F.A.N.B.O.Y.S. - Sounds Like the Next Boy Band

There are only nine days left before our first quarter comes to an end.  It's amazing how quickly time goes.  This past week in #ENGRoom121 the students reviewed paragraph writing and the four types of sentences (simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex).    This review took place after reading their paragraph responses to the prompt "What would you do in the last hour of your life."  The students did well with their topic sentence and summary sentence, but the supporting detail sentences lacked structure, complexity, and detail.  We reviewed the four different types of sentences in writing, simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex, how you can mix and match them in writing, and practiced identifying and writing them.  

We will be working with these types of sentences again beginning Monday as we work together to write a perfect paragraph about a common topic.  The students and I will compose this paragraph together, and the finished product will be theirs to keep and use as a reference/resource for future writing projects.  The above is building a foundation for the successful writing of a memoir which will require a multi-paragraph finished product.

The third bi-weekly conference happened today (9/30) and the students and I discussed their completed "Memoir Brainstorming" worksheet.  I asked the students what they were leaning towards writing about and many students couldn't answer that.  If you are looking for something to talk with your student about, ask him/her about that brainstorming sheet and have them pull it up in Google Classroom.  You may be able to help them decide on a memory to write about, and/or help them remember details about the memory to aid in his/her writing process.

Remember these words of wisdom from a fantastic author:

Students will be given many opportunities to write in #ENGRoom121

BONUS OPPORTUNITY - What does F.A.N.B.O.Y.S stand for? - leave your answer in the comments section of this post

Here's a look at the upcoming week (10/3 - 10/7):

1.  MHJH Respect-a-thon (all week)
2.  Complete a "perfect paragraph" in class (Monday)
3.  "Perfect Paragraph" assessment - prompt will be related to the season of autumn, or the benefits of owning a pet, and students will be assessed on use of all four types of sentences (correctly) simple, compound, complex, and compound complex, and the summary sentence (Thursday & Friday in class)

Enjoy the first weekend in October.  GO TITANS!