EN 10: Reminders from Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Today students began creating tableaus from scenes out of The Snow Goose.

Once finished, students began considering their topic for the upcoming in-class write.  There are three theme related topics to choose from:

• society's rejection of the "disabled"
• the destruction that war causes to nature and mankind
• nature's own destruction

Students formed groups and found quotations from the novel, providing evidence for each theme.

We will continue to create outlines for the writing assignment next class.

EN 9: Reminders from Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Happy Leap Year Day!!

Today we began with a journal entry.

Students then completed their study guides  (elements of fiction) for their novel study test this coming Friday, March 2nd on The War Between the Classes.

EN 10: Reminders from Tuesday, February 28, 2012

We began the class with a quiz on sentence fragments.

Students were then given some time in class to practice reading a section of The Snow Goose using a dialect of their choosing.  This was a chance for students to experiment speaking in a way that is foreign to them, as well as understand the reasons an author might write using different dialects.

We then read chapter ten together and students then finished up chapter 8-10 study guide questions.

The Snow Goose test will take place this coming Thursday.

SS 10: Reminders from Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Today we began with a quiz on the Metis.  This was an open book quiz and students had about 15 minutes to complete the quiz, which we then marked in class.

We then began notes on the Battle of the Fur Trade.

We had a shortened class due to course selection with Ms Dimond.

EN 10: Reminders from Monday, February 27, 2012

Lit Terms: personification, persuasive, plot, point of view, propaganda

Students completed their chapter seven study guide sheets and then we read chapters eight and nine as a class.

Students watched the following you tube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYmrg3owTRE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_KKLkmIrDk

We then discussed the use of dialects in a given work and what effects they have on the mood of a story.

Finally, students completed their chapter eight and nine study guides.

There will be a quiz on sentence fragments tomorrow.

EN 9: Reminders from Monday, February 27, 2012

We began the class with a refresher on common and proper nouns.

Students then finished reading the story, Exiled and we examined whether or not phrases were fact or opinion.  Students then created a list of facts and opinions about themselves and shared with the class.

Finally, we began filling out an element of fiction sheet as a study guide for the upcoming test on The War Between the Classes. 

The unit test on The War Between the Classes will be on Friday, March 2 2012.

SS 10: Reminders from Friday, February 24, 2012

We began by accessing background knowledge of Canada's Confederation.  We read pp.130-134 in the textbook and then completed activity 4-2 to 4-3 and questions 1-3 on p.134.

Homework: pp.155-162 in text and pp.69-73 in the handbook.

There will be a quiz on the readings on Tuesday.

EN 10: Reminders from Friday, February 24, 2012

Lit Terms: Objective POV, Omniscient POV, Onomatopoeia, Oxymoron, Paradox

Today we brainstormed background knowledge of WWII and then watched the clip below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSoDLfQKhGI&feature=related

We then read some war poetry and completed the chapter five and six journal entry.

I read chapter seven aloud.  Next, I sampled a found poem and students then completed the chapter seven study guide and journal entry.

SS 10: Reminders from Thursday, February 23, 2012

Today students wrote their geography tests.

We will begin a new chapter tomorrow.

EN 10: Reminders from Thursday, February 23, 2012

Today we began with a quiz on sentence fragments.

We then marked chapter four questions together and students handed in their journal entries to me to be assessed.

Next, I read chapters five and six of The Snow Goose aloud and students worked on the vocabulary and questions for the chapter five and six study guides.  The journal entry will be completed tomorrow.

Finally, students had the last portion of the class to complete their mandalas.

These are now due for homework.

EN 10: Reminders from Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Today we began with sentence fragment recognition.  There will be a quiz on this tomorrow in class.

Students then received their marked paragraphs and made a writing log entry.

Lastly, students used the rest of class to complete their mandalas.  I will provide twenty minutes in class tomorrow to ensure that they have met all of the requirements, before handing the assignment into me.

EN 9: Reminders from Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Students chose to complete either a paragraph or a monologue.

Paragraph:

• must be at least six sentences
• must have four integrated quotations
• must have a interesting introductory sentence
• must have a concluding sentence

Monologue:

• must answer all of the questions in character
• must not just be questions and answers - you must provide the information, but in a narrative format, not an interview format

Monologues will be performed in class on Monday.  Paragraphs were handed in at the end of class today.

SS 10: Reminders from Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Today we continued with a geography review, instead of having the test.

We finished with Geography Jeopardy.

Test: Thursday, February 23 2012

EN 10: Reminders from Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Today we began decoding sentence fragments.  We then reviewed chapter four of The Snow Goose.

Finally, students continued with their literary mandalas.

Due tomorrow: Chapter Four Study Guide & all work leading up to and including the mandala chart

EN 10: Reminders from Monday, February 20, 2012

Lit Terms: metonymy, mood, narration, narrative, narrator

We marked chapter three study guide questions from The Snow Goose.

We then read chapter four and began the mandala project.  Students are expected to complete the seven core sentences on their sun images.

We will continue with this process tomorrow.

EN 9: Reminders from Monday, February 20, 2012

Today we began with a quiz on the whole novel, The War Between the Classes.

Next, students chose a character and began working on their character trait sheets.  These are due on Wednesday.

Finally, as a class, we began reading a short story on Japanese Internment camps, called "Exiled."

SS 10: Reminders from Thursday, February 16, 2012

Today students had one final class to complete their regional survivor projects.

Students who had already completed this project, had the class time to fill in their study guides.

The Geography Unit Test will be this coming Tuesday, February 21st.

EN 10: Reminders from Thursday, February 16, 2012

Lit Terms: limited omniscient pov, lyric, meiosis, metaphor

Students had more practice recognizing sentence fragments.  As we are still struggling with some of the more complex sentences, we will have one more day of practice before the quiz.

Students then completed their chapter three study guide for The Snow Goose.  We then watched the first ten minutes of the movie, based on the novel.

Finally, students read quietly.

EN 10: Reminders from Wednesday, February 15, 2012

We began the class practising our recognition of sentence fragments.  We will continue our practice tomorrow.

Students created a mind web chart of Philip Rhayader's character traits from The Snow Goose.  We then marked chapter two questions.  After reading chapter three, we compared the character traits of Philip and Fritha.  Students were then asked to find out what stock character category each would fill.

Please remember that the make-up time for the in-class write is tomorrow at lunch.

EN 9: Reminders from Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Today we read chapters thirteen and fourteen.  We completed the chapter study guide questions.

This coming Monday, February 20 2012, we will have a quiz ensuring that you have read the whole book.

EN 10: Reminders from Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Lit Terms: jargon

Today, we checked the vocabulary from chapter one of The Snow Goose.  We then marked the sentences from the chapter one study guide.

Finally, we read chapter two and discussed people with exceptionalities, and whether or not, we discriminate against people based on differences.

Students had some time to complete chapter two study guide definitions and questions.  More time will be given tomorrow to complete the journal entry.

SS 10: Reminders from Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Today we continued with our regional survivor projects.  These will be due within the next two classes.

I also handed out the review package for the Geography test coming up one week today, Tuesday February 21st 2012.  Please do not act astonished when I hand you a test on Tuesday... I've given you plenty of warning.

SS 7: Reminders from Monday, February 13, 2012

Today we practised playing Senet online.

EN 10: Reminders from Monday, February 13, 2012

Lit Terms: hyperbole, image, imagery, indirect presentation, irony

Today we reviewed verbs in the past, present, and future perfect tenses.

We began reading The Snow Goose, by Paul Gallico.  We read chapter one together and then students completed the chapter one vocabulary, comprehension questions, and journal response.

Any students who did not complete this assignment will need to do so for homework.

EN 9: Reminders from Monday, February 13, 2012

Today we began with a journal write.  Any students who had been away on Friday made up their missed setting assignment.

We then continued on with nouns (concrete, abstract, and collective).

Finally, we began reading chapter twelve.  Students must finish reading chapter twelve and then complete the questions off of their study guide.

SS 7: Reminders from Friday, February 10, 2012

Students were quizzed on Egyptian Mummification.

Students were then introduced to the Egyptian game of Senet.  We will begin our own game boards next week.

EN 10: Reminders from Friday, February 10, 2012

Lit terms: foil, foreshadow, free verse, genre, hyperbole

Students worked on Exercise 31 (verb tense agreements).

Students then began their in class write.  Students were to choose, from their samples of descriptive writing, one draft to proof-read, edit, and then submit for evaluation.

EN 9: Reminders from Friday, February 10, 2012

Thank you to all of the students who had completed their homework.  I'm so proud that you took some ownership for your learning.

Today we began by reviewing nouns.  Students had a chance to practice their recognition of common and proper nouns.

We then read chapter eleven together and students completed the study guide questions for that chapter.

Finally, students completed a setting assignment worth 11 marks.  Please see me if you were not present, so that I can provide you with the instructions to complete this assignment.

SS 10: Reminders from Thursday, February 9, 2012

Students continued working on their "regional survivor" projects.  One more class will be dedicated to the project.

EN 10: Reminders from Thursday, February 9, 2012

Lit Terms: falling action, figurative language, first person, flashback, flat character

Students watched me mark three descriptive paragraphs.  I was specifically looking for examples of:

• sentence fragments
• run on sentences
• subject/verb agreement
• verb tense agreement
• figurative language

Students then read a sample of a descriptive paragraph based on a writer's most prized possession.  Next, students had a final practice session, writing a descriptive paragraph.  Everyone will be responsible for creating a descriptive paragraph tomorrow, to be handed in for marks.

EN 10: Reminders from Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Today we began with silent reading.

Next, we created descriptive sentences using visuals.

Finally, students practised their recognition of sentence fragments by working on the interactive site below:

http://www.chompchomp.com/handouts.htm

EN 9: Reminders from Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Today we had some sentence practice.  Students created descriptive sentences based on visuals provided in class.

Students then were given class time to complete chapter ten questions from The War Between the Classes.

These questions will be due on Friday and anyone who has not completed them for homework will join me over lunch on Friday, so that we may ensure that they've been completed before the weekend.

EN 10: Reminders from Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Lit Terms: dramatic irony, dynamic character, euphemism, exposition, expository

We read through the function of verbs and then completed Exercise 29 and 30.

Students then practised irregular verb conjugations using the site:

http://www.chompchomp.com/handouts.htm

Next, students read a number of excerpts from the anthology "In Context II" from where we found and discussed descriptive and figurative language.

Finally, students silent read for the last 10 minutes.

SS 10: Reminders from Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Today we took notes on the the different biome regions of Canada.

Students then began their "regional survivor" project.

If you were away, please see me for the handouts you've missed.

EN 10: Reminders from Monday, February 6, 2012

Lit Terms: denotation, descriptive, dialogue, direct presentation, drama

We looked at a descriptive paragraph and edited it as a class.

We then watched the clip from below (beginning at 15:00- ending at 20:00 min) and in partners, wrote a descriptive paragraph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzm_pTghRsk


Finally, students had time for silent reading.  Please make sure that you are bringing your silent reading books to class.

SS 7: Reminders from Monday, February 6, 2012

After band today, we took an in-depth look at mummification.  We read pages 98-99 from the textbook and took notes on any information that related to mummification.

 Finally, we watched two clips from the internet on the mummification process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MQ5dL9cQX0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwiYnzfLUwI

There will be a quiz on mummification on Friday, February 10 2012.

EN 9: Reminders from Monday, February 6, 2012

This morning, after completing a homework check, it became apparent that we have a serious problem with students taking responsibility for their education.  Out of 24 students, only 7 had completed the reading and study questions.  If this trend continues, we will begin implementing a planner system with all grade nine students.

In pairs, we completed a stage play on a scene from The War Between the Classes.  If you were away, please see me for a rubric outlining the assignment.

SS 10: Reminders from Friday, February 3, 2012

Today, students continued on with their research of GMO foods.  All brochures were completed and handed in at the end of class.

EN 10: Reminders from Friday, February 3, 2012

Literary Terms: comedy, conflict, connotation, contrast

Students watched a clip on traditional African dancing.  As a class, we generated a list of appropriate adjectives that students might use for guidance.

Finally, students created a second descriptive paragraph.

Students will now be expected to bring a novel of their own choosing to class for silent reading.

SS 10: Reminders from Thursday, February 2, 2012

We began with a quiz on analyzing climographs.

Students then watched a series of clips on genetically modified foods:

http://archives.cbc.ca/economy_business/agriculture/topics/1597/


Students finished by beginning a brochure either for/or against genetically modified foods.

EN 10: Reminders from Thursday, February 2, 2012

Literary Terms: character, chronological order, cliche, climax, colloquial

We completed the pronouns worksheets #42-43.

We then looked at creating more interesting sentences, by getting rid of words like "very" and "nice" and replacing them with more specific and sensory vocabulary.

Finally, we created lists of adjectives after watching some online clips.

SS 7: Reminders from Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Today, we began by looking at artifacts brought in by students.  We connected them with how they might relate to our newest learned acronym: SPERMG.

Students wrote a few sentences to prove their mastery of the concept.

We then finished the class with band.

En 9: Reminders from Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Today we began with a homework check.  

We then played a game, Villagers and Werewolves, but we played with specific restrictions, just to show how ridiculous discriminatory practices can be.

Finally, we read chapter eight as a class.  Students were responsible for answering the chapter eight study guide, as well as creating two sentences that focused on a character from the novel.

For homework: students must complete chapter nine study guide questions.

En 10: Reminders from Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Today we began by taking down the following definitions in our glossaries:
ballad, bias, blank verse

Students watched a short presentation on how I mark paragraphs, to enhance their understanding of what good writing looks like.  This was a running dialogue of the thoughts in my head as I mark.

Students then created a new writing file, with a rubric, a writing log, and ministry guidelines.  Students were responsible for filling in their logs.

Finally, students read over the requirements of an expository paragraph.  We then did a demonstration on "how to make a jam sandwich."  Students were then given the task of writing their own expository paragraphs.