In-Class, Monday, Dec. 7th: Readability Level

IQ question: Who can guess at what readability level newspapers in the U.S. are written???

Today, we are going to assess our READABILITY, which means the personal grade level we are writing at. We are going to do this by means of a formula developed by Edward Fry: the so-called "Fry graph."

What we need:

For homework and in-class assignments, you have written three 100-words samples:

1) your comment about ENGFISH,

2) your comment about Word Order,

3) your comment about Sharpening.

TASK 1:

Now, cut down each of these three 100-words samples down to EXACTLY 100 words. You can use the word count of Microsoft Word by pasting your blog comment into a Word document, or you can copy and paste it into the word count tool. Simply delete all the words over 100, even if you have to stop in the middle of a sentence.

TASK 2:

1) Count the number of sentences in your 100 words sample. (If you had less than 100 words, add more. If you had more, just stop after having counted up to 100, and delete the rest.) Estimate the length of your last sentence, even if incomplete, to the nearest 1/10.

2) Count the number of syllables in your 100 words sample.

3) Make a table as seen in these INSTRUCTIONS. Draw this table on the handout I give you, because you will receive points for it, and I will collect it at the end of today's lesson!

4) Do the same for your second and third 100-words sample.

5) Total your numbers, and average them. (A little bit of math ;-)). You can use the Microsoft calculator ;-)

7) Make a dot on the FRY GRAPH I distributed in class where your personal readability lies. Write your name on the handout with your graph and your table, and submit it to your teacher for grading (I'm not grading the height of your readability, only the fact that you participated and understood the procedure!) There are no make-ups for this assignment.

HOMEWORK for Wednesday:

Post a comment to this blog (100-250 words) about what you think about your personal readability level. Do you believe the Fry graph correctly displays the grade level you're writing at? Why, or why not? What could be missing? What could the readability level be used for? Will knowing your personal readability level change anything about your future writing? Do you think you have a different readability level when you blog than when you write a research article like you did for this class?

Comparative and Superlative Degree

Engage - I will show the class two videos explaining exactly what Comparative and Superlative degree are.

Explain - I will then go over what we have learned in the videos and explain them in a more simplistic fashion.

Extend/Explore - I will give several different examples on what Comparative and Superlative adjectives look like.

E-Search - I will then give a quiz out and the first one to finish gets the prize.

Homework for Monday, Dec. 7th: Sharpening

For homework due on Monday, Dec. 7th, please read the short article posted as a Picasa slide show HERE. It is the chapter "Sharpening" by Ken Macrorie.

Then, post a comment of 100 words or more on this blog (as a comment; not as a new thread). You should ponder about the following questions:

a) Does your writing require sharpening when the composing process is done?
b) Do you bother with sharpening after finishing a composition, or do you submit it "as is"?
c) If you were a teacher, how would you teach sharpening to high school students? Can it be taught at all, or is it a natural gift?
d) Imagine you were the editor of a newspaper or a scientific journal, and you are sharpening the incoming contributions of different authors. What other benefits than a better read could sharpening have for your newspaper/journal?

In case you cannot comment to this blog because of password difficulties, you can also email me your comment. On Monday, you should have three 100-word comments accessible (either on the blog, or in emails; if you printed them out, you will have to retype them in class for an activity).

Our three 100-word comments are:
1) your personal opinion about "ENGFISH"
2) your personal opinion about "Word Order"
3) your personal opinion about "Sharpening".

In case you miss this Friday's class, you have to do all of that at home and have your texts ready for Monday. There will be no make-up for the activity on Monday, since this is the last in-class assignment before our final exam coming Friday. Remember that we do not meet in finals week!!!

For Monday: bring a pencil or a colored pen, and if you have, a pocket calculator! If you don't have one, you can use the calculator of Microsoft on your computer.

In-Class activity for Friday, Dec. 4th

After we hear our two mini lessons today, we are going to perform a short in-class freewrite. Since I have to attend an NCATE meeting (accreditation), you will be left on your own from 12:30 on. You can either stay in the classroom and type your response here, or do it from the computer room or from home. Be aware that this is a required in-class activity, and there is separate homework for coming Monday, too.

Take about 5 minutes to read / skim through the 9-page article posted as a Picasa slide show HERE. It is the chapter "The Order of Words" by Ken Macrorie. Then, post a 100-words comment to this blog of what word order means to you:

a) Do you pay close attention to word order when you write, or does it come to you naturally?
b) Do you shift words around for stylistic purposes? Why, when, and for what?
c) How secure/insecure are you about using the correct word order?
d) Do you know any examples of public texts where the word order has disturbed you / caught your attention?
e) Do you think word order is a problem nowadays for high school / college students?

The above questions are suggestions for your orientation; you can also mention different aspects that come to mind. The whole activity should not take longer than 15-20 minutes (freewrite).

Homework for Friday, Dec. 4: ENGFISH

Homework for Friday, Dec. 4:

Read this short article called ENGFISH (a chapter from Ken Macrorie's book Telling Writing), and write a comment on this blog (must have a minimum of 100 words!!!) about your personal opinion regarding ENGFISH.

If you cannot post for some reason, you may also email me your paragraph, or bring it as a hard copy to class on Friday.

Ashley Vivarelli's Mini Lesson

Engage: I will talk to the class about Chicago Style and give them more insight to what it consists of.

Explain: I will give a power point presentation over Chicago Style Citation and Bibliographies.

Extend/Explore: Give examples of the formatting of Chicago Style and also insight on how to write using Chicago Style.

E-Search/Evolution: I wasn't able to find a quiz online for this specific material, but I will be passing around a study guide of how Chicago Style should look.

Mike Murphy's Upcoming Mini Lesson

Engage: I will begin the mini lesson by allowing students to look over two web sites explaining the basics of verb tenses.
--Site 1 --Site 2

Explain: I will give a PowerPoint presentation going over the twelve types of verb tenses.

Extend/Explore: I will have many examples in the PowerPoint presentation that shows different uses of verb tenses.

E-search/Evaluation: I will give students a ten-question quiz to assess their knowledge of verb tenses.