Dr. Abby provided a lesson plan, class assignment and homework. Natalie completed the assigned reading on Alexander Pope and worked on writing a summary of important points and writing short answers to the questions.

What a delight to get to know Will and to assist him with his Lynn Univ. college essay which is almost finished. Will is a super guy and it would be my supreme pleasure to continue to proofread and help him to complete his essay. (He has worked hard and the essay is almost complete.) I was another set of eyes on the work Will and Miss Mary and Miss Tara have done together. I would be pleased to assist again if my help is needed.

Sam and I read "The Pardoner's Tale" by Chaucer. Sam really enjoyed the tale, and she provided some very intricate insights to it. We stopped and discussed the story as we read. After finishing reading, we defined some of the difficult vocabulary within the work. We tried to use context clues to decipher the meaning of the word. When we couldn't, we looked up the word. Sam has a brief open book quiz to complete on "The Pardoner's Tale" which she started at the end of class.

We talked about Sam's independent novel PART-TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexee. We decided on the essay questions that she would answer after she finished reading the novel. We discussed the correct structure to use to answer the essay questions. She must include at least two examples of textual evidence to support each answer.Everything is to be completed by Friday November 2nd. We then reviewed the character of the Pardoner from the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. We then read the prologue to the Pardoner's Tale.

Natalie is on Act 4 of Hamlet. She is caught up with the workbook and answering the study questions as she reads. When she has an incorrect or insufficient response I will talk with her about it, help her look for the answer in the text, and then point out where -- in that brief mention of Shakespearean language to find and decode it.

Will completed his essay about his extracurricular activity for Lynn University. He was able to showcase the confidence that he built while learning to play and perform on stage. He did a fine job on this essay. Next, he began the essay for Lynn which asks what persuaded him to apply to the school. We brainstormed answers which included the availability of learning support, film and video clubs, the student population,facilities and location. For homework, he will work on completing the first paragraph about his learning style and drafting the paragraph about his interests. Will worked hard and is anxious to complete these essays!

In today's session, Will brainstormed extracurricular activities that he could write about for a 250 word essay for Lynn University. He decided to write about learning to play the guitar and the School of Rock. After talking through the sequence of events, he began his rough draft. For homework, he is going to draft the final paragraph about the many benefits of learning to play a musical instrument. I gave him a list of about 10 benefits that he can use to generate ideas. He should pick 3-4 to highlight in the paragraph. He did a great job today!

Will did a fantastic job completing his common college application essay. His piece is well written. The finished product is fluent and clearly shows the qualities of persistence and determination that make him a great student. He has grown a great deal as a writer and more importantly, he feels more competent and capable. After completing the essay, he began work on a descriptive piece about a favorite place. He brainstormed which place to write about and decided to write about the TV room in his house. For homework he is to add to his list of descriptive details.

It was great talking with Will about his college tour! He shared that he has narrowed his choices down to 3 colleges: Mitchell College, Dean College and Lynn University. He also feels that he is most interested in Dean College at the moment, although he wants to keep all his options open. He has demonstrated a great deal of maturity when thinking about which colleges would best fit his needs. Next, he worked on the common college application essay that he started before his trip. Will is doing an excellent job of looking carefully at his writing and making revisions that improve the flow of his narratives. We discussed using strong words and more exact language. During our session, he rearranged his essay for fluency. For homework, Will should reread his revised draft and edit for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. He should also think about his final paragraph, and consider whether he would like to add more information about what he learned during the movie-making process. The aim is to leave the reader of the essay with a lasting impression of his merits as a student. Will has really improved in writing, and I am so pleased to see such great growth!

Sam and I finished our anticipation guide/character trait chart for the characters of the Pardoner and The Wife of Bath from Chaucer's prologue of the Canterbury Tales. Sam does a very nice job interpreting Chaucer's language and description. We discussed Chaucer's use of characterization to paint a picture of the pilgrims on the journey. We read the introduction to the Pardoner's Tale and we will read that next time. We talked about annotating the text for understanding. We also discussed the LINKS to forceful writing sheet on co-ordinate connectives.