Monday, March 7 - Friday, March 11

Friday

1.  Silent reading for first 10-15 minutes
2. Transitions - worksheet - complete, exchange with a partner for marking, put into your folder. 
3. Quiz for short story terms. 
4. Plan essay about empathy. Hand-in plan at the end of the class. The question you must deal with in your essay is: 
   What is empathy? Discuss using at least one of the texts we have read this term: Rock Bottom, The Larder, The Lottery, Cousins, Those Winter Sundays. In your discussion of the fictional/poetry texts, you may talk about the non-fiction article When Stress Rises, Empathy Suffers if you wish.
    

Thursday

1. Silent reading - realistic fiction novel - I will check your essay practices from previous days (as many as I can).
2. REMINDER: Practice quiz on short story terms on Friday.
3. Complete reflection that we did not have time to do yesterday.
4. Embedding quotes
5. Place mat activity on themes of empathy texts. A) Rock Bottom, B) The Larder, C) The Lottery, D) Those Winter Sundays E) Cousins F) When Stress Rises, Empathy Suffers.

Wednesday

1. Categorize some more terms & devices. Practice quiz on short story terms on Friday.
2. Essay practice - conclusion paragraphs
3. Gather together all work related to essay structure and essay practice - write self-reflection. 
4. Complete reading during reading  Post-its for The Lotter. Areas where the text focuses, calls attention to itself, or has repetitions?
5. You have 10 minutes to write down your personal responses to the text. Consider what you think has happened to the connection between these people? What might the author be trying to say about empathy?

Tuesday

1. Clock partners & Essay practice - body paragraphs
2. Finish-up posters about traditions. Quick share.
3. Reading The Lottery - During reading, use Post-its to indicate any ruptures in the text. Areas where the text focuses, calls attention to itself, or has repetitions.

Monday

1. Silent reading for first 10 minutes of class. 
2. Essay practice #2 to be completed. Either read from the links section of this blog and do work on lined paper, or the teacher today may have photocopied it for you.
3. Short story - "The Lottery." Before reading: Team-up with your 9 o’clock partner. Read the following humorous account of a tradition: http://www.snopes.com/weddings/newlywed/secret.asp
4. Come up with a 1 sentence definition of “tradition.” Join with another pair and in your group, get some felt pens and a large piece of lined, white poster paper from the pad hanging up at the front of the room near the screen. Neatly write down your definitions of tradition.  Answer the following questions on the poster; write down the questions too. What are some examples of traditions that are unique to: your family, your friends, Isfeld, the Comox Valley, Canada. Why do you do these things? What would happen if you stopped? How might they appear to outsiders? As a group, come up with an observation/belief about traditions. AVOID cliches. Feel free to embellish the poster with images related to your various cultures and traditions. Hang posters.
5. During reading, use Post-its to indicate any ruptures in the text. Areas where the text focuses, calls attention to itself, or has repetitions.
6. Before the end of the class, you have 10 minutes to write down your personal responses to the text. Discuss tradition, but also consider what has happened to the connection between these people? Why do they have no empathy for Tessie? Hand- in your response.