Vikings Write

• You can begin a sentence with a subordinate clause, possibly marking a longer one with a comma.  Example, “Since no one showed up fo rthe meeting, I made the decision on my own.”
• You can begin with a participial phrase which may be followed by a comma.  Example, “Gasping for breath, he stopped.”
• You can begin with a prepositional phrase, possibly marking it by a comma. Examples: “To make progress, one must work hard.”  “In the morning we will begin our work.”

"Ugh! Another writing assignment."

Not all of you will have to write a college essay.  However, you will, at some time in your life, have to fill out an application stating why you should be considered for a service, scholarship or job.  My goal is to get you to think about the way you narrate the events of your life.  I want you to choose only those details that reveal the most important facet of your character.  Most importantly, I want your narration to be infused with primary and secondary support.  You will use this skill your entire life.  You will, at some point, have to be specific about why you are the best candidate for a promotion.  Or, you will have to narrate the reasons why you should be made partner in a law firm or advertising agency.  With that being said, here’s how I’m grading the essay.

Writer includes a mix of simple, complex and compound sentences–10 points

Writer gives clear examples of primary and secondary support—10 points

Writer creates a narrative that flows in logical order/includes only relevant details–10 points

Writer begins narrative in a fresh manner/logical thesis–10

Writer’s work is neat, spellchecked and demonstrates effort–10

These are the skills that I went over.  I view the paper as a way to test those skills.  Once I come up with the total number of points earned, I will multiply by two.  The paper is worth 100 points total.  Please see me with questions about primary and secondary support.

So today we had an interesting conversation based on my own moral dilemma as to what kind of education is best for my daughter, Ellie.  My husband and I wonder if her private school is the best choice.  We also wonder if we should we look into a more creative educational environment for our daughter?   It was really terrific to listen to a group of students voice their opinions and share stories from their own educational successes and failures.  It was heartening to hear about teachers who touched you because they love to learn.  It was also funny to hear how my students ‘rank’ teachers.  Those that buy chips, give stickers, or have the gift of comedy seem to be at the top of the list.  However, it saddened me to hear stories where students sit in desks for eight hours each day performing one-dimensional learning tasks.  So many of my students touch a book as if it’s a cobra instead of a gift.  Learning should be interactive, multi-dimensional and engaging.  I’m always intrigued when I go into a teacher’s store and see mass amounts of materials for elementary school teachers.  In a tiny corner are some educational theory books for high school teachers.  When did we stop thinking that learning couldn’t be fun after 8th grade?  I wonder if somehow sustaining hours of boredom is a sign of maturity.  Oddly, put a bunch of teachers in eight hours of professional development and you will see that they act just like the students they are boring to death.   Amazing that we don’t get it after all of this time.  Hearing about the varied interests of my students inspired me to make fresh plans directed at individual interests.  I think Jordan is right when he says, “real life isn’t like that, you just have to do the work.”  Right now, I’m feeling that my students may have 40–50 years of “real life” waiting for them.  They won’t last if they don’t find a passion.

The Things They Carried Imitation–

Choose a person from your life or a character you know intimately.  Write an essay in which you chronicle the tangible objects they carry as well the intangible things. Tangible objects are visible possessions and good luck charms. Intangible things are emotions, conflicts, thoughts and feelings.  Intangible objects reveal the person’s morals, conflicts and character.  Tangible ojects may reveal a person’s priorities, status, conflicts or morals.  As O’Brien does, make observations about these objects and their significance to the person.  Detail only those tangible or intangible things that reveal the person’s character, conflicts or morals.  As you write, look back over the first chapter we read in class and imitate some of O’Brien’s techniques.  Repeat three phrases throughout your essay as O’Brien does.  In addition, look at O’Brien’s sentence starters. “The things they carried were determined to some extent by superstition” is a sentence starter example.  Notice the way O’Brien uses these sentence starters to create categories or segments in his chapter.  Use those kinds of sentence starters to begin your sentences and paragraphs so you are able to move from one idea to the nexts flawlessly.  Use those sentence starters to create categories in your essay:  superstitious objects, sentimental objects, religious objects, status symbols are all possible categories.  The essay should be about five paragraphs in length.  Each paragraph should be a minimum of 5 sentences.  You should use vivid language and adjectives to describe nouns.  For example, the “pool water” should become “an inviting shade of aqua pool water.”  Be sure to be descriptive and thorough!  Contact me at kwest@pkwy.k12.mo.us to ask questions.

I approached summer school with the usual fear that haunts me prior to the start of any new school year.  Each year I’m stunned by the stories I hear where students read novels, but don’t complete the work or stories where students read the novels, but fail to attend class.  It’s amazing how close students are to authentic learning.  Unfortunately, they often fall short.  It makes me wonder whose fault it is.  Do educators massacre the love of reading by giving students adult novels?  Have parents established chaotic family patterns where teens lack necessary quiet time for thinking and reading?  Have we produced teens who are too impatient for the slow gratification of novels?  Mark Twain said, A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.  As I look out over my classroom, I wonder how I can prove to them that reading is an advantage.