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

Week Ending Dec.13

Students have been working hard reading, discussing and answering questions on the novel. Today we are going to take a break from questions and have a look at some new technologies for the future. The following are a number of links that we will watch and discuss.

A Day Made of Glass

Technologies that Exist Already

Nanotechnology

Glass by Google

Must Have Gadgets 2014

robot hand

Robot1

Robot2

Tues. Dec.3

English 9

Students should read their independent novels for 20-25 min.

Then they should complete the following for their novel, to be handed in next class.

Title of Novel:

Author:

Pages read:

PART A: Write a letter from the main character to someone outside the story telling them what is going on in their life so far. Use first person. The letter should be at least two paragraphs long. Make it connect with what is going on in the story.

PART B: Find 5 words in your book that you are a little uncertain of and look up their meaning.

PART C: Introduce a minor character and talk about them to me as though they were a real person you just met.

Week Ending Nov. 29

I do not see the students until next Tues., homework for Tues includes the following:
* Read up to Chapter 6 in Invitation to the Game
* Complete question sheet for Invitation to the Game,(handed out in class) and be prepared for for discussion
* Continue reading in your independent novels

Fri. Nov. 22

Students spent 20 min reading their independent novels. The next assignment for this book is the introduce the main character by describing their personality traits. We learn about characters in three ways...by what they say, by what they do or by what others say about them.Using this knowledge, make inferences about your character or draw conclusions from the information presented. ( notes were put on the board in class)

NEW ASSIGNMENT #1: character sketch of the main character in your  independent novel.

We continued reading Invitation to the Game in class.

Week ending Nov. 21

This week we read up to page 18 in class....and I hate to inform you but Quinn managed to sneak out a book and has already read to page 40! In student's notes for the novel should be the following:

• a title page with an image and a title of the book, coloured
• a paragraph on the setting of the novel focused on time, place, physical description...this should be added to as we move through the novel
• a list of characters with character descriptions for each character we have met so far....this should also be added to as well.

Invitation to the Game

We have picked up our novels from the library and completed a pre-reading activity. Students were asked to predict what the story might be about by looking at the cover of the novel. After this, students had to make up three questions that they wanted to know about the novel. Today, we discussed these questions in class and students asked some very thoughtful and perceptive questions. The last task for students was to discuss the concept of FREEDOM. What does freedom look like, or not look like to them. We then went on to take notes on Setting  and discuss.

Assignment: Using the student's independent novel they are currently reading, they should write a 1 paragraph description of the setting in their book.

Note: Students who have still not handed in Rudy Questions....do some homework!

Week of Nov. 11-15

Last week we watched the film Rudy which has a very strong message about believing in your dreams and working toward them. Students were to complete the following question sheet. The questions should have been handed in today, Tues. Nov. 12. Students have been given ample class time to complete. Late work will have a mark deducted.

Rudy Film Sheet

All answers should be in full sentences.

1. Why is the first scene significant to the theme of the entire film.
2. Describe the kind of football player Rudy was.
3. Do you agree or disagree with Rudy's teacher when he says, “the problem with dreamers is they are usually not doers.” Back up your opinion with proof from the story.
4. Who were the people who helped keep Rudy's dream alive....and explain how they did this?
5. Who were the people who tried to squash Rudy's dream and how did they do this?
6. Why would Rudy be considered a resilient character?
7. What event caused Rudy to change the path his life was on?
8. What learning disability did Rudy have? Explain how this disability affected his learning? How did he overcome his disability?
9. How did Rudy inspire his teammates?

10. Write a one paragraph character description of Rudy using examples from his life to back up your character descriptors. Example: Rudy was a very determined individual, this was shown by the way he never gave up his dream to go to Notre Dame and play football. You should include 5 character traits and 5 examples of these traits.
( Question 10 is worth 10 marks and should be handed in typed up on a separate sheet of paper)

Tues Nov. 12: The following work was assigned and students will have a homework check on Thurs.

• Predict what you think Invitation to the Game might be about based on the cover art of the book
• What 3 questions would ask about the book, based on the title.
• Describe what freedom looks/feels like to you. ( point form is OK here)
• Begin a title page for this novel study
• Sign out your book from the library and put in the bin in the classroom.

Believe in your Dreams

rudy


A clip from You Tube about the real Rudy Rutteger.

All late work is due Mon. without exception.

I would like to hand back a lot of work that has been marked. In order to do this, all late work must be in on Mon.. during class. This includes the Robert Frost poem. Any assignments not completed at this time will receive a zero. The only exception is your short story which will be handed back edited and then you will fix up errors and then hand back in for marking. Students were all alerted to this in class on Friday.

Personal response 1 page

In this assignment, you are to answer one of these question fully, or make up a question ( have it approved by Ms Chase) and answer it in a short written piece. You may write in first person. If you are still unclear about what you should do, come and talk to me about the assignment.

Length: 1 page typed  single spaced times new roman 12 pt font
Criteria: looking for depth of thought and clarity in your writing. Proper paragraph structure and conventions of proper English language.

Who am I? Who am I becoming?

What do I love doing and why?

Who is important to me and why?

What experiences have changed/enriched my life, helped me grow?

What relationships/friendships are important to me and why?

What makes me happy?why?

What does a typical day look like for me?

What are my favourite things? why? explain.

What dreams do I have for the future or the future of our world?

How have I changed over the years?

How have I stayed the same over the years?

What difficult experiences have I had to overcome in my life?

What do I love? (foods, activities, games, etc.)

What bores me to death? Go into some detail.

What inspires me?

What cause in the world is worthy of my thoughts?

What really bugs me? ( Please don’t say Ms. Chase’s English projects!)

How do I learn best?

What important events mark my life so far?

What am I most grateful for in my life?
What kind of world do I hope for in my future?
What scares me about life?