October 25

ELA 30: Oct 25 1 of 2 classes on how to write English essays…

  1. Students were extremely patient and focused through today’s discussion about the steps to writing a good English formal essay. While they are familiar with the basic outline and expectations of expository essays, we focused more on the steps necessary to ensure the focus is maintained and that it falls in line with what it demanded of an English literary (or formal) essay.
  2. We read through a handout of steps I typed up that breaks the essay-writing process into doable portions so the whole task does not seem so overwhelming.
  3. We will continue tomorrow.
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October 24

ELA 10: Oct 24 Reading Chapter 6 together…

  1. We began class with a short discussion about the author’s intention of mocking certain parts of society that are unwilling to change or uncomfortable with it. I shared with them how a friend of mine was recently reading in an educational journal and read that some people would like to see words like “mother”, “father”, “wife”, and “husband” out of books for children because they believe it promotes heterosexuality as the norm. It struck a chord with me because the phrase “the norm” is one that’s been repeated often in our novel: that “only the True Image is the norm”. I asked the class to consider this idea and ask themselves whether we, as a society, are really unwilling to accept change or whether it is only extreme groups of society or extreme ideas we are afraid of. We had a very mature conversation about this, with several students waiting with hands raised to add their comment to the discussion. With no judgement passed about the topic of sexual orientation, the focus was more on how sensitive some people are about certain topics, which certainly can be understood when reading about the community of Waknuk in our novel, The Chrysalids.
  2. We each took turns reading today with students reading a page at a time. They are doing great at reading with inflection and emotion. I’m very pleased, as well, at how eager they are to participate in this. We truly have a great time as a class working together!
  3. There are three questions for chapter six that students were working on at the end of the class. They are due to be completed for tomorrow.
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October 23

ELA 10: Oct 23 Chapter 5 questions / reading…

  1. Today’s class was extremely short because of the Virtues Christmas Box Project this afternoon. It was great to see the older students working carefully with the younger ones. I like that they take seriously the role of being a good model to these young students.
  2. For the portion of the class that we used for our novel study, students opened their books for a quick homework check. Some students have failed to have their work completed for two days in a row, when there are only three or four questions asked to be completed!
  3. We began reading a bit into Chapter 6 and were surprised to find that Sophie and her family have to flee, David has been beaten by his too-strict father who wanted information, and now David has thoughts of running away. We will continue in tomorrow’s class.
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October 23

ELA 30: Oct 23 Reading ch 2 together… TKAM

  1. Students came in and we began quickly with a check on whether the two chapter questions assigned were completed from yesterday. There were two other questions on their chapter question sheet that we only discussed as a class instead of having them respond.
  2. We looked at an attached handout that was with their TKAM package. The handout looked at quotes from the novel stated about Boo Radley or his family and the task was to read into what was stated and understand how people must have felt about the family to make such statements.
  3. The focus, for today’s oral reading, was to watch for the punctuation as we read together. Specifically, I wanted students to look for the introductory phrases at the beginnings of sentences that set up the sentence and are separated by a comma. Also, they were to look for the interjectory phrases (that could be included in a sentence by the use of brackets) and see how the voice of the reader changes slightly when reading the injected portion.

    Through the oral reading of this novel and with the other students reading along in their books, students should find not only that their own reading improved but that their understanding of language should as well.

  4. I was quite pleased to see that the students were enjoying the novel already, as was evident through their laughing and disbelief of the portion we were reading. Miss Jean Louise (Scout) Finch sure is one ornery little girl!!
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October 23

ELA 30: Oct 23 Reading period 5 of 5…

  1. Students came to use their last reading period of class time. It was previously planned that they should be finished their novels by Wednesday in order to begin writing their next assignment, an in-class essay, but we have no classes together on Wednesday and I’ve talked with a few and they have admitted to feeling less than able when it comes to essay writing. With that said, Thursday and Friday we will devote to committing ourselves to understanding essays, their basic outline and the tricks to writing good ones.
  2. The in-class essay will be pushed back to Monday and Tuesday’s classes instead.
  3. Students were given their marks from yesterday’s multi-media presentations. I have to say again that I was very pleased with the effort and creativity shown through their projects. They should all feel quite good about working so hard on such a large project!
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October 22

ELA 10: Oct 22 Exams back / Ch 3/4 questions / reading Ch 5…

  1. Students were given back the exams they wrote on Friday. We discussed together how some marks could have been improved if more information or effort was evident in their responses.
  2. I did a quick homework check to see who had completed the assigned Ch 3 and 4 questions from last week. Those who were not completed will want to be sure their next set of questions are thorough and finished.
  3. We began reading Chapter 5 together, with a few students taking turns reading each page. I am pleased they are enjoying the novel and intent on understanding motivations of characters. We finished reading Ch 5 and they are to have the three chapter questions finished for tomorrow.
  4. I promised to have their Illustration assignments marked for tomorrow as well.
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October 22

ELA 20: Oct 22 Reading Ch 1 TKAM / Illustration assignment…

  1. Students were informed that they will have their mid-term exam back tomorrow, after I finish marking the one that was written today.
  2. We discussed to remind ourselves some of the major issues of this novel and got back into the reading. We learned of Boo Radley and the ominous stories that surround he and his house.
  3. Students were directed to look in their handout package for the Illustration activity assignment. We read through it together, I showed them examples of the same assignment that were completed by former students, and they were given the rest of class to begin working on their illustration. The due date for this has been set, collaboratively, for October 31, next Wednesday.
  4. Students were asked to have questions 3 and 4 completed on Chapter 1 for tomorrow.
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October 22

ELA A30: Oct 22 Presentations of multi-media projects…

  1. Students were given an extra few days extension to complete work on their projects. They were invited to arrive early Friday, stay after school Friday, or come early again today to test their projects to ensure they would run smoothly so there would be little delay in presenting. We had the projector set up in the computer room with a good sound system and a tv/dvd cart so everyone had access to whichever way they felt like presenting.
  2. The presentations were very impressive. Some students really went beyond the initial expectations of the assignment and showed a truly creative side to themselves. Their peers who viewed the presentations showed a certain appreciation for the unknown talents of some so it was a great experience to share their work with each other.
  3. I will tally up the marks and have your evaluation mark available tomorrow. Come prepared with your novels for the last of five in-class reading periods. We will review essay writing together in class on Thursday and and then you will write an in-class essay for part of your mid-term evaluation.
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October 19

ELA 20: Oct 19 Mid-term exam today…

  1. The grade elevens wrote their mid-term exam today. There was a planned school activity during today’s class, because of Education week. Half the class went to join the Gr 5/6 English class while the other half continued writing their exam. Half of the Gr 5/6 class came and joined the Gr 11 and wrote their own exam.
  2. The grade elevens were invited to come during the break just before their class began to get a head-start on their exam so they could complete it despite the interuption. It was a shortened exam so everyone had the opportunity to take their time and focus on doing their best work.
  3. We will continue with our reading on To Kill a Mockingbird when we return on Monday.
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October 19

ELA 30: Oct 19 Two classes for reading…

  1. Students had classes 3 & 4 today of their independent novel reading. They will have one more class to read, on Tuesday, before they write an in-class personal essay beginning on Thursday.
  2. Monday, to remind everyone, is the day students will present their multi-media presentations. We will present them in the computer lab with the projector machine so everyone’s files should work there. I am looking forward to seeing how creative everyone was with their poem!
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