1. Students began the class by writing out three questions on the board in reference to the play they read on Friday, “The Komagata Muru Incident”. They were given time to answer them and then we discussed them briefly and followed with a reminder of what constitutes someone who is “marginalized”; it is not just someone who is an immigrant.
2. We viewed a portion of the movie title Snow Falling on Cedars that depicts the reality for Japanese Americans during after Pearl Harbour. The realities for these people are very similar for the Japanese Canadians, such as Joy Kogowa, the author of the two poems we will be reading next titled “What I Remember of the Evacuation” and “Woodtick”. 
3. With an image of people being forced out of their homes left up on the screen, we read the poem “What I Remember of the Evacuation” and had time to only briefly discuss it. We will continue tomorrow.
4. 

1. We read together again. getting up to the end of the Tom Robinson trial and the Missionary Women’s Tea where Scout sees what it means to be a true lady. From here on, students will be reading their novels individually. This works out nicely because there is a small portion of action left before the end and it will be nice for each student to experience this with the characters of Scout and Jem in private. We will discuss the questions left to consider on Monday. Students are asked to have their novels read. 

1. We discussed the questions relating to yesterday’s story, titled “Why My Mother Can’t Read English”. We reviewed again the types of groups marginalized in our Canadian society.
2. Next, we had the task of reading a play titled “The Komagata Muru Incident” which is based on an actual event that happened just prior to World War One beginning. Students who were willing to read one of the characters were assigned parts at random, and according to gender. Then the kids just went to it, acting out the play as they read through it with the others following along. They did a great job! We had two classes to work together today and we happened to get through the whole thing in one shot. Good work, Grade twelves. 
3. We discussed some questions and will continue again on Monday.  

1. Students had another class to work on their essay. If finished their rough draft, they were able to type their essay out.
2. The students and I have plans after school today to stay and watch a movie that, in many ways, parallels much of the novel we have just finished studying. We began this unit of The Unknown by going up into the girl’s change room in the gym, turning the lights out and sharing scary stories in the dark by candlelight. Today, we are going to end the unit in a similar way, by watching with the overhead projector the movie The Village. Students agreed to stay after school together as a group to watch the movie in full, instead of using class time and have it broken up over several days.

It was a great time sharing that together. I am so pleased with these students. They helped set things up before watching, were great in the dark there, and as soon as things were done, helped clean up before being asked. I enjoyed sharing that movie with them in that way and was pleased to hear them so excited about the storyline and comparing it to our novel study. It was well worth it.    

1. We are getting to the tense parts of the novel and really getting into our reading, now. Reading together every day in class does take a long time to finish a book of 280+ pages but the value in sharing this story together is more than worth it. This novel is considered, by many, one of the greatest stories ever told. There is really something to be said for telling a story through the eyes of a child because, as Mr. Dolfous Raymond said today, children, at times, are the only ones who think to cry over things, they’re not too jaded or close-minded yet. 
2. We will try to finish reading tomorrow and anything left over will have to be read for homework. There’s more to come in this story yet!

1. Students came in one at a time after finishing their Science exam from the last class. They worked Wonderfully today!! They were quiet, focused, and seemed to get a lot accomplished in writing their essay. We may have more time tomorrow to write, since they’ve done so well. Students are also planning on watching the movie The Village tomorrow after school together as a group. We would like to watch the whole thing without breaks. I’m bringing the snacks and drinks. 
2.   I was pleased to see how focused the students were working! (A picture is worth a thousand words, right?)

1. We began the second unit in this course of study, Canada: Diverse Voices. We started out with a definition on the board of what Marginalized means and discussed it briefly, that people exist in our Canadian society that are unrecognized by the majority of society and left to tend to themselves. They usually are restricted in their situations and have no means of changing it. They are often immigrants, physically disabled, homeless or the poor, and drug addicts / prostitutes. These are people who seem “undesirable” and are ignored in our society. Their voice is distinct but seldom heard. 
2. We watched a few videos with the projector machine. They focused on these different groups that comprise the marginalized voice in Canada. See a link to them attached below.
3. We discussed the recent situation where a Canadian woman paid for her son to fly to Canada. He was in the international airport in Vancouver but unable to assistance for several hours and became abusive and loud and was eventually tasered by the police called to assist. He died as a result of this. There is a lot of confusion and conflict over this story right now. We discussed this as a class, the fact that this woman is on the outskirts of our society because of her inability to clearly speak our language and her restrictions because of not having many contacts to help her. Would the man have died, been tasered and left on his own for so long, if he had spoken English? 
4. We read a short story together titled “Why My Mother Can’t Speak English” about a Chinese woman who has lived in Canada for thirty years but still cannot speak any English and is seeking her Canadian Citizenship. After reading, we discussed the motivation of her deceased husband in keeping her from learning English and then students began working on the questions assigned.
5. Tomorrow, we’ll begin reading a short play together titled “The Komagata Muru Incident”.

See below for links to the videos we watched today… Continue reading

1. Students were given the rubric for their evaluation of the essay along with an essay outline to fill in to plan their essay. Examples were given on the board to help them construct their thesis statement. We also talked about the essay being written in present tense as all literary essays are to be in present tense. 
2. Follow the outline and instructions given there and you should be able to slowly construct a great essay. 

1. Students began class by discussing, for review, the mob scene of the last chapter. There was such tension in that last scene that the students stayed through the break to finish reading it together! We talked about how the men gathered in the mob that night lost their individual sense of accountability. As a group with hurtful intentions, they lost their conscience over what they were planning on doing. When Scout addressed the one man by name and would not relent, he finally made the decision to step out from the crowd, accept his personal responsibility for his actions, and make the conscious decision to go home. We also discussed the symbolism of the “light” Atticus took to the jailhouse step. Atticus was in the light, in the right, while the men stood in darkness, on the wrong side of the law. It was the difference between good and evil.
2. We read together for the rest of the class. As I read, I had students imagine themselves in the body positions described in the book and try to infer what “mood” that character would have been in. It surely helps to understand their perspective. We’re reading the courthouse scene and things are getting good. We need to finish this book soon, though. We have two classes together tomorrow. We’re going to read like we’ve never read before!!

1. Students were given a new handout of the resources they studied in this first unit. The difference between this resource list and their original one is that any literature we looked at that Cannot be referenced on their Dept. exam was removed on the new list. This way, they should not use any material by mistake that they can be penalized on for the exam. 
2. We discussed, also, the idea that any piece of literature that we studied in a particular unit, either in the first or second unit of the course, can be interchanged with any of the sub-units. They are grouped the way they are only for our initial studied of the different sub-units but when it comes time to study for the final, the two key areas of consideration will be two-fold: Canada’s land and Canada’s voices. 
3. We watched a short video about writing a three paragraph essay, as students will be required to do this for their final. The distinction was made that they Do Not reference any literature for this essay. There will be some type of scenario set up, like that you are to pretend you are a real estate salesman, and have to try to convince someone of Saskatchewan’s uniqueness. With this part of the writing, they need to be sure to boldly BE that individual and respond using what they think would be that person’s personal perspective, using “I”.
4. To end our unit that focuses on the landscape of Canada, we read an essay together titled “Where the World Began” by Margaret Laurence. The students seemed to relate well to the essay as she describes the uniqueness and excitement that happens in small towns in Saskatchewan, as opposed to the idea that the Canadian Prairies are dull and boring. 
5. The students were also introduced to the new page on the right hand side of the blog where two examples of Departmental exams are posted. Have a look through the exams to get an idea of what you will encounter in January.

Watch the video about writing three paragraph essays.