Day 67!

Today, we will begin with the vocabulary that we started yesterday. We will talk through each word, its definition, and a fun way to remember it. The words are also linked to Quizlet so you can study them!

After that, we will talk about your next writing assignment! Yay!

We have spent plenty of time discussing APA formatting now, so now it's time to put it into real practice.  Your task will be to write a 2-3 page informational research essay on a current event or issue. This event or issue should not be the same topic that you discussed in your Persuasive essay.

You will need to consult at least 3 sources for this essay; preferably they will be different formats (i.e. they aren't all articles you accessed on CNN). Feel free to quote scholarly articles, videos, printed newspaper articles, etc.

This paper should incorporate information from each source (they should all have in-text citations), and the entire essay should be formatted in APA style.

The rough draft of this essay will be due on Tuesday.


Some tips to help you get started/ pick a topic:

1. Look through the headlines of several media outlets
2. Find an article that interests you
3. Do further research through other sources to deepen your understanding of it
4. Highlight the main ideas of each article or video, noting some important facts, statistics, quotes, etc.
5. Summarize the event or issue in your essay

Your thesis for this essay will look a little different than it did for your persuasive essay.

Here is an example of an explanatory thesis statement from the Purdue OWL Writing Lab:

Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

The life of the typical college student is characterized by time spent studying, attending class, and socializing with peers.

The paper that follows should:

• Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

Day 65!

Today, we will spend some time playing the APA games from yesterday. We will also take a look at each of your persuasive essays to see how you did turning it into an APA formatted paper.

If we get time, we will start with a new set of vocabulary. I decided to branch out and use ACT Prep words as well as Commonly Confused Words.

We will break the words up and each of you will be responsible for teaching three words to each other. These can go on the same document as our Commonly Confused Words.

You can also view these words on Quizlet Gulley Vocabulary

The words for the week are:

1. tenacious
2. indolent
3. harrowing
4. umbrage
5. gauche
6. that vs who

Day 62!

Okay, today we are going to keep working with the APA Reference page that we began practicing with yesterday.

We will begin with the worksheet that I handed out at the end of class yesterday.

After that, we are going to work on putting APA format into our own work. I want you to work with your persuasive essays that you recently turned in. Your task will be to take that MLA style paper and rework it into APA format. Your focus will be on creating:

• APA Title Page
• Running Header & Page Numbers
• In-Text Citations
• For this one: you may need to add parenthetical citations that you did not include before. Any information that you took from an outside source needs to be documented in an in-text citation! 
• Reference Page
• Remember, you are only including sources that you cited in the essay! You may have to go back to the articles in SIRS to find additional information for the APA citation. 

If you finish that early, I want you to continue to work with APA formatting by playing some of these sweet games!

Reference Page Citation Game
In-Text Citation Game
Compile the Reference Game
Citation Game

Day 60!

Happy day 60!

Today we will continue to talk about APA formatting. Our focus in class will be on how to format an APA essay and how to set up the References page! It's going to be a blast!

Day 59!

Happy Monday!

Today we will begin with a little time for feedback! We will spend the first several minutes filling out the Teacher Report Card posted below. After that, you will have some time to finish up with the Commonly Confused Words from last week; I don't think either of you had enough time to finish in class. We will talk about those, and then we will start talking about how to format in-text citations in APA format. If you would like to follow along with the KeyNote, click HERE!

We will also be doing a practice exercise for in-text citations, if you would like to type the assignment, you may use this document.

Day 57!

Day 57!

Okay, so I only briefly looked through your essays and I saw some errors that you should be way past by now. SO, I am going to give you back your essays. First, I want you to read through them out loud, make sure they make sense. Then I want you to ask yourself the following questions:


- Did I use proper grammar and spelling throughout the entire paper?
- Did I avoid using any untouchables?
- Does the tone of my entire paper match my purpose (to convince your audience)?
- Does my Works Cited page meet ALL of the requirements?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions (both of you have at least one "no"), then this is your chance to fix it. Really think about how I am going to grade this. Look back through all of the requirements to make sure you meet them. I will give you about 20 more minutes to read this paper out loud and do your last revisions.

Once you are done with that, we can finally pick back up with Commonly Confused Words! Remember, you're building your own definitions and examples now!

Please include:  the word, part of speech, definition, and an example of how it can be used correctly! Then, complete the exercises

1. passed vs past

Exercise

1. Carl had many secrets hiding in his shady (passed, past). 

2. Chang-Rae  (passed, past) his driver's test on his first try. 

3. Jim  (passed, past) "Go" four times while playing Monopoly, and not once did he go to jail. 

4. Players from the  (passed, past) were on the field to honor Ted Williams. 

5. In the  (passed, past), I have tried to overlook your rude comments, but I no longer can. 

2. raise vs rise

Exercise: 

1. Write four sentences. Use raise  in two and rise in two

2. Please (raise, rise) for the flag salute.

3. To avoid everyone talking at once, please (raise, rise) your hand to be called upon.

4. Sigmund and Hilda (raise, rise) llamas on their farm for a living.

3. whose vs who's

Exercise

1. Janice is the sophomore (whose, who's) representing the class at the board meeting. 

2. Noah is the soccer player (whose, who's) jersey number is 62.

3. We need to know (whose, who's) fault the accident was so we can initiate legal action. 

4. Tell me, (whose, who's) the one who put that graffiti on the back wall of the school?

5. We don't know (whose, who's) going to be the center on the basketball team. 

Day 40!

Happy 40th day of school!

Today we will start with our Commonly Confused Words for the week! Except, this time, we are going to do it a little differently. Instead of me telling you what the differences between the words, YOU'RE going to do research (if needed) to tell ME what the differences are! (YAY!)I have a feeling that this will help you remember the words a little better.

So, you will need to provide me with the same information that I have provided you throughout the weeks. You will need to give me the word, its part of speech, its definition (in your own words), and an example of how it should be used. You will give yourself a hint as to how you can decide which word to use in your writings. Then, you will complete the exercises listed here! Ready? Okay!

1. among vs between

Exercise: 
1. (Among, Between) the five of you, you ought to be able to come up with a solution.
2. It is difficult for two people to keep a secret (among, between) them and not tell others.
3. The twins were able to divide the candy (among, between) themselves.
4. To paraphrase Ben Franklin, three can keep a secret (among, between) themselves if two of them are dead.
5. Hope spread (among, between) the citizens.
6. He decided (among, between) a red Corvette, a blue Mustang, and a yellow Jeep.

2. angry vs mad

Exercise: 
Let me tell you, I am really (angry with, mad at) you this time! I just finished reading some of Poe's short stories, and your analysis of him and some of his characters is way off. Now, I agree with you that the old man in "The Tell-Tale Heart" is rather strange and possibly (angry, mad). All signs point to his having lost his mind, and the character in "The Masque of the Red Death" was also a bit strange. However, he was hardly (angry, mad)! He was just (angry, mad) with the way the nobility treated the common people at that time.

3. have vs of

Exercise: 
Read each sentence. Correct each mistake involving have and of. Highlight the incorrect word and replace it with the correct word. Remember, contractions are not acceptable in formal writing! 

1. There is no question that I could of won that race!
2. When I think of what might've been, I get angry with myself for not trying.
3. I would have entered the science fair if I could of thought of a project.
4. I should of known you were always a truthful person.
5. I could've graduated early, but I decided to stay for second semester.
6. I never would of thought that you would say such a thing.


Once you have finished these, please highlight the examples of persuasive appeal in your letters to the school board and turn them into the 3rd period tray.

After that, the sub will give you a copy of your assignment for tomorrow. Pick one of the three options to complete for class tomorrow!

Have a good day.