Report Cards Coming Soon

Students will be receiving back their major projects this week, and should know their term 3 marks by the end of the week. We have started term 4 off with Poetry and will continue this unit for a couple of weeks. So far, students are expected to find a poem that they like and it will be read aloud to the class. So far, I have been most impressed with student readings, especially Will's full memorization of his poem and Sterling's solo rendition of "The Shooting of Dan McGrew." I had a real good laugh when Kane read a Dr. Seuss poem on aging. So far, we have heard everything from Wordsworth to Shel Silverstein.

This week students were given four sheets on poetic devices/types of poems and asked to memorize the definitions which were starred. I am not a huge fan of teaching memorization...but in this case I believe it is important for students to know these terms becuase they will need to know them for the next 4 years in their English classes. We will be having a quiz on these terms Wed. for class 84 and Friday for class 85. The test will be a combination of matching and fill in the blanks. Students should also have the good copy of their 8 line poems handed in for marking on the test day.

Assignments due next week

• Have a poem ready to read to the class
• Good copy of 8 line poem, edited and typed
•  (remember it should include 1 simile and be on a theme)
• TEST ON POETIC TERMS

Parents: This is the time of year when students start to "slack off" due to great weather and feeling tired of school. If there is any time to monitor and support your children, it is now. Marks have a habit of dropping lower each term. It is my hope to try to keep things interesting and fun to help students remain motivated.