Technical Writing week of September 29

Monday - Wrap up work on presentations.
Tuesday - Friday - Group presentations on ethics

English 11 week of September 29

Final drafts for memoirs are due this week!

Assignment is:

Monday – In lab. Students choose a memoir entry they have written to develop into a final draft. Begin typing.

Tuesday – In class with laptop cart. Students work through editing with peer. 

Wednesday – In class with laptop cart, EXCEPT 8^th hour in lab. Student correct draft turn in:

            Rough draft with editing sheet attached

            Final typed draft

            Rubric on the back of the assignment sheet

Thursday – Listen to The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving in class. Audio at http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/ml_lit_gr11/resources/applications/Audio_Selections/audioPlayer.jsp?id=11_devil.xml

Friday – Questions regarding The Devil and Tom Walker:

            Predicting and what surprised you about the story

            What is the tone of the story and give examples.

Punctuation Mistakes #2: Quotation Marks and End Stops from Dailygrammartips

Readers frequently ask whether to place commas, periods, question marks, and exclamation points inside or outside closing quotation marks.

Note: This post illustrates American usage.

Periods and Commas

The period and comma are always placed within closing quotations:

Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death.”

“If you are going through hell,” said Sir Winston, “keep going.”

In Act II, scene 2 of Julius Caesar, Caesar tells Calpurnia that “cowards die many times.”

Introduce a quotation with says or said only if the words were spoken. Alternatives to says include:states, writes, notes, comments, observes, concludes, reports, maintains, and adds.

If the quotation is introduced with a verb like says, follow the verb with a comma. If the word is introduced by the word that, do not put a comma after that.

The demands of technical writing often require that the period be placed outside quotation marks. The Chicago Manual of Style gives this example of how to deal with printed instructions when a period within quotation marks could be misinterpreted:

Click on Save As; name your file “appendix A, v. 10”.

Question Marks and Explanation Points

When the quoted material is a question or an explanation, the appropriate marks go inside the quotation marks:

He shouted, “Run, the zombies are coming!”

She asked, “Where’s the best place to hide?”

If the framing sentence is a question or an exclamation, the end marks go outside the closing quotation mark:

I just love the way he says, “fit to be tied”!

Did you hear the inspector say, “Label all dangerous chemicals”?

Although proponents of one convention or another claim that “logic” is on their side, punctuation is an arbitrary notational system. It was invented to clarify written expression. Conventions vary from country to country and from generation to generation. It’s possible that American punctuation conventions may change at some time in the future.

For the present, however, if you are writing nontechnical content for an American publisher, put the periods and commas inside the closing quotation marks.

Put question marks and exclamation points inside the quotation marks if they belong to the quotation; put them outside if they belong to the framing statement.

The Serial Comma

Perhaps one of the most widely contested style choices is the use of the serial, or Oxford, comma. The serial comma is used to separate three or more elements in a list. Consider these examples:

1. He bought apples, pears, and eggs. (Serial Comma)
2. He bought apples, pears and eggs. (AP Style)

Many in the industry argue that the serial comma adds a certain grace and ease to sentences by giving the reader and writer a clean visual separation between different elements. Those who are opposed to the serial comma argue that it is unnecessary and clutters up the sentence. As a writer, you will undoubtedly encounter editors who are both passionately for and against its use during your career. Try to be accepting of other people’s differences, no matter what your own personal feelings on the subject may be.

Technical Writing week of September 22

Monday – students will create an account with Moodle and sign up for Technical Writing course on the Shamrock Learning System:

            http://moodle.homeoftheshamrocks.org/moodle/login/index.php

Tuesday – Thursday – working on Ethics on Moodle Technical Writing course

Read the article on Ethics at http://www.jeanweber.com/newsite/?page_id=22
In 250 words: Why is it important to use ethical behavior in technical writing?

Friday – Wrap up Ethics

How to use Google Drive at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OY2Bg6i3g8

English 11 week of September 22

Monday – Glass Castle excerpt. Vision and Voice notes. Homework: Write about someone who influenced your life in some important way. Show this person in action. (100 word minimum).

Tuesday -  (2^nd and 3^rd hour) Grammar activites online. 

Update your Goodreads at www.goodreads.com

Practice your commas at http://www.quia.com/rr/82028.html

More practice with commas at http://www.savethecomma.com/game/

Overview of punctuation at http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/punctuation/index_pre.html

Codetalker excerpt. Vision and Voice notes. Exit pass – semicolon. Homework: A place you visit everyday – describe it with great detail. What makes this palce important? What kind of importance is it? (150 word minimum)

Wednesday – Pretest on Memoir unit; Homework: Choose a color – list of 10 memories connected with that color.

Thursday – Group work on finding memorable memoir entries (24-25).

Friday – 12 Writing Tips of Memoir writers. Select a memoir entry to develop and focus into final draft.

Friday, September 19

Update your Goodreads at www.goodreads.com

Practice your commas at http://www.quia.com/rr/82028.html

More practice with commas at http://www.savethecomma.com/game/

Overview of punctuation at http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/punctuation/index_pre.html

Punctuation Mistakes #1: Unnecessary Commas

DailyWritingTips Posted: 16 Sep 2014 09:52 PM PDT A common error with commas is to sprinkle them where they don’t belong. Here are five examples of this type of comma error. 1. Incorrect: The laptop on the table, is mine. Correct: The laptop on the table is mine. Do not separate a subject from its verb. The subject is “The laptop on the table.” 2. Incorrect: Motel rooms, that are dirty, ought to be illegal. Correct: Motel rooms that are dirty ought to be illegal. Do not set off a restrictive clause. The clause “that are dirty” is essential to the meaning of “motel rooms.” No commas are needed. 3. Incorrect: The dog understood at once, what his handler wanted. Correct: The dog understood at once what his handler wanted. Do not separate a verb from its direct object or complement. The clause “what his handler wanted” is the object of the verb understood. 4. Incorrect: Jethro wanted to be either a brain surgeon, or a fry cook. Correct: Jethro wanted to be either a brain surgeon or a fry cook. Do not use a comma to separate paired elements joined by coordinate conjunctions. The paired elements are “a brain surgeon” and “a fry cook.” No comma is needed. 5. Incorrect: The famous author lives in a small town, because she doesn’t like the noise of a big city. Correct: The famous author lives in a small town because she doesn’t like the noise of a big city. Do not set off an introductory independent (main) clause from a following dependent clause. “The famous author lives in a small town” is the main clause. Note: if the dependent clause comes first, a comma is needed: “Because she doesn’t like the noise of a big city, the famous author lives in a small town.”

English 11 week of September 15

Monday – News article Code Talkers – setting and people. Semicolon work.

Homework:  define vocabulary.

1. Reading Strategy                        

2. Text structure                            

3. Task                                                                               

4. Tone
5. Comprehension
6. Aesthetic
7. Purpose
8. Edit
9. Figurative language
10. Writing style
11. Audience                                                                                    

Tuesday – Create foldable of vocabulary. Homework: Theme song to your life and why (100 word minimum)

Wednesday – finish foldable. Share theme song.

Thursday –  Glass Castle excerpt – notes on Voice and Vision

Friday –  Code Talker excerpt _ notes on Voice and Vision

Technical Writing week of September 15

Monday - Community Powerpoint. Homework: Write paragraph to persuade someone to do something.

Tuesday - Pair and share and revise persuasion paragraph.

Wednesday - Techniques in Technical Writing: Design. Rewrite item to correct design.

Thursday - Understanding email and memo format.

Friday - Working with a partner; create an email.

English 11 week of September 8

Monday – www.goodreads.com and book selections. Students should bring personal reading books to class beginning today.

Tuesday – Memoir defined. What is Truth? Class writing and discussion. SMITH magazine 6 word memoirs at http://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/ . Homework: your own 6 word memoir (plan to share tomorrow!)

            For sale: Baby shoes never worn (Hemingway)

Wednesday – Share out 6 word memoir. Memoir excerpt: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (http://laurahillenbrandbooks.com/) chapter: Sharks and Bullets. What does a memoirist do? Class writing and discussion.

Thursday – News article from www.newsla.com . Students create a T chart of Images and Actions and Words from news article. Homework: Describe 1 bad habit you have. Why is it bad? Why do you do it? (50 word minimum)

Friday – Pair and share bad habit. Return to news article, class writing and discussion on the setting and people.

Technical Writing week of September 8

Monday – Introduction to Technical Writing PowerPoint

Tuesday – Introduction to Purpose PowerPoint

Wednesday – Purpose activity

Thursday – Creating in a Community PowerPoint

Friday – Community activity

Welcome!

I teach English 11 and Technical Writing. This is my 17th year at Berrien Springs, and I am pleased to be a part of Shamrock Pride.

I expect students to have for class:
A writing instrument
A binder or folder to hold their class items
A single subject notebook that I will provide
English 11: a pleasure reading book.


Speed reading:http://www.readingsoft.com/index.html#results
Semi colon review: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/1/44/
Semi colon quiz: http://mrnussbaum.com/semicolonwars-play
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com
Purdue OWL: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/581/02/