Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Sentence Combining

I have long been a fan of sentence combining activities as a meaningful and effective way of improving students’ writing skills. Since the 1960’s, research studies have shown that sentence combining is an effective way to teach grammar to students in elementary through college levels and improves student writing. This is especially so for students who struggle with writing. The Writing Next report (2007) based on Graham and Perin’s meta-analysis of writing instruction research, identified sentence combining as one of the eleven most effective instructional practices for improving the writing of students in grades 4-12 Sentence Combining https://keystoliteracy.com/blog/sentence-combining/

How to Combine Sentences Effectively

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFAfeE8mGDU

Rules for Combining Sentences (includes grade levels)

http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/sentences/rules-for-combining-sentences.html

Evaluating Sentence Combinations

After combining a set of sentences in a variety of ways, you should take the time to evaluate your work and decide which combinations you like and which ones you don't. You may do this evaluation on your own or in a group in which you will have a chance to compare your new sentences with those of others. In either case, read your sentences out loud as you evaluate them: how they sound to you can be just as revealing as for how they look.
Here are six basic qualities to consider when you evaluate your new sentences:

Meaning. As far as you can determine, have you conveyed the idea intended by the original author?
Clarity. Is the sentence clear? Can it be understood on the first reading?
Coherence. Do the various parts of the sentence fit together logically and smoothly?
Emphasis. Are keywords and phrases put in emphatic positions (usually at the very end or at the very beginning of the sentence)?
Conciseness. Does the sentence clearly express an idea without wasting words?
Rhythm. Does the sentence flow, or is it marked by awkward interruptions? Do the interruptions help to emphasize key points (an effective technique), or do they merely distract (an ineffective technique)?Introduction to Sentence Combining https://www.thoughtco.com/an-introduction-to-sentence-combining-169242

List of Subordinate conjunctions

Some Subordinating Conjunctions

after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though, because, before, by the time, even if, even though, if, in order that, in case, in the event that, lest , now that, once, only, only if, provided that, since, so, supposing, that, than, though, till, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, whether or not, while

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Journaling on 9/11

Monday, September 10, 2018

This Week in MzT's Classroom 9/10/18

Grade 12
M The History of the English Language
Review Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Normans
Develop lists of words from each group still in English

T Journaling
Using Chromebook, identify MLA referencing for resources.
HW write full page summary of the History of the English Language\, describing from Celts to Normans.

W Share results with groups.

Th Station Rotation-writing strategies and vocab

F Create Review Notes for Quiz

Gr 11

M Fill in general knowledge on the Iroquois Confederacy.
Notes on 'The Last of the Mohicans.'
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mohicans/summary/

T Journaling
Outline notes for Iroquois.

HW Outline for Last of the Mohicans.

W Check out MLA research referencing.

Th Journaling
Station Rotation-writing strategies and vocab

F Create Review Notes for Quiz

Gr 10, 9, and 8

M Group work, describe elements of short stories in each class short story.

HW Develop outline for Literary Analysis Essay.

T Journaling
Groups discuss the chosen elements for individual essays on the class short story.

HW Develop inner paragraphs of Literary Analysis Essay.

W Groups discuss theme in the stories.
Th Journaling
Read rough drafts in groups.

HW Polish rough drafts.

F Write final draft of Literary Analysis Essay in class.

Grade 7

M With a partner, finish reading 'Rikki Tikki Tavi.'

HW Draw a picture of one of the characters.

T Journaling
Groups discuss characters and write a paragraph about how the characters interact in the story.

HW Choose the four most important plot changes in 'Rikki Tikki Tavi.'

W Groups begin to illustrate the scenes from the story.

Th Groups continue to illustrate the scenes from the story.

F Watch the video, 'Rikki Tikki Tavi.' Make a Venn diagram to show differences and similarities.

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Authors from Our Reading Lists: Jack London

Jack London 1876-1916

The Call of the Wild (1903)

London’s most famous story is of the dog Buck, who sheds the virtues of civilized life and reverts to a wild state and thus survives in the Canadian wilderness during the Klondike gold rush.

White Fang (1906)

“White Fang,” a companion story to “The Call of the Wild,” depicts the domestication of a wolf and has been described as “an allegory of humanity’s progression from nature to civilization.”

The Sea-Wolf (1904)

About “The Sea-Wolf,” Ambrose Bierce wrote, “The great thing — and it is among the greatest of things — is that tremendous creation, Wolf Larsen... The hewing out and setting up of such a figure is enough for a man to do in one lifetime.”

And don't forget short stories.

To Build a Fire

by Jack London

A man and his dog fight for survival during a bitterly cold Arctic trek.

Authors from Our Reading List: the Bronte Sisters

The Brontë Sisters (1818-1855)

Jane Eyre - Who could fail to identify with Charlotte’s brave little orphan who refuses to be crushed by her bullying cousins, her sadistic head-master, or even the domineering man she loves. ‘Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?’ she demands of Rochester. ‘I am a free human being, with an independent will’, she tells him and how we cheer as she goes on to prove it, refusing to be his mistress rather than his wife and rejecting the passionless St John Rivers. Jane Eyre doesn’t win first place because it has its silly moments (as in the gypsy-woman episode) but mainly because it was an unnecessary and cowardly cop-out to give Jane a newly discovered family and fortune before she returns to Rochester.

Wuthering Heights - What can you say about the world’s greatest love-story, beloved of millions of teenagers and the silver screen? Except that it most definitely is not a love story. A tale of thwarted passions, obsession and revenge indeed – but not of genuine love. Heathcliff and Cathy are two sides of the same coin: ‘I am Heathcliff!’ says Cathy, ‘he’s more myself than I am’. When they cannot have what they want, their mutual response is to destroy each other. There is love in the book, but it’s not the ravings of Heathcliff and Cathy: it’s the blossoming affection between Heathcliff’s innocent victims Hareton and Catherine. There’s no denying the sheer power of Wuthering Heights, nor the cleverness of its structure, but as every film director has discovered, the death of Cathy less than half way through the book, though necessary to the plot, leaves the reader feeling short-changed.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne is the also-ran of the Brontë family yet The Tenant shares all the virtues of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights – powerful writing, gripping storyline, dramatic tension and passionate authorial involvement – whilst remaining firmly rooted in reality (no Rochester fooling his guests by disguising himself as a gypsy-woman or Heathcliff digging up his lover’s corpse). It’s the only Brontë novel not to feature orphans and/or dysfunctional families and it’s steeped with quiet humour. But its heroine, Helen Huntingdon, is a woman who flouts every convention by leaving her husband to save their child whom he is corrupting, earning her own independent living and eventually herself proposing marriage to the man she loves. Forget Jane Eyre – this really is Victorian feminism at its most radical!

To walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/to-walk-invisible-the-bronte-sisters/

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Autopsy on Our Short Stories (Getting Ready for Our Essays)

Setting: Where and when is the story set? Setting represents both the physical location but also the time (i.e. past, present, future) and the social and cultural conditions in which the characters exist.
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Character: A person or animal or really anything personified. There can be one main character or many, and often there are secondary characters, but not always.
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Plot: The events that happen in a story are called the plot. In a plot you typically find an introduction, rising action, a climax, the falling action, and a resolution. Plot is often represented as an arc.
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Conflict: Every story must have a conflict, i.e. a challenge or problem around which the story is based. Without conflict, the story will have no purpose or trajectory.
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Theme: Idea, belief, moral, lesson or insight. It’s the central argument that the author is trying to make the reader understand. The theme is the “why” of the story.