Lesson:
We continued to review and drill on sentence variety. I spent some time clearing up some confusion students have been having about how to use words that appear on both the preposition list and the clausal starter list.
For example:
Because of the weather, the game was canceled.
Here, because is a prepositional phrase starter, with the noun weather as object of the preposition.
Because it was raining, the game was canceled.
Here, because is a clausal starter. Clauses have a subject and a verb; in this case, it is the subject, and was raining is the verb.
I had the students write another quick Brainwarmer. From those, I asked various students to read an example of each kind of opener we have been learning.
Here is a review of sentence openers, borrowed from the Institute in Excellence guidelines from Andrew Pudewa.
1. Subject
2. Prepositional phrase
3. "-ly" (Adverb)
4. "-ing" (Participle)
5. Clause (Dependent clause)
6. VSS (Very short sentence)
7. "-ed" (Past participle --- optional, for more advanced students)
Examples:
1. Subject: A hare always boasted about how fast he could run.
2. Preposition phrase: In his opinion, he was the speediest animal around.
3. "ly"/Adverb: Surprisingly, the slow tortoise challenged the arrogant hare to a race.
4. "ing"/Participle: Running as fast as he could, the hare was soon far ahead of the plodding tortoise.
5. Clause: Since he was sure he would win, the confident hare lay down for a nap and slept while the tortoise passed him by and crossed the finish line.
6. VSS: The tortoise had won!
7. "ed" /Past Participle: Pleased, he declared, "Slow and steady wins the race."
Assignment:
I have made available four simple paragraphs for the students to use as a base for improving sentence variety. The students may also use any of their recent Brainwarmers as a basis for revision.
The homework assignment is to revise any two paragraphs, using in each paragraph all the sentence openers we have learned without using the same one twice in a row.
I would like the students to write the number of the opener they are using in the left margin of their papers.
Showing posts with label Brainwarmers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brainwarmers. Show all posts
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
4th - 6th Writing, January 9
Our first class back from our Christmas break was exuberant and delightful. I was happily surprised that quite a few students had done the optional extra credit writing.
Lesson:
We began again with our brief Brainwarmer exercise, which the students seem to enjoy. Many of the students read their stories aloud to the class afterwards.
For the main part of the lesson, I showed the class an easy formula for answering simple essay questions such as those which may be found in textbook chapter reviews or quizzes.
Subject: Turn the question around to make it a statement beginning with what or who is the subject.
Sort: What sort (category, classification) of person/place/thing is the subject?
Specifics: What specifically is important about this subject in this context?
For example, suppose the question asks Who was Louisa May Alcott?
Subject: Louisa May Alcott was
Sort: a nineteenth-century American author
Specifics: who wrote Little Women and other novels.
In another example, if the question asks What is photosynthesis?
Subject: Photosynthesis is
Sort: a biochemical process
Specifics: whereby plants use produce food energy from sunlight.
This basic pattern provides easy answers which are appropriate for simple questions that can be answered in one sentence. In addition, these answers can serve handily as topic sentences when paragraph-length responses are needed.(With a slight expansion of specifics, these answers become thesis statements for longer essay answers.)
Students will face many essay questions from now through college, so this practice should help them tremendously.
Assignment:
Write a strong paragraph in response to the essay question, "Who is [historical person of choice]?"
Use the pattern above (Subject, sort, specifics) to form a topic sentence.
Write the rest of the paragraph as usual, with solid information arranged in sensible order, with a variety of sentence openers, and lively, vivid word choices. Be sure to finish with a concluding sentence. Add an interesting title.
Since so many students were happy to discuss Davy Crockett when we used him as one of our class examples, I suggested him as our homework topic. In that case, students would write a paragraph answering the question, "Who is Davy Crockett?"
Other students asked to write a paragraph answer to "Who is Louisa May Alcott?" or "Who is Laura Ingalls Wilder?" That is fine. In fact, students may choose any historical figure for this assignment.
NOTE: This is not meant to be a big research project. I do not want the students to start from scratch reading and writing about someone with whom they are unfamiliar. I prefer they write about someone they have already studied, ideally someone who interests them.
Students this age tend to begin these assignments in minute detail like they might have read in a book-length biography. Partway through the process, when they have written three-fourths of a page just about their subject's birth and early childhood, they suddenly realize they are rewriting a book, so they hastily sum up their person's adulthood, accomplishments in a few scant sentences. The result is comically imbalanced. Therefore, I cautioned the students against starting their paragraphs with overly detailed information. Instead, they will need to choose the pertinent details that tell the essential story of their subject in a balanced way.
Lesson:
We began again with our brief Brainwarmer exercise, which the students seem to enjoy. Many of the students read their stories aloud to the class afterwards.
For the main part of the lesson, I showed the class an easy formula for answering simple essay questions such as those which may be found in textbook chapter reviews or quizzes.
Subject: Turn the question around to make it a statement beginning with what or who is the subject.
Sort: What sort (category, classification) of person/place/thing is the subject?
Specifics: What specifically is important about this subject in this context?
For example, suppose the question asks Who was Louisa May Alcott?
Subject: Louisa May Alcott was
Sort: a nineteenth-century American author
Specifics: who wrote Little Women and other novels.
In another example, if the question asks What is photosynthesis?
Subject: Photosynthesis is
Sort: a biochemical process
Specifics: whereby plants use produce food energy from sunlight.
This basic pattern provides easy answers which are appropriate for simple questions that can be answered in one sentence. In addition, these answers can serve handily as topic sentences when paragraph-length responses are needed.(With a slight expansion of specifics, these answers become thesis statements for longer essay answers.)
Students will face many essay questions from now through college, so this practice should help them tremendously.
Assignment:
Write a strong paragraph in response to the essay question, "Who is [historical person of choice]?"
Use the pattern above (Subject, sort, specifics) to form a topic sentence.
Write the rest of the paragraph as usual, with solid information arranged in sensible order, with a variety of sentence openers, and lively, vivid word choices. Be sure to finish with a concluding sentence. Add an interesting title.
Since so many students were happy to discuss Davy Crockett when we used him as one of our class examples, I suggested him as our homework topic. In that case, students would write a paragraph answering the question, "Who is Davy Crockett?"
Other students asked to write a paragraph answer to "Who is Louisa May Alcott?" or "Who is Laura Ingalls Wilder?" That is fine. In fact, students may choose any historical figure for this assignment.
NOTE: This is not meant to be a big research project. I do not want the students to start from scratch reading and writing about someone with whom they are unfamiliar. I prefer they write about someone they have already studied, ideally someone who interests them.
Students this age tend to begin these assignments in minute detail like they might have read in a book-length biography. Partway through the process, when they have written three-fourths of a page just about their subject's birth and early childhood, they suddenly realize they are rewriting a book, so they hastily sum up their person's adulthood, accomplishments in a few scant sentences. The result is comically imbalanced. Therefore, I cautioned the students against starting their paragraphs with overly detailed information. Instead, they will need to choose the pertinent details that tell the essential story of their subject in a balanced way.
Monday, January 5, 2009
4th - 6th Writing, December 12
Lesson:
Since it was the last class before Christmas vacation, I chose not to teach significant new material. Instead, we practiced a quick technique called Brainwarmers. Brainwarmer activities are meant to be a fast and fun way to write creatively and quickly. We will be doing more of this from now on, so I will explain it more later.
Assignment:
I did not give any assignment for this class.
Students may, at their option, write for extra credit. They may rewrite any previous assignment for a higher grade, or they may write anything they please, including poetry, fiction, longer essays, etc. However, that is completely at their discretion, not required.
Since it was the last class before Christmas vacation, I chose not to teach significant new material. Instead, we practiced a quick technique called Brainwarmers. Brainwarmer activities are meant to be a fast and fun way to write creatively and quickly. We will be doing more of this from now on, so I will explain it more later.
Assignment:
I did not give any assignment for this class.
Students may, at their option, write for extra credit. They may rewrite any previous assignment for a higher grade, or they may write anything they please, including poetry, fiction, longer essays, etc. However, that is completely at their discretion, not required.
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