Curious reading, article &questions last day, Original Comp today

Last day students read an article about Mark Haddon and answered questions.  These were handed in before the end of class.

Today students are writing a mock- original composition to get us 'in the mood' to write our English 12 provincial on Friday morning.

Students must finish reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Thursday's class.  We will write a short test on the novel this Thursday afternoon.

I provided each student with an interim Term 2 grade last week.

Update Buddy book and curious incident

Students are working on their buddy books.
They are due at end of class on Monday.
CPE students will be here Wendesday morning for their book presentations.

We discussed the final conflict of the novel The Curious Incident of the dog in the Nighttime; furthermore we established that that conflict is what propels the rest of the narrative forward.

Little Buddy Project Update, Curious Incident update

Last day we went to CPE and each gr. 12 was assigned a gr. 3 or 2 buddy.

Using what we learned about children's literature, students must  now create a story.

1/2 page of writing is due Tuesday morning.  It can be a summary of the story, the story itself, or bulleted ideas of the story.

We will make a return visit this Tuesday afternoon, 2pm departure.

The book itself will be dueMonday June 13th.


Students are continuing to read the Curious Incident novel.  A worksheet pp.74-115 was handed out and will be due at the end of the long block next week.

New novel: Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

Today we learned about Autism Spectrum Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome.

We began the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.  Students were asked to read up to and including p. 32 for tomorrow's class.

Hamlet Mini Project and overview of Little Buddy Project

I gave an overview of our children's literature project.  It begins with an initial visit on May 26th.

Then we began to work on our Hamlet mini-projects -- these will be due at the beginning of class on Friday.

Ambiguity Paragraph

We discussed the concept of ambiguity (and a similar term, ambivalence).

We then listened to Peter Gabriel's song "Family Snapshot".

In class assignment:  In a paragraph of about 100 words discuss the ambiguity in the song "Family Snapshot."

This was handed in at the end of class.

If students finished up early, they worked on their Hamlet mini-projects that

Freud's Psycho-sexual stages of development and Hamlet

We finished Hamlet today by watching the Mel Gibson version.
Students learned about Freudian psychology and his Psycho sexual stages of development.  This helped explain the freudian interpretation in the movie we watched.

Students began their final Hamlet mini-projects.  Although a project sheet was given to some students, students were encouraged to create their very own final projects.

This project will be due at the middle of next week.

Tanzania and Act 3 scene 1

We began by reviewing the theme of deception in Hamlet.

We listened to a half-hour talk from Daniel Blackie on his philanthropy in Tanzania.

Then we read Act 3 scene 1 (most of it).
Bennet will read this next day and we'll examine the To Be or Not to be speech.

Hamlet

Today we worked through the Act 1 discussion questions (in groups and then as a whole class).
We learned the definition of what an anachronism is and how Shakespeare had anachronisms in his writing.

We reviewed my interpretation of Hamlet as a resolute character (Hamlet is a man of action, I argue, while most scholars believe he is a man of inaction).

Then students read a handout entitled On Fools, Jesters, and Madmen and completed the following three questions AND handed them in for marks in class:

Answer the following questions thoughtfully and articulately

1.     What activity was “considered fun” during Shakespearean times?

2.     What was an “analogue” to modern television? Explain what this means?

3.     Hamlet says he will put “an antic disposition” on.  Explain how this benefits Hamlet.

Then we read all of Act 2.

"Hey there! Long time no blog!"

Sorry for not updating our classwork.
Term 3 marks were processed and everyone passed the fist term of English 12.
Here are some other important bullets of information

• Provincial exam marks were posted today and I informed students of their grades (our class mark, overall, was 5% above the provincial average! Woot Woot!)
• We finished our mini-unit on Much Ado About Nothing.
• Most students handed in a Much Ado About Nothing Video sheet 
• Earlier this week we began reading Hamlet
• Students handed in a Hamlet Anticipatory Guide worksheet
• Today students completed six questions on Act 1 scenes 1 and 2 -- this was an in class assignment and was turned in at the end of class.
• We watched the first two scenes of Hamlet on video

If you've missed class, please sign out a Hamlet book and read Act 1 scenes 1 and 2.  Also, ensure that the Much Ado video sheet and the Hamlet anticipatory guide are handed in.  An alternate assignment for today's six questions will be given to you when you return to class.

Last Day Prov Exam. Today "Friday Pfun Day"

Most of us wrote our provincial exam last class.

After chatting about the provincial exam as a class, we read this article   http://www.businessinsider.com/high-school-senior-who-got-into-5-ivy-league-schools-shares-her-admissions-essay-2016-4
Then we went out into the sunshine and worked on this activity (we'll work on this, for a bit, on Monday):

English 12  - Possibly-the-Last-Poem-You’ll-Ever-Write Assignment 

With 13 years of public education behind you, now may just about be the perfect time to reflect back on just what has happened and how you have transformed over the years.  

Your Task

Write an ode to your own personal evolution these past 13 years.  You may choose to write about your schooling overall but you may also choose to focus on one particular subject area or teacher.  To make help foster your creativity, I have decided that you must also employ the poetic device of apostrophe in your poem (e.g. “Oh RSS, how you have touched me!” “ Oh, loose-leaf paper, the times we’ve had!” “ Oh, Mrs. Fujino if only I could speak to you about the lessons you taught me!”). You will be evaluated on your creativity and effort as well as your writing style.  Don’t forget to have fun with this! 

ode - a rhymed or unrhymed lyric poem often in the form of an elaborate address and usually charaterized by loftiness of tone, feeling, and style; a poem of praise. 

apostrophe - a figure of speech where a writer addresses (or speaks to) someone or some thing that cannot respond (e.g. a deceased person, an inanimate object, a person not present)

Welcome back composition. Remember: Prov Exam this Thursday Morning!

Today we looked at the instructions on the following section of your English 12 provincial exam:  Part D: Composition.

Then students were given the following prompt and asked to write a composition for 45 minutes: "Our experiences can influence behaviour"

These were handed in at the end of class.

Provincial Exam Prep

First half was in the library working on and familiarizing ourselves with the English 12 provincial E-Exam.

Second half we discussed the last section of the exam:  the original composition.  We looked at examples of the kinds of topics and we had a few good laughs when we looked at some exam bloopers.  I also handed out an "Exam Tips" handout.

We started watching the movie The Lovely Bones

Elegies

We read Rhea Tregov poems "Sidewalk Elegy" and "Elegy for the Afternoon."

For the poem "Elegy for the Afternoon" students completed the following: identify at least five characters. For each one describe their attitude. Finally, use a quotation to support each of your statements.  This was done on a lined piece of paper by each student and then submitted at the end of class.

We looked at the terms
elegy
connotation
dennotation

ap

The Apprentice by Richard Condie , NFB short animated film

Today we watched The Apprentice, a short animated film by Richard Condie.

Students got together  in groups and wrote out the plot, they described the two main characters, they wrote out one or two sentences regarding the theme.  Finally they examined and explained two symbols from the movie.

Absent?  Watch the movie on Youtube and complete the work above!

Updated Marks!

Click HERE to see your updated marks, including your Lovely Bones Test marks.

Oregon Winter, Point of View, Lovely Bones Test TOMORROW!

LOVELY BONES TEST TOMORROW!

Yesterday we spent a good deal of time reading and annotating a poem entitled Oregon Winter.

Today we took notes on point of view, we reviewed the Schmoop.com site (as a way to help you prepare for your upcoming test), and we read quietly.

We also chatted about being beleaguered.

Final Exam discussion, Review of last day, quiet reading, Lovely Bones test next Wed.

Today we reviewed last day: poetry (frogs and watches), Kubler-Ross, and Bildungsroman.

I gave a breakdown and description of our final exam which will be written on Thursday, April 7th.

We read quietly.  Our final Lovely Bones test will be during our long block next week.

Sidewalk poem work, stages of grief notes, Bildungsroman notes

We began by working through the handout last day:  the poem Sidwalk II.
Then students did some group work on Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's 5 Stages of Grief.  We took notes on the stages.
Then we defined what a Bildungsroman is -- basically, a coming-of-age story.  We took notes on this as well.

Students read quietly and we discussed character development in the chapter entitled Snapshots.

Theme notes and work

We took notes on theme and then completed a worksheet on theme.