English 8

Happy Opening Day!!!!

Silent Reading and Grammar (apostrophes)
We went over questions for Chapter 1 of The Giver and completed questions for Chapter 2. We also started an 'Exposition Diagram', which outlines the main characters, the minor characters, the background and the setting of The Giver. We will continue working on this Monday. We also started Chapter 4.

Reminders:

• Finish Chapter 4 of The Giver for next class

English 10

"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art though Romeo?"

It was a very exciting day for Shakespeare today. We completed a quiz for Act One and did some grammar exercises (quotations). We then read Act Two, Scene Two of "Romeo and Juliet" (the famous balcony scene). We then worked on corresponding questions and watched the scene from the movie.

Happy Opening Day tomorrow!

Reminders:

• Finish Act Two, Scene One and Two questions: due Monday, Dec.1, 2014

English 8

I'm sorry I was away on Tuesday, but I hope The Outsiders test went well!

Today, we took notes and completed exercises on apostrophes. Then, as an introduction to our next novel study, The Giver, we discussed the term "Utopia". Students were split into groups and had to create rules for a perfect society. We read Chapters 1-3 from The Giver and completed questions for Chapter 1. We also started writing down a list of rules that exist in the novel's community. 

Reminders:

• Chapter 1 questions : due Friday

English 10

Romeo and Juliet meet!!!

For both blocks 1/2 and 5/6, we completed Act One of "Romeo and Juliet" and started Act Two (Prologue and Scene 1). We also discussed Mercutio's speech about Queen Mab and watched a short animation illustrating the fairy. We worked on corresponding questions for the scenes and finished watching Act 1 of the movie. Furthermore, we finished the movie "Shakespeare in Love." 

Reminders:

• Act One, Scene Two, Three, and Four questions: due Friday Nov. 28, 2014
• Act 1 Quiz: Friday, Nov.28, 2014

English 8

I hope the Jeopardy game helped with your review! Good job Team Anna!

After silent reading, students had an open-book grammar quiz. We then went over the 'Dynamic Characters' worksheet and played a Jeopardy review game. We finished off class working on a vocabulary crossword.

Reminders:

• Final Test on The Outsiders tomorrow!

Things you can do to review:
-Look over all comprehension/vocabulary worksheets
-Review 'Character Profiles' sheet
-Review 'Dynamic Characters' sheet

The test will be composed of a multiple choice section, a vocabulary section (matching), and a written portion (short answer and long answer).

• Finish the crossword for tomorrow as well.

English 10

I appreciate the general enthusiasm towards Shakespeare (although most of you won't admit it)!

Today we did some work on apostrophes and read Act 1, Scenes 2 and 3 of "Romeo and Juliet". Students then answered corresponding questions. We also continues watching a bit of "Shakespeare in Love".

Reminders:

• Finish Act 1(Scenes 2 and 3) questions for next class.

English 8

Have fun in the snow this weekend!

Today, we reviewed the parts of speech and completed a pop-quiz for Chapters 10-12 of The Outsiders.  We then finished the movie. At the end of class, I handed out a worksheet with a crossword and a list of all the vocabulary words we looked at in previous chapters. We will work on the crossword on Monday, but there will be a vocabulary section on The Outsiders Final Test, so you may need to review the words.

Reminders:

• Newsletters were due today!!! I am still missing quite a few!
• Open-Book Grammar Quiz (on Parts of Speech and Capitalization): Monday, Nov. 24, 2014
• The Outsiders Final Test: Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014

English 10

Enjoy the snow this weekend!

Today we reviewed rules for capitalization and took out copies of "Romeo and Juliet". As a class, we read and discussed the prologue and Act 1, Scene 1. Students completed corresponding questions and we watched the first scene of the movie.

Reminders:
Final Projects (Parts A and B) we due today!!!

English 10

I decided to give the class an additional lab period to finish their projects because many people were struggling with the essay portion. Some students handed in both portions of their projects already --
 thank you!

For the second half of the class, we did an introduction to Shakespeare. I showed a PowerPoint as students completed some notes. We looked at Shakespeare's life and work, the conventions of Elizabethan theatre, sonnets, and the structure of Iambic pentameter.

After, we did an exercise in which we analyzed the prologue for Ian Doescher's Shakespearean version of "Star Wars". We verified its structure to see if it followed the Shakespearean form of sonnets and Iambic pentameter. For the rest of class, we watched the first 20 minutes of the movie "Shakespeare in Love".

Reminders:

• Short Story Final Projects (parts A and B): due Friday, Nov. 21, 2014

English 8

Thank you so much to those of you who handed in their Newsletters early!

We're currently wrapping up our unit on The Outsiders. Today, students had their final class to work on their Newsletter Assignment. I also went over the expectations for 'obituary' section of the assignment, and handed out a check-list for the project. During the second period, we watched the movie "The Outsiders".

Reminders:

• Again, for those of you who were absent on Tuesday, finish the novel!
• Newsletters: due Friday, Nov. 21, 2014
• Open Book Quiz  (parts of speech/capitalization): Monday, Nov. 24, 2014
• The Outsiders Test: Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014

English 8

We had many students that were away today. For those of you that were on the field trip, make sure to finish reading The Outsiders for homework!

We worked a bit more on capital letters. You will have an open-book quiz on Monday (Nov. 24, 2014) on Parts of Speech and Capitalization. We also completed questions and vocabulary for Chapters 9-10, and we worked on groups on a 'Dynamic Character' worksheet. We were two pages away from completing the novel, so you can finish it as homework!

Reminders:

• Finish The Outsiders
• Newsletters: due Friday, Nov. 21, 2014

English 10

Today we spent the block working on your final projects/essays  for the short stories unit.

Reminders:

Final Project: due Friday, Nov. 21, 2014

English 8

Pro:We've almost completed The Outsiders!
Con: Another Greaser lost his life :(

We started off class today with silent reading and more notes on capitalization. We then worked on Chapter 9 questions for The Outsiders. Furthermore, we discussed the significance of the book's references to Gone With the Wind and Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay". Students completed a worksheet for the poem as well. We then continued the book and read Chapter 11.

Reminders:

• You will be getting one more period on Wednesday to complete the Newsletters. The assignment will be due this Friday, Nov. 21, 2014

English 10

Short Story Test today :)

Reminders:

• Final Project: due Friday, Nov. 21, 2014

English 10

We spent the entire period working on our final projects for our short story unit. A few projects have been handed in so far and they look great!  Don't forget to study for the short story test on Monday.

Things to study:

• All literary terms from the PowerPoint notes (types of characters, irony, setting, mood, atmosphere, tone, point of view, symbolism, allegory, satire, parody, suspense, foreshadowing, narrative hook, narrative twist, theme, flashback, parts of plot, etc.)
• All worksheets on texts we've read (reading comprehension questions and plot analysis)
• Here is a list of texts we've studied

1. "Terrible Things" 
2. "Lather Than Nothing Else" 
3. "The Bicycle"
4. "Borders"
5. "I'm Not My Brother; I'm Me"
6. "My Body Is My Own Business"
7. "This is a Test"
8. "The Face in the Pool"
9. "Envy"
10. "How To Act if You Do Not Want To Be Called Upon"
11. "My Left Foot"

Reminders:

• Short Story Test: Monday, Nov. 17, 2014
• Short Story Final Project: Friday, November 21, 2014

English 8

Stay Gold!

Today, we started off with notes on capitalization. We then discussed Chapter 7 and 8 questions from The Outsiders and read Chapter 9. After that, we had a quiz on Chapters 7-9, and we finished off class looking at clips from the movie "Gone With the Wind" (because of the its consistent references in The Outsiders).

Reminders:

• No homework!

English 10: Blocks 1/2

Today we worked on punctuation and subject-verb agreement. Students were then paired up to peer- edit the character paragraphs for "The Bicycle". After that, I explained the final project for our short story unit, went through a Powerpoint outlining the structure of literary essays, and illustrated a compare/contrast plan for your upcoming essay. Students spent the rest of the period working on their final projects.

Reminders:

• Final copy for the character paragraph : due Friday, Nov. 14, 2014
• Short Story Test: Monday, Nov. 17, 2014
• Short Story Final Project: Friday, Nov. 21, 2014

English 8

Welcome back from your Tuesday off!

Today, we started off class with silent reading and a lesson on independent/subordinate clauses. We also read Chapter 8 in The Outsiders and worked on questions for Chapter 7 and 8.

During the second half of the class, I introduced the 'Personal Ad' portion for the newsletter assignment. We then spent the rest of class in the library working on our newsletters.

Reminders:

• Chapter 7 questions and vocabulary: due Friday, Nov. 14, 2014
• Chapter 8 questions : due Friday, Nov.14, 2014

Enlgish 10: Blocks 5/6

Welcome back! I hope you had a restful Tuesday.

We started off class working on punctuation usage problems and prefixes. I then showed a Powerpoint explaining the structure of literary essays and the process of developing a thesis statement. I also demonstrated how to complete a plan for a 'compare/contrast' essay (by using Animal Farm and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas as examples). I gave students some time planning their essays as well.

We also read the story "The Ninny" and answered questions respectively.

During the second portion of the class, we worked in the library on the short story final project.

Reminders:

• Short Story Test: Monday, November 17, 2014
• Short Story Final Project (creative portion and comparative essay) : due Friday, Nov. 21, 2014

English 10

Have a great Tuesday off Grade 10's!

Blocks 1/2

We had a Remembrance Day Assembly in the morning. Following the presentation, we went over the analysis for the story "The Face In The Pool", we read the poem "Envy" in Sightlines 10, and created a Venn diagram identifying the similarities and differences between the two texts. We also had a discussion about narcissism and social media, and watched the following video clip:

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3613361.htm


Blocks 5/6

We worked a bit more on punctuation and sentence fragments. Students were then divided into groups of 2-3 and had to peer-edit each other's character paragraphs for "The Bicycle". Final copies are due next class. I then introduced the final project for our short story unit. The project is composed of two parts: a creative portion and a comparative essay. 

*Bring any materials needed to work on your final assignment this Wednesday.

Reminders (for Block 5/6 only)

• Character paragraphs (plan, draft, good copy): Due Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014

English 8

Have a great Tuesday off Grade 8's!

Today, we started off with silent reading and I explained the 'Advice Column' portion for the Newsletter Assignment. Students have to pick a character from The Outsiders and write a letter asking for advice, and a letter giving advice. We then spent the rest of class in the I.T. lab working on our newsletters for The Outsiders.

Reminders:

• For next class (Wednesday, Nov. 12): 

=>Chapter 6 questions
=>Crossword
=>Finish reading Chapter 7

English 8

Toward the end of this week, we've read Chapters 5-7 in The Outsiders and worked on corresponding questions. Yesterday, we started a Newsletter assignment; we will continue to work on this next week.  Students also had a quiz on Chapters 4-6 today.

Reminders:

• Chapter 6 questions and Crossword puzzle : due Monday, November 10, 2014
• Collage : OVERDUE
• Conflict Mind Map: OVERDUE
• MARKS HAVE BEEN POSTED

English 10

Towards the end of this week, we looked at the excerpt "My Left Foot" and watched the full movie. We also went over previous short story questions.

Reminders:

• Marks have been posted

English 8

Today we worked on coordinating conjunctions and read Chapter 5 of The Outsiders. We also went over Chapter 4 questions and vocabulary. We finished off the rest of class working on a mind map identifying the types of conflict in The Outsiders.

Reminders:

• Finish Chapter 5 for next class
• 'Greasers vs Socs' collage: due Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014 (the collages are in the library for you to work on at lunch or in Homework Club)
• Conflict Mind Map: due Friday, Nov. 7, 2014

English 10

We started off class today with grammar editing. Students were then given a booklet of writing  composition samples from past Provincial Exams. They had to evaluate the samples by assigning a mark based on the Provincial Exam Rubric. We went over them as a class together. Then, students were given a mock-test task. They had 30 minutes to write a composition based on the following topic: "We are products of our own choices".

To finish off class, we read the short story/myth "The Face in The Pool".

Reminders:

• The Paragraph Planner and the rough copy for your character paragraphs were due TODAY

English 8

We started off class today with silent reading and a quiz on Chapters 1-3 of The Outsiders. We proceeded to read Chapter 4 and work on questions.

Reminders:

• Chapter 4 questions and vocabulary: due Tomorrow, Nov. 4, 2014
• "Greasers vs. Socs" collage: due Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014

English 10

Today we worked on run-on sentences and comma splices. We also read the story "The Bicycle", worked on corresponding questions and started a literary character paragraph relating to the story. The 'Paragraph Planner' and the rough copy for this paragraph are due tomorrow.

Reminders:

• 'Paragraph Planner' and rough copy of your literary character paragraph: due TOMORROW, Nov. 4, 2014
• END OF TERM: THURSDAY, NOV. 6, 2014