China's Gilded Age Nov. 3

Bellwrite #26: Please consider the following sentences from student written proposals. What grammar problem do they both have in common? How would you fix them?

1. On Thursday each week she will be quizzed by Queen Elsa to see if she has learned the words, the Queen has agreed to quiz her.
2. I also often make some mistakes when there are more than one clause in a sentence, I always get confused with different clauses that are used in one sentence.

These sentences both have comma splices. A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses (complete thoughts) are joined by only a comma. The problem is that commas are not strong enough to separate independent clauses. To fix a comma splice, do one of the following:

1. Create two separate sentences with a period.
2. Use a semicolon instead of the comma.
3. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).
4. Reword the sentence.

Students received feedback on their spelling/vocabulary proposals. In addition to individual feedback, I shared some general concepts with the entire class:

1. Keep a table on one page; do NOT split it over two pages.
2. Use table headings to avoid repeating the same words and phrases inside a table.
3. Introduce a table in the text with a sentence or two.
4. Italicize or use quotation marks to show that you are talking about a word. For example, "I often confuse there and their."
5. For the executive summary, give the main point of each of the four subsections of the proposal all in ONE sentence: problem, plan, accountability, and outcomes. Don't just state that there is a plan; actually explain what it is briefly.

Class B also received feedback on the Communist Manifesto questions.

We read together as a class from the article "China's Gilded Age." We defined vocabulary along the way, annotated personal connections, and wrote single-sentence summaries of each paragraph. We are working on improving reading comprehension by distinguishing main ideas from supporting details.

Homework this week:

• Memorization (Jacob 5, parts 1&2) due Thursday
• Finish reading Red Scarf Girl by Thursday
• Final edit of spelling/vocab proposal due Wednesday
• Rhetorical analysis essay (on Mao's propaganda) due Wednesday
• First vocab/spelling check on Thursday