Getting to Know Katya; Why Creativity Takes Courage
Lesson Outline
Katya and I discussed today's quote by Henri Matisse ("Creativity takes courage"),and she showed me some of her graphic art. We also discussed three new art-related vocabulary words (aesthetic, canonical, magnum opus), as well as Katya's opinion of graffiti as an art form (and why).
Assignment
Katya will read two opposing view points about graffiti (link provided from NYT) and think about with which, if either, she agrees and why.
Today, Katya and I spent time diagramming the grammatical parts of a few practice sentences. Next, Katya continued to revise her Compare & Contrast essay.
Katya did a wonderful job editing her essay. Afterward, she practiced reading comprehension for standardized test preparation. She attained an almost perfect score, so we shall proceed with more difficult selections next time. Her homework is to read an essay on writing historical fiction.
Today we went over subordinating conjunctions and looked closely at how dependent and independent clauses are linked. Next, Katya completed her introduction, and then began the process of revising her first draft. For homework, I asked Katya to create sentences employing the use of subordinate clauses.
As part of our unit looking closely at the art of personal narrative, we read "In My Mom's Shoes" by Kat Chow. We discussed the organization, symbolism, and figurative language in the essay and related it with "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens" by Alice Walker. Katya also answered SAT style comprehension questions on the article. For homework, Katya should revise her tribute piece.
Tribute Revision Review, Adverbs, Thesis and 1st Paragraph of Compare and Contrast Essay
Lesson Outline
Today we began by reviewing Katya's "Tribute" revision. Next, we went over adverbs, how they function in a sentence and the different words they modify. Katya practiced identifying them and their function in different sentences. Next, we discussed Katya's thesis statement for her Compare and Contrast essay. For homework, I asked Katya to draft the first paragraph of her essay.
Today I asked Katya if she had completed two home work assignments: the first a revision of her 'tribute' piece from last week, for which she requested an extension; and the second, where I asked her to find three quotes from each essay we have read to evidence the points she made in her compare and contrast brainstorming. Katya had not completed either assignment, and so we continued our session discussing the assignment at length and searching for quotes to use in her compare and contrast essay. For homework, I asked her to complete her revision of the tribute again.
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
Katya was extremely irritable today and complained about using an essay for two different purposes between her two English teachers (we are trying to collaborate in our lesson planning to make things easier). She seems down and not easy to please no matter what we do. She is also not completing her homework for me at all.
Today I asked Katya to see her revised writing assignment. She had not completed it for homework as requested, so I asked her to do it by Wednesday. Next, we went over the reading assessment from last week's article "In my Mom's Shoes." Katya had not completed that for homework, and so we worked on it during class. The reading assessment questions mirror those of the SAT and other standardized reading and writing tests, so it's important to learn how to approach them.
