Thurs. June 5: Tabloid article How To/Intro Commercials

Assignment #1 Due: Thurs. June 19 in class no exceptions

You will be writing a tabloid article that will be one typed page in length.
Here is your criteria:

• include the who what why where when in the first paragraph
• you should begin with a catchy lead
• details of your story should be in successive paragraphs
• you should include an exotic or far away location
• an expert who backs up your story with at least 2-3 quotes
• some crazy, exaggerated story
• include an eye catching headline

This is a link to info on what a tabloid article is: Tabloid article how to

Assignment # 2 

You will be working in partners or alone to create a 30 sec. commercial to sell a product.
I will be marking your script and your final video which will be shown in class.
Criteria for this assignment is:

• make sure commercial is close to 30 sec
• say it, explain it, repeat it
• use a prop 
• speak loudly and clearly
• be aware of the camera and produce a good quality video

How to write a 30 sec commercial script

Important Dates

Tues. May 20: Myth presentation
Thurs. May 22: Myth presentation/Prepare for test/(review sheet for test)
Tues May 27: Myth test part #2 short answer questions on the myths
Thurs May 29: Intro to commercial assign. and tabloid assign.
Thurs.June 5 -Fri June 6: work on commercials and tabloid articles
(we will be in the lab for some of these classes)
Tues./Thurs June 10/12 continue working on commercials
Present commercials: June 16-18 TABLOID ARTICLES DUE ON JUNE 18
June 20 : Last day of classes!

Questions for Group Myth Presentation

Read myth to the class
Summarize the 5 key ideas of the myth

1. State the name of the myth
2. State the origin of the myth ( country of origin)
3. Determine who the main characters/deities/gods are.
4. Is the focus of the culture's lineage male or female ...how do we know/could we determine this?
5. What symbols show up in the myth? ( in Norse Mythology the tree of Knowledge is important)
6. In what ways does your myth connect to your culture?
7. Compare the similarities and differences of your myth to either Greek or Christianity.

Wrapping up Mythology

We are finishing up mythology very soon. We will have a final test and notebooks will be handed in.
The following assignment is due in groups and you will have 2 classes to prepare.

Creation Myth Assignment

Name of Myth
Country of origin
Summary of Myth
Myth read to class
Symbols present in the myth
Similarities/Differences to Greek origin myth or Christianity origin story

As a group we will keep a chart with the main components of each myth we study. This will be presented to the class.

Have a good March Break

All incomplete assignments must be completed prior to he first day back after the break. The following is a list of assignments that are due for term 3, which will be ending less than two weeks after we get back from the break.

• Magnetic poem/Quebec poem( for those who went on the Quebec trip)
• Place poem: write about a place you feel comfortable in, use strong descriptive words
• Poem read aloud to class/write up that went with the poem ( what the poem was about & why you chose it)
• Thief poem response
• Dead Poet's Society Questions
• Novel Summary/Vocab/Minor Character (this was last terms work known as ABC)
• Poetry Test
• Novel Test

Dead Poet's Society Questions

Dead Poet’s  Society Film Sheet                                                20 marks

Complete all answers in full sentences. Make sure you answer all parts of the questions.

1. Discuss the growth of the character of Todd Anderson.
2. Fully describe the character of Mr. Keating, do you agree or disagree with his teaching methods.
3. A theme in the film deals with parental control vs. adolescent independence, discuss this theme citing examples from the film.
4.  Cite one example of foreshadowing in the film.

Week of Mar 10-14 Dead Poet's Society Film

This week in English, we will be watching "The Dead Poet's Society" movie in class. Students should be attentive since a film sheet will complement this film. We will spend some time discussing some of the issues in the film in class as well as: symbolism, foreshadowing, theme, and character development.

For those of you on early vacation, I tried to find the movie online, but had no luck, however you should be able to rent it from most video stores or rent it online from iTunes.

I have included a mini synopsis of the film as well, you can read it by clicking on the link. Film sheet to follow later.

Dead Poets Info

Continuing work on Responding

Begin with a statement that discusses theme or what you will be talking about.

Example: In the poem, "The Man who finds His Son has Become a Thief," Raymond Souster investigates (discusses) the difficulty a father feels when he finds out his son has stolen something. At first the father in the poem wants to believe his son who says, " I didn't steal anything, honest." Like most parents he wants to believe his son, and believe he has raised his son properly.

The author effectively creates images which support the theme of this poem. In the line," choose a line to discuss)".

The following are other phrases that can be used when discussing poetry.

In the line,"" the author is trying to say......
In the line,"" the author is trying to get across the idea that...
In the line,""the author is suggesting
This idea is supported when the author says, .....
The use of (imagery, symbolism, personification etc.) is used effectively to communicate the idea that,
I thought the line"" was effective because.....
In stanza one.....
Souster implies

SAMPLE RESPONSE

Harlem by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

In Langston Hughes’ poem, “Harlem”, the theme of the poem is stated in the first line, “What happens to a dream deferred?” Immediately the poem strikes a universal chord because the vast majority of human experience throughout the ages has encountered a “dream deferred”. Some people let the dream die (“dry up”), while others agonize (“fester like a sore”) about the loss for a lifetime. Still others hold the dream close and use it for comfort (“crust and sugar over”). The didactic nature of the poem reflects the didactic nature of human emotion when faced with loss. The lines “Maybe it just sags, like a heavy load.” are separated from the previous stanza, creating the feeling of ‘sagging’. The images that Hughes invokes are vivid descriptions of the various ways that people handle the loss of a dream. The title, ‘Harlem’, further invokes a specific image of a specific class of people who are constantly barraged with dreams broken.

Friday Feb. 28

It has been a long time since I have published anything on the blog, I was getting the feeling that no one was checking it...but with a number of students leaving early for March Break and band trips looming, I figured it might be best to continue to post up work to help students stay organized and know what work needs to be handed in.

Old Assignments for Term #3

• Poem on place: the focus of this assignment is on describing a place that is home (the Comox Valley, in the hockey rink, at dance class etc.)
• Magnet poem or Quebec poem for those who did the Quebec trip
• PART A: Choice poem read to the class ( needs to be done) PART B: Written explanation of why you chose the poem and what the poem is about.
• Poetry Quiz

Responding to Literature

Responding to Literature
-desire to express their own ideas in informal settings 
-ability to gather meaning from reading and relate it to personal interests and experiences 
-ability to use sense of story to organize, recall, and make inferences 
- ability to ask questions, express thoughts, feelings or opinions
- ability to make connections and synthesize information

NEW ASSIGNMENT TODAY : We will be in the computer lab and will continue working on this on Mon. as well

• Response to: The Man who Finds  his Son has Become a Thief

LINK TO POEM Read or listen a few times

LINK TO HOW TO DO A RESPONSE

READ THIS

Jan 6-10

Before the holidays students were to complete a question sheet ( Chapters 8-10) that we took up in class. Students were asked to finish reading the novel over the holidays if they have not already done so. Students who missed time before the holidays should have this completed in order to study for the test which we will have next week. The test will be on Thurs. Jan 16 in class.

Thurs. Jan 9 : Students are spending some time reading, then finishing up their jeopardy game questions. When finished this, they can work on the study sheet for the test and get all of their notes in order in preparation for the test.

Tues. Jan 14 : As a class, we will play our jeopardy game on the novel and the winning team will receive prizes.

Thurs. Jan 16: Final test on Invitation to the Game. The test will consist of short answer, matching, fill in the blanks. It will focus on plot, character, and setting. There will be one short essay question which will require proper response format.

Proper essay response should look like this:

General introduction: or re-wording of the question in statement format.
Point #1
Example to back up that point
Point #2
Example to back up that point
Point # 3
Example to back up that point
Statement that ties all of these ideas together
Conclusion: tying in ideas from the general introduction

On a test, I am not concerned about thesis statements, what matters is keeping your writing organized and expressing your ideas in a logical way.

Fri. Jan. 17 We will begin a mini-unit on mythology