Day 6

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the late announcement. I was busy after class, and kept on being busy until right now. (And I’m sneezing.) And this little boy has been keeping me busy, too:

So, anyway…

Today, we reviewed yesterday’s homework and then mostly discussed the two types of Supporting Sentences, how they connect to one another, and how they relate to the Topic Sentence. (Respectively, how to build Flow and Unity through your Supporting Sentences, that is.) The important pages in the textbook for reviewing Supporting Sentences (so far) are pages 72 (at the top of the page) and 76 (also at the top), but I talked about aspects of the subject not in the book. (If you missed today’s class, you definitely should ask a classmate for more information about that.)

I also discussed the Question & Answer approach to paragraph writing, and how it’s different from the familiar “three reasons” method (Topic Sentence + Three Supporting Points and whatever sentences needed to support them + Concluding Sentence). There are hints about the Question & Answer method in the textbook, but it’s not clearly discussed in the part of the book we’ve studied so far, so again, make sure to talk to a classmate about it if you missed class.

Finally, we briefly discussed a grammar point: Pronouns and how to use them correctly. This is (partly) covered on page 85. We also discussed titles, and other ways of avoiding repetition besides using Pronouns, as well as why it’s a good idea to avoid unnecessary repetition of words (aside from keywords). (Once more, ask a classmate for more information about this if you weren’t in class today.)

Homework:

I assigned the following homework:

  1. Activities 3 & 4 (pages 76-77)
  2. Analyze Example Paragraphs 24-27 of Activity 7 (pages 79-82)
  3. Activity 9 (page 85)

As usual, if you have questions or problems with any of the homework, please mark it clearly: I’ll ask if there are any questions at the beginning of class, as always, and it’s your chance to let me help you.

Thursday Paragraph:

Finally, I announced that on Thursday we would be doing some peer editing. At the beginning of class, I had your partner give you a Topic, and then had you create a Topic Sentence about that topic, based on an opinion of yours—for example, “The movie Transformers was terrible.”—and make a list of three reasons for this opinion. My list of reasons for criticizing the movie was simple. I think the film was:

  1. sexist
  2. childish
  3. badly written

For homework, for Thursday, I asked you build a paragraph by creating Supporting Sentences that explain and support your opinion, providing Examples, Evidence, and Explanation. Work on it, revising it a few times, and bring four (4) copies to class on Thursday, so we can do some peer editing.

Paragraph Blog:

Finally, for today’s paragraph on the paragraph blog, you’re free to write about anything you want. Have fun!

Upcoming Classes:

Tomorrow (Wednesday, 30 December 2016), we’ll discuss Concluding Sentences and finish off Unit 4 of the textbook.

On Thursday, we’ll do a Peer Editing Workshop and I’ll discuss an important grammar point from Unit 5, along with a very brief review of what we’ve studied so far.

Next Monday (4 January 2016), we will have our Midterm Exam!

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