Nayla’s English Blog

 The bubbles allowed me to begin with the main topic and then move on to the various subtopics. On the basis of those subtopics I was able to come up with some examples and details to include. The most useful aspect was being able to see how my ideas were connected. It also assisted me in organizing my thoughts prior to writing, and that's why I would use this method when planning an AP Lang essay since it could help me develop clear points to support my argument   In class we did practice over putting a main topic in a bubble and connecting it to smaller topics and ideas. The bubbles helped me to see how my ideas connect. I think this would make planning an essay more easier and helpful to make ideas.

Writing the essay was easiest when I organized my ideas into paragraphs. The hardest part of writing the essay was explaining how my examples supported my claim. I sometimes knew what evidence to use. I was not sure how to connect it to my reasoning about the essay. I also had to make sure each paragraph added a point, to the essay. Time I would plan my examples and explanations before I start writing the essay. In class we practiced essays using claims, evidence, reasoning. I learned that explaining evidence is just as important as choosing it. Next time, I want to make a clearer plan before drafting.

A time where I felt I truly belonged was when I visited New York. Riding the train and directing my family place to place made me feel a click. The environment was very surreal and really felt like this was where I was mean´t to be. Riding the train and walking through the streets at midnight was so fun and amazing. Also trying all the food was amazing and seeing the culture was amazing.  Summary: Today we read a commonlit and answered questions  Today I learned how important  it is physiology to belong. I also improved my reading and comprehension skills.

The vocab word I think will be most useful to my future is perspicacious. The word means being smart and being able to understand things quickly. This word can be useful when describing someone that can see small details. This would be a good word to use in school. I could also use it to compliment someone for being a good thinker.  In class today we studied vocab words and did comprehension questions. Today’s work helped me build my vocabulary. The comprehension questions also helped me practice what I learned.

Before today, I thought commentary was just explaining the evidence again. Now I know it should explain why the evidence is important. The “So What?” method helps me connect my evidence to my claim. It also helps the reader understand my point. I will use this method in my next AP Lang essay. On Friday, we practiced writing commentary with sample pieces of evidence and used the So What method to guide us. This activity helped me understand the difference between evidence and commentary. I learned that every piece of evidence needs an explanation that connects it back to the claim.

After reviewing past AP Lang essays, I learned that a strong claim must clearly answer the prompt. I noticed that the higher-scoring essays used specific evidence to support their ideas. They also explained why their evidence mattered instead of only listing examples. The so what explanation helped connect the evidence back to the main claim. I will use these ideas in my own writing to make my arguments clearer and stronger. We reviewed past AP Lang essays and graded them using the argument essay rubric. This activity helped me understand why some essays earn more points than others. I learned that good evidence needs clear commentary to fully support a claim.

I usually complete my assignment first and then check the rubric. After that, I compare my work to the requirements and add anything I missed. The argument essay rubric showed me that I need a thesis, evidence, commentary, and sophistication to earn all six points. I also learned that my evidence and commentary can earn up to four points. Using the rubric this way will help me improve my essays and hopefully earn a higher AP exam score. Today in class, we learned about the sophistication point and reviewed an AP Lang argument essay prompt. This week, we reviewed the rubric so we would understand how to earn all six points. We also practiced an old AP Lang prompt by writing a claim and choosing three pieces of evidence.

Understanding the rubric would change how I complete an assignment. It would show me exactly what my teacher expects me to include. The rubric also explains how many points each part is worth. Today, I learned that evidence and commentary are very important parts of an AP Lang argument essay. From now on, I will check the rubric before writing so I can earn more points. Today in class, we reviewed the rubric for the AP Lang argument essay. I learned what I need to include in an argument essay. I also learned that evidence is worth four out of the six points, so it can greatly affect my exam score.

P.S. I wasn’t in class today due to being sick but I’ll act as if I was.  It was very interesting to read my classmates writings. Everybody had different ideas. I noticed that everybody used evidence in different ways. Reading other people’s perspectives helped me to form ideas for myself. I liked seeing how people organized their paragraphs.  In class we compared our peers writing and analyzed how they did certain things. This activity taught me that people approach a topic in many different ways. This activity helped me too have ideas to make my explanations better.

Once I used informal language for an email. I wrote the email like I was texting a friend, and it sounded very laid back which I regret. Looking back, my email should’ve had a greeting, straight to the point, and used good mannerisms. The teacher still was helpful to me, but I felt guilty. This taught me to choose my wording on who I’m talking to and always be mindful.  In class today we learned differences between formal and informal language. I learned that the way I speak to my friends shouldn’t be the same way as I talk to teachers, adults, etc. This lesson helped me to understand situations.

 One of my peers in my group said that I can use stringer evidence for my claim. They said it would help make my claim more clear. This helped me to revise my paragraph more. It also made the argument more convincing. It helped me look at the argument from a new perspective.  In class we practiced vocab words. I also answered comprehension questions of the definitions.  The activity in the book helped me feel more confident with those new vocab words. I need to learn how to explain my vocabulary.

 I feel like I’ve always been curious about how people dream. I wonder what’s the process of our brain creating these. They sometime predict the future or make scenarios. My sister gets sleep paralysis very often which to me is scary. When I learn about dreams it’ll help me learn about the process of the brain.  Today was reviewed our mistakes and errors of our paragraph and created a final draft on writeable. Reviewing mistakes helped me see where I went wrong on my draft! I learned that it’s always good to double check and revise mistakes.

 The most challenging part was writing commentary. It was challenging because I had a hard time connecting it with evidence. In my heart I knew the answer but writing it out was difficult for some reason. I also hard a hard time with the explanation. I think I’ll be faster with more practice.  Today we practiced making a clear line of reasoning by using claim, reasoning, evidence, etc. This lesson helped me understand how each argument has a connection. Like of reasoning makes an argument clear.

 A fear I have is getting in a car wreck that’s my fault. I’ve never been in a car wreck and I hope to keep it that way. When I first started driving, I was so nervous about crashing. I overcame this fear by crashing, avoiding tight driving situations, following rules, etc. I drive very carefully and realized that I can’t let that fear control me.  In class we revised our writeable  assignments and corrected mistakes. Revising helped me realize that I have a lot to work on. I learned that practice makes progress.

 The word I use the most at the moment is defitnley “bro”. I use bro in basically every sentence. To me it means to cause ally address or talk to somebody. I think I get it from my sister and now I use the word bro in any occasion. To me, the word bro reveal's that Im comfortable with my language.   In class I completed a vocab sheet where I learned words and fill in the blanks.  The vocab sheet helped me understand new words. It also helped me to learn about what to prepare for the AP lang exam.