integrating-quotes-into-formal-paragraph.doc 

1. We reviewed the symbolic nature of the penny from a recent story we read together. Students searched the story to find a phrase or sentence that, in their opinion, best proved the author’s use of the penny as a symbol. Once found, we chose the phrase most people thought gave evidence of that.  With that phrase, we constructed a paragraph together on the board integrating that quote into a paragraph for a “pretend” essay with the topic of symbolism used in literature. We followed the six steps on the handout that outlined the purpose for each of the sentences of the paragraph.
2. We discussed, as well, some of the aspects of a literary essay that differ from a reflective or personal essay. Such things like not using personal pronouns, avoiding any use of contractions, and always writing about the literature in present tense (as the action is always constantly occuring in the story) are habits students will have to become more familiar with in the future.
3. They then worked on their own, searching through the other story, “The Rink” by R.B. MacIntyre, to find the right phrase or sentence that proves the use of symbolism in that story. Once found, they had to write their own paragraph, integrating the quote, and pretending that it will be the third body paragraph to fit in the same “pretend” essay after the paragraph we had constructed as a class.
   This essay will be due, typed without a title page, for Thursday’s class. (The students chose that as the due date for themselves.)

1. We discussed what is included when we consider “Nature and Seasons”. Nature consists of the animals, the growth of the land and the environment that exists in the area. Seasons are not only for the seasons of the year that change, but could also mean the seasons of life, counted by years, decades or ages.
2. To get in the right mindset before reading the stories, we watched two video trailers on my laptop. One highlighted the video called Snow Falling on Cedars that tells the story on the West Coast during World War II when Japanese Canadians were taken from their homes and put into internment camps. The footage of the young kids playing on the Western Coast, frolicking over the beached logs and animals there. This was contrasted by the harsh, wet weather of the Eastern Coast in Newfoundland showcased in the video The Shipping News. The cold winds and livelihood of fishing that people in the area rely on force those people to dress differently, build their houses differently, and create a different identity for the, just because of their location in Canada.
   The main idea to understand is an individual’s identity, as a Canadian, is influenced by the natural world that surrounds them and the diversity of the seasons.
3. We answered together questions regarding yesterday’s video. Then, we began reading together the first of the two stories. “God is Not a Fish Inspector” is a compelling story and we nearly finished it before the bell rang. We will continue next class.

1. We discussed some of the expectations regarding their oral speeches on Tuesday. (The deadline was switched yesterday to Tuesday as the kids have a lot on their shoulders for Friday already.) A handout was given with advice on preparing for their speech presentations.
2. We reviewed how the symbolism was one of the elements of literature used by the author from yesterday’s reading. Students were given a short story to read invididually with the direction of looking for the symbolism within it. There may be more than one example of symbolism, as well. They will soon write a paragraph with an integrated quote regarding their findings in the story, but that will come tomorrow. They seem on the right track.

1. Students began the class by handing in their answers from yesterday’s reading.
2. We discussed again the idea of “survival” being an underlying theme of all Canadian literature. There are five examples of things Canadians fight for survival against that we looked. Students were asked to look for this theme of survival in the video they were about to watch.
3. The Snow Walker is a movie based on a Farley Mowatt story titled “Walk Well, My Brother”. It was a great movie and the class generally agreed that it was worth watching. They were asked to reflect after viewing it and write a journal-like entry regarding their thoughts after viewing, their belief regarding whether this video fit into the unit or not, and the concept of “survival” being a theme in the movie.
4. We discussed one of the up coming assignments with some left over time, but we’ll get to that in due time.

And by the way, the brownies were reportedly very good so thank you to my brother for his help in making them for the students last night.

1. There were a few students away today for golfing so we avoided a larger project today.
2. We began looking at the idea behind the next sub-unit. We’ve discussed that this class looks at literature that explores the idea of The Unknown. Now, we move to something slightly more classified: things that are unexplained. We had a good discussion about a number of things that exist as phenomena in our world but still we are unable to confirm or deny their existence. With the accumulation of knowledge that we have gained at this point, after thousands of years, and with the advances in technology and information processing, why is it still that things exist that we cannot define or account for.
   Spontaneous Human Combustion, the Bermuda Triangle, Sasquatch, The Lochness Monster, or Curses on people: stories continue about these types of topics and skeptics and believers alike continue to disagree.
3. We watched a few video clips to help us gain an understanding of these ideas. New video footage of a Sasquatch sighting showed that the mystery continues. We watched the trailer for the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a movie based on the idea of actual human contact with aliens. We viewed a video that collected different tapes of ghost sightings or strange happenings, suspectedly the evidence of poltergeists at work. We watched, also, a short portion of The Exorcism of Emily Rose to see the idea of possesion and such but did not finish watching the clip as it may have been too disturbing for an early Thursday morning discussion.
4. When students return tomorrow, they’ll have a short Figurative Language exam to complete. From there, they have a handout with several accounts of ghost occurences in Saskatchewan and two articles reporting crop circles in Saskatchewan. They will read the articles and write a personal reflective response for each.  

1. Students had this class, the third of three classes, to continue working on their essays and conferencing with their peers. I am pleased with how invested the students seem in how they are doing in their work and their interest in writing in a manner that will maintain the reader’s interest.
2. I handed out to them the actual assignment handout, including the details we have already discussed but, for clarity, they have a copy of it. I also gave them a different essay rubric than the one given the other day. (This one focuses more on the parts of the essay that they have been working on developing, like a catching opening line.)
3. We discussed the importance of transitional phrases in writing, the types there are, and where in the sentences they belong. I am hoping to see students branch out from only using transitions at the beginning of sentences, but also in the middle or at the end.
4. We had two classes today. They were given another twenty minutes into the second period to work on the essay. Then we had a listening activity. I read aloud a short story titled “A Penny in the Dust.” As I read, students were to listen for phrases that discussed either characters or the setting. I paused, just before the climax of the story, to see that students understood what was happening in the story. Kristie did a great job of paraphrasing the important points of the story for everyone. Then I continued, reading to the end, and students wrote a response, based on their impression of the story or the ending. We discussed the questions, the ideas of objects being used as symbols in storytelling, and the value in using “flashbacks”. We will continue tomorrow.

magic-eight-ball-tone-activity.doc 

1. Students came prepared to present their poems to their classmates. The classroom was decorated with mini white-lights along the floor, we turned the lights out, and there were halloween door decorators hanging from the whiteboard where students stood to present. Halloween sound effects and music was playing softly in the background, like thunder with lightning or the sound of footsteps down an empty hallway. Some brought their own props for special effect and most attempted to memorize their poems. We even had a few grade twelve guests who wanted to watch the presentations.
2. From there, students were asked to try writing with a specific ‘tone’ in mind. I read for them three paragraphs about the topic of a Magic Eight Ball, but all were written with very different tones. This was not an assignment or something I had planned for the students to do, we only had some extra time for them to practice writing a paragraph focusing on tone, but one student “ASKED” if they could try to write three paragraphs about the same topic but with different tone. Well… that was just great! They’re all working on tone paragraphs now. Well done!

1. The “I am a Canadian” poems were due today. They were supposed to sketch the image of a Canadian symbol on the side.
2. Students were given a short story yesterday titled “The Wedding Gift”. (It was missing two pages, but that was quickly corrected.) They were asked to read the attached questions first and then read to look for the answers as they read. They read silently for the duration of the class and worked on the questions near the end.
3. We will discuss the questions briefly tomorrow and then begin watching a video. “The Snow Walker” is based on a short story by the same name, written by a Canadian author. We have two classes tomorrow and will watch the video for both.