Updated Marks Posted for English 8 and 10!

Click here to get your updated English 8 mark.

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English 8

Today we wrote a quiz on Chapters 10, 11, and 12 of The Giver.

I marked and handed back the "Imaginary Worlds" worksheet we did last day (the green one).

We then had a guided discussion regarding each student's thoughts about their own future and possible careers.

After break we had our own Ceremony of Twelve (luckily, no one was released for misbehaviour). Then the following formal paragraph assignment was given (this will be due at the end of class on Friday -- so students should work on this for homework):

In a formal paragraph discuss the following:

Would you prefer a career that is considered prestigious (doctor, lawyer) but would also require great sacrifice (long hours, stress), or would you prefer a career that would be less prestigious (labourer, janitor, carpenter) that would be less stressful and allow you to spend more time with family and friends.

Remember to look over you last paragraph and try not to make any of the same errors you made last time.

If you cannot decide, then please discuss what kind of career you are considering and why.

This will be due at 1:20pm on Friday, Dec.17^th.

English 10

Today in English 10 we spent the first half practicing for our provincial exam: students completed the writing section. I handed out a pink sheet that gave several tips for the provincial exam; students used this while they wrote.

We finished reading Act 2 of Romeo and Juliet. (we learned what the word bawdy means and what the word pun means).

Finally we watched a 12 minuted Ted Talk by Tony Porter called a call to men (watch it again here). We watched this TedTalk to educate ourselves about the role that men should play in helping to improve this world, but also we imagined it would have been a good video for Mercutio to watch.

Oh, I bought donuts for the class. I'd like to wish you all a Froehliche Weihnachten! (that's Merry Christmas in German)

English 8

Students wrote a quiz on chapters 7-9 of the Giver, then read quietly. I marked and returned the quizzes before the end of class and we began a discussion on why this 'perfect world' is starting to show signs that it is not at all a utopia.

English 10

We took some notes and discussed further sentence variety. Students were given Act 1 Romeo and Juliet questions. Students copied out the answers that I gave them (which were written using the types of sentences that I used during the sentence variety discussion). Then students were to finish the last 5 questions for homework tomorrow.

English 10

TIP: There will likely be a surprise quiz on Act 1 tomorrow. When asked by her mother "How stands your disposition to be married?", Juliet replies with WHAT words? (i.e. make sure you know what Juliet says)

We began class by taking a few notes and discussing the following:
-Old English, Middle English, and Modern English
-archetypes and archetypal characters (Romeo and Juliet is an archetypal story; the doomed lovers are archetypal characters)
-an archetype is an original model after which other things are patterned (similar to a prototype)
-unrequited love (love that is not reciprocated)
-the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet (three quatrains and a couplet)

We finished reading Act 1. Romeo and Juliet met at the Capulet ball and both are reveling in the ecstasy of their new-found love but also agonizing that they've discovered that they are each others enemy.

We wrote down the outline for our English 10 final exam and began discussing it. Students were presented with some student samples of the composition from an old final exam. Students seemed generally surprised at how attainable a 4 out of 6 is on the composition.

English 8

Today we began by reviewing the notes we took on formal writing. Then we worked on a piece of formal writing. Students worked on a paragraph; the topic was "Discuss your likes and dislikes of the Community in the novel The Giver".

We I gave students examples of introductions and gave students strategies on how to write their main points. In addition, I reminded students that they must do their best to SHOW ME HOW SMART THEY ARE in this piece of writing (i.e. by making inferences and perhaps even comparing the novel to our world).

This paragraph is due tomorrow. If all student complete the paragraph for class tomorrow, I'll buy donuts for the class.

Students must read chapters 7,8,9 for Monday, Dec. 12th.

English 10

We began by discussing the background to the life and times of William Shakespeare. Students were given a handout with some background information. Please study the more important points of this background information.

We also discussed what we know about Romeo and Juliet.

We read Act 1 Scene 1 (up to line 128)

Students learned that in this play stars = fate or fortune, and that in the chorus, the audience not only learns the basic plot of the play, but also learns that Romeo and Juliet were 'star-crossed' or doomed by fate.

English 8

Homework: read to end of chapter 6 for Dec. 7th class. Students were handed back their quizzes from last week: congratulations to these students who got an 'A' on the quiz: Maddy
Rhys, Grayson , Angus, Katie, Jayden, Isabelle, GrayGrayson, and Sonia. Hey, Athabasca girl, hope you had a safe and happy weekend -- please try to have your reading done for tomorrow's class (we'll do the quiz when you get back to class!)

Today we took notes on formal paragraphs: see below. We also looked at examples of formal paragraphs and began discussing what errors were made.

NOTES:

Writing Formal Paragraphs Dec.6 2010

Formal Paragraph Requirements

· Good copy in ink (pen or computer)

· Indented

· Made up of sentences (capital letters to begin and periods to end)

Structure of a formal paragraph

· Opening or introduction

o Topic sentence (often called THESIS statement)

· One or more main ideas (three main ideas is often best)

· Summarize or re-phrase your topic.

NOTE:

Avoid sounding like a list.

Do not use small, ineffective words like (good, bad, sad, nice, things, stuff, mean)

Elevate your vocabulary (use more sophisticated words)

Use connecting words (although, however, because, furthermore, consequently)

Vary (or change up) your sentence patterns.

English 8 Updated Marks posted Dec.2

Click HERE to get your updated mark for English 8.

English 8

English 8 Homework: Read to the end of Chapter 3 of the Giver by Friday, Dec. 3rd!

English 10 Marks Updated Dec. 2nd

Click HERE to see your updated English 10 mark.