Class on 2/23/12

Whole class listened to instructor model pronunciation of Maria Montessori paragraphs. Students practiced reading out loud in pairs the pages on Montessori. Individuals contributed their sentences on Montessori. Whole class practiced a paragraph together.

Whole class took a tour of the Learning Center. They learned about the importance of signing in, how to make an appointment for a tutor (ESL tutors are available for one-on-one help 5 days a week!)

Individuals attempted paragraphs by themselves on Locke.


Homework: Read page 16 on Rouseau. Write 4 sentences (only one can be a quote). If you are ready put your 4 sentences in paragraph form. 

Class on 2/16/12

Students recounted sentences about what they did over the weekend while the instructor placed the verbs they used into two categories: irregular and regular simple past tense verbs. The instructor also pointed out that verbs ending in the letter T and D are pronounced with an extra syllable when the "-ed" is added to the end of the verb. Students then wrote their own simple past tenses and shared example with the whole class.

Instructor passed back corrected autobiographical paragraphs. He demonstrated (two scanned examples) how two paragraphs were edited/corrected and explained typical references that are used. The importance of making mistakes was reinforced and also the importance of rereading and REWRITING corrected work. Students then worked independently to re-write their paragraphs.

Students then wrote a paragraph based of the following questions. "What did you do last Saturday?" The instructor reinforced how to turn the question into a statement and student were asked to use the instructor first sentence example as their own. The instructor circulated to make sure that students understood the assignment, used the assigned first sentence and that they indented the first sentence.

The instructor prepared the students that next week would include a "Field Trip" to the Learning Center.

Homework: Read page 18 and 19 about Montessori. Write 4 sentences about this important educational pioneer. 2 sentences can be quotes (copied from the book but with quote marks) but 2 sentences must be in your own words.

Class on 2/9/12

Students read three paragraphs where the punctuation had been taken out. Students wrote in where they thought the periods should go. The instructor read the paragraphs with emphasis on sentence endings and students read along checking their work.

Professor lectured regarding the rules of writing a paragraph.
1. Three to five sentences on the same topic
2. The first sentence gives an introduction (it is the sign on the door)
3. Sentences have a logical or chronological order
4. First sentences is indented

Students took notes and then wrote their own autobiographical paragraphs. The instructor circulated and corrected/edited some paragraphs. At the end some students volunteered to read their paragraph.

Students worked in groups of three to read one of the first paragraphs of the class's text. Then they reported out what they thought was the best sentence to represent the paragraph. Instructor began a discussion of the difference between quoting and copying.

Homework: read page 15 and 16 about Cornius and Locke only. Students will write out two quotes for each pioneer (4 sentences total).