English 10 Final Marks posted

Click here to see your final school mark in English 10 (note your final, FINAL mark will include your provincial exam mark -- that will be available March 4th online)
Note: there are three columns to read.
Term 1 is your term mark from November
Term 2 is your term mark from November until now
Overall is your final class mark (i.e. WITHOUT your provincial exam mark).

Class average is 77% (which is quite high)
There were 8 A's and 8 B's in our English 10 class.

Thanks again for a fun semester, and see you on the track in the spring!

English 8 Final Marks

Click here to see your final marks in English 8.
NOTE: there are four columns to read.
Term 1 is your term 1 mark from November
Term 2 is your mark from November until now.
Term 3 is your FINAL EXAM mark.
Overall is your final, final mark in English 8.

Good news: everyone passed English 8! Class average of the final mark was 78% (that's quite high!). There were 9 A's and 10 B's in a class of 28 students (again, that's quite high!).

Well done everyone and see you on my track team in the spring!

Marks update

I continue to work on getting marks done. They're not quite ready. I've marked the written section of the English 8 exam and I've completed 'late' work handed in by English 10 students. Please keep checking the blog. I should have updated marks in the next few days.

English 10 Thanks for the course evaluations

This afternoon you'll be writing your provincial exam-- good luck!

Thanks you for the course/teacher evalutations. I read them carefully and have taken some valuable information from them (a couple REALLY creative ones too . . . one written from the point of view of a pen and another written from the point of view of my projector -- wow!)

Here are some points that came up in your evaluations a few times:
I was pleased that many of you felt that I did well in helping to improve your writing.
I should try and engage you with more creative writing opportunities -- childhood memory assignment was 'fun' for students.
I should employ more artsy projects in class to keep a good mixture of assignments.
Several of you also stated, quite clearly, that the Calgary Flames suck. Sadly, I have to disagree with all of you on that point.

I enjoyed teaching and getting to know all of you. Take care and say hi in the hallways.
Your final English 10 school grade will be available later this week. I'll post it outside my room.
Please make the time to see or email me if you have any missing assignments or tests that can be made up this week.
Your final exam mark will be posted on-line in about 3 weeks (Mr. Louttit in the library can show you how to find it when the time rolls around).

English 10

Today we reviewed the three key handouts that students will use to study for their final English 10 provincial exam (which will be written next Tuesday at 12:30pm). I was even a swell enough fellow to print off extra copies of these handouts for those students who had lost theirs (I know, I know, I shouldn't be THAT swell -- can't help it, though -- just the kind of guy I am.)

Homework: study for Romeo and Juliet test this Thursday (tips: When Capulet gets angry at Juliet for not wanting to marry Paris, he threatens her with disinheritence, putting her in a nunnery, beating her, AND giving her poison. -- nasty guy, eh? Another hint: know the four characters who die in the last scene.)
One final tip:"The sweetest honey is loathsome in its own deliciousness" is a statement by the Friar given as advice to the newlyweds. He uses this metaphor to say that if sweet things such as honey, or young love are taken to extreme they often are no longer desireable; in other words, his advice for R and J is that they "love moderately" or, as your parents might say, "slow it down."

Homework: study for Eng.10 final next Tuesday.

English 8 -- updated marks posted!

Today we reviewed the terms from our vocabulary sheets back in September/October. We listed them on the board and you can click HERE to view the vocab sheets (in case you lost them) and help you understand what the words mean.

Also, click HERE if you wish to see your updated term 2 mark for English 8.

Then we ended the class with a worksheet where we reviewed two types of poems that you learned in elementary school: limericks and haiku's.

Homework: Students should be studying for their final exam by studying the terms, and by working through the final exam review.

Note: I will almost certainly not be at school on Thursday or Friday; you'll have a substitute teacher and you'll be learning a bit about poetry, reviewing for the final, evaluating the course (I hope), and finishing up your work on Big Fish.
If you need to ask me questions before the final exam, you can email me apfeiffer@sd19.bc.ca OR you can come in on Monday at some point and ask.

English 10

I began by juggling, rather unsuccessfully, three citrus fruit.
Then we reviewed the main characters from Romeo and Juliet.
A surprise quotation quiz on the play was given to students.

Homework: study for the Romeo and Juliet test on Thursday.

English 8

Today students took notes on the "Blueprint of the English 8 Exam". Students now know each and every detail of our final exam (which is next Tuesday). This was written down in their notebooks.

Then we worked on a final exam review sheet which serves as a way to study terms and as a way to practice writing a final exam.

English 10

Today we began by, again, discussing the provincial exam. I handed back students' work from last day and we discussed, at length, the main problem that students had with the literary essay.

We read almost all of Act 5 of Romeo and Juliet.

For Homework:
Read the last three pages of the play.
Study for your final exam by creating a study sheet of all the terminology we learned this year. Also, review the glossary of terms I handed (the one from the Ministry of Education that states what terms you need to know).
Finally, go to the RSS website and click on the examinations link: there you'll find your way to the e-exam website (like I showed you this week). Go through and write one of the English 10 e-exams and see how well you do.
Your final exam is Tuesday, Jan 25th at 12:30pm.
Good luck and shred ya later!

English 8

Today we met down in the cafeteria and we continued our film study of Big Fish. Students were organized into groups of four. Students chose a central character from the film and surrounded their character with three collages that represent three important threads of plot. For each of the three plot collages, students were to write a brief paragraph explaining that part of the story.

We'll continue work on this next week some time.

For homework: students should begin reviewing ALL the terminology learned this year. Specifically look at the vocabulary sheets given in September (you'll find words like metaphor, simile, jargon, personification). Study those for the final exam. In addition, find the short story notes (eg. dynamic character, theme, rising action, setting) and study them for the final exam.

Any excellent way to study is to create a study sheet. That is, re-write each of the terms and it's definition and given an example, if you can.

Remember, your final exam is Tuesday, Jan. 25th.

English 10

Students began by preparing, once again, for their final exam. For the first time this year, students were told by their teacher to 'sit down and be quiet and work quietly for 75 minutes straight'. Although this wasn't enough time to finish the exam, this gave students a sense of what the test will be like 12 days from now.

After break we completed reading to the end of Act 4 and then we watched a bit of the older version of the film (beginning at the balcony scene).

For homework, students were encouraged to study for their final exam (studying the notes and handouts I've given as well as completing one of the several online e-exams for English 10. Link can be found on my course outline.). In addition, students should study their yellow quotation sheet and last day's worksheet to prepare for the Romeo and Juliet test next Thursday, Jan. 20th.

English 8

Today's class was spent down in the cafeteria snarfin' down popcorn watching Tim Burton's movie Big Fish. We discussed the importance of hyperbole and idiom in the movie as well as its layered plot. Students are supposed to go home and when their big brother claims to have "Stomped a 15 foot cliff", reply to your brother, "Awww, that's just a fish story -- you didn't stomp a 15 foot cliff -- you fell off of a three foot rock! "

In other words, 'telling a fish story' is an when a person uses exaggeration (hyperbole) when they tell a story; this was, of course, a central idea of the movie Big Fish.

Next day we'll do a post-viewing activity on Big Fish in groups, probably in the cafeteria again.

To read up on and learn more about the movie Big Fish click here

English 8

Today we wrote our final test on The Giver.

Next day we'll be doing a film study of the movie Big Fish.

The following students STILL need to hand in the Memory Assignment: Keeley, Brandon, Chris, Chase, Jess, Angus, Anne.

English 10

We began today with a handout which reviewed the play thus far: on the handout, students had to complete sentences that described the main point of each scene. This will be finished and handed in, once we finish reading the play (ski boys -- you can get this when you return and work on it over this weekend).

We reviewed how Juliet hopes that fortune will be 'fickle', as well as the implications of Romeo's banishment to Mantua.

We read aloud from pp. 58 to p. 64. We discussed the Friar's plan to solve the problem at length (ski boys, please read p. 63 carefully and ensure you understand the Friar's plan for Juliet).

English 8 - Test on The Giver tomorrow

Homework: students must finsh reading The Giver. There will be a test on the whole novel tomorrow.

Students were handed back their career paragraphs.
Students handed in their Giver Memory Assignment paragraphs. The following students did NOT hand in the Memory Assignment: Keeley, Brandon, Chris, Chase, Drinnon, Jess, Angus, Anne. Please submit it tomorrow.

We read the chapter where Jonas discovers the reality of what 'Release' actually is.

Students are reminded to finish the novel and consider that there are two ways to interpret the ending: one, that Jonas and Gabriel escape to Elsewhere; two, that Jonas and Gabriel actually die (that's right, die. Remember, Jonas loses consciousness, and he envisions those pleasant memories -- that can be a suggestion that those were his last memories before he dies). Although both interpretations are vastly different from one another, they are both correct.

English 10

Today students took notes on the characteristics of Shakespearean Tragedy. We then read to p. 58 (where Juliet says goodbye to Romeo in Act 3 scene 5.

Our Romeo and Juliet test will occur next week some time.

We learned that the word fickle means 'inconstant' or 'not consistent'. Men often say that 'women are fickle.' Juliet wishes Fortune to be fickle because she wants fate to change what it has done to her and Romeo.

English 10

Today students took their yellow handout "English 10 - Quotations Study Sheet" for Romeo and Juliet.

We watched the first half of the 1968 version of the movie, noting the importance of the quotations from the yellow sheet when they appeared (remember these quotations will appear on your Romeo and Juliet test, tentatively set on January 20th -- so you'll need to know them!)

Absent students, do the same. Watch the first half of the movie, paying attention to the yellow sheet. You can find a 1958 version of the play here on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6zKB6_mo_M&feature=related

English 8

Today I explained the ins and outs of exam week -- Jan. 24th - 28th.
The English 8 exam will be on Tuesday, Jan 25th in the morning from 8:45 to 11:00. The exam will count for 20% of the students' overall grade. Jan. 26-28th are project completion days (only students who are failing or at risk of failing will have to attend).

In class today we discussed the term imagery and students began working on their "Creative Writing -- Memory Assignment" where they imagine they are the Giver as they transmit a memory to a person (using descriptive writing). The focus of the assignment is to have students use imagery and descriptive writing to engage ALL FIVE SENSES.

Students worked on this during class and a good copy will be due for homework.

English 10

Provincial Exam Discussion, Preparation, and Practice.

Today's work focused specifically on the English 10 provincial exam coming up at the end of January. Students worked through an entire exam, section by section. We stopped, corrected, and commented on most questions. We read student samples of literary essays from the exam and we marked and discussed them.

Students were also handed out the BC Ministry of Education List of Terms and Devices that they must know for the final exam.

English 8

Homework assigned: read chapter 16, 17 and 18 for homework.
We reviewed two of the themes of the novel: the necessity of having, remembering, and learning from unpleasant memories; the importance of being given choice in our lives.

We read quietly for a while and then we discussed and defined the term IMAGERY. After a pink worksheet on imagery, students were given a writing assignment where they will pretend that they are Jonas and that the Giver is giving them a descriptive memory. This writing assignment won't be due until next week some time.

Paragraphs are still needed from Angus, Chase and Brooke.

English 10

Compositions from the end of December were handed back. No comments were given: students were encouraged to see me to ask for feedback. Each student may also choose to re-write the composition in homework club this week (I will take the higher mark of the two compositions that were written.) A different topic will be given.

Writing Tips were discussed
#1 Familiarize yourself with and use the word 'epiphany'.
#2 Don't use slang/jargon no matter what subject you are discussing (i.e. even an essay on free skiing cannot use the phrase "slaying gnarly lines.")
#3 Avoid intensifiers (e.g. very, really, so totally, completely, extremely, ridiculously . . . ). Instead of describing something as 'very interesting', describe it as 'intriguing' or 'captivating'.

We read Act 2 scene 1 and discussed the significance of Mercutio's famous line "a plague on both your houses."

No homework was given, although I expect several students will choose to re-write their compositions.

English 8

Today we learned that when an author writes a novel, she often has two purposes: create an interesting story, and reveal a theme (or message) to the reader.

In Lowry's novel The Giver, one of her themes is that choice is important, and even if we make errors when we choose something, we gain important experience that will help us in our lives. She also reveals another important theme, and that is that painful memories are important because they help make us stronger and, like the other theme mentioned, help us learn from the past.

Several students still have to hand in their paragraphs on careers from last class: Chase, Brooke, Angus, Jayden, Curtis.
Homework: read to the end of chapter 15 for next class (Thursday morning).