dear classmates

Dear Classmates:
                             I can't belive it's already the end of the school year and we are going to be sophmores! I think this year in English 1 is very interesting and helpful. At first it's very hard for me because of the language, but I have improved my english a lot with all the writing and reading we did. Our class had some trouble at the begining of the school year. But things got better after we got used to high school life and Dr.D's class.
                             I enjoy our class because we discuss topics together instead of just listening to Dr.D. When we ask questions some of our classmates will answer them. I think reading Macbeth is the most interesting part of the year because we got to act it out. It made me undersand the book more. I wish the next year will be the same!

Participation Evaluation

                   For this quarter,  I'm usually prepared for class except I forgot my outside reading book once. I always wait to be dismissed and use time between classes for bathroom. I also check email and website everyday and use appropriate email communication. I always turn in assignments at the beginning of class.
                  I always listen to Dr. D and take notes. But I didn't contribut many comments and ask many questions. I listen to peers’ questions and comments and doesn't engage in side conversations. I also focus on task in class and actually do the work. I doesn't distract others and doesn't engage in conversations that are not relevant to task. I think I'm not really helpful in group works and I need to work on this next school year. Compare to the rest of the year, I think I got more involved in the class instead of just take notes and listen. I want to get more involve in class next school year and work in give my classmates good suggestions in group works.

                 

outside reading over this blog

                I've changed a lot as a reader over this year. I was surprised at how many books I have read this year, I have never read so many books before. My reading skills have improved a lot. I have read different kinds of books such as mystery, adventure, science-fiction and so on. I have difficulty reading books like Macbeth.
                I used outside reading to think about how to annotate well. I will look at plot, characterization, theme and so on. Next school year, I need to choose more challenge books in order to improve my reading skills more.
 Nation: P165-P297, 159min

lady macbeth

               If I read the book in the perspective of Lady Macbeth, I think I will change how I think about Lady Macbeth. When we first met Lady Macbeth, I think she's a horrible person because she's violent. Lady Macbeth think that murdering someone is not a big deal and doesn't feel sorry about it. When Macbeth said he doesn't want to kill the king, she became angry.
               If I think in the perspective of Lady Macbeth, I maybe will understand her. She want to kill the king only because she wants her husband to be the king. She felt guilty before Macbeth killed the king but she forced herself to calm down because she needs to calm her husband calm down too. I think Lady Macbeth is a good wife.

writng response

                   My writings this year didn’t get a good grade. According to all the feedback I received on my writing, I always make mistakes on common errors such as comma splice, fragment, and run-on sentence and so on. There are 2 run-on sentences, 2 fragments, 1 comma splice in my literacy narrative essay, 1 comma splice in my profile essay and literary analysis essay. In my literacy analysis essay, I have weak paragraph transition and didn’t show how each paragraph connect to my thesis. I was weak on using quotations and didn’t explain the quotations well in literary analysis essay and research paper. In the WrAP test, I was weak in sentence structure and supporting my thesis.

                   Our first essay as a class was the literacy narrative essay. I have never such a long English essay before and I have no idea what a literacy narrative essay was. It turned out that I didn’t do a good job on the essay, I made a lot of grammar mistakes and my opening is not attractive to the readers. I also made some grammar mistakes on the next essay, but my grammar mistakes decreased as I write more essays.

                   Based on the feedbacks, I knew that I had made a lot of common errors on my writing, but the errors I make decreased as I write more essays. I also knew that I was weak on using quotations and transiting paragraphs. My sentence structure also need more work.

                   Since the beginning of the year, my essays have improved in common errors, organization, word choice, and ideas, but I still need to work on interpreting rhetorical situations, using and explaining quotations, word choice, and transiting paragraphs.

                   I think the feedback I received on my writing this year match my understanding of my writing work because I noticed that I’m weak at grammars and made a lot of grammar mistakes, I was also weak in using quotations. The way I evaluate my writing has changed over the course of the year. At first I just think about how I can write enough to reach the minimum, but as I begin to write more essays, I begin to think about how to improve my writing and fix the mistakes I made.

                   After reading all the feedbacks I have received this year, I now know what I should focus on and improve next year. Next year I will work much harder and spent more time on my writing. My goal is to work on how to use quotations and how to transit paragraphs. I need to work on revising my rough draft too. I believe that my writing will be much better if I work more on my weakness and keep up with my strengths.

common error list

1. run-on sentence: In my fifh grade, a new teacher came to teach us English, her name is Mrs. Zhang.
2. fragment: Since you are interested in reading, what about we work together and write a story?
3. wrong preposition: She helped me and built my confidence on writing.
4. comma splice: Our classmates often asked Lucy to draw something for them, sometimes it's a cartoon character, sometimes it's a place.
5. dangling midifier: By having the snake goddess as a character in the story, it made the story more interesting and more attractive to the readers.
6. long quotations: Research paper

outside reading time 4/15-4/22

4/21 150 min Nation P75-p164