April 30

Today we did a little quiz using the sonnet notes to see how good your note taking skills really are!. It also asked you to use your PEE chain and analysis skills too. After this we started the sonnet exercise XIII which we will work on in class tomorrow. Don't forget the Raven wiki. A is due Wednesday and C is due Friday. A quiz of some sort on Thursday!

Devilish Bonus today!! Same thing. Send me a screenshot of the finished sonnet in the correct order. No cheating!!

http://www.teachit.co.uk/attachments/WSSonnet138.swf

April 27

Today we had time to work on the collaborative Raven project. You need to know by the end of the period, what group you are in (no-one works alone this time), what style, voice and part of the project your are responsible for. If you lost the password/information sheet, you can download one from the poetry page on my website. Then we made notes on the sonnet. You should have used either the mind map/web method or the 2 column method. Your notes will be used during the quiz on the sonnet on Monday. The better the notes, the easier the quiz!! If you did not get totally finished, the notes are also on the webpage; read them there and finish your notes or download a copy and finish your notes. The Raven is due on May 2 for Block A and May 4 for Block C. The Raven quiz is Monday and there will be some sort of test/quiz/exam on Thursday. Have a nice weekend.

PS Did any of you look at yesterday's videos again? What did you think?

April 26

Today we did a quiz (completely messed up) Sorry!! and marked it. Then read the Raven. We watched this really cool video (I think so anyway). Still didn't really get time to start the assignment. We will do this tomorrow and then we have to move on to sonnets. I hope this link works. I like it. Check out the poetry page on my website. There are a couple more Raven videos there you might like to see (again).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2IH1rcIXuQ

April 25

We started today by doing the inclass paragraph on the poems given yesterday. Block A did "Last Lesson of the Afternoon" and C did "Did I Miss Anything". I am looking forward to reading them. If you missed this, you will have to plan to come in for a 40 minute period at lunch or after school on Thursday. Next, we did a review for the quiz tomorrow. The same game we played is below. You can play this one and/or do the concentration from last week (or both) to study. Then we started to read "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. Tomorrow, after the quiz, we will make groups for the narrative assignment and then move onto sonnets. Study Study!!

Bonus: Send me a screenshot of your $1,000,000! (or print the page if the email doesn't cooperate)(or send it to yourself and show me tomorrow)(or load it onto your mp3 player and show me) etc.

Poetry Terms Review Quiz Review
http://www.quia.com/rr/226451.html

April 24

Hi there! Sorry it's late today. I forgot about an appointment I had after school. Anyway, today we wrote the group DIDLS paragraphs for the Lady of Shallot. If yours wasn't handed in at the end of class, you need to find a way to get it finished by tomorrow. I also gave out the organizer (web) and poems for the inclass essay (paragraph) we will do tomorrow. Block A is to do Last Lesson of the Afternoon and Block C will do Did I Miss Anything? The poems are on the poetry page if you didn't get one. The organizer web is just that. If you don't have one, just make one on a sheet of paper. Remember, DIDLS is about tone!! We started the Raven in Block A but didn't get that far in C. We will carry on with it tomorrow. Quiz Thursday on Terms lists 6-8.
Email seems to be working fine at present. Try again if you need to. If it is still not working, you can leave a comment on this blog tonight and I will try to get back to you a little later.

April 23

Today was a clean up day. We heard the last of the presentations. Each person did a self evaluation on their participation and I interviewed everyone to assess their participation in the project. If you are going to "top up" your mark, please remember your deadline. We finished the Lady of Shalott competition and discussed why Tennyson may have used so much figurative language and what the tone is etc. Each group is to produce or finish a DIDLS analysis paragraph using the PEE model in class tomorrow. You will be doing a similar task yourself in the next few days, so please make sure you fully understand the process. This week's quiz on terms will be a poetry review and will cover lists 6-8, so be ready!! Go Canucks!

April 20

Today we heard almost all of the Dystopian Story presentations. Again all were very, very good. On Monday we will do an assessment of the process for that project and have a brief discussion. We also have to finish the Lady of Shalott and do another practice DIDLS paragraph. After that, you will be given a poem and have to do a DIDLS analysis on your own, in class to simulate a test situation. If you still struggle with the DIDLS after the 2nd practice or are still unsure of the PEE model, you must come in and see me. Sorry, no homework this weekend.

Bonus: Send me a screen shot. This is part 2 of the really hard one!!!

Poetic Terms Game II
http://www.quia.com/cb/202286.html

April 19

Today we wrote a quiz on Terms list #8 and marked it. We did a little survey on the educational technology used in class. Thank you! Then we hear some more dystopian story reports. They were all great! I am impressed by your creativity and understanding of the requirements! Way to go. Today is the last day to turn in NHI work. No other homework.

No Bonus today.

April18

Today we reviewed the terms on list #8 in preparation for tomorrow's quiz. Then we heard a great dystopian story line presentation and finally began to find out the various figures of speech in The Lady of Shallot. In Block A the girls are leading the scoring while in Block C the boys are ahead by a narrow margin. We will finish this activity tomorrow. Be looking for an inclass essay or two in the next few days. No other homework than to prepare for the dystopian story if you have not presented.

Bonus: Practice for the quiz. Beat Concentration at least 1 time and send me a screenshot.

Poetic Terms List #8 Review
http://www.quia.com/jg/1093454.html

April 17

Today, we had our first Dystopian Story Presentations. Both were great with videos and powerpoints etc. to complement. Then we read The Lady of Shalott. In groups, you had to find figures of speech in the poem. (simile, metaphor, rhyme, assonance, onomatopoeia, symbol, personification, and alliteration) Remember that term end is coming up very quickly.

Bonus: Send me a screen shot of your score. (If you are using a PC, please paste it into a word processor document and send it as an attachment unless you can make the file size small. Sometimes they won't open otherwise.) Bonus will be open until April 19.

Poetic Terms Game I - Some of this is advanced
http://www.quia.com/cb/202285.html

April 16

Today we sorted out some marks issues and then heard the first DIDLS analysis of "You Learn". These were done extremely well, especially for a first attempt. Block A read Lady of Shalott and Block C will read this tomorrow. Remember Thursday is the last day for quizzes and for NHI assignments. Please bring signed interims back if you do NOT get them on email. Please check your spam filter if you are not getting your interims.

Bonus: A hunter aims his gun carefully, and pulls the trigger. Seconds later he realizes his mistake. Minutes later he is dead. Why?

Bonus will be given for creative, lateral thinking, not just for "correct" answers! Email me your response or on paper tomorrow. (Sorry for the lateness! Blame the staff meeting)

April 13

Today we went over in more detail what DIDLS stands for. We did a practice DIDLS assignment as a class on the poem "With Rue My Heart is Laden" (not the actual title, but close enough) and then with a partner worked on "You Learn". You must have an analysis for tone and a paragraph, your own or the fill in the blank one, done for Monday. Please make sure you contact your partner to finish if you did not do so in class. All the sheets for this are on the website on the poetry page. If you were away, you should be doing this on your own. Start collecting the terms for the next terms quiz on Thursday, #8. Have a nice weekend.

Bonus: Play the game and send me a screenshot of your score. The more you play, the easier the in-class tests should become.
Poetry Battleships
http://www.quia.com/ba/103618.html

April 12

Today we had a quiz on terms list #7 and marked it. This one can be rewritten next Thursday. That will be the last Thursday re-do day for this term. Then we discussed the poem White Flag and introduced the DIDLS method to determine tone. Block A was given the mood/music assignment and Block C discussed (sort of) their mood/music findings and then handed them in. Block A needs to finish the music/mood assignment and Block C has nothing. Both blocks should get a start on collecting the terms for list #8 (backside of the sheet) for next week.

April 11

Today we did record sheets. Then we collected the notes for the terms quiz tomorrow. Remember, terms quiz 7 is on terms list #7. After this, we heard the car advertisements and discussed briefly how they utilized various connotations to convey their messges to the prospective buyers. Then we read the poem Oh Fortuna and listened to the music Carmina Burana. I will try to post a clip of this on the website in a day or so. Block C got the assignment to go with this but Block A did not. Study for the quiz tomorrow.

April 10

Welcome back after your long Easter weekend. Today we watched a movie on Mood and Tone and then talked about connotation and denotation. We read two poems about cockroaches and compared the tone and began to look at things like imagery and diction and how that contributes to our understanding of the poet's tone. We looked at some "chicken" books and discussed what chicken meant in each one and finally prepared a brief description of some "new" cars. There are 3 options in the car assignment and each pair was to choose 1. Tomorrow, each group will have 30 sec to 1 min to do a TV commercial style report on their car and convince the rest of us that it appeals to the right people etc. Make sure you use the thesaurus in preparing your pitch so you get the best adjectives to convey the correct connotations and tone about your car! Terms lists 7 & 8 were also given out. Please have the terms for list 7 (side 1) done for tomorrow. There will be a quiz on terms list #7 on Thursday. You only have 2 more weeks to catch up on quizzes and NHI assignments for this term. Term ends on April 20.

April 5

Today we watched a movie to review some of the poetry terms from the list. Then we had quiz 6 and marked it. Finally, we had time to work on the dystopian story project. This will be the last class time we have to work on this other than presentation. The presentation sign up sheets will go up on Monday. Come in before 8:00 a.m. to get the best dates! Other than that, no homework. Get those NHI's caught up and if there are any Things Fall Apart Still out there, please get those in too! Have a Happy Easter and try not to eat too much chocolate.

Bonus: Play the game and send me a screen shot of your score! This one is pretty hard!
http://www.quia.com/rr/218502.html

April 3 & 4

April 3
Yesterday we wrote the Short Story Unit Final Exam. Then students were asked to get a Poetic Terms sheet and complete it for Wed. The Dystopian story project is ongoing.

April 4
Today we marked part of the Short Story Unit Final and went over the poetry terms sheet. There will be a quiz on those poetry terms tomorrow. Enjoy!

Bonus: Go to my webpage and complete the student survey. Send me a screenshot of the last page!. Many thanks for your help.

April 2

Today we viewed some clips on various Dystopian societies. We saw a clip from Logan's Run which showed that age and classic arts and literature were devalued in that society. That was the basic criticism of our society by the film makers. We saw a clip of a piece explaining the philosophy behind the matrix. Finally we saw a clip from the film Equilibrium to show yet another vision of a dystopian society. The assignment that goes with all this is to create a synopsis for a movie based on the principles of a dystopian society. The project will be done in groups and must be completed before the end of this term. Each group must present their work orally in front of the class. Remember that the Short Story Unit Final Exam is tomorrow. You need to know the names of the stories, the principle characters, character and story types, themes, plots and other terms.

Bonus: Play the game and email me a screenshot of your score or take a digital picture. Upload that to an mp3 player and show me that tomorrow. (Low tech paper will be accepted this last time!) Thanks Daniel!!!

http://www.quia.com/rr/221947.html