BR 1:01 Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat

Suddenly Mudge ran to the door and barked. Henry's father opened the door. Sitting on the steps was the shabbiest cat Henry had ever seen. (pp. 6-7)

Today I read the eighth book in the Henry and Mudge series, Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat. Like the other books in the series, it is written by Cynthia Rylant and the illustrations are by Suçie Stevenson. The book consists of just one story, divided into three chapters. It is about a cat that gets lost and comes to Henry's house. Henry and Mudge and Henry's parents love the cat. [98 words]

My spring vacation

In the spring vacation, I didn't have much free time, only about 5 days in total, including weekends. It was a tough schedule because of my new job. The most interesting part was the visit of my nephew from England. He spent about three weeks in Japan, including four days in Kumamoto.

I did manage to find some time to see a few movies. The one that was most interesting was The Big Short, a film about the financial crisis of 2008. It was a kind of semi-documentary: although actors played it like a fictional movie, sometimes there was a voiceover with some explanation of financial terms or the reasons for the crisis.

[112 words]

BR 1: 01 Henry and Mudge and the Best Day of All

On the first day of May Henry woke up early and said to his big dog Mudge, "I'm having a birthday today." Judge wagged his tail, rolled over, and snored. (p. 5)

Today I read Henry and Mudge and the Best Day of All. The story is by Cynthia Rylant and the pictures are by Suçie Stevenson. The series is Ready-to-Read and it's a level 2 book. It is the fourteenth book of Henry and Mudge's adventures. It consists of four different stories: The First Day of May, A Colorful Morning, Cracker from the Sky, and Best Day.

My favorite story was Best Day, because it featured a party with games and lots of food such as ice cream and a cake.

My spring vacation

In my spring vacation, I was hoping to take several days' holiday and relax. But I was given a very busy new job and that made took a lot of time. In the end, I took only 4 or 5 days in total. My nephew came to visit from England, as part of his trip around the world. We went to Aso to see the volcano and also to eat dengaku and have a hot spring bath. We also went around the castle and the traditional arts and crafts center.

I also found time to see a few movies. My favorite one was the Big Short, which is a semi-documentary about the financial crisis of 2008. I also enjoyed the new Star Wars movie. But I'm looking forward especially to the new Star Wars movie in 2017, because it has a very interesting director.

This semester, I have many new classes and jobs to do. But I'll try to find time to watch new movies when they come out. Let's go together sometime!

[171 words]

Welcome to Writing III!

Hi, everyone. I'm Rick, your teacher for Writing III and IV. I hope you will enjoy these classes, and improve your writing over the year.

Let's talk about Writing III first. The main things we will do every week in this class are timed writings, called Juppun ha Juubun, and book reviews (2 a week). In addition, I'd like you to write general posts about your daily life as often as possible. In this way, everyone will be writing a minimum of 3 and usually 4 or 5 posts a week.

Class schedule

April

11th: 1th class

18th: 2th class

25th: 3th class

May

2nd: 4th class

9th: 5th class

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th: 6th class

23rd: 7th class

30th: HOLIDAY

June

6th: 8th class

13th: 9th class

20th: 10th class

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

27th: 11th class

July

4th: 12th class

11th: 13th class

18th: 14th class

25th: 15th class

BLOCKS

As you can see from the schedule above, I think of the 15-week course in terms of three blocks of five classes. The activities won't change so much, but the emphasis will shift.

BLOCK 1

Fluency is important in writing, just as it is in speaking. In the first five weeks, the goal is simply to get used to writing frequently, if possible five posts a week or more. You don't need to worry so much about writing correctly. The idea is to build confidence and speed. However, please be sure to look at my comments on your blog, some of which will include corrections.

BLOCK 2

While continuing with basically the same activities, we will start looking at ways to improve accuracy, in terms of grammar and spelling. My comments on your blog will take on more importance during this block.

BLOCK 3

During Block 3, you will study model compositions to learn various phrases in order to improve your own writing more systematically.