Vocabulary. We started class by talking through some of the words from your vocabulary page. I asked you to put a new date on your page, and add (at least) five more words. Keep working on creating definitions in words from English that you already know. Defining new words in words you already know will allow you to say the same thing more than one way - a very important skill.
We continued to work on noticing families of words (words with the same "root" or a piece of the word that signaled a connecting meaning). This is a powerful way to learn vocabulary. It lets you learn a whole group of words, and sets you up to recognize new words.
Sentence patterns. I suggested that you read Chapter 5, on the simple past. You took some time to read through the "rules" and I answered questions about what you were supposed to "do". Do the practice exercises, in the textbook and the workbook = as many as it takes until you feel you know the patterns. I know most of you understand that the past tense is formed by adding "d" or "ed" for regtular verbs. This chapter tells you about some other common forms in English for representing past events.
Memoir. Tonight each of you shared the focus of your writing with the class. Your topics sound like they will make great reading for me. Thanks!
Audience concerns: As you are writing, it will be important to remember that you are writing for our class and not just for me. So think of your audience as your classmates and me.
Writing process: I spent some time talking to you about your writing process.
1. Identify your focus: I suggested that you begin by deciding on a general focus for what your memoir will be about - and all of you have done that.
2. Write down some ideas for how to develop your focus. I suggested that you then make a list of some stories or "scenes" that you will write about to tell your reader about your focus. This list will help you keep the big picture in mind - so you know where your overall story is going.
3. Write without editing. After you have some ideas about what stories you want to write - I suggested that you write as much as you can - without editing out anything, and without worrying too much about your word choice and grammar. We will look at that later. For now - write into the flow of your thinking. Worrying too much about grammar and vocabulary is like driving a car with the brakes on! It will slow down your thinking, make you lose the train of your thought, and block out new ideas and associations. So write, write, write - and we will work on making the writing into the language you want -LATER.
For next week:
1. Vocabulary. Make sure you have updated your vocabulary page. Put the date for this week and add your new words. You can add some of the new words we talked about in class. Also, add any new words from you classes or reading that you want to talk about.
2. Sentence patterns. Work on Chapter 5 on using the simple past. Also look at the irregular verbs in appendix 3. This will help you write sentences that are more clear in terms of the sequence of events in you life.
Last week I suggested that you look at Chapter 7 on count and noncount nouns. If you have not looked at that chapter already, do so.
3. Memoir or biography. Write 1 1/2 pages and attach them to your page for in-class writing.
I now have a link to everyone's google.site. I will be reading your writing on Sunday and Monday so I can have some feedback for you either right before or right after class. I am excited to start reading your stories. Thanks for the good class tonight and see you next week.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
9.17 Using vocabulary work and planning for your memoir/biography
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
9.10 What we did in class on the first day
Introductions. We started class last night by introducing ourselves. We each shared a story about ourselves and gave some information about who we are. We have students from many different parts of the world, with many different levels of experience with English. This is an advantage because you will each bring you own knowledge to the classroom. This means that when you work in groups - there will probably be someone there who can help you figure out what you need to know.
Syllabus. The syllabus is posted to the right on this blog. It lists the major assignments for this course and how they will be graded. As I said in class, we may renegotiate the schedule, the assignments, and what we do in class as we get a better idea of what you want to get out of this class.
Google site. You each created a google site that had pages three pages: a page for you to list your vocabulary, a page for you to list and work on sentence patterns that you want to learn; and a file cabinet page where you can attach documents you write in class. I will b able to give you feedback by looking at what you post on this site, and writing comments for you.
Course writing project. During the second part of class you did some writing for your major project for the course: either a memoir or a biography. A memoir is writing that reflects back on the experiences you have had over your life, and a biography is writing that is about someone else. We will read some short, sample biographical writing, and some memoirs so you have an idea of the form and content of these genres.
The writing you did last night was brainstorming = writing to give you ideas for what you might write about. I encouraged you to make lists and write down ideas, rather than starting in by writing complete sentences. It is too hard to put your ideas into perfect language before you have even worked out what your ideas will be. Some of you were happy with the ideas you wrote, and have a good match for the memoir/biography assignment. Some of you will want to change your focus, or broaden or narrow the focus of your writing. We will do some more brainstorming next week.
What to do for next class.
1. Review your google site. Make sure you have created the pages correctly, and that you have posted your writing from last night. If you have problems or questions, you can send me an email, or stop by my office in CAS 324 during my office hours (12:00 - 2:00). It is best to send an email to make an appointment, since I sometimes have other meetings.
2. Send an email to ENG506.516@gmail.com. The email should be from the email account you will use to communicate with me for this course. Paste the url (web address) for your google site into your email. When I receive your email, I will be able to provide you comments and support for the work you post on your google site pages for vocabulary, sentence patterns, and writing.
3. Look through the first Chapter in your textbook on present tense, and do the workbook sheets as you choose. As I said in class, our focus will be on the language patterns and vocabulary in class writing - but this text will provide an organized structure for working through grammar features in an orderly way.
4. Think of a topic you would like to develop vocabulary for.
5. Bring some personal photographs (or links to your photographs online) to class. These photograph should be relevant to what you want to write about for your memoir or biography. Ideally they should be pictures of people, places, and events that you or someone you know photographed, but if you do not have access to your own (or your friends') pictures, do your best to find images that will work.
What we will do in class on 9.16.
1. We will start class by reviewing this blog - to make sure you understood what is written here. We will make sure everyone has sent an email to the class email, and we will make sure you can access and edit your google.sites.
2. You will work in groups to identify vocabulary for topics or areas of importance to you. You will all have different lists of "new" words (because you have different interests and different vocabularies). Each of you will post your words on your google.site.
If there are words in this blog post that are unfamiliar to you - you may want to put them on your vocabulary list.
3. We will share, talk about, and do some writing using the photographs as prompts.
4. We will look through the text book materials on simple present and present progressive.
5. I will set up the assignments for next week.
Syllabus. The syllabus is posted to the right on this blog. It lists the major assignments for this course and how they will be graded. As I said in class, we may renegotiate the schedule, the assignments, and what we do in class as we get a better idea of what you want to get out of this class.
Google site. You each created a google site that had pages three pages: a page for you to list your vocabulary, a page for you to list and work on sentence patterns that you want to learn; and a file cabinet page where you can attach documents you write in class. I will b able to give you feedback by looking at what you post on this site, and writing comments for you.
Course writing project. During the second part of class you did some writing for your major project for the course: either a memoir or a biography. A memoir is writing that reflects back on the experiences you have had over your life, and a biography is writing that is about someone else. We will read some short, sample biographical writing, and some memoirs so you have an idea of the form and content of these genres.
The writing you did last night was brainstorming = writing to give you ideas for what you might write about. I encouraged you to make lists and write down ideas, rather than starting in by writing complete sentences. It is too hard to put your ideas into perfect language before you have even worked out what your ideas will be. Some of you were happy with the ideas you wrote, and have a good match for the memoir/biography assignment. Some of you will want to change your focus, or broaden or narrow the focus of your writing. We will do some more brainstorming next week.
What to do for next class.
1. Review your google site. Make sure you have created the pages correctly, and that you have posted your writing from last night. If you have problems or questions, you can send me an email, or stop by my office in CAS 324 during my office hours (12:00 - 2:00). It is best to send an email to make an appointment, since I sometimes have other meetings.
2. Send an email to ENG506.516@gmail.com. The email should be from the email account you will use to communicate with me for this course. Paste the url (web address) for your google site into your email. When I receive your email, I will be able to provide you comments and support for the work you post on your google site pages for vocabulary, sentence patterns, and writing.
3. Look through the first Chapter in your textbook on present tense, and do the workbook sheets as you choose. As I said in class, our focus will be on the language patterns and vocabulary in class writing - but this text will provide an organized structure for working through grammar features in an orderly way.
4. Think of a topic you would like to develop vocabulary for.
5. Bring some personal photographs (or links to your photographs online) to class. These photograph should be relevant to what you want to write about for your memoir or biography. Ideally they should be pictures of people, places, and events that you or someone you know photographed, but if you do not have access to your own (or your friends') pictures, do your best to find images that will work.
What we will do in class on 9.16.
1. We will start class by reviewing this blog - to make sure you understood what is written here. We will make sure everyone has sent an email to the class email, and we will make sure you can access and edit your google.sites.
2. You will work in groups to identify vocabulary for topics or areas of importance to you. You will all have different lists of "new" words (because you have different interests and different vocabularies). Each of you will post your words on your google.site.
If there are words in this blog post that are unfamiliar to you - you may want to put them on your vocabulary list.
3. We will share, talk about, and do some writing using the photographs as prompts.
4. We will look through the text book materials on simple present and present progressive.
5. I will set up the assignments for next week.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
9.9 First class meeting
During today's class we are going to introduce ourselves, and talk about our lives.
I will give you a copy of the course syllabus. There is also a copy of the course syllabus posted to the right, under the heading "course documents".
Throughout this term I will use this blog as a place to write about what we do in class. At the end of each class you can read what I write here as a way to review what we did. I will also use the blog as the place to post the assignments for next class.
Welcome - and I am excited about meeting you!
I will give you a copy of the course syllabus. There is also a copy of the course syllabus posted to the right, under the heading "course documents".
Throughout this term I will use this blog as a place to write about what we do in class. At the end of each class you can read what I write here as a way to review what we did. I will also use the blog as the place to post the assignments for next class.
Welcome - and I am excited about meeting you!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)