Allusion and The Scarlet Letter

Today we learned the difference between illusion and allusion.  Laurie Halse Anderson uses an allusion from Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter in her novel Speak.  It isn't too hard to see how Melinda Sordino is similar to the main character of the Scarlet Letter.  Students also began working on a worksheet pp.95-116 from Speak.

Indenting Deficit Disorder -- IDD

Today we joked about a new learning disorder:  idd -- indenting deficit disorder.  Seriously, we learned that most students need to properly indent and use paragraphs -- something that did not happen in our last assignment.

I read a number of English 10 provincial practice compositions that you wrote.  I reminded students of the main points mentioned in the rubric.

We also got silly and talked about how students should try to do their best on their provincial in order to impress that older English teacher from Penticton -- Aenis is her name.

Updated Marks Now available - Speak Journal assignment completed in class

Click HERE to see your mark as of Jan. 10th.

We worked on a creative writing assignment.  You must read up to p. 80 in order to begin this.  It was handed in, at the end of class. Click HERE to see it.

Prov Exam prep

Today we read our novels for half an hour.

We discussed the last two weeks of school with respect to the schedule and how the exam schedule will work this year.

We discussed the format of the provincial exam. Specifically, we focussed on the last section of the test:  the writing section.  This section is, by far, the most important section of the exam.

I provided three examples of the types of writing that can be done.

I provided a handout entitled English 10 - Pfeiffer:  Some Worthwhile Tips for Your Upcoming Provincial Exam and we went over that.

Students worked for 45 minutes on a practice "Writing Essay" from an old provincial:  the writing prompt is People learn from a variety of sources.  This is due for homework at the beginning of class on Friday.  

Also for homework, please continue reading Speak. You should be up around p. 80 by Friday.

Remember:  elevate your vocabulary . . . elevate your thoughts.

Speak - novel intro

Today we completed an introductory activity on our new novel Speak.
We read up to p. 11 in class and worked on some questions.

Homework: read up to p. 24 and complete the questions on the worksheet. Click HERE for a copy of the worksheet.