Writing

November 7, 2025

Students took their second vocabulary quiz today and should have it back already. If they did not do as well as they like, they can retake the test at home and turn it in to me in class. I can give them another copy in class, or they can email me at lisalynch53@gmail.com, and I will send them the document to print off.

Homework is to write a rough draft of all three paragraphs of their animal story, due on Wednesday. The paragraphs should not exceed 10 sentences, and students should not include any dialog.

In class, we reviewed helping verbs and verb tenses, as well as some of the figures of speech they have learned so far.

November 5, 2025

Students received their chccklist for the book report in class and spent some time filling it out and editing their assignment. 

They received a worksheet and a ZooBooks magazine in class. I forgot to tell them that I want the magazine back in good condition. Anyway, they are to read the magazine and fill out the worksheet in preparation for a story about the animal featured in the magazine.

We went over helping verbs and verb tenses: simple, perfect, progressive, and perfect-progressive.

Besides filling out the worksheet, students should prepare for the second vocabulary quiz on Friday.

October 31, 2025

Due to computer issues, I was not able to print the checklist for the students' assignment today. They will receive it in class on Wednesday. Their homework is to do the final draft of the book report, being careful to mention the topics in the introduction and conclusion and to have topic sentences and clinchers on every body paragraph.

Students practiced the "ing" opener in class, and we reviewed figures of speech.

October 29, 2025

Today we reviewed similes, metaphors, and hyperbole. We added another figure of speech to the students' repertoire: alliteration.

Students learned about the "ly" opener and the "ing" opener. We practiced the gerund ("ing") opener in class. 

We also looked at how the same word can be different parts of speech depending on the content in which it is used.

Homework is to write the introduction and conclusion of the book report, due on Friday. Students also received a grammar worksheet to complete sometime in the next week.

October 24, 2025

We reviewed how to do outlines in class, as well as the #6 dress-up and the #5 sentence opener. Students learned another figure of speech: hyperbole. They also did an exercise in class to learn about unclear antecedents. Homework is to do the body paragraphs for the book report and the third grammar worksheet. The body paragraphs are due on Wednesday. Students may take till Friday to do the grammar worksheet if they like.

October 22, 2025

Our next assignment is a book report. Students should write an outline for it by Friday. We went over the specifications for a book report outline in class and did a model on the board.

Due to a shortened class because of the Art and Architecture presentation, the only other thing we had time for was to learn the #5 sentence opener, also called a clausal. We practiced using it in class.

I am having difficulty sharing documents on the bulletin board. If you ever have need of a document from me, like the syllabus, you can email me at lisalynch53@gmail.com and I will happily email the needed document. 

October 10, 2025

Today we went over the final requirements for the historical (hysterical) meal reviews. Students received a checklist in class. The final draft is due on Wednesday after our break week.

They also learned about the VSS: very short sentence--5 words or less.

We reviewed comma formulas and added another: Sub I, I--When you begin a sentence with a subordinate conjunction in order to join two independent clauses, you need to put a comma after the first independent clause.

Students practiced writing similes and metaphors.

Enjoy your break!

October 8, 2025

We reviewed prepositional phrases, who/which dress ups, and prepositional openers in class today. 

Students also learned how to write an introduction and conclusion. The introduction should start with a sentence that gives the "big picture". Then each sentence after that draws closer to the topic of the essay, with the last sentence of the introduction mentioning the three body paragraph topics. The conclusion should begin with a sentence that mentions the body paragraph topics, followed by several sentences giving their recommendation for the eating establishment they wrote about. The last sentence of the essay should reveal the most important thing the writer wants the reader to remember about this eating place. Both paragraphs should have a minimum of five sentences in them.

Students should write a title using words from the last sentence of the essay. 

The introduction and conclusion are due on Friday. Students should staple the intro and conclusion to their body paragraphs, with the intro and conclusion on top.

October 3, 2025

Students took the first vocabulary quiz today. If they did not get 100% on the quiz, they can retake it at home and turn it back in to me. I can give them a copy of the quiz in class, or they can email me, and I will send them the document to print off.

We reviewed the #6 dress-up in class and went over some common mistakes students are making in their writing.

We also went over the details of the next assignment: an historical meal review. Students should pick a setting appropriate to the history they are studying this year, like a roadside inn, aboard an exploring ship, or as a settler in one of the colonies. They should write a review of a meal they "ate" in this setting in three paragraphs. 

The first paragraph should focus on the setting: What is the place like where you are eating? Is it clean? Quiet? Does it smell good? Did you eat with plates and utensils? 

The second paragraph is about the food. I want lots of high-quality adjectives in this paragraph describing the food and drinks that were given to you. (Remember the quality words we used to describe a cookie in class.)

The third paragraph should focus on the service. Was the food served right away? Were the servers friendly or surly? Was the food priced appropriately? Did you get what you expected?

The rough draft of all three paragraphs is due on Wednesday.

September 26, 2025

Students learned their first comma formula today: I, c/c I, and what a coordinating conjunction is. They practiced using the "ly" dress-up, and we reviewed adverbs.

Their assignment is to write two paragraphs as if they are western frontier settlers. This is a collaborative assignment with Mr. Russell's literature class. The rough draft is due on Wednesday. Questions about content should be directed to Mr. Russell.

September 24, 2025

Students learned about two dress-ups today: the adverb and the strong verb. We discussed the jobs adverbs do in sentences, and that they answer the questions when, where, how, and to what extent.

Homework is to write the final draft of the Portia spider paragraphs. Students received a checklist in class.

September 19, 2025

Today students learned about key word outlines in class. I dictated 13 sentences to them, and they took notes on those sentences. Their assignment for Wednesday is to write two paragraphs based on the notes they took in class.

The students did very well on the poetry assignment, and samples were read from their work in class.

September 17, 2025

Students learned about quality adjectives today, and we practiced fixing rhythm problems in poetry. We also reviewed the parts of speech, focusing on prepositions.

Homework is to write the final draft of their iambic rhythm poem. They received a checklist for this in class.

Students received the first grammar worksheet in class. They should turn it in sometime next week.

Today students learned about iambic rhythm, stresses, breves, and feet in poetry. Their assignment is to write a rough draft of a poem (we discussed topics) that is 10 - 12 lines long with 4 iambic feet per line.

We also looked at the 8 parts of speech and focused on prepositions.

September 10, 2025

Students received the syllabus for writing class today, which lists all the assignments and when things are due.

The assignment today is to write  three paragraphs. The first paragraph should be about their family, the second should be about their own interests, and the third paragraph should tell what they think about writing in particular. Each paragraph should have a minimum of five solid sentences. This assignment will not be graded. It is simply for me to have a sample of their skill level.

The syllabus also has the recommended pages to cover in Easy Grammar Plus this week. I do not need to see their EGP work. I use EGP as a guide for me on what grammar I can be covering in class. The work should be corrected by parents at home.

Note to parents: Please DO NOT go over your student's writing and have them make corrections before turning in assignments to me. I must have a good idea of where their skills are at and how I can help them. If you correct first, I will only know where your skills are at!

September 3, 2025

Dear parents and students,

St. Augustine's first day is one week away! I look forward to meeting my class and getting off to a good start. Hopefully, this email will help that to happen. 

1. Please come prepared with a small whiteboard and working dry erase marker in a dark color. 

2. You will receive a syllabus in the first class which has all the assignments on it and when they are due. The assignments will also be posted here on the bulletin board after every class.

3. You are encouraged to do grammar work at home. I recommend Easy Grammar Plus. The syllabus indicates what pages you should do at home to be corrected by your parents. I will support this material in class. 

4. If you need to contact me about something, my email address is lisalynch53@gmail.com. I check it very regularly. You will reach me faster by email than you will by phone.

Have a great last week of summer vacation!

Mrs. Lynch