English 8/9 (2)

Today students officially began their book review studies.  Students should now all have a book that they will be bringing to class to read and analyze.  Books are to be the student's choice.

We began with a brief review of a personal identity chart.  Students were reminded as to what is encapsulated in a character sketch and a rubric was handed out.  After about 30 minutes of reading, we went over the rubric as a class so that everyone is clear on how to receive top marks for their assignment.

Criteria	Beginning	Developing	Accomplished	Exceeding
Organization ·       neat and tidy ·       colour enhancement ·       logically sequenced information	·       messy work ·       black and white ·       information not in logical placement	·       some effort to make work neat and tidy ·       some colour coding ·       some attempt to put information in a logical sequence	·       work is neat and tidy ·       colour enhances the work ·       information is placed mindfully in the web	·       work has an artistic flare ·       colour is used to make the work eye-catching ·       information is placed mindfully in the web and shows an enhanced understanding of how to categorize
Information ·       physical features ·       behaviour ·       mannerisms ·       personality ·       thoughts ·       style ·       hobbies ·       habits ·       sense of humour	missing 5 the following: ·       physical features ·       behaviour ·       mannerisms ·       personality ·       thoughts ·       style ·       hobbies ·       habits ·       sense of humour	missing 3 the following: ·       physical features ·       behaviour ·       mannerisms ·       personality ·       thoughts ·       style ·       hobbies ·       habits ·       sense of humour	contains all but 1-2 of the following: ·       physical features ·       behaviour ·       mannerisms ·       personality ·       thoughts ·       style ·       hobbies ·       habits ·       sense of humour	contains all of the following: ·       physical features ·       behaviour ·       mannerisms ·       personality ·       thoughts ·       style ·       hobbies ·       habits ·       sense of humour
Character Information ·       protagonist/ antagonist ·       good/evil ·       involvement in plot ·       difference in story without this character	·       does not discuss the position of the character (pro/antagonist; good/evil) ·       does not mention character’s involvement in the plot ·       no mention of how the story would be different without this character	·       minimal discussion of the position of the character (pro/antagonist; good/evil) ·       some mention of character’s involvement in the plot ·       some mention of how the story would be different without this character	·       good discussion of the position of the character (pro/antagonist; good/evil) ·       detailed mention of character’s involvement in the plot ·       detailed mention of how the story would be different without this character	·       elaborately discusses the position of the character (pro/antagonist; good/evil) showing insight ·       detailed mention of character’s involvement in the plot and how it relates to other characters ·       insightful and thoughtful mention of how the story would be different without this character and how other character’s depend upon this character

Initial character sketch drafts will be due by the end of Thursday's class.  Students will then give each other feedback on their character sketches at the beginning of Friday's class.

English 8/9 (1)

Today students officially began their book review studies.  Students should now all have a book that they will be bringing to class to read and analyze.  Books are to be the student's choice.

We began with a brief review of a personal identity chart.  Students were reminded as to what is encapsulated in a character sketch and a rubric was handed out.  After about 30 minutes of reading, we went over the rubric as a class so that everyone is clear on how to receive top marks for their assignment.

Criteria	Beginning	Developing	Accomplished	Exceeding
Organization ·       neat and tidy ·       colour enhancement ·       logically sequenced information	·       messy work ·       black and white ·       information not in logical placement	·       some effort to make work neat and tidy ·       some colour coding ·       some attempt to put information in a logical sequence	·       work is neat and tidy ·       colour enhances the work ·       information is placed mindfully in the web	·       work has an artistic flare ·       colour is used to make the work eye-catching ·       information is placed mindfully in the web and shows an enhanced understanding of how to categorize
Information ·       physical features ·       behaviour ·       mannerisms ·       personality ·       thoughts ·       style ·       hobbies ·       habits ·       sense of humour	missing 5 the following: ·       physical features ·       behaviour ·       mannerisms ·       personality ·       thoughts ·       style ·       hobbies ·       habits ·       sense of humour	missing 3 the following: ·       physical features ·       behaviour ·       mannerisms ·       personality ·       thoughts ·       style ·       hobbies ·       habits ·       sense of humour	contains all but 1-2 of the following: ·       physical features ·       behaviour ·       mannerisms ·       personality ·       thoughts ·       style ·       hobbies ·       habits ·       sense of humour	contains all of the following: ·       physical features ·       behaviour ·       mannerisms ·       personality ·       thoughts ·       style ·       hobbies ·       habits ·       sense of humour
Character Information ·       protagonist/ antagonist ·       good/evil ·       involvement in plot ·       difference in story without this character	·       does not discuss the position of the character (pro/antagonist; good/evil) ·       does not mention character’s involvement in the plot ·       no mention of how the story would be different without this character	·       minimal discussion of the position of the character (pro/antagonist; good/evil) ·       some mention of character’s involvement in the plot ·       some mention of how the story would be different without this character	·       good discussion of the position of the character (pro/antagonist; good/evil) ·       detailed mention of character’s involvement in the plot ·       detailed mention of how the story would be different without this character	·       elaborately discusses the position of the character (pro/antagonist; good/evil) showing insight ·       detailed mention of character’s involvement in the plot and how it relates to other characters ·       insightful and thoughtful mention of how the story would be different without this character and how other character’s depend upon this character

Initial character sketch drafts will be due by the end of Wednesday's class.  Students will then give each other feedback on their character sketches at the beginning of next Wednesday's class.

The class was ended with two presentations by students.

Language Arts 7

Today students began class by generating a list of descriptive language, in particular, directional language:

In partners, students then participated in a split image exercise.  The first set of students faced the white board and the second sat with their backs to the white board.  I placed one image on the white board.  The student facing the picture had to use words to describe the image while the other student was asked to draw what was being described.

Students then swapped roles.

Image 1:

Image 2:

It was explained that this activity was meant to remind students that when writing a descriptive paragraph, it was important to include as many details as possible, so that the image in the mind of the author could be portrayed to the reader.  Students then were asked to, as a class, generate a list of picture details for the Little Red Riding Hood image:

Finally, students observed this final image and were asked to create their own picture detail list in their journals:

Students must either bring a picture from home on Wednesday to create a descriptive paragraph.  If they forget, they will be asked to use one of the pictures from today.


After lunch, students read for 20 minutes.  We then worked through the band method book and played Conquest all the way through for the first time!

Language Arts 7

Today students finished up their expository ("how to") paragraphs and made changes to their edited work.

Students were then taken down to the foods room and baked according to their paragraph's instruction.

The baking powder biscuits looked and smelled delicious!!

After lunch, students had some time to drink a cup of tea, eat their biscuits, and read their novels.  We then headed back to the LA/Band classroom to have a short band rehearsal.