Questions
 * May 13:** Students discussed the definition essay and did some writing exercises.
 * May 14:** Students read and discussed the Gloria Naylor essay and were to write the questions of Writing Strategy in their notebook for tomorrow.

STUDENTS FOR PERIOD 2 SHOULD CLICK THIS LINK FOR A CLASS SURVEY. PERIOD 2 SURVEY
 * May 20:** Students are to work on their essay of definition. Rough draft is due on Wednesday. Final draft-Friday.
 * May 21:** Students worked on their drafts on the essay. Allusions were discussed.
 * May 22:** Students were working in groups looking at criteria of a good paper. The scoring rubric was passed out. Final copy is due on Friday.
 * May 23:** Revisions were made and a survey about class was taken.
 * May 24:** Closing activities, grades were discussed, papers handed in, SMU evaluation was given.


 * STUDENTS FOR PERIOD 8 SHOULD CLICK THIS LINK FOR A SURVEY OF COLLEGE WRITING **. PERIOD 8 SURVEY

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(fall 2012) August 28: Introduction was made, SMU PACC registration was discussed and deadline for $ and registration form is Wednesday, Sept. 12, class activity completed and assignments given. Assignments: Pretending you are a student ambassador of TG and sitting with a couple of dozen students who haven't decided whether TG is the right choice of a high school for them, write 300 words to persuade them that TG is the right school for them. (due Wednesday) Students will have to read chapter one and take notes on it (due Friday). August 29: Students are to sign up for Mr. Kocon's class in Quizstar by tomorrow's class period. Students looked at phrases and words that were truly appealing to their audience (8th graders). Students finished their partner activity. Cliches were discussed in a mini-lesson August 30: Students were taking the Grammar test on Quizstar and were to finish the reading assignment for class tomorrow. Click here for General Principles for class. August 31: Students discussed a mini-lesson on purpose and audience papers were passed back and in small groups chapter 1 was discussed. Assignments: Students should read chapters 2 and 5 for Wednesday's class, Sept 5.
 * The following items refer to the fall semester courses........THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU, STUDENTS WHO ARE CURRENTLY IN THE SPRING SEMESTER.**

September 4:Students took second part of English 100, enrolled in turnitin.com and picked up hand out about description assignment. Students should read chapters 2 and 5 for Wednesday's class, Sept 5. September 5: Students discussed critically reading and critical writing, looked at descriptive example in chapter 5, discussed description assignment. A TYPED draft of a description of any room in your house is due tomorrow. The final will be due on Friday. Students should have read the essays "Arm Wrestling with Father" and "Shooting Dad" for tomorrow. We will discuss the Writing strategies questions and vocabulary words in each essay--so look up words if you DON'T KNOW THEM. Objective vs Subjective description Notes on chapters 1,2 September 6:Students marked up drafts and discussed the elements of Description Rubric and the mini-lesson on word choice and the good qualities found in the description of the students of Harris Hall (p124). Some time was given for students to share their descriptions with others. The Final Draft of the description assignment is due on Friday. September 7:Students handed in essays and were to put them in turnitin.com by Monday's class. "Arm Wrestling with Father" and "Shooting Dad" were discussed. Chapter 4 is to be read for Monday, and "Fish Cheeks" will be discussed. Questions about writing strategy for "Champion of the World" should be completed for Tuesday. Any vocabulary words should be noted and understood.

September 10: Students discussed the higher standards placed upon writing and the good and poor apects of the students' writings from last Friday. Chapter 4 is to be read for TOMORROW, and Questions about writing strategy for "Champion of the World" should be completed for Tuesday. STANDARD EXPECTATION FOR ANY READING ASSIGNMENT IS AS FOLLOWS: Any vocabulary words not known should be noted in the student's note book, looked up, and understood so as to be able to discuss the writing effectively IN CLASS the next day. September 11: Students discussed the questions of "Champion of the World" and assigned students to start working on their narrative essays.

SMU PACC registration was discussed and deadline for $ and registration form is Wednesday, Sept. 12
September 12: students discussed the narrative essay assignment and discussed the outline requirements. outline of narrative essay. September 13: Students discussed the elements of good writing found in Amy Tan's essay "Fish Cheeks." September 14: Students' outlines were checked, students practiced writing thoughtshots to enhance narrative voice and purpose. Showing vs Telling was discussed. Narrative Essay Rough Draft due Tuesday, 9/18 Final draft due 9/20.

September 17: Students discussed how writers show their purpose (message or theme) through the narrative. Students read various essays from former students to see again how a good narrative communicates a clear purpose and using good word choice, strong writing that shows versus tells the audience. Students were reminded that rough drafts should be typed for tomorrow's class. September 18: Students read each other's essays and provided feedback on the purpose and word choice, etc. September 19: Narrative essays are due tomorrow and should be electronically submitted to turnitin.com by 10 PM Friday night. Students reviewed "The Chase" and discussed meaning and writing strategies. This is a useful link about making page numbers and creating the MLA format in a paper...please take a look (apologies to the guys in the class). September 20: Students handed in papers, were assigned some vocabulary exercises for Monday.

September 24: Students read 2 articles, checked vocabulary packet, and discussed the good writing and the improvements needed for upcoming writings. Papers were passed back. Vocabulary test will be given on Thursday; the packet will be corrected tomorrow. September 25:The vocabulary packet was corrected, a minilesson on allusions was discussed, the idea of using examples was discussed through 2 cartoons and the students were assigned to read chapter 6; "Example: Pointing to Instances" take notes and read the first essay "On Compassion" and answer the "writing strategy" questions AND COPY DOWN ANY VOCABULARY WORDS THEY DON'T KNOW INTO THEIR NOTEBOOKS for tomorrow. September 26: Students discussed the illustration notes and cartoons, and will discuss the first essay "On Compassion." Students should answer the "writing strategy" questions AND COPY DOWN ANY VOCABULARY WORDS THEY DON'T KNOW INTO THEIR NOTEBOOKS for tomorrow. The Vocabulary test for UNIT 1 is tomorrow. September 27: Students took vocabulary quiz. Tried to deconstruct the essay "On Compassion" and were assigned to read the next essay "Homeless" and spend some time deconstructing the essay per the example of deconstruction passed out today. Bring the deconstruction to class tomorrow. It does not have to be typed, but it must be thorough in order to receive full credit. September 28: Essay of Example description and instructions. talked about the deconstruction of "Homeless" Students may start on their outlines for their next essay. October 1: Students did rapid fire drilland minilesson on connotations v denotations, read essay on signs. OUTLINES and purpose statements are due tomorrow. October 2: Students discussed the importance of making examples for their paper. Outlines were checked and questions were raised about the examples in the essays. Students read "Menacing Machines" and "Bad Habits Bring on Capital Gains". October 3: Students and Teacher discussed problems and solutions to outlines and upcoming drafts. Drafts are due on Friday. October 4: Students discussed the essay "Black Men in Public Space" October 5: Students peer conferenced with others about their papers. Students should bring back their papers on Monday. October 8: Students commented on others students' papers. Students should electronically submit and bring in their papers on Tuesday. October 9: students handed in papers and worked on new vocabulary unit #2. October 10: students corrected vocabulary unit #2, were told the next vocabulary test is on Friday (which includes some words from unit 1) and were assigned to finish the two work sheets on sentence structure- Putting in punctuation and taking our repetitious wording. Hint- Separating the independent clauses from the dependent ones and knowing what kinds of independent clauses are in the sentence are critical to knowing where the punctuation belongs. October 11: Students did a review of sentence structure and will have a test on vocabulary (units 1 & 2) and some punctuation of sentence structure tomorrow. October 12: Students took a quiz on vocabulary and a sentence structure and were assigned to summarize Ferenc Mate's article "Television: Zeroes as Heroes". The summary process calls for student to summarize each paragraph into one sentence. Then read all the sentences and come to an understanding of the essence of the article and put that into one paragraph about 6-8 sentences long (IT SHOULD NOT BE A PAGE IN LENGTH- ) Students should bring in their one sentence summaries and their paragraph summry for Monday.

October 15: Students discussed their assignment and some questions about Ferenc Mate's article. Then students were given an assignment to write a 250-word commentary on the article. Please check this link for important details. Commentary Assignment October 16: Students took pretest on plagiarism and papers were discussed and commentary assignments were collected. An article called " A Convenient Untruth" was passed out and students are to summary the paragraphs (or many of the paragraphs not all) by Monday. We will be discussing the article and its arguments on Monday. The short summaries of the paragraphs will be invaluable in that discussion and/ or quiz. October 18: The students looked at possible research topics and the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing.

October 22: Students selected the topics and were assigned to start looking them up. A guide sheet " Doing the Work of the Research Paper" was handed out and students are to complete it sometime before a thesis is required. Deadlines for the research paper may be downloaded from this wikispace as students so desire. October 23: Discussed " A Convenient Untruth." Students could rewrite their commentaries by Friday-commentary sample- (changes in bold), and the annotated bibliography assignment was passed out. due Friday or Monday ( if approval is given from teacher). Grade the Paraphrase exercise was conducted. October 24- 25: Researched topics in the library. Suggestions for research use research folders (usually available in the database, i.e. ProQuest, Gale,) Annotated bibliography is due on Friday. Students could rewrite their commentaries by Friday (changes in bold). October 26: Annotated bibliographies were collected and paraphrasing skills were discussed, check the deadlines (from Oct. 22) to make sure you are on track to meet each of them. Those who have an extension on today's assignment, bring it in on Tuesday. Students in 4th period could rewrite their commentaries by Tuesday (changes in bold).

October 29: Go out and watch the Girls' soccer team at the Metrodome. Good Luck Girls. October 30: Students read about unintentional plagiarism and its consequences. Students are to bring in 2 sources or more to use in class and a list of all the sources they have collected to this time. ( A minimum of 6 sources is required). October 31: Students talked about the criteria for works cited page and note-taking procedures. Took a short quiz on creating proper sources. November 1: Students corrected their works cited exercise from yesterday. Answers to exercise. November 2: Students handed in their works cited and were to revise any mistakes they may have had. If you wanted to download extra copies of the NOTE CARD please open the following PDF November 5: Students clarified their focus on their specific topic by answer some of the key questions from the study guide "Doing the Work." Students are to take notes, they should be finished by Wednesday. November 6: Students discussed the use of ethos, logos, and pathos in their research paper and were to bring in their note cards for tomorrow's class. November 7: Students showed Mr. Kocon their note cards and discussed outlines and how to use ethos, logos, and pathos in the paper. Students should create an outline for tomorrow. The students were told that they need to put an analogy into their final paper. cartoon showing an analogy. November 8: Students discussed their outlines with Mr. Kocon and were assigned to continue writing the drafts of their research paper. The Rough draft is due on Tuesday, November 20. November 12: Students discussed their outlines with Mr. Kocon and retook the plagiarism quiz in class, discussing the answers along the way. November 13: Students reviewed how to put citations in papers and how to properly use numerals in research papers. Students are to bring in their materials tomorrow as we will be working on completing our rough drafts in class the next few days. November 14: Students were working on their rough drafts and will need to have a hard copy of their rough draft by Wednesday, Nov 21. November 19-20: Students were working on their rough drafts and will need to have a hard copy of their rough draft by Wednesday, Nov 21. November 21: Students gave feedback to others about their research paper. All students should submit their papers to Turnitin.com today so that on Friday, they may look at their originality report to see if they need to change any unintentional mistakes concerning plagiarism.

November 26:Students reviewed grammar rules, received unit 3 vocabulary words and packets, were assigned to finish the vocabulary packet for Tuesday and continue to revised their research paper since the final copy is due on Wed. November 28. Students will have a vocabulary quiz on Thursday for units 3,2, and 1. November 27: Students corrected vocabulary packet #3, did the second lesson about commas in the grammar packet and were reminded that they should make any final changes to their research paper tonight. PAPERS ARE DUE TOMORROW with the yellow scoring rubric. Last minute questions.. Is a title required for the paper? yes ... Is a title page required? NO ...just put your name, date and period on the first page, number all the other pages with your last name and page #. Do you want to mark my analogy in the paper? yes, you may bold it. Does it need to be electronically submitted by tomorrow? No, by Thursday. under the assignment: Final draft of Research Paper. November 28: Students handed in papers and reviewed vocabulary for test tomorrow and then continued working through their grammar packets. November 29: Students took vocabulary test #3 and were assigned to complete the rest of the grammar packet for tomorrow. November 30: Students corrected grammar (test will be given next week). The students may correct the last pages on their own. Check the grammar answers on the Resource page. Students were to read chapter 7 in the Bedford Reader and do the Writing Strategies questions for the essay- "Neat People vs Sloppy People" (*as always students should make sure they know the vocabulary words in the section about questions with Language) December 3: Students discussed questions. Then looked at notes from chapter 7, then discussed the essay. December 4: small group discussions about how the purpose of Suzanne Britts essay was supported by her word choice, sentence fluency, organizational method, use of exaggeration, allusion, and figurative language. Students are to read the next two essays and write their answers to the Writing Strategy questions. December 5: Students discussed how to use an angle to make your comparison essay more engaging. e.g. Artist and Painters may be discussed as being similar because they each have a creative eye by which they view the world, presents snapshots of life in their art, and are keenly aware of the use of color in their work. A list of subjects for the essay is found at the end of chapter 7. Here were some additional examples mentioned in class. Students should start brainstorming on their topic the rough drafts will be due on December 13, typed. December 6: Students worked on writing skills and generating ideas for the comparison contrast essay. Students should have a topic and general idea of what they will discuss in their comparison essay by Monday, Dec. 10, the rough draft is due by Dec. 14 and the final copy by Dec. 17. December 7: Students looked at writing activities and the deconstruction of Britt's comparison. Students were assigned to outline their ideas for their next essay for Monday. The class will be discussing Dave Barry's essay on Monday, so students should read it and answer the Writing Strategies questions in their notebook. Canton's essay should be ready to go on Tuesday with responses to the Writing Strategy questions in your notebook. December 10: Students handed in topics and Dave Barry's essay was discussed. December 11: Students received feedback on essay topics; rough drafts are to be typed on Friday. Students reviewed the organizations of the Dave Barry Essay and the Canton essay. December 12: Students looked at the writing techniques of parallel structure, repetition, power of the fragment, and read the "Sacrificial General." Rough drafts are to be typed on Friday. December 13: Students handed in all the extra resources from the research paper and worked on writing their drafts of the compare and contrast essay. December 14: Students paired up to do some peer editing using the checklist provided in class. To demonstrate that the students have completed the revision process, students must 1- get another person outside of their class to get feedback on their writing 2-complete the self-assessment side and identify which tools they used in the essay 3- write out the answers to the questions at the bottom of the self-assessment 4-bring in their rough draft showing writing, comments, revisions, 5-BRING IN THEIR FINAL DRAFT as well as the scoresheet (it is on the back side of the instructions for the essay- I passed it out earlier this week). If you were absent on Friday, please download the checklist and complete the assignment for Monday. December 17: Students checked their grammar packets for the exercises concerning dashes, parentheses, and colons. December 18: Students discussed the rules about colons, dashes, and parentheses and students will have a test on Thursday. Students were given unit 4 vocabulary packet. The exercises are due tomorrow. December 19: Students reviewed grammar for test tomorrow; vocabulary test on Friday. December 20: Students took grammar quiz and were to study for vocabulary test for tomorrow. December 21: Students took vocabulary test #4.

January 3: Students received their essays back and read the opening pages of chapter 12 and the first essay "The Meanings of a Word" for tomorrow. Students must put their answers in their notebook for the questions for chapter 12. January 4: Students discussed and checked off their answers to yesterday's questions. Students were to look over the Essay of Definition assignment. The students were to pick a word or term that they will use in their essay and then answer the six questions (pages 399-40 in the hard cover book, or page 402 in the soft cover book) about their topic as a means of effectively brainstorming the topic before organizing an outline and writing a draft. The rough draft is due on Friday, Jan 11 and the final essay is due on Monday, Jan 14. Students are free to choose ANY WORD off the list or look at the last page of chapter 12 for more possible topics. Please look at the document if you forgot the handout in class. January 7: Students hand their questions checked and discussed the Gloria Naylor essay and their upcoming essay. Students should make an outline for their essay and start writing their rough drafts which are due on Friday. January 8: Students did some writing activities related to their essay of definitions, were encouraged to read the other example essays in the book, and make sure that their outlines included all the necessary items for the essay, such as a famous quotation, specific and many examples, illustrations, at least one historical example, and allusion. The scoring rubric was passed out as well. Rough drafts are due on Friday. January 9: Students read different essays of definition in class to glean insights and ideas from which to write their own. Tomorrow students will work in class on their essays with rough drafts due on Friday. January 10: Students were working on their rough drafts which are due typed on Friday. January 11: Students paired up to read and critique their papers using a peer editor checklist; others were working on finishing their drafts and agreed to finish their critique on their own.