...and we're off!

All right! We are off to an enthusiastic start! Today in Writing class we discussed a prewriting activity guide, the "Discussion Checklist." We can use this list of questions before (and even during and after) we are working on a paper, essay, or even formal letter. Speaking of letters...we are writing one to a newspaper editor this week and next. We each chose an article that had a topic or issue that interested us. We could feel positive or negative toward the topic or issue or, possibly, simply disagreed or agreed with a statement the author made. Having picked an article from a variety of sources, including The Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, The Oakland Press, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and a variety of online newspapers, we researched how exactly we could contact the editor of each. For homework, we are to brainstorm and write down the main ideas and key points (can be in an outline format or a bullet point format, etc.) we want to include in our letter. Next week we will be formatting those thoughts into a formal letter and sending it off.

Our first Literature class on Dante's The Inferno was off to quite the start as well! We had great questions regarding the text ranging from questions about symbolism to the characters to, simply, "what's going to happen in the end." I was very pleased to learn that several of us read the notes in the back of the book and some even read the foreward. Great ideas to gain a better understanding! Since we got off to a late start in class, we were unable to complete our "Cantos Charts" this week. This means we have a LOT of work to do next week. We will discuss Cantos IV-VII (pgs. 27-59), then complete the Cantos Charts for I-VII. Don't forget -- as we are reading, we need to work on our Reader Reponses too (this is done at home). As we delve into this classic piece of literature, the Reader Reponse is important and can be used as a guide during our class discussion.

I will update TeacherEase with the Reader Response assignment turned in today and post the homework for next week in there soon. If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to email me! Have a great week!!