Friday, September 23, 2011

En 12: Friday, 23 Sept.

Hi! Please post a comment about the dichotomy that we discussed regarding Birney's duality of nature in "David."  Since we ran out of time in class, you can copy what you've posted in your incomplete comments and paste them into new comments; I will then delete any incomplete posts that you have updated.

Remember: it's English, so edit prior to posting.

SS 11: Friday, 23 Sept

Yesterday we talked about lobbying and other ways to affect government policy as well as the role of bias and control in the media.  Below are eight sites associated to the Alberta Tar Sands discussion.  For each site you visit from Group A, you must also visit a site from Group B.  Compare and contrast the sites and find examples of that each group uses to lobby their view.

Group A) Environmental Lobby

Oil Sands Truth: Tar Pit Maps

 Greenpeace: Tar Sands Video Links

Sierra Club of Canada: Tar Sands

Sierra Club: Tar Sands and Caribou

Group B) Industrial Lobby

American Petroleum Industry: Tar Sands Videos

Alberta Environment Ministry: Monitoring Water

Canadian Petroleum Industry: Air Quality Report

Suncor: Water Reclamation at Tar Sands Site

After viewing, comment to this post.  You may use the following prompts to help you decide what to write (you need not "answer" all of them):

- What are the two sides of the issue?
- What methods are used (by each side) to try to get you on side?
- What examples did you find most influential?  Most biased?
- Was either side able to sway your previously held view on this issue? How much: a little; a lot?

En 11: Friday, 23 Sept

Today we went over the format of the objective test that we will write on Tuesday, next week.  Then we started the TOMATS film - we will finish it after the test, next class.

En 8: 23 Sept

Today we mixed things up a bit: we read Chapter 4 in pairs, answered our study guides in pairs, and then worked on some creative role plays to create scenes that are mentioned in the novel, but not described.  You all did very well and I really appreciate the willingness you all showed to "put yourselves out there."

Thursday, September 22, 2011

SS 11: Thursday, 22 Sept

Today we reviewed and discussed Ex # 11, 13, 14 and 15.  We will review # 16, 17 and 18 tomorrow.

En 12: Thursday, 22 Sept

We worked independently on the study guide for "David."  Please complete Part A for homework.  Tomorrow we'll check in and have a discussion, then you can move on to Part B.  I thought you all worked very studiously today, thanks.

En 11: Thursday 22 Sept

Today we did our in-class essay for The Old Man and the Sea.  Tomorrow we will watch the movie since I forgot to give you the objective test outline in advance - thus, test Tuesday.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

En 12: Wed 21 Sept

We completed our notes from the poetry typing activity.  This included sharing examples from the various types.  We even watched Buffy Saint Marie discuss and perform "Universal Soldier."  At the end of the class we viewed the "David" PPT in preparation for tomorrow's class.

SS 11: Wednesday, 21 Sept

Today we reviewed the parliamentary system using Mr. Marshall's PPT Jeopardy.

Next, we worked on a series of worksheets in teams: we will report our findings to the group tomorrow.

#11 - Arhea/Blayke; Sav/Shay
#13 - Carly/Lena
#14 and 15 - Nick/James; Brandon/Nate
#16 and 17 - Ryleigh/Char
#18 - Angus and Brad

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARRIVE AT CLASS READY TO REPORT - WE'RE ALL COUNTING ON YOU.

En 8: 21 Sept

Today we discussed last week's social media presentation and then wrote a journal response to be delivered to Mrs Dimond for HACE credits (health and career ed).

En 11: Wed 21 Sept

Today we discussed the elements of your essay for tomorrow's in-class writing assignment.  We then had 40 minutes to plan and create a "cheat sheet" of notes to bring to class.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

En 11: Tuesday, 20 Sept


Hmmm: lots of notes.


Today we finished our notes for the novel as a whole.  We discussed allegory and developed some ideas about the themes in the story.  We also developed a working thesis statement.  We will continue this work tomorrow and we will write our esays on Thursday.  On Friday we will write the objective test and on Tuesday (Monday is a pro-d day) we will watch the film.

En 12: Monday 20 Sept

Today we finished finding devices in "Golden Passage."  Next, we divided up the types of poetry in the Imprints 11 text and researched a good definition for each and then prepared a brief presentation to the others including example passages to illustrate each form.  We shall finish these presentations tomorrow.

Monday, September 19, 2011

En 11: Monday, 19 Sept






Today we spent ten minutes finding what we thought were good quotations for the novel.  Then we started discussing the novel as a whole.  We began with a brief review of the elements of fiction, then spent a bit of time discussing heroes.  We shall finish this tomorrow, then prep for our first essay.

NO HOMEWORK

SS 11: Monday 19 Sep

Today was our second (and last) day to work on our political party projects.  We will present for 1-2 minutes tomorrow - just a brief overview. There is no marking rubric; I'm just looking for a basic understanding of the political spectrum.  If, for example you say your part is left of centre, your policies should also be indicative of the left of centre.

Please remember to add some colour to your posters.

En 12: Monday 19 Sept

Today we finished the worksheet on devices and them we practice finding devices in the poem "Golden Passage."  We will complete that tomorrow.

En 8: Monday 19 Sept

Today we read Chapter 3 of The Snow Goose and discussed the questions.  We focused on four ideas:

1) apostrophes: we saw how the author uses apostrophes to shorten words so the characters' speech sound more realistic (ex. "Wi' t' fisherfolk" = With the fisherfolk).

2. figures of speech for comparison: a) simile = indirect comparison (like, as, than: ex. he ran like a cheetah); b) metaphor = direct comparison (ex. he is a cheetah).

3. forshadow: a hint of something to come. In 1939, at the end of August, Germany plunged Europe into war.  The "storm" that tossed the goose may soon "toss" Europe.  (Is storm is a metaphor for war?)

4. symbolism = when something stands for more than itself.  The birds fly in a "V" formation - just like Churchill's "V-for-Victory" salute - ie. the "peace sign").

We decided that the lighthouse might symbolize the following:

beacon of hope - literally and metaphorically
lonliness - a place of solitude
trust - the right guidance
sanctuary - safety for sailors/birds
hope - if you're lost it provides hope
birds - the tower is high and the birds fly high
"V" - the bird's formation and the shape of the point the tower is on
evil - the tower is dark and the townspeople fear it and Rhayader.

THIS IS A VERY COMPLETE LIST - IT REPRESENTS SOME GOOD SMALL GROUP WORK!

FOR HOMEWORK, PLEASE WRITE A JOURNAL ENTRY TO OUTLINE A PREDICTION YOU HAVE FOR WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT.