Writing for the next unit
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:33 pm
Dear Upper Grammar Moms,
I really can't say it enough - they are such a great group!!
We finished up with Kentucky history on Thursday. It was fun to hear the things they had learned.
We put what they had in a folder. I encouraged them to add to it as they visit places around the state. We talked about the walking tour downtown (which features our own Jody Ingalls or Leigh Ann Pierce as Jenny Lind
. Some said they had never been and there was a suggestion that when it starts up again in the summer, we should go as a group. I would love that!
We started a narrative this time. It will be similar to the stories they did before, but with an event from personal experience. You are welcome to adjust that as you like - maybe pretending someone else's experience is theirs e.g. someone you are studying in history.
There are instructions in their notebooks. I am glad to answer questions anytime.
In class we did a little exercise where one person acted out an emotion - discouraged, elated, etc. The class had to guess the emotion, but mostly watch what they did that conveyed that emotion and write it down. We called it Show Not Tell. We talked about how in Show And Tell, the seeing of the object really helps us. In our writing, we can't show a physical object, but we can write in such a way that the reader sees what we see. We talked about how much more powerful it is to see it for ourselves rather than be told. "Yemi was disappointed" isn't as interesting/helpful/fun to read as "Yemi's shoulders slumped as she let out a disgruntled sigh." (OK - that one isn't the best, but you get the idea
They did a great job observing each other and thinking about ways to express things.
I would love to see them play with applying those things in their narratives!
Looking ahead, we will do some poetry next, then one on a book they have read. You may want to look ahead and see what book you would like to use so they have it read before we get to that co-op.
Thank you!
Erica
I really can't say it enough - they are such a great group!!
We finished up with Kentucky history on Thursday. It was fun to hear the things they had learned.
We put what they had in a folder. I encouraged them to add to it as they visit places around the state. We talked about the walking tour downtown (which features our own Jody Ingalls or Leigh Ann Pierce as Jenny Lind
. Some said they had never been and there was a suggestion that when it starts up again in the summer, we should go as a group. I would love that!We started a narrative this time. It will be similar to the stories they did before, but with an event from personal experience. You are welcome to adjust that as you like - maybe pretending someone else's experience is theirs e.g. someone you are studying in history.
There are instructions in their notebooks. I am glad to answer questions anytime.
In class we did a little exercise where one person acted out an emotion - discouraged, elated, etc. The class had to guess the emotion, but mostly watch what they did that conveyed that emotion and write it down. We called it Show Not Tell. We talked about how in Show And Tell, the seeing of the object really helps us. In our writing, we can't show a physical object, but we can write in such a way that the reader sees what we see. We talked about how much more powerful it is to see it for ourselves rather than be told. "Yemi was disappointed" isn't as interesting/helpful/fun to read as "Yemi's shoulders slumped as she let out a disgruntled sigh." (OK - that one isn't the best, but you get the idea
They did a great job observing each other and thinking about ways to express things.
I would love to see them play with applying those things in their narratives!
Looking ahead, we will do some poetry next, then one on a book they have read. You may want to look ahead and see what book you would like to use so they have it read before we get to that co-op.
Thank you!
Erica