Intro German 11 -- Wer ist der Typ?

We finished off chapter 6 by learning about the verb wissen. We completed number 21 and 22 in kapitel 6.

The chapter 6 test will now be Tuesday. Monday's class will be spend preparing for Tuesday's test. Students are encouraged to begin studying, though, this weekend.

English 12 -- Provincial exam marking

Today we continued to discuss the original composition on the provincial exam. Students were given lots of tips and advice on how to approach their original composition on their final exam.

Students were given the marking guide and given 11 essays to mark. These essays and marking assignment allowed students to see just how easy it is to pass this section of the test, but at the same time, it also showed them how difficult it is to get an A on this section.

Next day we'll continue with our Ted talks unit.

English 12 -- Ted talks

Today students were introduced to Ted.com Students visited this website and watched videos and reported back to class what they learned. I explained the expectations of the Ted talk unit (two sets of notes and one composition), and I also shared an example of the notes and the composition.

Together we watched a Ted talk on "The Man Box" as well as a ted talk called "Stroke of Insight" -- our discussion ranged from evolutionary biology, to empathy, to reconciling ones mortality. All in all some stimulating discussion.

Oh, last day's work (the poem on poetry) still needs to be handed in for the following students: Mitch, Jeralee, Cassidi, Amy, Harley,Tanner, Brit, Emily S.

Intro German 11 - Negation

Today we reviewed the key concept of chapter 6: modal auxillary verbs. We worked through a worksheet on that.
Then I introduced Negation -- we took notes and completed questions 14-18. These questions are for homework.
We will be writing our Chapter 6 test on Monday.

English 12 -- "The rest is silence"

Today we wrote our Hamlet final test in the first half and then we proceeded to discuss our work on the provincial exam in the second half.

To end, we watched the last half of the film Hamlet starring Ethan Hawke (oh, and we watched a bit of the Lion King too which is another adaptation of Hamlet).

The following students have still NOT handed in their original composition section from our practice provincial exam: Thomas, Annie, July, Cass, Amy, Mitch, Cloe, (Emily S will finish this up this weekend).

Intro German 11 - Wie schmeckt's

Today we began chapter 6. We completed questions 1-4.
Then we took notes in order to understand how Modal Auxiliary verbs work in German. Students then completed and handed in Questions 7 - 11.

Tentative Term 1 Marks!

English 12 -- Tentative Term 1 Marks -- click HERE
Intro German 11 -- Tentative Term 1 Marks -- click HERE

Intro German 11 -- Wie gefällt dir Deutschklasse?

We began class with a bit of a discussion auf deutsch. Then I reviewed with the class the odd verb gefallen . When using that verb, ensure that you know that it sort-of reverses the word order. For example, Herr Pfeiffer's blog gefällt mir means I like Mr. Pfeiffer's blog.

Then we worked on our green chapter 5 review booklets in order to prepare for our chapter 5 test on Monday.

Tips for Monday's test: Remember the idiom "Übung macht den Meister" (practice makes perfect). Also, ensure you know the nouns der Zug and der Bahnhof. Frankreich is France and the phrase "keine Schule" means " no school as in Heute habe ich keine Schule (Today I have no school).

English 12 -- "Good night sweet prince"

Today we went over and discussed the first part of the provincial exam practice that we completed last day. We also learned explicitly the three types of irony: situational, verbal, and dramatic.

Students handed in their 'entrance slips' assigned last day. Then we finished 'reading' the play.

Our Hamlet test will take place next Wednesday: remember to study all the notes we've taken (on the play's background, allusions, and even Freudian psychology), review the play, and ensure you know the importance of all the quotations given to you on the yellow quotation study sheet for Wednesday's test.

Intro German 11 - Wie viel , Wie viele

Today we learned the difference between wie viel (how much) and wie viele (how many). This was the last thing that we needed to learn in Kapitel 5.

I handed out an extensive study booklet for Kapitel 5 -- students worked on this during the second half of class.

Our chapter 5 Test will now be on MONDAY.

Dom, I saw the photos of the metal plates that were in your leg. . . pretty cool. Get better and see ya soon!

English 12 -- Sweets to the Sweet

Today we spent the first half of the class working on the first section of a practice provincial exam. Absent students, please do this in homework club next week (Jera, Amy)

After break we discussed a bit of Freudian psychology and looked at Oedipal and Electra complexes as part of Freud's psycho-sexual stages of development.

We read Act 5 scene 1.

Exit slip/Entrance slip for next class: Why is the image of Hamlet holding a skull so important? (i.e. What transpires in this scene that's so significant)

Intro German 11 - Wie ist das Wetter?

Today we continued work on chapter 5. We corrected questions 6 - 9. And then we completed questions 14 and 15.
We also completed a listening activity.
We will very likely be doing our chapter 5 test on Friday morning.

English 12 -- cut his throat i' the church

Today I introduced Thursday's lesson on Freud.
We finished reading Act 4 today. Oh, and we wrote a quiz at the start of class.

English 12 - "Now I will drink hot blood"

We finished reading Act 3 after we took some notes (and discussed) the elements of Shakespearean Tragedies.

We also had an exit slip assignment. No homework was assigned.

Intro German 11 -- Skits

Today we performed out skits and watched the Kapitel 4 video as well as reviewing the plural of nouns.

English 12 -- To be or not to be

Today we listened to Holiday by Green Day and discussed the meaning of the song. It ended with a broader discussion of concept albums like The Who's Tommy and My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade.

We read the first scene of Act 3 and heard Hamlet's famous speech.
Then we proceeded with a paraphrasing assignment for the "To be or not to be" soliloquy.

Intro German 11 -- Kapitel 4 re-test

Königin by the German band Pur -- that's the song we've been listening too lately, Katja. Click here to listen to it

Today we did our re-test on chapter 4 and I handed back the listening section for kapitel 4.
We learned, took notes, and discussed how the plural of nouns is formed in German. We completed some activities on this.

Then we worked on a Rollenspiel (roll-play) that we will present in Friday's class. You will have a chance to work on it at the beginning of class Friday and then you'll present at the end of class.

Intro German 11 -- zu Besuch

Today we continued with Kapitel 5 by completing questions 3,4.
We reviewed the Kapitel 4 test so we can study for the re-test tomorrow.

As I said at 3:10 there'll be questions like the ones below where you have to construct a sentence using these words, in order, by adding some words, and by conjugating verbs.

1. Wann/bringen/du/Landkarte
The answer would be: Wann bringst du die Landkarte
Now try the ones below yourselves.
2. Herr/kommen/neun Uhr
3. Computer/kosten/zweitausend Mark
4. Ich/brauchen/Schultasche

Psst: here's another hint -- Telefon is a das word -- das Telefon
Also, the German word gleich means "right away" or "immediately", but you knew that already:)

English 12

Today we reviewed the two different ways one can interpret Hamlet: as a resolute or irresolute character.
We also discussed how Hamlet used his 'antic disposition' as a way to protect and shield him from Claudius.
I handed out some discussion questions which students worked on in groups.
Riley Hillier came up with some excellent points today -- as did Emily McKay.
Next day, we'll look at Hamlet's famous speech in depth.

Intro German 11 -- Ich besuche meine Tante

Introduction to Kapitel 5.
We copied out the intro notes, and then we completed #1,2 from that chapter.
Students were returned their disappointing Kapitel 4 written test. Study and go over this tonight. We'll discuss tomorrow. On Wednesday, we'll be writing another Kapitel 4 written test during our long block (I guess we can call it a re-test)
Ski-boys -- let's wait until Wednesday to do the Chapter 4 test.
Oh, we also listened to Der Kommissar by Falco (Ski boys -- you need to youtube it!)

English 12 -- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive

Today we read from p. 35 to p. 42 where we learned the theme of deceit continued as Hamlet's school friends arrived to 'visit' him. In fact they have been hired by Claudius to try and discover why Hamlet has been acting so antic as of late (Hamlet is NOT at all impressed that Claudius is manipulating his old school friends in this way).

I also handed out a yellow sheet that lists 21 quotations from the play. Students began to write down the significance of these quotations (your Hamlet unit exam will include several of these quotations).

Intro German 11 - Kapitel 4 Prüfung

Today, simply, we completed the Kapitel 4 test.

English 12 Hamlet is he resolute or irresolute

Today we discussed whether Hamlet should be interpreted as a 'man of action' (resolute) or a 'man of inaction' (irresolute) -- I subscribe to the idea that he is resolute. We took a few notes on this and watched 10 minutes of another movie that showed Hamlet as a man of inaction.
We took some notes on the background of Shakespeare's life.
We completed an Act 1 quiz.
We also read Act 2 scene 1 and had the following exit slip assignment:

Why is Ophelia so upset at the end of Act 2 scene 1 (i.e. what has happened?).

Please try to be specific.

No homework was given.