Today Hudson worked on answering writing prompts and reading comprehension after reading a non-fiction article from commonlit.org, called, "The Distracted Teenage Brain."

The article prompted him to answer four guiding questions to check for comprehension. He learned the definitions of four vocabulary words used in the article: allure, earnest, orientation, and adolescents. He answered five assessment questions which checked for understanding of the central idea, supporting evidence, context clues, and analysis and evaluation of claim. He wrote the answer to assessment question #5 as a paragraph which included the components of a paragraph: topic sentence, supporting evidence, elaboration and restatement of main idea.

He verbally answered the discussion questions by using well-formed sentences.

Today, Hudson worked more on adding detail and elaboration to his how-to essay. We moved onto body paragraphs 2, 3 and the conclusion.

Hudson identified key details in body paragraphs 2 and 3, and added elaboration to clarify the steps of how to fish and the reason behind each step.

After moving onto the conclusion, we reviewed the hourglass shape of an essay and discussed that after the narrower (more specific) section of the conclusion (the restated thesis), we need to write a few broad (more general) sentences relating the subject of how to fish to the reader. We brainstormed some ways to do this: after reading the essay, the reader can catch more fish, or the reader can have more fun and less stress while fishing. Hudson used these ideas to finish his conclusion.

I then explained that after adding the details and elaboration, we need to go back through the essay and proofread. I pointed out that in MLA format we do not use contractions, so as we read back through the essay Hudson changed any contractions to the full words written out.

We also had a mini-lesson on proper usage of the following common grammar errors: possessive versus plural nouns (dog's/dogs), their/there/they're, and your/you're.

Today Hudson worked more on his essay on how to fish. He finished typing up the rough draft based on the outline we made last week. Then, we went through the introduction, first and second body paragraphs providing detail, elaboration, and in the intro, a hook.

We discussed how an essay parallels the shape of an hourglass. I drew and labeled an hourglass to demonstrate the concept. The widest parts at the top and bottom of the hourglass are for broad/general ideas. The top and bottom of the hourglass are the introduction and conclusion, respectively. The narrow, middle part of the hourglass is for specific details. The narrow part of the hourglass is for the body paragraphs. We also discussed that the thesis statement goes at the end of the intro paragraph, and the restated thesis statement goes at the beginning of the conclusion paragraph.

We proofread for grammatical errors, discussing that commas go after the words "first," "second," and "lastly," when listing items in a series. We discussed that colons are used right before listing items in a series.

We discussed the importance of accurately explaining the details of how to do something (in this case, fishing) with words so that the reader can accurately picture the action.

Today Hudson completed 8th grade Prentice Hall textbook grammar section 21.4 Avoiding Phrase Fragments. We discussed that a phrase by itself is a fragment and cannot stand alone because it does not have a subject and a verb. We reviewed what subjects and verbs are. We read and discussed exercises where we were given a phrase fragment, then shown how it was added to a nearby sentence to create a complete sentence. Hudson read phrase fragments and created complete sentences with them by adding the fragment to either the beginning or end of a sentence that he created.

We also continued working on our how-to essay. We opened a Word document and I showed Hudson how to properly format an MLA style essay using the tools on Microsoft Word. Hudson took the outline he wrote last class on how to fish and began typing his essay. We will finish typing, adding detail sentences, and proofreading next class.

Today Hudson wrote a how-to essay outline after we discussed lesson 3.2 Paragraphs in Essays and Other Compositions in the Prentice Hall 8th Grade Writing and Grammar textbook. We read and discussed the main parts of a 5-paragraph essay: introduction, thesis statement, lead/hook, body paragraphs and conclusion. We discussed that the introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion can be thought of like a hamburger. The top and bottom bun are like the intro and conclusion, and the middle part (patty, cheese and tomato) are like the body paragraphs. We also discussed how the conclusion is like a mirror-image of the introduction. The conclusion restates the thesis statement in the intro, but using fresh verbiage. Hudson also said the conclusion is like a mirror-image because you provide a reflection of what you discussed in the body paragraphs.

Hudson wrote an essay outline following a model I provided.

In the last 7 minutes of class, we moved onto grammar lesson 21.4 in the Prentice Hall on Avoiding Sentence Problems. We discussed what fragments and run-on sentences are, then read a description of fragments and some examples. We discussed which grammatical component was missing from each of the fragment examples (subject, verb, subject and verb).

Today Hudson continued our writing lesson in the 8th grade Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar curriculum. We moved to the lesson on Maintaining Unity and Coherence in writing paragraphs. We discussed key words: unity and thesis statement. We discussed deleting sentences that do not contribute to the main idea of the paragraph.

Hudson completed Exercise 6, Revising for Unity. He read a paragraph, then marked for deletion sentences which interfere with the unity of the paragraph. We discussed why the sentences do not contribute to the main idea.

We discussed Establishing Coherence and the key word: coherence. We discussed the four organizational strategies: chronological, spatial, comparison and contrast, and cause and effect. We identified transitional words and phrases for each strategy. Hudson completed Exercise 7 Revising for Coherence. He rewrote a paragraph to make it more coherent by adding transitional words and phrases.

Today for our writing and grammar lesson we continued with the 8th grade Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar Curriculum.

In writing, we discussed lesson 3.1 Placing Your Topic Sentence by learning the TRI method (Topic, Restatement, Illustration). Hudson wrote a response to Exercise 5, which asked him to read a paragraph, rearrange the sentences using the TRI method, then verbally rearrange the sentences again to correctly place the topic sentence either in the middle or end of the paragraph, using the concepts we discussed for topic sentence placement.

In grammar, we discussed lesson 21.3 Revising Word Order. We reviewed what a subject-verb order are and what it means to reverse the order within a sentence in order to vary sentence structure, which provides variety in writing paragraphs. Hudson completed Exercise 21 Revising Word Order which asked him to rewrite sentences to invert the subject-verb order.

Hudson also completed questions 1-2 of 21.3 Section Review Exercise 22, which asked him to revise sentences for simplicity. We discussed strategies to limit wordiness and improve clarity in sentences, then applied them to the exercise.

It was a pleasure meeting Hudson today! He was such a great student during our session. Today we discussed paragraphs and composition in our writing lesson, and varying sentences in our grammar lesson. We worked from the 8th grade Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar curriculum, lesson 3.1 Writing Effective Paragraphs and lesson 21.3 Varying Sentences. In writing, we discussed the following key terms: paragraph, composition, topic sentence, main idea, implied main idea and supporting sentences. We read and discussed examples, then Hudson hand-wrote answers to questions in Exercises 1-4 where he had to identify a stated topic sentence, identify an implied main idea, write a topic sentence and write supporting sentences. In grammar, we discussed what it means to vary sentence length and structure in writing, and why this is important. We read through and discussed an example paragraph which illustrates varied sentences. We read through and discussed strategies to support and develop the main idea. Hudson completed Exercise 4 Writing Supporting Sentences where he hand-wrote two supporting sentences each for five topic sentences.

I began the session with Piero writing conversational questions that he answered. He also wrote and asked me questions and I responded as well in writing. This enabled me to discuss and correct any spelling, grammar, and language mistakes in his writing of English. I then had prepared present tense sentences and Piero had to write the sentences in the past tense. Most of the verbs took an irregular past tense form. I concluded the session with Piero using the correct form of There is - There are and Their in given sentences.

We spent this session looking over spelling and grammar of Kellan's comic books. The big lesson learned today was about possessive nouns, e.g., Max's ship refers to a ship owned by Max, to replace 'Maxes ship.' Maxes would mean that there are two or more guys named Max. Kellan is very receptive not only to correct any possible grammar mistakes, but also was keen to understand the concept to write even more clearly in the future. I was impressed with his goal to write perfectly, and increased interest in academic matters more generally. We also talked about animals and their ecology.