Will made great progress on his common college application essay today. He came to our session with a draft of the steps he took to create his movie along with some ideas for additional paragraphs. We discussed the need to add information in order to showcase the patience, commitment, and problem solving skills he used to complete the project. He is going to continue drafting a section on his reflections on what he learned going through this learning process. Once he is finished drafting the entire essay, I asked that he email me the rough draft so I can take a look at it before our next session. He should be able to revise and edit this essay upon his return from his college tours. Wishing Will the very best as he explores his options for next year!

Introduction to LINKS TO FORCEFUL WRITING. We would discuss and practice the use of co0ordinate conjunctions. We would move on to discuss THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN. We need to go over the study guide questions to check for comprehension; then move on to deeper journal and writing responses. Sam will turn in her completed Vignette for a grade.l

Will filled me in on his visit to Lynn University. He seemed to like the school and reviewed some notes he had jotted down about the facilities. He shared that he is keeping an open mind and seems excited about visiting the other colleges. Next, we reviewed the brainstorm activity that he completed at home. We looked for patterns and decided that everyone would agree that he works hard and has accomplished a great deal. We then reviewed the 7 common college application prompts. Will decided that he would like to write about learning film production and presenting his films at the Batt School. After reviewing some sample introductory paragraphs, he drafted his introduction. We talked about "showing not telling" and painting a picture for the the reader. For homework, Will is drafting the next paragraph which will be describing how he first became interested in film production, and how he went about learning how to put a film together.

Sam and I drafted our vignettes. We used the pre-writing we had completed at the beginning of the week. After drafting, we talked about ways that we can improve the content and mechanics of our writing pieces. Sam will type the vignette and prepare a final copy to be turned in Tuesday for a grade. Sam was very happy with her vignette, and she did a very good job. We continued with the introduction and beginning reading of Sherman Alxee's THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN. We read the first chapter together, and answered the accompanying study guide questions. The study guide is not for a grade; it is an aide to give Sam's reading a focus and to provide a springboard for discussion. Sam likes the book so far and will read two more chapters for our next meeting.

Natalie worked through the 13th audio lecture on vocabulary and etymology (building from last year). We will prepare with several more of these that will culminate in a vocabulary exam. The words are high-level academic terms with rich etymological roots. Natalie also continued through the highlights of British literature, reviewing Shakespeare and moving to the the period of Restoration with John Milton and Paradise Lost. We will read excerpts next week.

Natalie is reading the rest of Hamlet Act 2 at home, and finishing the study questions by next Thursday. Today she did two lessons on Hamlet on study.com including the follow-up tests, scoring 60 and then 100. The lessons were on Aristotle's analysis of tragedy in comparison to Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, and major themes in the play. Following these videos, texts, and tests, Natalie completed, with my help, a chart comparison from the Hamlet Study Guide we've been working on, and a complete listing of themes with study notes. She will take a test on Acts 1 and 2 in two weeks. Next Thursday I will review and make sure she is ready.

Sam was absent from school.

Will did a wonderful job completing his Colorado Wild Fire essay. He did a final edit and completed this essay in class. He is very proud of his ability to revise and edit and has a greater understanding of the need to revisit his writing in order to make it more clear. Next, we discussed the common application essay prompts. He then began working on a brainstorm activity. This activity is designed to help students reflect and choose a writing prompt that is relevant and best helps create a total picture of their attributes. Some parts of the brainstorm need input from family and friends, so Will needs to complete it over the weekend and bring it back on Monday of next week. He is excited about his college visits, and I suggested that he take some notes while he is visiting in case he needs to complete additional essays for particular colleges. I hope he enjoys his visit to Lynn University.

Today was a day of introductions. Sam and I discussed her interest in writing and reading. We discussed the creation of a Writer's notebook as described in Penny Kittle's book WRITE BESIDE THEM. Sam and I are going to each create our own Writer's Notebook and contribute to it all school year. We then read Peter Meinke's poem which is an untitled vignette to his son. We talked about the creation of our own vignette's. Sam chose her friend Anthony as the subject of her vignette. We talked about the brainstorming technique of clustering which we did for our subjects. We will draft our vignettes tomorrow. It was a pleasure meeting Sam today; she is a vivacious young lady.

We began this session by reading/study/worksheet-quiz on British Literature beginning with Marlowe. This is the third session following highlights of major British writers with accompanying graded quizzes. Next Natalie took notes as I taught her about argumentative writing. We will focus on Toulmin Argument for the next month or two. She is learning specific terms and how they apply to argument, such as claim, qualifiers, evidence, warrants, and backing. Finally, we resumed the vocabulary lecture on Audible from a highly respected professor, focusing on etymology and root meanings of the words being learned.