PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
About Ourselves: Feeling Out of Place

Writing Workshop
May 21, 2004

Today, we will do group and individual work on error correction and improvement of student paragraphs.

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
About Ourselves: Feeling Out of Place

May 14, 2004

Group Work:

Discuss one or more times that you felt “out of place” (like Black Elk does in New York, for example).

Tell your fellow students the anecdote. Let them ask you for more details. Write down the details other students are interesting in knowing more about.

Make sure you note a physical characteristic in your description of what happened.

Writing the Details:

Write down your anecdote. Write a good topic sentence for your paragraph.

We will share our topic sentences at the end of the class.

Homework:

Complete a 125-word paragraph on feeling “out of place.”

Bring your homework to class on Friday, May 21.

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
About Ourselves: Learning to Write an Autobiography

April 16, 2004

This week, we will begin to plan and write a paragraph on ourselves. Using anecdotes (missing the train, getting arrested by the FBI), Willie Mays’ autobiography, Say Hey, is more lively and interesting for the reader.

Like Mays, you will use two short anecdotes from your own experience to give the readers some idea about your personality.

Thinking on Paper:

Write down two anecdotes that show you at a happy time in your life. Only give a short scene to help us “see” your character.

Make sure you note a behaviour: for example, “I walk ten kilometers each week getting local groceries. Often, my car stays in its parking space for three days in a row.”

Make sure you note a physical characteristic: for example, “My hats change to suit the weather and my mood. These days, I most often have a black toque pulled down over my ears.”

Homework:

Join your two anecdotes into one paragraph. Write a strong topic sentence. Write a good concluding sentence, paraphrasing and emphasizing the topic sentence idea.

Bring your homework to class next Friday.

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
Street Directions: Making Sure to Show not Tell

April 2, 2004

Today, we will share our writing homework and work, along with the teacher, on making our writing stronger, more realistic, and more idiomatic.

Group Work:

Read the student writing samples once through without stopping.

Which detail works best? Explain why in a sentence or two.

Your explanation:

Which detail needs to be improved?

Give an idea of how to show rather than tell. Suggested improvement:

Read the topic sentence and comment on its quality.

Read the concluding sentence and comment on its quality.

What one thing will improve the paragraph the most?

Group Reports:

Each group will report on its work. The teacher will record and give ideas and suggestions for rewriting and improvement.

Homework:

Read the autobiography titled, “Say Hey,” in your textbook.

Write five 12 word sentences that use five new vocabulary words. Make sure that each sentence demonstrates the meaning of the new word.

Have you ever had to leave something or someone and then gone back? Who or what was it? How did you feel about going back? Write 25 to 50 words to answer the questions.

Bring your completed work to class on Friday, April 16. NOTE: No class on April 9. Enjoy your holiday weekend.

 

 

 

Literature and Composition 4
“Street Directions”: Writing about Annoyances
March 26, 2004

Today, we will make sure we understand the reading, “Street Directions” by Andy Rooney. After our reading overview, we will discuss things that annoy us and prepare for writing a paragraph on annoyances.

Class Work:

We’ll look at the reading, together, share some of our vocabulary sentences and our own experiences with giving and getting directions.

Group Work:

What annoys you the most these days? Discuss everyday annoyances with your group members.

What can or should be done to help solve the annoyance? Give a specific example for each annoyance discussed by group members today. See the discussion results.

Homework:

Write a short, 125 to 150-word paragraph about something that annoys you.

Make sure to show rather than tell in your paragraph.

Give a possible solution for the annoyance in your paragraph.

Bring your paragraph to class next week, on April 2, 2004.

 

 

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
Bless Me, Ultima: Bringing our Dialogue to Life

March 19, 2004

Today, we will share our dialogue homework and work, along with the teacher, on making our dialogue stronger, more realistic, and more idiomatic. In addition, we will examine our writing of a setting paragraph and make suggestions for improvement.

Group Work:

Read the student examples of dialogue out loud. For every speaker, assign one student to take the part.

Which dialogue works best? Explain why in a sentence or two.

Your explanation:

Which dialogue needs to be improved? Give an idea of how to improve the dialogue in two or three sentences.

Suggested improvement:

Read the setting paragraph out loud (one student). Write out the best sentence.

Why is it the best?

What can be done to improve the paragraph?

Group Reports:

Each group will report on its work. The teacher will record and give ideas and suggestions for rewriting and improvement.

Homework:

Read the nonfiction essay by Andy Rooney titled “Street Directions” from your textbook.

Write five 12 word sentences that use five new vocabulary words. Make sure that each sentence demonstrates the meaning of the new word.

Have you ever had trouble giving or getting directions? Perhaps you had a fight with someone about which way to go in a strange city. Write 25 to 50 words about one time you had trouble with directions.

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
Bless Me, Ultima: Writing Worksheet

March 19, 2004

Today we will test each other with our comprehension questions, practice our new vocabulary and then write a dialogue between two people.

Comprehension Question Quiz Competition:

Divide into teams of six people.

Meet with your team and share your comprehension questions. Choose the five best questions. Make any necessary corrections.

Write out the five questions clearly for the teacher to read.

The teacher will read the questions out loud. First team to answer each one correctly gets 1 point. Team with the most points wins!

Vocabulary (Working in Pairs):

Read your vocabulary sentences and correct or improve them.

Each vocabulary sentence should “show” (demonstrate) the meaning to a reader unfamiliar with the word.

Rewrite your sentences and hand in to your teacher.

Homework:

Write a short dialogue between two people that shows a struggle between them. Try to use at least three new vocabulary words. (underline these words in your work)

Use the dialogue on the first page of “Bless Me, Ultima” as a guide.

Include a short paragraph that describes the setting (surroundings) as in the first long paragraph of “Bless Me, Ultima.”

Bring your completed work to class on Friday, March 19.

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
Bless Me, Ultima: Reading Together
March 5, 2004

Today, we’ll work to understand better a new class reading, “Bless Me, Ultima.”

Class Discussion:

What do you know about folktales? (stories passed on, usually orally, from one generation to another; example “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”)

The story, “Bless Me, Ultima,” is a survival story. What struggles have your own people had to survive in harsh places?  For example, my family homesteaded in Alberta in the early 1900's and had to remove many rocks from the fields in order to plow.

Guided Reading:

The teacher will guide the class through a first reading of the story. We will play special attention to clues in the text that help our comprehension.

Homework:

Write five comprehension questions for the story (do not use the questions in our textbook!). Make sure your questions come from all three pages of the story.

Write five sentences (minimum 10 words each) using new vocabulary>

Bring your completed work to class on Friday, March 12.

 

 

 

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
Writing a Drama on Prejudice
February 27, 2004

Today, we’ll work together to write a short drama that illustrates a theme about prejudice. Students may use one of the stories told in our class two weeks ago, or they may write their own, original words.

Group Work 1:

Look at A Raisin in the Sun carefully.

What are the special writing rules for a drama? For example, each time someone new speaks, their name is printed on the left side of the text in capital letters: “BENEATHA:”

With your group discuss and name two more rules for writing a drama.

Share your answers with the class.

Group Work 2:

Choose a simple theme for your drama. Name your two characters.

Write at least five full exchanges (one person speaks; another person answers).

Follow the other rules identified by your class.

Hand in your completed work to Brad at the end of the class.

Homework:

There will be no homework this week. Have a good rest and read something easy and fun in English!

 

 

 

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
Review Paragraph and Discussion on Prejudice
February 13, 2004

Today, we’ll begin writing a paragraph on what we’ve learned so far in our class. In addition, we will have a group discussion on prejudice to prepare for our next reading.

Writing:

Write a 100-word paragraph that explains three things you have learned in our class this term.

Give details and follow correct paragraph structure. You will have about 30 minutes today to begin your work.

Take your work home for revision and correction and bring to next week’s class.

Group Discussion:

Have you ever experienced prejudice? Explain what happened to your other group members. What did you do? How did you feel?

Homework:

Complete your writing assignment from class this week.

Read A Raisin in the Sun. Write a three-sentence summary of the reading. Write five sentences using new vocabulary from your reading.

Bring your completed work to class for Friday, February 20.

 

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
Discussion and Writing Assignment
February 6, 2004

Vocabulary word list (for quiz): bent, diverged, doubt, grassy, passing, sighed, trodden, undergrowth, way, wood.

 

Today, we’ll work together to make sure we understand the poem. After we feel comfortable with our understanding, we’ll begin a composition on a decision that we have regretted making.

Pair Work:

Discuss the poem with your partner. Compare your summaries. Do you agree?

Class Discussion:

We’ll compare our thoughts on the poem and work to understand each stanza together.

Homework:

We have all made decisions in life that, in future, we may tell others about “with a sigh.” Such decisions have “made all the difference” in our lives either for the better (or the worse).

Write about a decision you have made that, like the speaker in Frost’s poem, you have some regrets about making. Your decision will have made a large difference to your present life.

Write a paragraph of about 125 words and bring it to class on Friday, February 13.

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
Revision: Let’s Look Again
January 30, 2004

Writers revise their work before it is published (often dozens of times!). Today, we will take a close work at last week’s homework paragraphs and make suggestions for improvements. Then, the teacher will mark them, too.

Pair Work:

Read the other student’s writing once without stopping.

Read the paragraph again and, together with your partner, identify one sentence you think could be improved. Put an asterix (*) next to the sentence.

Write a one sentence suggestion that states what could be done to improve the student’s sentence. (For example: make it shorter, longer, add details, and so on).

Now, rewrite a new version of the sentence that is an improvement over the original.

Class Discussion:

What kinds of revisions were suggested by class members? Can these revisions be classified into any groups? The teacher will record the revisions and help you to make them even better.

Homework:

Read the poem, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost from the section on Classical Poetry in your book.

Write a three sentence summary of the poem. Try to say exactly what Robert Frost’s poem is trying to tell us about life.

Write three vocabulary sentences using three words from the poem (new vocabulary for you!). Bring your work to class on Friday, February 6.

 

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
“A Picture on the Mantel” Worksheet

January 23, 2004

In poetry, a poet often “shows” us what he or she means rather than “tells” us. Today, we will explore the difference between showing and telling.

Examples of Showing versus Telling:

To "show" means to demonstrate. To "tell" means to assert.

"He is sloppy" is telling.

"His shoelaces are untied, his socks are mismatched, his shirt is untucked, and his face is unwashed" is showing.

Writing a Paragraph that Shows

In the poem, “A Picture on the Mantel,” the poet shows us an unhappy event. In particular, the father shows his understanding through his outward appearance (tears and a nod).

Using at least three outward appearances to show, write a paragraph of about 100 words on an unhappy event. You can use something that happened to you or someone you know OR you can make up your own story.

Bring your paragraph to class next week. (January 30, 2004)

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
Literature and Composition 4
“A Picture on the Mantel” Worksheet
Group Work

January 23, 2004

Today, we will examine the poem “A Picture on the Mantel” and learn a few terms in poetry.

Group Work

Following your ideas from last week, assign roles to each student before you begin your work.

Compare each student’s three sentence summary with the other group members’ summaries. Discuss the differences and similarities among the students’ ideas.

Write ONE three sentence summary as a group that takes the best ideas from the students in the group.

Rhyme is when two words in a poem have the same middle and ending sounds (hat rhymes with mat). Find examples of rhyming words in the poem. Is there a pattern to the rhyme?

Poets write in sentences (and in lines—sets of words on one line). Find the sentences in this poem. How many are there? Does reading the sentences help you to understand the poet better and more easily?

Class Discussion

Student groups will report their results, and the teacher will make a record for the students to take home today.

 

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