Class on 4/26/17

Warm Up: Students practiced giving simple directions/commands to the whole class: "Stand up, sit down. Turn to the left, etc." Body language is key!

Workbook Pages 110 through 113 

Students learned about independent clauses and their opposites: subordinate clauses

Subordinate clauses cannot stand alone, and must be connected to an independent clause. 

Also, subordinate clauses almost always start with Subordinators. The most common are the following:

• when
• after
• because
• if

Students practiced writing a draft Process paragraph. Students used the same topics on 106 (we already practiced Topic Sentences and Conclusions for the same). Example below (imperative verbs are circled): 

Class on 4/24/17

Warm up:
Students practiced writing steps with imperative verb forms from various topics

Review of workbook pages 104 through 108:

Students identified imperative verbs (not in phrases with "is,"missing subject and no use of -ing endings)

Practice identifying tone

Students practiced writing conclusions for topics on page 106:

Homework: Write on a separate piece of paper. **I will collect.**

A) Change group 2 on page 108 into a paragraph. Add an introduction and conclusion
B) Write three conclusion sentences from 3 topics of your choice on page 106

Class on 4/19/17

Warm Up:

Whole class read the following article:

Good Manners in the 21st Century

Discussion and review of DRAFT Shopping Paragraphs

Workbook Page 105 and 106.

These are the imperative forms you need to use for process paragraphs:

Follow
Use
Adhere,
Stick
Obey
Observe
Comply

Use one of the verbs above with one of the following process key words:

directions
instructions
rules
steps
procedure
process
plan
strategy

Students worked in pairs to write four intro sentences for mock process paragraphs

Homework: Type Final of Shopping Paragraph
                    Make sure you have 17-18 journal entries. 

Class on 4/17/17

Warm UP; Students wrote sentences about their weekend and shared highlights during role call.

The whole class read and analyzed an edited version of a recent article in The Atlantic

Workbook Pages 102 through 104

Homework: Read pages 105 and 106
                   Last dead line for draft Shopping paragraphs is by email on Tuesday

Class on 4/12/17

Hello Students, my new book is free on Amazon from 4/13 to 4/17. Please get a copy!

DIRT IN THE CIRCUIT

Homework: 

First Draft paragraph on Shopping

Must be typed and turned in on Monday

Must contain a logical division key word (p. 82)

Full instructions are on Page 99 (and use p. 84 to help)

Class on 4/10/17

Warm Up: Very short free writing with a couple of prompting questions. Students then practiced stating a possible Topic Sentence or the controlling idea that came out of the writing.

Review of corrected Mid Term Exams. Scores ranged from 77% to 100%. Importantly, everyone that took the exam passed the paragraph writing section.

• Specifically, the whole class built the following lists of paragraph rules that must be mastered to pass the class:
• Indent (or use 5 spaces) for the first sentence. Don't indent or leave a whole line space again in the same paragraph.
• Follow Punctuation Rules: use periods and capital letters, create compound sentences with ", and I" or in other words: comma, coordinating conjunction and a new subject. 

Don't forget the period, and or the new subject-- this is called a "run-on." 

T.S. is both focused and clear (see scale below).

• Main points are clearly stated and details are given for each
• Use of at least two transition signals
• Conclusion: at a minimum use "In conclusion," and sentence should recycle key ideas and re-state key words.

We also discussed how to make the best topic sentence.The scale is outlined here with the weakest sentence on top and the strongest on the bottom:

Review and pair practice in workbook pages 88 through 94.



Homework: 
1. Workbook page 95
2. Bring your journal to class. Make sure you have 10 to 12 entries. That equals 10 to 12 pages.