2 things for Oct. 10, overview of today

Hello 9s,

As it is Thanksgiving and Mid-Autumn festival time, it is a time for gratitude and for being together with family and friends. As such, the homework this weekend is very very minimal.

In light of the reading we have been doing and the discussions we have been having about taking perspective and points of view, please do the following:

DUE OCT. 10:

• Bring 1 example from real life that shows how people’s relationships among the genders are improving.  (Personal, public, artistic, political, musical, news) 
• Bring 1 example from real life that shows that there is still room to improve relations among genders. (Come ready to share verbally about your thoughts)

Recall:

Gender includes: 

Physical; mental and emotional; presentation of self or expression

We all exist along a spectrum of femininity and masculinity and we access these aspects in ourselves as we need them. 

Today,

• We reviewed correction notes based on your character grids and practiced taking notes from spoken instruction. 
• We broke into character groups and adopted the role of one of the characters in our story. We explored what our motivations were (wishes and fears). Then, we were interviewed and we told how WE experienced what was going on in The Friday That Everything changed. In so doing, you were taking perspective. You imagined what it might be like to be in this unique situation. In addition to empathizing, you were reading closely to find evidence in the text to support your views. Well done all!
• You submitted your literary response paragraphs.

Have a safe, happy, and restorative long weekend.

Warmly,

Ms. S

 

Homework and links/notes for review

Hi 9s,

DUE OCT.5 - WRITE A LITERARY RESPONSE PARAGRAPH FOR 1 OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1. Where is the story set? How can we know? Give 3 pieces of evidence from the text.

2. From which point of view is the story told? How do we know? Give evidence.

Today,

• Your teams reported out your findings on our group story questions. You expressed your ideas and then provided textual references to support your thoughts. Then, you clarified for us how we ought to understand these references as support for your views.
• This IS literary paragraph format.

Now, we are working on structuring Literary Paragraphs correctly. Please review the following rules that govern proper formatting:

• T.A.G: Title, author, genre.  In order to orient your reader to what you are saying, give this information prior to providing your point/topic sentence/question response. 
• In class, you took photos of slides that provided signal phrases to create smooth transitions from TAG or idea to quote.
• A literary response paragraph continues to follow the PEE C paragraph structure: (point, evidence, example, conclusion) but what is new is that your support/example MUST be evidence ONLY from the text. (Reference or quote) We are practicing quotes today.
• Use literary present /present continuous tense when writing about literature. (We discussed and will keep working on this)
• Write using the 3RD PERSON! Do not use 

Here is the link to the video on quote integration that we watched today: 3 rules for quote integration and examples

Here again, is the link to the story:The Friday That Everything Changed

Good luck with your efforts. Try tonight and see me tomorrow am if you need help.

Ms. S

Review of class Oct. 1

Hello 9s,

Today,

• You submitted your charts for ‘The Friday Everything Changed’ (hm wk)
• We went over marking symbols  and you received a handout to help with that.
• You took notes on key ideas for improvement on paragraphs. We will continue to work on other areas upon which you may wish to focus for improvement going forward.
• In teams, you next began to review a series of questions about the story The Friday Everything Changed. You were finding textual evidence for your responses to these questions.
• You received your marked paragraphs back. Spend some time reviewing your corrections. You are free to come chat with me about them any morning before 8:30. 

Next class, 

• we will regroup, review, and then share out our responses to these questions.
• we will learn/review how to embed/use quotes and references in our paragraphs. This work is to enable us to write literary responses. 

Nice work everyone.

Ms.S

Perspectives and Influences. Class review/links and homework

I accidentally posted this on the wrong blog yesterday afternoon. Sorry for any inconvenience caused by the delay. 

Hello 9s,

Today you worked with art images and noted what you saw there.
You noted that some things seemed apparent initially and others could be understood/seen with help/practice/discussion/looking again and again.

When asked what influenced what you saw and how you interpreted what you saw you told us:

• your past experiences informed you.
• your position in the room influenced you.
• your vocabulary effected you.
• Your culture, philosophy, spirituality, gender identity/ies, education inform our view/s.

Finally, you received a worksheet on the story 'The Friday Everything Changed'. We read aloud and we discussed the story's beginning regarding the setting and the characters. 

For homework due next class Oct. 1/18:

1. Finish reading The Friday Everything Changed by Anne Hart
2. Fill out the chart (rough draft) (homework check) noting:
• who is/are the character/s? (Character/s)
• What do they want?(Their interest/perspective)
• What influences how they see things (What effects their view?)
• What can they do? (What might be their position?)
• 
  
3. Please review page 3 of your notes package on ‘point of view.’

We will continue looking at this story and at notions around how our perspectives and how others’ perspectives are formed and communicated. What are/can be the effects of such perspectives/perceptions?

I am very much enjoying working with, and getting to know you all.

Ms. S

Paragraphing practice/review

Hello English 9,

Due today: your topic sentence for the paragraph you are creating on the topic of digital citizenship.
 In preparation we looked at this video: Please recall that the abbreviations used are for informal situations, but not for most class work.
Your topic sentence ought to include:
• a full sentence (subject and verb ...) that declares what your paragraph's message will be
• 2 or 3 supporting points to indicate the intention of the upcoming paragraph
These may (or may not) be drawn from the examples provided in the article, 'Be a Good Digital Citizen'.This is the link we looked at. Scroll down for the text.
Topic sentence example:
 My dog is the best dog ever; he is smart, loving and he even does chores!
Here we see a declaration that I will prove in my paragraph; "My dog is the best." The way I intend to prove it is to show you how 1. smart 2. loving and 3. chore-doing he is.
• I will give you credit for your best attempt at this sentence, provide feedback and then you will write the rest of the paragraph in class.
Due next classTuesday Sept. 25th: is your outline. You will use this outline to write your in class paragraph. This is a homework weighted assignment.
In class write of the full paragraph will occur Tuesday Sept. 25th.  You may use your brief outlines and I will return your topic sentences before you begin. This ought to take around 30 minutes.
Click here for a short video lesson of paragraphing.
Outline for a basic paragraph:
NOTE: This outline serves only as a guide.  You may wish to include more or fewer than three supporting details.

Topic Sentence: _________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Supporting Detail: ________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________    
Facts, details, examples, and explanations:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Supporting Detail: ________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________    
Facts, details, examples, and explanations:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Supporting Detail: ________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Facts, details, examples, and explanations:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Concluding Sentence: ____________________________________________________

Best of luck!
Ms. S

Getting Organized for High School Life

Hello 9s,

Homework due Sept.19: 
Complete the calendar detailing ‘Jerome’s assignment’ plans. We broke the assignment into tasks and you are to place them on the calendar provided. You will recieve a homework mark/check for your efforts. Be logical and realistic in your planning according to how you think you’d actually organize for such a project.

Today, we began discussing ways to give order to the work and play you hope to build into your life this school year.  We discussed ways to be more calm, organized and thereby, hopefully, more successful in your endeavours. The topics covered included the following:

• The 2 binder system (one for your day 1 classes and the other for your day 2 classes) This is not a mandatory system, but many find it helpful.
• Binder dividers. Label them and use them to keep your work in your various classes separate from one another. This will help you access items more readily for class or for studying.
• Dating and labelling our sheets with your name a block.
• Posting your class schedule both at home and at school for reference.

We next practiced a little with using our student agenda books.

• Please bring these with you to all classes. 
• Check them before you leave for the day to ensure you pack your binder with all necessary items before you head home.
• Have a set time each evening when you review what is due/written in your agenda. Setting a habit around this will save you headaches later. PLEASE check the agenda earlier in the evening to avoid late nights and disappointments.
• Some of us (myself included) may do well to set additional alarms on our phones as reminders of either new habits (like homework time) or important due dates. 

We reviewed a few aspects of agenda use:

• Using abbreviations to save space.
• Using both the daily and month at a glance calendars.
• Using symbols/coloured pencils/hilighters to indicate important dates.
• How to break a larger project into smaller more manageable parts to be completed over a series of days. (This is what you are doing for homework.)

I am enjoying working together with you all. Have a terrific day tomorrow!

Ms. S

What to expect this week

Hello 9s,

I hope this first week at school went well for you. Please remember that it is natural, when engaging in new things, to feel some nervousness, to have doubts, and to make mistakes. You are not alone. Just know that there is a lot of help for you here at U Hill.

This week:

• Photo day A block Tuesday.
• We will work on developing some organizational strategies that may help you in English and in all of your classes. Tuesday Sept. 11/18

• Thursday Sept. 13/18  Go to your first block for attendance. Your teacher will escort you to the ULC (Upper Learning Commons/library) or to the LLC (Lower Learning Commons). Here we are doing C.A.T testing. This is a diagnostic test to give us some awareness of your literacy and numeracy skills. Results from this test aid us in tailoring our support and instruction to you as individuals and as a community. The test does not affect your grades.

Enjoy your weekend. See you Tuesday everyone.

Thanks,

Ms. S