Thursday, April 23, 2015: English 8/9 (1)

Today students wrote about gender differences in our society.

Students then discussed these differences compared to the gender differences between the years 1200-1400.  Students were surprised to find some were very similar and some very different.

Students then began watching a documentary on Romeo and Juliet.

To finish the class, students wrote in their journals four new things that they'd learned about Romeo and Juliet.

Language Arts 7

Today we celebrated Earth Day!  We collected a great deal of garbage surrounding the school, including around thirty saturated, repellant diapers.  Our students wore gloves and took all safety precautions when handling the garbage.

All in all, it was a great day and one of which our students can feel proud!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015: English 8/9 (1)

Today students were asked to think, consider, and write about suicide.

Students wrote answers to the following in their journals:

Students were then asked to read one of the articles about teen suicide provided on the blog.

Students then discussed the following terms and how they might relate to suicide:

We spent considerable time discussing the issue and then students followed up by deciding whether or not their prior opinion had remained the same after our discussion.

Though this is a heavy topic, I feel it is important that the issue be discussed amongst our youth.

Language Arts 7

Today students began with a collective reading of the Greek myth "Theseus and The Minotaur".

We then highlighted all of the speech components of the story.  Students then decided on whether speech alone was necessary in order to get the full meaning of the story across to the audience.  Finally, students began investigating how a narrator could fill in the gaps.

Students were then put into groups and will be responsible for creating a shadow puppet presentation based on a Greek myth.

Students collectively began thinking about what would make a good shadow puppet presentation, and their ideas were written on the white board:

Students will continue working towards creation of a rubric for this project next class.

LIFE 101: Harassment Policies

Canadian Policy:
http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/sites/default/files/ahpoliciesworkplace_en_1.pdf

University Policies:
https://www.mun.ca/sexualharassment/resources/university_policies.php

UBC Policy:
http://equity.ubc.ca/discrimination/

English 8/9 (1)

Today students in grade 9 cooked pizza pop-ups while the grade 8s continued with their healthy sexuality discussion.

Language Arts 7: Scavenger Hunt

Use the site below to complete your scavenger hunt.

Please remember:

• each student must hand in their own sheet (even if you work in groups)
• all sheets must be correct if you work in a group to receive your prize
• read through the stories carefully and discuss the answers (if you work in a group) before you commit to a written answer
• Ms McKnight will inform me of your behaviour and if you are disagreeable with your team, you will not receive a prize  

Website:

http://greece.mrdonn.org/greekgods/index.html