Sat., Sept. 13
We reviewed some internet resources: this blog, the writershelp site, and ANGEL. The instructor distributed a written assignment sheet and also noted that the assignments were posted on the blog.
We went over the comma handout, reviewing the rules we covered last week, and reading/understanding the ones on the back of the handout.
After reviewing the comma rules, we began an exercise where we used our comma review. We wrote example sentences, but in the context of a scary story. Each student wrote a sentence on a sheet of loose leaf paper. The sentence was to be modeled after the nine examples on the handout. Students wrote sentences with commas that advanced the storyline.
We discussed the Angelou essay and how it might guide students in the writing of their own narrative. We talked about how she set the scene in the initial paragraph (descriptive), and also about how she used hyperbole and varied sentence structure.
We then brainstormed some ideas for the writing of this paper.
In the final half hour of class, we paired students for the purposes of doing introduction speeches next week. The instructor gave the students some questions to get started. She also explained the difference between and open-ended and a close-ended question, recommending that students use open-ended questions to get the most content. The introductory speech will be 2-3" in length. All students need for the next class, however, is a one-page written introduction. The instructor will show how to convert the manuscript to key words for a speech.
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Posted prior to class:
Work with commas:
--go over punctuation handout
--listen to radio excerpt, Lynn Truss, Eats, Shoots, and Leaves
--comma writing exercise
--go over writershelp assignment
Discuss essay and assignment:
--watch Joe Lewis tape
--go over assignment sheet
--how essay can help in one's own writing
--ideas for this essay
Introductions and learning names:
--interviews
--how to write an introduction
--how to convert a manuscript to key words
--index cards
