In last night's class we reviewed how we will use google sites. You all set the permissions so anyone with a link (not just users from Kean) could see your site. That way your classmates and I can work with you no matter what account we are logged into, but no one who you have not invited to your site will be able to find you.
Posting to your google site.
Your google site will be the place where you keep your new vocabulary, a list of sentence patterns or grammar features you are working on, and the writing you do for class each week. You have a page for each task. Each entry should be dated with the date of class. Work for last night, your new vocabulary and the in-class writing, should be dated 9.16.13.
Vocabulary.
After you set the permissions to "anyone with a link" and sent the url (address) for your google site to me in an email, you worked in groups on vocabulary. The task was to create a list of words you would need to know and understand to write about a topic that is important to you. This topic could connect to an assignment for one of your other classes, to your memoir or autobiography, or it could be a topic you just want to be able to read and talk about more easily.
You worked in groups to:
1. Identify words you wanted to know. To find words, I suggested that you look at internet sources where people write about your topic.
2. Look up the definitions of the words. If you type into google: "definition" followed by your word, you will get a list of definitions for your word. For example, when I typed "definition memoir" I got the following results.
https://www.google.com/#q=definition+memoir This gives me MANY different definitions. We talked about how as you read definitions, you should think about the "root" of the word, and other words it connects to. When we talked about the meaning of "memoir" we noticed that it had the same sounds as remember and memory. If you look at the definition at
Free Dictionary, you notice that this word comes from the old French word for memory.
We also talked about how many words have more than one meaning - but that those meanings often related to a "root" or central meaning. We talked about how the word "run" had many different meanings but they all seemed to relate to motion or moving. If we look up "run" we find that it probably originates from words in other language that mean "to flow" or "stream". As I am sure you know from your experiences learning languages, noticing and remembering the central or root meaning of a word can help you recognize new, related words.
3. Define the word in your own language. After reading and talking about the new word, write a definition in your own language. Write a sentence with the word in it to make sure you understand how it is used.
Feedback on vocabulary posts. You should post at least 5 words a week. You may post as many as are useful for you. I will check in on your vocabulary entries once a week and make sure you have found the main uses and definitions of your words. I will provide written feedback once a week. The feedback will be sent to your email.
Sentence patterns.
We did not work on sentence patterns in class tonight. I indicated at the beginning of class that one pattern I noticed in the quick review of writing I made last week was that as a class, many writers had trouble with the differences between count and noncount nouns. This is covered in your textbook in chapter 7. If you read this chapter and do the exercises, you can begin to notice whether this grammar problem occurs in your writing.
We will work on sentence patterns, as a class and one-on-one, once I have read more of your writing.
In-class writing.
We spent the rest of class reviewing the course's major assignment : to write a memoir, or a biography. If these are new words for you, you can include them in your vocabulary list.
Both memoirs and biographies are stories about people's lives. A memoir is a story about your own life, and a biography is a story about someone else's life. Like all stories, memoirs and biographies do not tell EVERYTHING about a subject: they have a focus. That is, they tell about a set of experiences that are connected. They are about something in particular. As I said in class, if I were to write a memoir, it could be about how I became an English teacher, my experience as mother, my interest in nature and birds, or my work as a writer. This means, that if you are going to write a memoir or biography, you need to do some thinking about what your focus is: what is your story going to be about.
To get you started on this, the writing prompt for tonight's in-class writing is:
Prompt for in-class writing.
1. Decide whether you are doing a memoir or a biography. Write this word at the top of your page. If you are writing a biography, name the person you will write about.
2. Identify the focus of your memoir or autobiography. Write what it will be about?
3. Begin a list of stories you might tell to show your reader what happened to you - or what the subject of your biography did. These stories should all connect to your focus in a different way.
For example, if I were writing about my experience being a mother, my list might include stories about how I felt about my mother, about my experiences with my friend's mothers, and about my talk with friends when I was a young woman about what I thought being a mother would be like. I might also tell stories about being pregnant, about when my children were born, and about what I learned when I actually had children. Then I might also write about how being a parent to small children, is very different from being a parent to teenagers, or to adult children. My list would have help me think about the particular experiences where I learned all those things.
For next week:
1. We will begin class with your reports on vocabulary. In particular we will discuss any words you are still uncertain about. The important part of this exercise is for you to get experience saying the words, and using them in talk with the class. We will all practice together.
2. Next we will do some work on sentence patterns that I am noticing in your writing. We will identify the patterns, point out the chapters in your grammar book where they are discussed, and then you will look at your writing to identify and correct those patterns. We will do this in groups.
3. Talk about photographs. Bring some photographs to class. The photographs should show the people, places, and events you want to write about. Personal photos are best. You can use photos on your Facebook or online albums, or you can bring photos to class. Talking about photos will help you remember and think about experiences that might be harder to connect to with just words.
4. You will then talk in groups about the focus of your memoir. Your group can help you add to your list of stories by asking questions.
5. In-class writing. In-class writing tonight will be to get started on one of the stories you want to tell for your memoir or biography.
We had a great class last night. Thank you for your good participation. I am excited to begin reading your writing.
