English 12

Friday We finally marked the poetry test from last week. I will score the paragraphs on the weekend and give you your results on Monday. We completed the Elizabethan research on the roles of men and women using the "placemat" activity/ jigsaw: new groups were formed and experts on each of the sub-topics shared their info with their new group. As a final task, groups wrote a summary statement about gender roles during the Elizabethan period. From this, we moved to viewing a section of Taming of the Shrew. The plan is to focus on the first meeting of Kate and Petruchio, but we watched from the beginning of the film to get a context for this meeting. Thursday Today we listened to two more infographic presentations. Following that, we completed the prop activity for Taming of the Shrew which involved taking a class photograph of everyone "in role." Next, groups of four did some research on a specific topic related to gender roles in Elizabethan times. One of the thi...

Friday Below please find the notes I left for Mr Allen. 1.      Silent reading for first 10-15 minutes. 2.      Hand out the copy of Wordsmith. Return their papers with the paragraph answers to the poem analysis practice we did last class. Mark the multiple choice together. Let them know that their scores are a little low on the paragraph (remind them this was a practice only – scores don’t count) because they read the poem fairly literally and didn’t deal with the extended metaphor. Point out the title of the poem; how does “Wordsmith” relate to the poem? The father is a man who doesn’t communicate well. He is working on the house of his adult son or daughter (the speaker in the poem). The father clearly has trouble communicating with words and shows his love of his, now grown up child, by working hard to make his son/daughter’s house a “perfect sentence.” Please spend 10 minutes going over the poem again so they can see where they missed th...

Thursday & Friday I have booked the laptops in the library for you to use on Thursday and Friday. Poetry Assignment: Poem analysis presented in an infographic. Rubric: The infographic rubric is in the links section to the right of this post. Make sure you scroll down the rubric document to see the full details about the assignment. STEP 1: Choose a poem. You may use any of the poems we have covered in class (or with Mr. Elliot). If you didn't get a chance to speak to me on Wednesday, best to play it safe and pick from the choices below. - an ode from Pablo Neruda - a Shakespearean sonnet - any poem you like from the site: Poetry in Voice STEP 2: Thursday, you should probably spend a good chunk of time on analyzing your poem. To carry-out your analysis, complete the orange "Close Reading of a Poem" sheet. I have made extra copies and left them with the TOC. You can do research about the poem and the poet online, but don't forget to cite any source...

Friday We spent some time going through the portfolios and entering evidence of learning for the various English 12 competencies on to the large charts I created for everyone. Next everyone wrote a brief reflection about their progress in term 1 and goals for term 2.  Thursday Continuing with poetry, we looked at cacophony and euphony in Dulce et Decorum Est. Next we looked a few of Sylvia Plath's poems: Metaphor, Mirror, Mad Girl's Love Song. Tomorrow we will complete the focus on Plath by looking at In Plaster.  Wednesday Remembrance Day Tuesday Today we looked at the war poem Dulce et Decorum Est by Wifred Owen. In order to do this, we did a drawing strategy. Next we began to look at elements of the poem such as the rhyme scheme and the metre. At the end of the class, I asked about cacophony, but we didn't have time to discuss. We will pick it up again on Thursday. Monday Today was an in-class write about the term 1 Canadain novel.

Monday Today we reviewed the definitions of some non fiction terms (Anecdotal evidence, Expert testimony, Statistical evidence, Case study, Research). We then read the text "Multiculturalism, Canada's brand" and found examples of these different types of evidence. Tuesday It was decided that the novel assignment will be done as an in class write taking place on the morning of the 9th. If you wish you may bring a sheet of notes you have prepared beforehand to help with your writing process. The paper will be handed in at the end of the block and will be marked somewhat more leniently in terms of spelling and grammar because of the shorter time frame. The class was spent organizing the Canadian voice charts and writing the personal reflection piece for the unit. Both of these must be in your folder when Ms Adams does the interview assessment. Wednesday Today we reviewed types of narrative poetry. We read an excerpt from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and d...