Thursday!

English 8
Today, we edited our scripts. Final copies are due on Monday, along with our role-plays. Make sure you have all your props brought in by then! Your lit circles are almost all set, and we should be ready to start them next week.

English 11
We made connections for literary theories. Star Wars is all done, and we're returning to Lord of the Flies tomorrow!

Homework: Complete your Star Wars literary theory connections. A thesis statement and 3 supporting points is all you need.

Weary Wednesday

There's a big field trip tomorrow, so we'll be doing an alternate activity tomorrow.

English 11
We finished our viewing of Star Wars and completed our monomyth chart. Tomorrow we'll be looking at literary parallels using the literary theory handout.

Homework: Please complete the chapter 7, 8, 9 DEJ (combined). 4 quotes over the course of 3 chapters is just fine. Be ready to discuss our new friend in chapter 8!

English 8
Today we worked on our modified scripts for The Outsiders. This is our last work day for the script.

Homework: Bring your script drafts to school tomorrow for review.

Tuesday!

Wait - how did six days go by without an update? The short version: marking and work time. That said, we are nearing the end  of the first term this semester, and grades are finally coming together.

English 8
We started work on our project for The Outsiders. Tomorrow, we'll have a brief discussion about the nature of the title. A little reminder about our project: please use class time effectively - being chatty about something other than the project isn't exactly on-task!

Homework: get rolling on that script! We will have more class time tomorrow to work on it.

English 9 SPECTRUM
Yes, debate marks will be returned when we meet tomorrow. I can't be bribed, so stop trying.

English 11
We're in the last leg of the monomyth. By the end of Star Wars, we'll want to have our monomyth filled in, and a literary theory all good to go.

Homework: Read chapter 8.

WEDNESDAY.

Good day! Greetings! Salutations!

English 11
Today we created an ethical code that reflects how the boys in LOTF act. We're limiting the creation of this to chapters 1 - 4. To do this we used descriptive ethics as our approach.

Homework: 
Read up to chapter 6 for tomorrow. I hope you're all ready to act!

English 8
We completed our last set of questions. If you want to get ahead of the homework for the weekend, you could do a double entry journal for chapters 1 - 12. That's 4 quotes and responses for the final DEJ.

Homework:
Finish our last set of questions, "Outside Crisis". If you want to get ahead, do chapter 1 - 12 DEJ (4 entries). If you have time tonight, you could get ahead and not have to worry about homework for tomorrow!

Terrific Tuesday!

English 11
Today we collectively came up with some rules for our society, as well as a society on a deserted island. Clearly, the context of survival changes how we value the rules we live by.

Homework:
Read chapter 3 and 4. No DEJ.

MALADY MONDAY IS HERE.

English 11
We went over several parts of the opening chapter for LOTF. Also, we got a handout that covers some ideas on literary theory. Something to think about: psychoanalytic literary theory, and LOTF. We're going to see about drawing connections between literary and text.

Homework:
DEJ for chapter 1 & 2.

English 8
Another sentence correction! Semicolons can be tricky business. For now, let's try using them to fix our run-on sentences. When you find a run-on, determine where you think the period should go in order to split the sentence. Instead of a period, try a semicolon.

Several of you have decided to improve or redo your family trees. Due to the homework load, you may hand these in by Friday. Scroll down my blog to see what I want on your tree. Check below for an example:

Homework:
Read chapter 9. Complete a DEJ that covers ch 7, 8, and 9(3 quotes in total). If you have decided to redo your family tree, you may work on it. If you didn't finish your response during class time, please finish it before Tuesday!

Response questions:
1. How is each member of your family, including yourself, unique and different? (It's ok to pick 1 family member)
2. How do these differences contribute to a stronger family?
3. How does your family influence you?

English 9 SPECTRUM
Great work on another debate today. Our final debate will be on Tuesday. Wednesday we'll be doing something very different!

T.G.I.F.!!!!one!1one!!!

Okay, that wasn't the best use of punctuation.

English 8
We handed in our newspaper articles today. Great job! We're learning all about bias and media. Something to think about: Is it possible to write without bias?

Homework:
1. Finish your response to the following question in your journal: How does the media's bias help to affect society's treatment of issues, individuals, group & gangs?

2. Read Chapter 8.

3. Finish your family tree assignment (see below for the directions!).

English 11
We finished up our presentations. We had plenty of excellent analyses from everyone. We started our unit on Lord of the Flies.

Homework:
Read chapter 1. No DEJ, yet.

THANATOS thursday.

Hey, little sun.
Don't be shy.
Come on out an' say
hi!

English 8
Newspaper articles are due tomorrow, please make sure they are typed and tidy. We started our friends & family tree assignment today. They'll be due Tuesday. There are a few important things to remember:

1. Families are private. That means you should get permission before you put someone's full name down on the tree. If you can't get permission, you should leave part of their name off the tree. If they don't want to give permission, you could simply write "Grandfather", or whichever role would fit their name.

2. If someone in your family is adopted, put them in the tree just as you would any family member.

3. Since this is a friends & family tree, don't forget to leave space along the same line where you would put siblings. Friends that are not family should have no lines from their name - since they aren't related to you.

Your family tree should show the following:
1. You
2. Parents/Aunts/Uncles
3. Grandparents
4. (optional) Cousins
5. Friends

English 9 SPECTRUM
Excellent debate, today! You all should pat yourselves on the back (audience included!) for your excellent work through the class. The next debate will be on Monday, October 15, for Mitty.

I have learned that there is a "we" day on Wednesday next week. This means we'll have to delay the last debate until Monday, October 22.

English 11
We will be finishing presentations on Friday. Once we're done, we may start our next unit. This depends on the time available in class.

Forward!

English 11

Presentations are happening as scheduled. Tomorrow we'll start the presentations right away.

Homework: Please do your best to finish your selected (and edited!) paragraph.

English 8

Nice poems! A big thanks to those who shared what they made. We started our newspaper article assignment today. Make sure you follow the examples you got. If you want to add a few things to your article page, go for nuts!

Homework: Read chapter 7. No DEJ for this chapter, unless you really want to make one. Also, you should get started on your newspaper article. It is due on Friday, October 16.

Hey, it's terrifically Tuesday!

Just because the sky is cloudy doesn't mean the sun isn't shining!

English 9 SPECTRUM
Debates are starting this Thursday. Come dressed in a specific theme. Be prepared to argue both sides of your topic - you won't know if you're proposing or opposing the argument until your day comes. Here's the debate schedule:

Thursday, October 15: The Sniper
Monday, October 19: Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Wednesday, October 21: Just Lather, Nothing Else

The specific topics are below (check Monday's blog post)

Here's the debate format we're going to use:

http://www.ecgi.org/conferences/fese_efmc2005/ou_rules.htm

Marks will be assigned for:
1. Everyone in the group speaks.
2. Clarity.
3. Quality of Argument.
4. Quality of Rebuttal.

Homework:
Read The Scarlet Ibis (p. 90 - 100) Do a DEJ for it.

English 11
Today we selected our paragraph to hand in. We went through the CRISP editing steps. Please make sure you use the draft with my signature on it before you make a good copy at home. If you don't have a signature on your draft, I can't mark the good copy.

Homework: You can bring in the good copy tomorrow or Thursday. I know groups need a bit of extra time to practice and prepare so if you bring the good copy in on Thursday it won't be late.

Presentations are starting tomorrow. Be prepared!

A Weekend Update!

Howdy all! My TOC reports all went well on Friday. I have received a couple emails with some very good questions about the assignments coming up this week. I thought I would answer them here - perhaps I might reach more students this way.

English 9 SPECTRUM
Your topics are as follows:

Mitty: Dreams do more harm than good. (support/refute)

Lather: The integrity of our role is more important than justice. (support/refute)

Sniper: Believing in yourself is more important than believing in family. (support/refute)

Our first debate will be Thursday. Tomorrow we'll do a draw to see which teams will be facing off first.

English 11
Presentations are on Wednesday. Tomorrow we'll be selecting our paragraph to edit/hand in.

English 8
Many great comments from my TOC on your poetry reading. He indicated that the class made some very thoughtful comments on the poem! I'm looking forward to reading your responses in your journals!

See you all tomorrow!

Welcome to THUNDER THURSDAY.
Busy busy busy! We had plenty to do today.

English 9 SPECTRUM

We got our journals back. Reminder: be consistent in your double entry journals. Some responses are becoming too short to be acceptable. Think about the length of your responses, and your 3 big questions for each double entry journal we do.

For The Sniper we have two choices for our poetry, an "in memoriam", or an envelope quatrain. Here's an example:

In memoriam:
(Iambic tetrameter, rhyme scheme: abba)

I held it truth, with him who sings
To one clear harp in divers tones,
That men may rise on stepping-stones
Of their dead selves to higher things.
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Envelope Quatrain
(Iambic Pentameter, rhyme scheme abab)

The sense of danger must not disappear:
The way is certainly both short and steep,
However gradual it looks from here;
Look if you like, but you will have to leap.
- W.H. Auden

Don't forget: Your poem should have at least one sample of alliteration, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole.

English 11

Our last work day for our presentations. Today, we focused on researching our inquiry question. They will be due Wednesday next week. Tomorrow, we will be writing our final paragraph. The short story for the paragraph will be whichever short story you have for your group.

Here's Wednesday!

English 11
We spent the day working on our short story projects. Make sure you have an inquiry question ready for tomorrow. We'll be meeting in the computer lab tomorrow at the beginning of class. No need to come to room 402.

English 8
We're nearly finished our presentations. We should finish tomorrow, and we'll return to working on Outsiders.

Onwards, to TUESDAY!

Is that a bit of blue sky? It might be. It might be blue sky, or it might just be some paint on the window.

English 9 SPECTRUM
Today we did some response writing for Identities. We handed it in along with the DEJ for Lather and Nothing Else. Debate groups have been formed and we're all set for topics this coming Thursday. Please sit with your debate group until we finish them. I will be handing out debate topics on Thursday after a brief discussion on The Sniper.

Homework: Write 4 lines of iambic pentameter. A line of iambic pentameter should have about 10 syllables. Here's an example: He said, "I thought I saw a puddy cat!"

Don't worry about making a quatrain yet. We're going to make a few different kinds of quatrains, and eventually we'll make one for The Sniper.

English 11
Today was a work day. We began disecting Freudian theory, which we'll be using for our next two units. Everyone needs to have their own 3 column chart to keep track of the Id, Ego, and Superego.

Homework: Come prepared to work on your presentations. Ideally, someone in your group brings a laptop so you can start constructing the PowerPoint, Prezi, or Google slides presentation. Reminder: Thursday is our library day to prepare slides for your inquiry!

English 8
We're in the last leg of presentations. They have all been very enjoyable. Great job guys!

Homework: Read Chapter 4, and complete the Double Entry Journal for it. Remember: you need 2 quotes, and you need to respond to each one. Use the response guide in your notes.

It's Monday!

English 11: We handed in our DEJs for Lather, and assigned groups and stories for our unit project.

Homework: Read your short story and be ready to prepare an inquiry question. We will have some time on Wednesday to prepare, as well as Thursday in the computer lab.

English 8: More great presentations today. Remember - be respectful and mindful of presenters while they are speaking. Tomorrow we have more presentations to do.

We will need to have read and completed a DEJ for chapter 4 by Wednesday. I will assign this tomorrow during class.

Partly Pajama Day!

English 11: Great brainstorming today. We are on the 2nd leg of our inquiry. Remember: Inquiry questions must be applicable to multiple texts and sources. If you're still not sure, check your double entry journal handout - we're looking at type 4 questions: On My Own. For Monday, we will hold a class-wide vote (both classes!) to narrow our choices down to 4 possible questions.

Homework: Finish Just Lather, That's All, and the DEJ. Monday we will break up into small groups for the unit project and get started.

English 8: Great presentations today. We will continue them on Monday after I check your 5 questions (with evidence!)

Homework: Finish answers for your big level 2 'think and search' questions. Remember - it's only think and search if you have to look in more than one place for a complete answer. If you can't find answers in more than one place, it might be a 'right there' question.

English 9 Spectrum: We had some good fun today with Limericks. I was blown away with the encouragement you all gave each other. A good attitude is what we're about at SLSS, and there was plenty to go around today. I am still trying to understand the video Megan shared at the end of the class, but perhaps some things are just meant to stay a mystery!

Homework: Just Lather, Nothing Else (AKA Just Lather, That's All) - it depends on your translation. This story was originally written in Spanish, and the title has been translated in two different ways. Read the short story, and complete your double entry journal. Hand in on Tuesday, October 6.

Welcome to Colour Wars!

Lots of work today for all classes. Today was a busy day full of writing and refining.

English 11: Today we wrote our 2nd literary elements paragraph. Something to think about as we write - Passive voice vs Active voice.

You can tell if the sentence is passive if you can fit a "By whoever" at the end of it. We want to avoid passive writing because it allows authors to drop the agentive of a sentence. It's also boring. Active voice is more challenging to write, but with practice it will come naturally.

Take a well-earned break tonight. Tomorrow, we move on to our last short story before the final project.

English 8: Excellent presentations today. Thanks to all our courageous presenters who went first. It was certainly a job well done. Please note: if you will be late on an assignment, you need to communicate with me before the due date!

Tomorrow, we might be able to get 5 - 7 presentations in. Please come ready!