English 11

Greetings English 11. Here are some updates:

Several of you haven't submitted your work for Chapter 1. Please get this done. Yes, everything is for marks.

We're going to try some group work for this next portion. I want everyone to try and find other students in my English 11 classes, and form a Zoom meeting or whatever online video chat platform you prefer. At least one person in this meeting should belong to a different class. Groups should not be larger than 5 people. I teach 3 English 11 classes, so finding people shouldn't be hard.

Read to the end of chapter 3 before the meeting. Plan this meeting for Monday, May 4. One person in your meeting needs be a leader and report to me the results of your discussion and submit a screenshot of everyone in the meeting. A quick summary on a single page will suffice. Email this summary and the screenshot to me: jrogers@sd38.bc.ca

Here are the discussion topics (do all of them):

1. How do conflicts between civilization and savagery appear?
2. What effect does the speculation of the Beast have on the different kids? If this Beast were a symbol or metaphor, what might it represent if LOTF were an allegory of the mind and psyche?
3. Consider the topic of isolation: what has William Golding shown us about how isolation can alter our behaviour? 
4. Discuss several symbols to this point and their significance. With your group, decide on at least 3 symbols and at least two interpretations of each.

English 11

Lord of the Flies! Oh what a novel. Notice anything similar between how the kids in the novel are living and how we must all live?

I'll keep this short. I have a little handout for you to do to help with comprehension and thinking around chapter 1.

Click this link to download the .doc. Fill it in and send it to jrogers@sd38.bc.ca by Tuesday, April 28.

**The link has been updated and should be working**

ELL 3 English

Instructions for Students Work Habits Rubric: Due Friday April 24th at 3pm.
You have done this before in semester 1 perhaps with another ELL teacher. You will be assessing your own work habits and writing a reflection about it. You will be thinking about your work habits from the beginning of the semester January 28th until March 13th the day before spring break started.

Read each aspect of the rubric carefully and determine where you would place yourself on the rubric (G for Good, S for Satisfactory or N for Needs Improvement) for each aspect. Record where you would place yourself in each of your reflection paragraphs.
Write a written reflection of your work habits which summarizes each of the aspects of work habits. Completion of homework and assignments, Participation & effort, Preparation & organization, Attendance and promptness, Personal responsibility: respect, cooperation & integrity
For each aspect listed above you will write one 6-8 sentence paragraph. In your paragraph you will do 3 things:

1. Describe in words where you would place yourself on the rubric.
2. Mention specific examples of things you did to demonstrate this aspect of work habit. 
3. Specific things you will do to improve or maintain good work habits in the coming term while working from home. 

Take a photo of your written work (6-8 sentences). Upload it to your portfolio in a post titled "Work Habits"

Instructions for Students: Writing Sample ELL 3: Due Tuesday April 28 at 3pm.
You will submit a writing sample on to the portfolio under the post on the portal named “Writing Sample”. You will write a multi paragraph (3-5 paragraph) composition on one of the following topics:

• The Pitfall of Living Through COVID19 OR
• Silver Linings: Unexpected pleasures of Living Through COVID 19 

Your piece of writing will be done in your handwriting in paragraph format. I suggest you brainstorm and outline first to generate ideas and get yourself organized before you start to write. You must write at least 3 paragraphs and maximum 5 paragraphs.

Each paragraph must have a topic sentence, body with proof and examples, concluding sentence. When you have finished the piece of writing you will make sure that your name and student number and date are at the top of the page and easy to read. Then take a photo of it click on the pencil-lightning icon on the post called “Writing Sample April 2020” and upload it. **Be sure to put your name and student number and date are at the top of the page and that it is legible to read from a downloaded photo BEFORE YOU TAKE A PHOTO OF IT.

English 11

Good morning!

Today we have a lesson that reviews the Id, Ego, and Superego - the structure of the psyche. We will also begin reading Lord of the Flies. After reading your three column charts, it's clear that many of you have a good idea what these components are. We are familiarizing ourselves with this because it will change the way we understand ourselves, and Lord of the Flies.

For today, it's important you read through my entire post so we can expand your understanding and prepare you for the reading that is to come.

A Glacier

Freud's structure of the psyche is often represented by a glacier. The visible part of the glacier represents the conscious - the part of our mind that we are aware of. This is where we do our thinking, this is where our "inner voice" lives, and this is where at least two of the three components of our mind do some of the work. Most of a glacier exists under water, and this represents the unconscious; some of this we can see from above the surface, but as we peer into the depth of the ocean below, the glacier ice gradually fades from sight. The deepest parts of the glacier are entirely invisible from the surface, and this part represents the depths of our unconscious.

If we apply the structure of the psyche to a glacier, it will look something like this:

Structure of the Psyche

This metaphor represents a healthy mind. We all have these components, and we all feel the drives of the Id; that is, we feel the push to be impulsive. Deep in our unconscious, people hunger for pleasure through the id, and its hunger is infinite. Using the reality principle, our ego, if it is healthy, will allow the Id limited freedom. The Superego thrives on being the parent in our mind, making us feel guilty for things we should typically feel guilty about.

Now, what happens if this iceberg rotates? Suddenly, the id comes closer to the surface, and the ego or superego move a little closer to the depths. In an unhealthy mind, one of these structures exerts too much influence over our behaviour. If the Id could act freely without as much authorization from the Ego, someone could become an impulsive shopper at best, or perhaps a murderer or rapist at worst. When the reality principle is compromised, we can behave in dangerous ways. The Id may be too strong to resist, or the ego could be too weak to stay in control of executive functioning. In the same sense, the Superego could be so overwhelming that we feel immense guilt for normal behaviour. If we become terrified of playing the piano because we remember the terrifying shame of making a mistake, our Superego is going awry.


Click on the TEXT tab above. There's an online version of Lord of the Flies. Read Chapter one by Wednesday, April 22.

ELL 3 English

Good morning!

There are a few things we need to do to get ready for report cards:

1. Please upload your typed answers to our NEWSELA assignment from last week to your portal website. Many of you emailed this to me - that's great, but I'd like you to also go to your Portal website and upload it to your portfolio.
2. I need an oral sample of your speaking. By now, nearly all of you have read at least one novel in the class. Please record an oral book report for that novel and upload it to your portal also. In your book report, explain why we should or shouldn't read this novel. Also, please explain the most interesting parts of the plot. The recording only needs to be one or two minutes long.

I will be uploading updated rubrics for your ELL levels. As you know, working online is very different, so if you have questions about this, please email me: jrogers@sd38.bc.ca

We will start reading The Breadwinner very soon (once report cards are done) so please look forward to that :)

ELL 3 English

Good morning ELL 3 English students!

With all of this crazy news going on, we're going to use NEWSELA to learn about some interesting things going on. We will still be reading The Breadwinner, but this will be later.

Visit this link. You can change the ELL difficulty with a button on the top right corner.

1. Why did this couple decide to use Animal Crossing to have their wedding instead of a different game?
2. What does the groom do for his job?
3. How has technology allowed us to stay connected during this pandemic?
4. Could there be a future where most of our lives are online?

Answer each question with 2+ sentences, then answer the question below using a paragraph:

Most of us are living online during this pandemic. Life is much more convenient when you have instant access to weddings, parties, and social events. These days, it's normal. What have we lost as a result of this change to being almost entirely online?

ELL 3 Students: Please complete this assignment by Friday, April 17. Email it to me - jrogers@sd38.bc.ca

English 11

So there's a long weekend coming up! A few updates for you all - I am missing roughly a third of your assignments as of this morning. Some of you were very quick to submit your work after the post went up, and that's fantastic.

Many of you are making the best of a new situation. Remember to stay positive and be with the people closest to you. I have been enjoying this time with family, but I must say - my son is getting pretty bored!

So, what happens next? Here's a little checklist for you:

• Get in touch with at least one other person to make sure they are getting my emails/checking this blog. It's critical that all students are reading this blog in order to access learning resources and course work.
• Please submit your first assignment ASAP (due tomorrow). Yes I know it's a holiday :)
• Our next assignment is due on Thursday, April 16. Here it is:

You will be reading about Freudian Literary Theory. Up until about English 11 we learn about making connections to texts that are personal, between text and text, and text an world. Literary Theory is kind of like a text to text connection, but it's something we start getting into during English 11 and continue to do through university. This is an important skill to work on! Read on.

The first is to read about a theory. In our case, it will be Freud's Structure of the psyche. He explains how our mind is divided into the conscious and unconscious, as well as the id, ego, and superego. On the outside, this theory doesn't seem to have anything to do with literature - it just explains how our minds work. Our job is to connect this to our reading of Golding's Lord of the Flies. Reading this novel as a retelling of Freudian Theory is a successful application of literary theory. Here are the links for your work:

1. Read this. It is a heavily modified version of the Wikipedia document in order to be a bit more accessible. Feel free to google more information if you want to learn more.
2. Download this Microsoft Word file. Fill in the table with information that summarizes the three components of the psyche. If you don't have word, you should be able to download the tools to view it for free. You can recreate the document using another word processor instead.
3. Send me the 3 column chart by Thursday, April 16 at midnight to my email address: jrogers@sd38.bc.ca

It's important to recognize that there is a relationship between the three components of the psyche. The Id, Ego, and Superego all ultimately influence the way our mind works. Again, you are free to go online and google to your heart's content until you understand these components. If you have questions about this concept, you are always welcome to email me :)

English 11 and ELL3 English

Greetings!

From April 6 we'll be doing our learning online. These learning opportunities won't be the same kind of materials that we would normally be doing. I currently teach two sections - English 11 and ELL 3 English. Please check in here daily for assignments and deadlines.

Our first assignment is a check-in. I would like every student to type a short response (half a page, typed. Size 12 single space) to the following question:

How has social isolation/distancing changed the way you think of others? 

(To expand on this, you might think about how we might be more afraid of strangers, or more fearful of others. You might find that your daily life has changed dramatically, and this has begun changing how you function)

Type your response and email it to me: jrogers@sd38.bc.ca by FRIDAY, APRIL 10.

In your email title, please WRITE YOUR NAME AND BLOCK.

I will be using this to see how you're writing is doing after 3 weeks away, as well as to see who is attending :)