English 12

This weekend, plan out the narrative essay you will write on Monday.  In you essay you can tell me about a particularly painful or frightening or happy or embarrassing experience.  This should be one scene--with a beginning, middle and and end--from the movie of your life that takes place over the space of minutes or hours.  Be sure that you include sensory experiences from at least three different senses, and use at least three examples of figurative language (metaphors, similes, hyperbole, personification, understatement, etc.)  Review your hand out on narrative essays and try to include as many elements as you can (a hook, dialogue, vivid verbs, figurative language, imagery, rhetorical questions, suspense/humour, and an echo). You may bring a planning sheet into class on Monday.

Also, in preparation for the Provincial Exam, create a personal timeline listing 5-10 important events in your life to date and 5-10 important or influential people in your life (try to make sure these people are of different ages).

English 8

Review the package on nouns as we will have a quiz on Monday.  The quiz will ask questions very similar to those posed in the package.

Also, please complete "Poetry Journal #1".
Here is the subject:  Tell me about a time when you were greatly disappointed.  What happened?  Why did it happen?  Describe the emotions you experienced.  Did you learn anything from this?

Please write at least 8-10 sentences for your response.

English 8

Review all questions, notes, and handouts to prepare for tomorrow's test on the class novel.

English 12

Tomorrow we will be writing the in-class synthesis essay on All Quiet on the Western Front and Kathryn Bigelow's movie The Hurt Locker.  You may bring one page of planning notes (not your entire essay) to class tomorrow.  I will give you marks for good evidence of planning.

English 12 questions to focus your thoughts

Why was Specialist Eldridge, the youngest member of the bomb disposal team, seeing a doctor? What were the worries he expressed to the doctor?

How did Sgt. William James react when Eldridge started to lose his composure during the desert ambush?

Why does James call his wife but not speak to her.

Why does James decide to deactivate the body bomb rather than detonate the bomb.

What motivates James to take the risks he does?

English 12

On Monday, we will finish watching The Hurt Locker.  The synthesis question which you will answer in class on Tuesday will be as follows:

Although they are set almost a century apart in wars which are vastly different, the two protagonists --Paul Baumer and Sergeant William James -- are affected by war in surprisingly similar ways.  Discuss in a 400-500 word synthesis essay.

Some topics which you might want to cover in your essay are alienation, desensitization, the loss of personal identity, camaraderie, the struggle to maintain humanity.

Look at my next post to see some guiding questions.

English 8

Complete your good copies of your newspaper for Monday.  Review your questions for the test on the novel on Tuesday.

English 12

On Friday, you must hand in the compositions about the most memorable aspects of the class novel.  I will be marking you on the quality of your written expression and the thoughtfulness of your response.

English 8

Tonight, answer the following questions:

1.  Why is the novel that we just finished called The Outsiders?  What is an outsider?  What does it mean to be one?
2.  What was the author's purpose in writing this novel?

I will give you some time in class to work on your newspaper articles tomorrow.  The rough copy of all your work is due on Friday.

Remember, too, to study for the spelling test on Friday.

English 8

Your good copy of the Ponyboy paragraph is due on Monday. Your peer editing sheet must be attached to it.   Also, your poster of two symbols from the story is due on Tuesday.  Part of  the assignment is to include a written explanation of the symbol (just a few sentences). Finally, because this is a poster project, artistic presentation is a must!!
Your spelling words for next Friday are as follows: mileage, moral, morale, murmur, naughty, necessary, neither, nervous, ninetieth, ninth, noticeable, obstacle, opposite, performance, permissible.

English 12

Our last lit circle has been postponed until Monday. Wow me with your investigations and connections.

English 8

Finish the questions on Chapter 12. Remember to write the 3 things you like best about the book.

Also, please write the rough draft of the paragraph explaining how Ponyboy is a dynamic character.

English 12

There will be a quiz on semicolons tomorrow.

Continue working on your literature circle role sheets for Friday.

English 8

Remember to review for the vocabulary test tomorrow.

Finish reading Chapter Seven of The Outsiders. Your words are clammy, gingerly, incredulous, nonchalantly, rarities, roguishly, sagely, stocky, resignedly, defiance, contemptuous, sheepish, premonition, ember, and apprehensive.

On Friday, you will have to hand in one acrostic poem of at least nine lines (or two smaller ones adding up to nine lines) which describes the character of one of the characters in the novel.  Your acrostic must be made up of complete sentences, not individual words or phrases.  You will also have to hand in two extended metaphors like the ones we wrote today in class. You will begin your metaphors like this:  "Ponyboy is lion because..."  You will have to give three qualities of your animal that are shared by your character.

These acrostic poems and extended metaphors (three items in total) must be handed in on Friday, and must be attractively presented so that I may post them in my classroom.

On Friday, too, there will be a spelling test on the words written, on our side whiteboard.  The words are:  incident, incredible, influential, inoculated, inseparable, justice, liquid, lacquer, laughter, largely, launder, laundry, liaison, mattress, maximum

Journalism

Get your stories in. We will start to desktop publish tomorrow.

English 8

Please read Chapter 5 of The Outsiders and do the corresponding questions. I will check your vocabulary words tomorrow - there will be a quiz on Wednesday. On Friday, we will have another spelling test. You should have written the words down today in class. I will add them to this blog later tonight.

English 12

Continue to read the novel and work on the next lit circle.  You must finish Chapter 8 by the end of the week.  Complete the six sentences on semicolons.  We'll have a quiz on semicolons on Thursday.
Read the poem "Base Details" and answer questions #1-4.

Journalism

Your workbooks will be due in on Tuesday.  The exercises are as follows:
1. Vivid verb sentences - The man walked down the street.  The bird landed on the pond.  The player scored a goal. The toddler was upset.
2. Field trip suggestions - your suggestions must include an educational rationale
3. Strengths and weaknesses of the last edition (I have seen everyone's but those belonging to Julian, Harrison, and Kyle)
4. Photo scavenger hunt - 4 photos of school life.  The categories are people, common sights, events and activities, and a free category.
5. Self-evaluation - this will be handed out and completed on Monday

Continue to file your stories.  Second articles should have been filed today.

English 12

Continue to read the novel and work on your lit circle.

English 8

Today in class, seven new vocabulary words were assigned to the eight words we have already reviewed.  The complete list of 15 vocabulary words are: clammy, gingerly, incredulous, nonchalantly, rarities, roguishly, sagely, stocky, resignedly, defiance, contemptuous, sheepish, premonition, ember, and apprehensive. The new words are in bold.  Our next vocabulary quiz will be on Wednesday, November 7.

Today, we also reviewed the questions for Chapter 2 and completed a chart noting the differences between Greasers and Socs.  See me if you were away and need the chart.

For homework this weekend, in addition to working on your new vocabulary words, finish Chapter Three and read Chapter Four.  Finally, answer the questions on Chapter Three.  The questions are as follows:

1. Who offered to take Cheery and Marcia home?  How?
2. What does Cherry think is the difference between the Socs and the Greasers?
3. What did Mickey Mouse mean to Soda?
4. Which characters felt that watching sunsets was important?
5. Why did the blue Mustang scare Johnny so much?
6. Who was Cherry's boyfriend and why was she angry with him?
7. Who finally drove Cherry and Marcia home?
8. Why was Ponyboy afraid to go home?
9. What did Darry do to Ponyboy?  How did Pony react?