English 11

Friday After silent reading we did a peer and self-assessment of the novel autographs to ensure they met the criteria before handing them in. Next we went over all the terms and devices related to essay writing on the Grade 11 list of Terms and Devices. We played a game of terms and devices BINGO to practice the terms. At the end of the class we took a brief look at more presentation techniques.    Thursday Today we continued looking at text presentation techniques, more specifically captions and colour. Remember, not unlike other presentation techniques, captions are not just about describing a photo. They also offer additional comment on the topic matter. Colour is a slightly more subtle device that writers and designers can use to enhance the meaning of a text. This is because of the subconscious associations we make with various colour choices. At the end of class, we returned to the article about cities by looking at photographs of some of the cities and buildings re...

Friday Hope everyone enjoyed the Easter Egg Hunt! We followed that up with a game to practice the terms and devices for the course. And, we snuck in a quick couple of rounds of Pictionary at the end of the class. Have a wonderful Spring Break! Thursday At the beginning of class I handed back the essays and a progress report. We finally listened to the end of the podcast about tree planting. Afterwards, I asked everyone to finish reading the excerpt from the Dirt Eaters and continue marking up the text. Well done on the essays btw. I noticed significant improvement from the practices we did to the good copies. Wednesday The essay good copies were due today. Once they were handed in we did a quick tour of the Grade 8's French projects in the 100 wing. When we returned to class we did Edit Quiz #2 and marked it today. Afterwards there was only a few minutes left so we reviewed the where we have gotten so far with the non-fiction text examples, reviewed why we are doing this ...

Friday We began today with a game of Head of the Class using the terms and devices handout. I was a little surprised how easy the first round was with the words teams had already seen. Even the second round with unseen words was very impressive. Congratulations to team Chance's Backpack for their daring victory. For the last part of the class we went over the monk fish article (just the front of the blue sheet). We will look again at persuasive techniques on Monday and then begin a new article. Thursday With the TOC, I asked that you read and complete the work on the non-fiction excerpt from Bottomfeeder Wednesday Last class time to work on the essay today. Draft is due on Friday. Tuesday Today we worked on the essay. When I checked on where everyone was at the end of the class, it was agreed that one more class of work time would be beneficial. Monday I returned the essay outlines today. Next it was time to begin the written draft of the essay. Tomorrow's ...

Friday The objective today was to complete and hand-in an essay outline and a thesis statement for the essay on empathy. I will check the outlines that I received and Monday's class will be dedicated to getting a draft started. Thursday Today we looked at two strong examples of essays and used them to define the criteria needed for the essay everyone will about empathy. For the remainder of the class we worked on the thesis statements and outlines for the essay. Wednesday Shortened class today due to PLC, so most of our time was taken up with reviewing how to write an essay introduction. Tomorrow we will review the body paragraph structure again, before working on the What is Empathy? essay. Tuesday After silent reading I checked in with everyone about the reading of The Lottery (read just so you could do the essay practice sheet - we will not take it up in any formal way) and the completion of the Essay Practice #2 -writing a body paragraph. You must check the introduct...

Friday We marked the quiz that was written yesterday about the short story. For most of the class, we did a graffiti of quotes from the story "Cousins". Thursday Silent reading was extended today to allow as many as possible to complete reading "Cousins" before the quiz on the story. Once the quiz was done we did a little exercise on hyperbole using one of the world's most popular television programs! At the end of the class, I asked for a 3,2,1 about "Cousins": 3 topics the story deals with; 2 theme statements; 1 thesis you could use in an essay about the story. Wednesday We had another dramatic game of Chiffre/Chance in order to review short story terms. Congratulations to The Chiffres on their calculated win. For the remainder of the class, time was provided to read the short story Cousins. Tomorrow after 15 minutes of reading time,  there will be a ten question quiz just to check that you have read the story. Tuesday We began today's cla...

Friday Once we completed the HP challenge the grade 8s had thrown down, We went into a second competition and I quizzed the four teams in the room on short story terms. Great team names btw. Next, we took a look at a non-fiction article about empathy. Before reading I asked you to predict a question that the article might answer. During reading you were to label problems that the article presented "P" and solutions presented with an "S". When the article was read, you were to write out three quotes that you had selected because they related to "Rock Bottom", "The Larder" or "Superman and Paula Brown's New Snowsuit." In addition, you were to explain what the connection between the two texts was. Thursday Ms. Gautier was in to  speak about course selection during class today. After she left, we reviewed the "answers" to the embedding quotes exercise. Next, we returned to the Superman story and I asked that everyone review...

Friday We started the class with a rousing game of Chiffre Chance in order to practice some of the short story terms. Afterwards there was time to work on the theme paragraphs for Rock Bottom or The Larder. Thursday After silent reading, we reviewed the "give-aways" that can help identify the theme in a text. For practice, we returned to Rock Bottom and wrote pair theme statements and shared them. I was impressed that people avoided cliches and remembered not to use story specific details. Next, we did a quick refresher on the three types of irony: verbal, situational and dramatic. Finally, we began the theme paragraph for either the story The Larder or Rock Bottom. For the paragraph you must discuss what you think the theme is and support that with a discussion of any 3 of the theme give-aways. For example, you might choose to discuss irony, the goals of the main character(s) and the conclusion. This paragraph should feature P.E.E. organization and embedded quotes. The ru...