English 8/9 (2)

Today students began by collaborating on their discussion rubrics.

Students then worked on their review packages for The Pearl.  Students also had some time to create a visual aid (story plot diagram) for our round table discussion this coming Thursday, November 5th.  This discussion will take place in lieu of a test.

Please make sure you study up for the discussion!

English 8/9 (2)

Today students were given class time to practice and perform their skits from The Pearl.

After this was done, students were reminded about the features of a story plot diagram.  Students outlined the labels and then in small groups, wrote down events from the story that represented the different categories of the story plot diagram.

When this was done, students collaborated on an assessment rubric for our upcoming discussion on The Pearl.

Language Arts 7

Today students first wrote a quiz labelling the points of a story plot diagram.

Students then recorded spelling words for which they will be tested a week from today (Wednesday, November 5th).

Finally, students began participating in a round table discussion.  This process was meant to practice and understand what makes a good discussion so that we can work on creating a discussion rubric next class.

After lunch, students played their band instruments.

English 8/9 (1)

Today students began by refreshing themselves on the outline of a story plot diagram.

Then, students found examples from Of Mice and Men that represent the different points on the diagram and wrote them on sticky notes to post on the diagram.

Students then spent time discussing and creating a Discussion Rubric, which will be used to assess their upcoming book discussion on November 5th.

Finally, students took time to begin creating a graphic to help them in their discussion or chose to read quietly.

English 8/9 (2)

Today students finished watching The Pearl.

Students then worked on their scripts in preparation for their short performance next class.

October 23rd: English 8/9 (2)

Today students began watching The Pearl.

English 8/9 (1)

Today students watched the rest of Of Mice and Men.

Language Arts 7

Today students were refreshed by reading the last chapter of White Jade Tiger.

Students then were introduced to a story plot diagram.

We created one together on the white board and then students worked in groups to find specific events from the novel that would fall under each category.

Students were then responsible for creating their own diagram to help them on Wednesday when we have a round table discussion on White Jade Tiger.

English 8/9 (2)

Today students cooked corn cakes, just as Juana and Kino would have eaten in John Steinbeck's The Pearl.

Language Arts 7

Today students got a taste of cooking!

They created their own fortunes and then made fortune cookies.

This was a great success!

English 8/9 (1)

Today students imagined they were alive during the great depression.  They cooked up and ate a meagre corn bread and drank tea.

English 8/9 (2)

Today students began writing a story that follows the story plot of The Pearl, by John Steinbeck.

Students chose from a variety of story starters and chose to include a few themes in their stories.

Language Arts 7 - October 15th 2014

A TOC was in for me today.

Students were asked to use the laptops to come up with more interesting facts on Chinatowns in BC.  They could also choose to investigate Hell’s Gate in BC, or any of the other towns mentioned in the book White Jade Tiger.  They needed to make sure that two of the facts related to BC in the 1880s.

Students then shared facts in small groups.

Chapters 17-18 were assigned for reading homework.

The students participated in Aboriginal Education after lunch.

English 8/9 (1) - October 15th 2014

A TOC was in for me today.


Students began writing a story using the outline from Of Mice and Men.

• ·      2 Men look for work
• ·      men find work on a farm
• ·      a series of events will happen
• ·      someone is killed by one of the men
• ·      the one man ends up having to kill the other

Students will continue on with these stories on Friday.

English 8/9 (2)

Today students refreshed themselves on themes in The Pearl.

Students then wrote a paragraph on one of the themes from the novel.  Students used the sheet created last week in small groups as evidence for their paragraphs.  Before students began writing, we came up with an outline on the theme of Hopes and Dreams.

Students were also reminded to use connectors between sentences in the body of their paragraphs.

Students were given the whole class to write their paragraphs and were asked to choose a theme different from the one the one we covered in class.  These can be seen below:

Themes in The Pearl

Religion:

·      They want to baptize Coyotito (p.21)

·      Juana and Kino will get married in a church (p.24)

·      The Priest came by and told Kino that he was named after a great man of the church (p.27)

·      Juana thinks Kino is half insane and half god (around p.77)

·      When people were discussing how Kino should spend his money form the pearl, they suggested masses and giving it to the Pope (p.43)

·      Juan Thomas talks of a sermon by the Priest (p.46)

Gender:

·      Kino is the man of the house, Juana would cook, clean and listen to Kino’s orders (p.2)

·      Kino hits Juana and her reaction is accepting of the behavior (p.59, 76-in other book)

·      Kino is the aggressor and protector of the family (p.114)

Family:

·      Juana and Kino will get married in a church (p.24)

·      When Juan Tomas hid Kino (p.67)

·      Coyotito is stung and the villagers come together (p.6/7)

·      When Kino takes the pearl to the town the villagers follow (p.48/49)

·      The canoe is a sustainment for each family (around p.80)

·      Kino thinks of the song of the family (p.3)

Good and Evil

·      Kino thinks of the song of the family – this is good (p.3)

·      The pearl is evil (p.56/57)

·      Kino hears the song of evil because Coyotito was stung by the scorpion (p.5)

·      Kino kills a man and hits Juana (p.59)

·      Kino hears the song of evil when they arrive at the doctor’s house (p.9)

English 8/9 (1)

Today students wrote a paragraph on one of the themes from Of Mice and Men.

I began by outlining the form of a paragraph and gave some examples of sentences that might be used if writing about hopes and dreams.  Students must have a topic sentence, body sentences, and a concluding sentence.

Sample body sentences:

Students had the rest of the class to complete this assignment.  Students who finished early were given a review package to work on.

Language Arts 7

Today students began the class by choosing 6 words from chapter 14 of White Jade Tiger.  They provided definitions and illustrations for their chosen words.

Students then watched a documentary on China and had to record and share 10 things that they wondered about.  We watched 23 minutes of the documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8BVfdct5LU

After lunch, students had some time read, either WJT, a free choice book, or they could find more word definitions.

Students then had a brain break on the equipment outside.

Finally, students came in and completed a word search on China.

For homework, students must read chapters 15 and 16 in White Jade Tiger.

English 8/9 (2)

Today students started class by presenting their completed homework.  Students then generated some recall and response and critical thinking questions.

Next, students were asked to come up with a definition of a theme.  We then listed some themes featured in The Pearl.

Students then found scenes that reinforced hopes and dreams as a theme in the novel:

In small groups, students generated more lists of scenes that encompass the varying themes we discussed:

Themes in The Pearl

Religion:

·      They want to baptize Coyotito (p.21)

·      Juana and Kino will get married in a church (p.24)

·      The Priest came by and told Kino that he was named after a great man of the church (p.27)

·      Juana thinks Kino is half insane and half god (around p.77)

·      When people were discussing how Kino should spend his money form the pearl, they suggested masses and giving it to the Pope (p.43)

·      Juan Thomas talks of a sermon by the Priest (p.46)

Gender:

·      Kino is the man of the house, Juana would cook, clean and listen to Kino’s orders (p.2)

·      Kino hits Juana and her reaction is accepting of the behavior (p.59, 76-in other book)

·      Kino is the aggressor and protector of the family (p.114)

Family:

·      Juana and Kino will get married in a church (p.24)

·      When Juan Tomas hid Kino (p.67)

·      Coyotito is stung and the villagers come together (p.6/7)

·      When Kino takes the pearl to the town the villagers follow (p.48/49)

·      The canoe is a sustainment for each family (around p.80)

·      Kino thinks of the song of the family (p.3)

Good and Evil

·      Kino thinks of the song of the family – this is good (p.3)

·      The pearl is evil (p.56/57)

·      Kino hears the song of evil because Coyotito was stung by the scorpion (p.5)

·      Kino kills a man and hits Juana (p.59)

·      Kino hears the song of evil when they arrive at the doctor’s house (p.9)

Finally, students were given a script and asked to re-enact a scene from The Pearl.  We will present these next class.