English 8

Here is the list the class made today of objects that are important in the novel:

1. switchblade--this object signifies the danger and violence that surrounds the teens
2. the Greasers' hair
3. Bob's rings
4. Dally's jacket
5. blue Mustang
6. chocolate cake
7. Gone with the Wind
8. sunsets
9. the church on Jay Mountain
10. Tulsa's newspaper

Choose five of these objects (except the switchblade) and state what each means emotionally within the novel.

Comm 11/12

You George Milton complaint letter is due tomorrow.  Also, make sure you've finished the vocabulary package.  Tomorrow, you'll have time to complete the last questions on Chapter 4.  Make sure you have something to say about the connection between trust, loneliness and cruelty in the novel.

English 11

Bring your permission forms tomorrow.  Also, answer the questions for Act I, Scene i (I,i).  If you want, you can look over the various parts in Act I to see what roles you might like to read.

English 8

Tonight, complete page 2 of the handout on adjectives.  Also, read Chapter 8 (it's short) and complete the questions on Chapters 7 and 8 (the flip side of the Chapter 6 sheet).

Comm 11/12

Today, we began Vocab Package #7.  I'll give you time in class to work on this tomorrow.  Tonight, make sure that you have read up to page 47 of the class novel and that you have completed questions #1 and #2 on Chapter 4.

Students also wrote a business letter in class today.  Here was the assignment (which is due on Wednesday):

You are a paid scribe, hired by George Milton to write a letter of complaint about the lice in the bunkhouse beds at Soledad Ranch.  Write a formal letter of that explains the situation and asks for the ranch owner to provide fresh, clean bedding.

Your address is 1234 Ranch Road, Soledad, CA 90342
The ranch boss' address is John Fist, Owner, Soledad Ranch, 1234 Ranch Road, Soledad, CA 90342

Make sure that your letter is formal and proofread well.

English 11

Read pages 19-25 of the Macbeth text book, as well as the scene summary on page 33.  Tomorrow, we'll begin reading Act 1, Scene 1.

English 8

Do the noun/verb review sheet and the crossword in preparation for tomorrow's spelling test.

Comm 11/12

Finish the questions on Chapter 3 for homework.  The vocabulary test will be on Friday.

English 11

Fishbowl Notes on Discrimination (Note: XXXX indicates no cited page number for a quotation)

• White people thought it was “their game” XXXX
• Throughout the book, Saul is an outsider.  Even his size makes him different.  The crowd mocks him as a “mascot”XXXX.  [, the Toronto team made him feel as though he didn’t exist although his “teammates never call [him] chief”XXXX.
• Racism is shown in the diner scene in Chapter 38.
• “We’re skins.  We crossed a line.  [They think that gives them the right] to make us pay. (p.136)
• After being ejected from the White River team, Saul says to Father Leboutilier, “It’s because I’m Indian”.   Father L. agrees with Saul. (p.91).
• The Toronto hockey players treat Saul differently, too.  Not part of the team.  Quote on page 174 about Saul being called “more insulting names” (by fans or teammates, I’m not sure).
• Hockey wasn’t Saul’s problem, it followed him to the logging camp.  Each time he worked hard, the other loggers got to him.
• There is a link between discrimination and alcohol.  Discrimination ruins everything in Saul’s life.
• Saul needs hockey to survive, but it’s killing him.
• White people drink too…is Saul’s escape into alcoholism because of his desire to assimilate or because of his desire to escape the circumstances of his life?
• The Residential Schools Act of 1876 used mistreatment and punishment to end a culture.  The act was rooted in racism.  Racism destroys FN (First Nations) culture.  For Saul, Hockey is ruined, his education is ruined, his ability to find love and friendship is ruined.  The resulting sadness causes him to turn to alcohol.
• Saul has suffered both physical and mental violence.
• When Saul played in White River, the he was prevented from playing the game.  The game was cancelled just for him.
• Violence and racism also go together.  Saul and other FN children suffered from violence from teachers and white society. Saul was a perfect victim of violence because of the racist Canadian culture in which he lived.
• Saul finally brings that violence to the ice, but he is not happy.
• Symbols of racism in the novel:
• Residential school, abuse, hockey (there is a lot of physical contact…Saul is small and is seen as a target), alcohol.
• Through hockey, Saul can tell his story in a different way.

Fishbowl Notes on Aspirations and Dreams

• Hockey is a symbol of Saul’s aspirations and dreams.
• Hockey keeps him on track and when he loses it, he becomes an alcoholic.
• The game inspires his whole team, not just Saul.  When Saul is offered a chance to play in Toronto, all the Moose want him to play for them.  See quote on page 153.  Saul carries their dreams too.
• Hockey also give Saul the inspiration to find community and family.  (p. 90)  “Nobody wins alone” (p. 178)
• Hockey was important because it was important for Saul to find something that he could be a part of.  Chapter 18 shows that Saul is participating in something that is important.
• Saul’s hockey dreams being even before he plays on the St. Jerome’s team.  It begins when he is cleaning the ice and only has the promise of playing when he gets older.  Hockey gives him hope and happiness.(p.57???). 
• Father L. says to Saul, “You will love it” when he introduces him to hockey. (p.57???)
• Hockey keeps Saul and his teammates going, “We came together every weekend…our dreams came to life [on the ice]”(p.113). 
• Saul’s dreams never die in this book.  They change.  His hockey dreams may seem to die, but at the end of the novel, he does still have dreams of being part of a community/a family.
• When Saul played on white teams, there was no community or family for him.  “They think it’s their game” (Ch. 31)
• As the book progresses, Saul’s dreams become less clear. 
• He seems to lose his dreams after leaving Toronto.  Erv Sift says to Saul on page 185, “Saul, you ever pine for anything else?”
• He turns to alcohol and forgets his dreams.
• Discrimination is related to dreams.
• Hockey keeps him alive and when it is gone, he doesn’t know how to live without it.
• The scout, tries to persuade Saul to come to Toronto in Chapter 35.  There, the harder the players are on Saul, the harder he works. (p. 174).
• In the end, Saul returns to Manitouwadge as it is the only place “something was possible for me” p. 210.  It was the place he could try to attain his dreams.

Fishbowl Notes on Identity

• Quote on page 81, “When your innocence is stripped…[you are seen as] less than human…[this is what they] inflicted on us.”
• Kids were taught that they were wrong in the residential school.
• Quote on pages 45-46, “He is unbaptized and unclean…your heavenly father [is your father now]…your [other father has nothing to offer you anymore].
• The sisters removed the children’s culture and this is the starting point of Saul losing his identity.
• The quote on page 48 about how Saul copes by becoming small and how he can “collapse the space” around him speaks to how the school is affecting his identity.
• Your identity is that which allows you to be special, unique, and different.  The residential schools forced these children to assimilate and lose what made them unique and special.  
• The symbolic action of Saul being grabbed away from his dead grandmother’s arms shows how Saul is losing his identity.
• Saul was not allowed to play on the White River team after parents complained about him getting too much ice time.
• The school took away his language and First Nations identity in an attempt to assimilate him, but white society still saw him as different, alien, not one of them.
• “They’d never hear me cry alone” (p. 55).
• School took away Saul’s identity, but hockey gave him a new one.  Then, he lost it again.
• On page 48, readers see Saul struggle with his identity.  The teachers see him as First Nations, but the children see him as Zauhnagush (check the spelling of this term—I know I’ve misspelled it).  The teachers disrespect him for speaking Ojibway and the children disrespect him for speaking English.
• Drinking is a possible consequence of losing one’s identity.
• When you don’t know who you are, you become confused and look for a way to escape (alcohol)
• Saul’s identity problems begin in the bush with his family.  He is torn before he even arrives at the school (torn between Naomi and his parents).
• At the start of the book, his culture is very present in the story…legends…how his family got its name…there is not much of that at the end…the culture doesn’t seem to be so prevalent.
• Father L’s touch reminds Saul of Naomi’s loving touch.
• The school changed the children’s thinking about themselves…it obliterated the children’s identity.
• The scene where the children catch fish is a good example of what the school does to the children’s identity.  Saul spends his life trying to recover/recapture it.
• Chapter 48, page 192….Saul has a vision of his grandfather.  His identity had been buried for decades, now as a mature man, it can be realized again.
• Identity can affect dreams...dreams can affect identity

English 11

Keep reading the novel.  At the moment, I cannot remember whether I told you to read to the end of Chapter 38 or 39.   Read as much as you can!

English 8

Make sure you finish page one of the review sheet on nouns and verbs.  Also, collect three telling quotations about your group's assigned character.  If you were not in class today, you will have time to do this in Focus.

English 8

Here are your next 10 vocabulary words:

1. apprehensive (adj) - uneasy or fearful about something that might happen
2. gingerly (adv) - done with great care or caution; warily
3. incredulous (adj) - skeptical; showing disbelief
4. nonchalantly (adv) - coolly unconcerned; indifferent; casual; unexcited
5. rarities (noun) - things that are rare, uncommon, or curious in some way (their value comes from existing in small numbers)
6. roguishly (adv) - playfully mischievous; acting like a rogue or rascal (not being a loner)
7. sagely (adv) - wisely; acting with good judgement
8. stocky (adj) - having a solid, sturdy form; thick-set and usually short
9. unfathomable (adj) - unknowable; not understood; incomprehensible
10. gallantly (adv) - brave, noble, chivalrous

Comm 11/12

Tomorrow, we will mark the work we did in class today.  Make sure that all of you have read completely up to page 26 in the novel and have completed the chapter questions.
This was today's journal topic:
Many of the world's problems stem from the fact that people are scared of one another.  Agree or Disagree and explain your reasoning in a journal response.  
The journal is due tomorrow.

English 11

Today, we completed a poetic devices sheet, watched a final presentation (of Chapter 27), and looked at the next ten vocabulary words which are as follows:

1. utter (adj and v): complete, absolute; (v) to say
2. complicit (adj): involved with others in an illegal or wrong activity
3. rudimentary (adj): involving limited or basic principles; relating to an immature, underdeveloped, or basic form
4. to be attired (v):  be dressed in clothes of a specific kind
5. spindly (adj): (of a person or limb) long or tall and thin; (of a thing) thin and weak or insubstantial of construction
6. potent (adj):  powerful, influential, effective
7. prone (adj): likely or liable to do, suffer from, or experience something (often something unwelcome or regrettable); lying flat (especially face downward)
8. supine (adj): lying face upwards; failing to act because of moral weakness or indolence
9. to impede (v): to delay or prevent someone or something by means of obstruction; hinder
10. chimera (n): a thing that is hoped or wished for, but impossible to achieve; any mythological being that is constructed with parts from other beings; an organism containing a mixture of genetically different tissues (from fusion of early embryos, grafting, or mutation).

For homework tonight, look at the three quotes that you chose from Chapters 20 - 27, choose one and relate it (in a short paragraph) to one of the following theme words that relate to the novel:

ostracism, injustice, culture, dreams/aspirations, community, religion, hockey, education, moral education, diversity, family/origins/ethnicity, identity, abuse.

Comm 11/12

We read up to page 26 in the class novel.  If you were not in class, make sure your reading is up to date for Tuesday.

English 8

Complete the questions on Chapter 4.

English 11

Read to the end of Chapter 27.  Write down three quotes from the Chapters 20-27, and be prepared to explain their significance to the novel.

English 8

Tonight, just read Chapter 4 of the class novel.

English 11

Think about your skits for tomorrow.  I'll give you 20 minutes in your groups before showtime!

Comm 11/12

Complete Vocab Package #6 for tomorrow.

English 8

Complete the third page of the verb sheet.  Also, complete the "Whom Would You Rather" sheet where #1 is your top choice, and #7 is you least preferred choice.  Finally, look up the definitions for the following words:
1. apprehensive
2. gingerly
3. incredulous
4. nonchalantly
5. rarities
6. roguishly
7. sagely
8. stocky
9. unfathomable
10. gallantly

Comm 11/12

Answer the question sheet on Chapter 1 of the class novel.

English 11

Read Chapters 15 - 17 of the class novel tonight.

English 8

Finish reading Chapter 3 and complete the chart on Socs and Greasers.  I will give you time in class tomorrow to do the questions on Chapter 3.

Comm 11/12

Make sure your Vocab Package #5 is complete for tomorrow.

English 11

 Complete the questions on Chapters 11 - 14 of the class novel.

English 8

Read Chapter Two of the class novel and answer the question sheet on that chapter.  Plus, fill in the first half of the chart concerning Greasers and Socs.

The class set of this week's vocabulary words is as follows:

1. resignedly (adv) - doing something in a submissive way; giving in to something one can no longer fight
2. acquired (verb) - obtained; accomplished; to get as one’s own
3. clammy (adj) - cold and damp; covered with a cold, sticky moisture
4. defiance (noun) - daring or bold resistance to authority or an opposing force
5. contemptuous (adj) - showing disdain, scorn, or disrespect
6. glaring (adj) - shining or reflecting a harshly bright light; obvious
7. reckless (adj) - utterly unconcerned with the consequences of an action; without caution;carelessness
8. sheepish (adj) - embarrassed for having done something foolish; like sheep with meekness
9. premonition (noun) - feeling or anticipation or anxiety for a future event
10. ember (noun) - smoldering remains of a fire; a small, live piece of coal or wood; a still burning thing

English 11

Students should read up to the end of Chapter 14 in the class novel.  Before reading, however, write a 1/2 page to 3/4 page journal response on your first day of something as a child.  This could be your first day of school (if you can remember this), your first day of high school, or your first day of attending an organization, music or sporting activity.

The first ten class vocabulary words from the novel are as follows:

1. matriarch (n): female head of a family or tribe
2. seer (n): one with supernatural ability who can see the future
3. stoic (adj) : one who can endure pain/hardship without complaint
4. spectre (n): a ghost; something widely feared
5. to pine (v): to yearn for the return of something; to waste away especially because of a broken heart
6. thrall (n): the state of being in someone’s power or having great power overs someone
7. transient (adj or n): (adj) impermanent; lasting just a short time; (n) a person who stays or works in a place for  just a short time
8. manitou (n): Algonquin/Ojibway spirits or forces that pervade and control the natural world (Gitchee Manitou=the Great Manitou; the Creator)
9. shaman (n): a holy person in a pre-industrial community, a liaison between the physical and spiritual world who is responsible for divination, healing, and leading rituals within a community
10. to scuttle (v or n):  (v) to run hurriedly/furtively with short, quick steps; to purposely sink a ship; (n) a small pan for shovelling coal