Peter Grimm Handouts for upcoming classes

Comedic devices
Galway the Cat by Stuart McLean
Poetry and Feschuk handout

Marks as of January 24th

Click HERE to see your marks as of January 24th.  If you notice any problems or errors, please contact me.

Several students still have work that needs to be done.  Damon, Daryin, and Brayden -- you still need to make an appointment to complete the Speak final test!  Isabella, Koei, and Daryin still need to complete the practice provincial exam work that we did January 13th!

Plus, there may be one or two smaller things I still have to mark, but if you're all caught up, this is basically your mark heading into the final exam on Tuesday morning.

I will not be available Friday, January 29th.  Please see me Monday to Thursday this week if you have any concerns about missing work or your grade.

It's been an enjoyable five months for me.  Many of you challenged me to be a better teacher, and for that I thank you.  And I know there was the odd day where my patience wore thin -- I hope that I was at least bearable those days.  Take care and if I don't chat with you this week, good luck next semester!

Speak test tomorrow -- Speak practice test answer key

Here is the key for the practice test I handed out today.  Click HERE

Creative writing practice - Speak test Thursday!

We worked on more creative writing practice today by completing another telling/showing activity.
In my lesson, I once again discussed the importance of using the following in creative writing:

Setting (time and place). Describe the surroundings.

Description (describe more than just sight but also touch, smell, taste, sound).

Avoid intensifiers (avoid the words very, really, seriously, totally, completely, extremely, super, über, etc…)

Details (little details increase realism) – ensure they are authentic. For example, don’t name your characters Bob, Joe, Sally, Jim.

Figures of Speech (use a metaphor or simile or personification or onomatopoeia or rhetorical question.

Stream of Consciousness (reach into the person’s mind. Include what they’re thinking about even though it may not necessarily apply to your topic)

Include dialogue – often, writing is more authentic when you hear someone’s voice. It has to be authentic though.

Here are the four telling sentences: students chose one and expanded it

1.    I walked through the forest and thought I heard a sound coming from around the bend in the trail.

2.    She sat on a log and looked out over English Bay in Vancouver.

3.    He turned around and around and soon realized that he was lost.

4.    She tapped the brakes and smiled while thinking about what happened last night.

Irony in Speak, Prov Exam Prep

1. Last day we completed a worksheet on irony in Speak
2. Today we did a quick review of that work and also discussed this year's theme:  inter-connectedness.
3 Five novel questions were given (taken from pages 141-168) and students worked on them today.
4. Then, we looked at the 3-columned Provincial Exam Prep handout from last day and began examining the terms on that sheet.

There will be a Speak test on Thursday (40 multiple choice questions and a written section -- the written section will be setup like the provincial final -- students will have to compare a poem with the novel).

ReQuiz, Melinda's Referral Form, Provincal exam practice

Today we did another quiz and I took the best mark out of the last two quizzes.

Student completed a Counsellor Referral form for Melinda.  That is, they imagined they were one of Melinda's teachers and a school counsellor and they filled out a form for the worrisome behaviour that they see (students handed this in before break). This will be evaluated on creativity, showing insight, and effective writing.

Then we moved onto provincial practice.  Students were given a 3-column handout with all the terms they need to know for the final exam. We practiced the "Reading section" of the provincial exam and wrote the literary paragraphs section.

I also showed students the BC Ministry of Education Website where there are practice provincial exams for them to do.

provincial practice part 2

Today we read for 20 minutes.
There will be another quiz tomorrow on the novel Speak from p. 95-137: this will, in a way, be a re-test.  I'll take the higher of the two grades from the last two quizzes.

Then we did part 2 of our provincial exam practice: discontinuous texts.  We learned that this section is usually either a newspaper article or a webpage; it almost always contains a chart, pie graph, or time-line.  You will be asked between 9 and 12 questions on this reading.

Students read "Larry Lemieu Lifesaver" and answered the 10 questions that followed.  I offered Pink Lady apples to anyone who could get all 10 questions correct.

Updated Marks

Cut and paste this into your browser to get your updated marks.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzzSKr4jhiCLRm1NaEJwbU5uUGM/view?usp=sharing

Or you can also try clicking here

Speak Quiz, provincial exam poetry work

We completed a quiz on the novel Speak (up to p. 116).
We then read silently for 20 minutes.
Then we began discussing the provincial exam. We looked at the first section: the poetry section. We looked at examples and discussed the types of poetry that appear on the exam. I provided an example of the poetry section (from the 2008 Provincial exam); we looked at the poem and worked through the multiple choice questions.
I handed back the compositions that we completed on Jan. 7th.

Showing/Telling, and Punctuating Dialogue correctly

I started class by typing onto the overhead the following thread:  OK can you please sit down and focus your attention at the front of the class.

I read and marked SOME of the compositions – not all of them.  I will be prepared to share those marks with you, but probably not until after class.  Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t get them ALL done. Anyway, after reading them a couple things came up in terms of what I need to teach you in the next two weeks.  Wait, first, let’s talk about what you did well in your compositions.  The level of maturity in your compositions was, frankly, quite surprising.  Several students in this class, let’s be honest, can be a bit silly.  In terms of this composition, though, every student wrote thoughtfully. 

Earlier this year I said that you have to write as if you are 18 years old – and all of you did.  And I don’t know why but that surprised me.  So, that’s the one, significant positive that I gleaned from all of your compositions.

The areas that need to be improved, generally speaking, are two-fold: one, the use of dialogue in your compositions, and the idea of “showing” the reader things and not simply “telling” the reader things. 

Let’s start with the problems with dialogue.

The problems that many/most/all of you have with dialogue is that you’re not punctuating it correctly.

Let’s have a look.

This would be what correctly punctuated dialogue looks like:

                  So I said to the waitress, “Can I please get a coffee?”

                  “No, I’m afraid not. We don’t have any coffee.”

                  “But I really need something to help me wake up,” I replied hopefully.

                  “Well, I can probably find some instant coffee,” she said uncertainly. “Let me go back into the kitchen and see.”

We then worked on more in class writing by completing the lesson below. (students handed this into me and I read some at the end of class).

English 10 -- Showing/Telling Lesson

Telling

Telling is when you simply state what happened.

Showing

Showing is when you use most of your senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, hear) to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. Don’t just tell what happened, DESCRIBE the experience.

Telling Sentence 

She waved goodbye to the boy at the door, but the boy didn’t reply.

An example of a “Showing” paragraph

            Ms. Luella Bates Washington Jones deliberately stepped into the doorway and looked directly into the wide-open eyes of Roger as he backed out of the room.  His steps were as careful and cautious as tightrope-walker.  As Ms. Jones tied the crisp, white apron around her back, her hand, calloused with the hard work, raised.  She waved good-bye, the corners of her mouth pulling outward. Her memory traveled back to her youngest son.

            “Goodness! He looks just like Joel,” she thought.          In the hallway with the smell of black tea surrounding him, Roger waved back and, once again, tried to open his mouth.  His tongue was knotted and thick, like a piece of twisted branch, and once again he could not utter the one thing he wished to say.   

 Showing Assignment

Using the "telling" sentence below, create one "showing" paragraph

 1.  The first time she (or ‘he’ or ‘I’) saw a bear was interesting.

 2. Rita finished her sundae and gave the glass back to the waitress.

 3. It was a cold wet night, but we were warm inside our house.

Tips

1.         Don’t use simple words.

2.         Use a comparison (a simile or metaphor) to give your writing flair.

3.         Don’t use too much dialogue

4.         Remember to use several senses (sight, touch, smell, sound, taste)

5.         Use connecting words (e.g. however, otherwise, nonetheless, although, whenever, whether, etc. . . ). This will make your writing have more FLOW (and flow is good)

Remember to read to p. 116 in Speak by Monday

Elevating Vocabulary and Provincial exam practice

Three objectives were taught today in English class: we reinforced the importance of elevating your vocabulary (with a worksheet from Speak); we reviewed the "English 10-Exam Tips" sheet and focussed on the 'Original Composition - Writing' section; finally, we did an actual practice of the Writing section by practicing.   That is, for the second half of class, students quietly sat at their desks and completed a 'mock provincial exam composition.'

The writing prompt used was "Keeping an open mind allows for growth."  These compositions were handed in at the end of class.  Beth, Kate, you can do this whenever you'd like (please give yourself only 75 minutes and then turn it in when you return).

Students should continue reading speak (no reading homework was given).  Students should have read up to p. 116 by this Monday.

Hey, how's Japan?

Hi Kate and Beth.  Hope you're enjoying your time in Japan.  I can't imagine what it's like being in such a different culture.

Today we discussed three threads of theme that run through the novel Speak: ostracism, conformity, and finding your voice.  I asked students to read this novel not merely to understand the plot but read it and examine the theme while you're reading it.

We discussed analogies today and looked at the one on p. 9.  "Art follows lunch like dreams follow nightmares."  We learned that analogies are like similes and metaphors but they extends the comparison.  Really long ones can also be called extended metaphors.

Students spent 20 minutes creating at least three of their own analogies such as "RSS without Mr. Stevens is like cake without icing."

Welcome Back

1. Welcome back
2. Review the next three weeks.  Two primary areas we'll be doing are reading and studying the novel Speak and preparing for final exam.  Prepare to spend at least HALF of each long block class on quiet, in-class writing.
3. Opening Activity:  In a group create a Top Ten list:  the top 10 unwritten rules for new students to RSS (e.g for new grade 8's).  Criteria:  refrain from criticism of teachers or other students, write legibly, and, most importantly, be clever, humorous, and innovative.  Top 10 lists were handed in / presented to classmates.
4.  Students began reading the novel Speak quietly in class.
5. Students were asked to read to p. 14 for homework.

We discussed the word "ostracize" and mentioned that it would be one of the themes of the novel.