SS 11 Dieppe Tutorial: Thursday, 10 Nov

Dieppe Raid Tutorial

Use the links to access the tutorial on Dieppe.  The conclusions in Part Three connect to the topic of the D-Day invasion and involve opportunities for investigation and some real historical thinking.

Dieppe: Part One
Dieppe: Part Two
Dieppe: Part Three

Here is the link to the CBC site:
CBC Archives

SS 11 PPT Tutorial: Canada and the Italian Campaign: Tuesday, 8 Nov

Italian Campaign Tutorial:

Use the links to access a 37 minute, four-part PPT tutorial on the Italian Campaign.

Italy: Part 1
Italy: Part 2
Italy: Part 3
Italy: Part 4

SS 11: Friday 4 Nov 2011

Canada and the Battle of the Atlantic Tutorial

Use the links to view the three-part tutorial for the PPT lesson.  I tried to add more discussion for each slide.  If you have any questions, post them as a comment and I will respond.

Part 1    14:31 minutes
Part 2    10:22 minutes
Part 3      9:53 minutes



If you are interested, here is the link to the BBC history site; it has a simulation game and lots of good content on the Battle of the Atlantic.  There are numerous other rich sites on this topic on the Internet.  Remember, the best written responses will always include something original that comes from without the material presented by the course instructor.

Convoy Info and Simulator

After you view the tutorial and survey the information in you Falk handbook, use the paragraph summary at the end of Part 3 to help organize your ideas, then write a 150 paragraph on the following prompt:

      "Discuss how the Royal Canadian Navy met the challenges of the Battle of the Atlantic."

SS 11: 28 October, 2011

AUTONOMY LESSON

1. You should go to YouTube to view the 11-minute tutorial on the growth of Canadian autonomy in the 1920s.  You will be required to write a well-developed paragraph at the end of this activity.  You will find the video at:
Autonomy Video Tutorial

2. You should review the workbook/text reference pages.  You can also review the slides via the SlideShare. This will be especially useful because it has examples of how to go about writing the paragraph. 
SlideShare PowerPoint

3. When preparing for a test on this topic, use this link to access the Quizlet I created covering the steps to Canadian autonomy from 1919 to 1931.
Autonomy Quizlet

4. Write a 200-word "what/so-what" paragraph to address the following prompt:

                 "Canada did not achieve independence in a single step."

5.  Finally, post a comment to this post telling what you thought about the on-line format of this lesson.  You may wish to address some or all of the following: independence; review; clarity; accessibility; ease; variety; learning styles; frustration; enjoyment; understanding; technology.  Your comment should try to give a pro and a con and should be no less than five sentences long.

Mr. Marshall's Prognosis: 18 October, 2011

Hello All,

As you know I fractured my ankle on Sunday, 9 October.  At present, I am suffering at home, mostly watching t.v, surfing the Net and doing a bit of homework support with my kids.  I am taking it one week at a time.  Unfortunately, mine will be a non-weight-bearing cast for the entire six-week expected healing time.  When the doctor did a CAT scan of my ankle, he found what is thinks to be pre-existing damage to a bone in my foot; it is right under the fracture.  They are a bit perplexed and other damage to the joint from my arthritis adds further complications.  The end result is that I am currently unable to teach because I need to keep my foot up to control the swelling.  In addition, my fluctuating discomfort (a euphemism for pain) is often such that I find it difficult to concentrate and I need to be able to concentrate in order to teach. 

Thanks for your good wishes - especially for the card (Amber and Liz - it was very creative and made me LOL).  I'm thinking of you.  I hope things are going well for you all. 

En 8: Wednesday, 12 Oct

Go to Snow Goose Newspaper Assignment Lesson to view a video that gives some background information to your first end-of-unit assignment.  Your teacher will give you an assignment handout and help you through the pre-writing stage of this activity.  The newspaper activity is designed to give you a chance to show your creative side as well as to give you some autonomy (freedom) in demonstrating your learning.

I don't know if you will have access to computers, but this would be an assignment where computers would allow you to give a more polished finished product.  Even if you hand write your piece, though, you will still be able to write in newspaper-style columns, and add photos, illustrations, maps or other graphic elements.  Think about things like headlines and font sizes.  Those of you who are into history or research can use this as a way to depart from the fiction aspect of the unit, and learn more of the factual aspects of this topic; perhaps you will add a real quotation from Winston Churchill - or perhaps you will create a fictional one!  Of course, you can also investigate some of the "deeper" elements we discussed, such as symbolism.

Enjoy.

En 11: Tues, 11 Oct Entry 2

Here is a copy of the assignment for Act One. 

En 12: Tuesday, 11 Oct

Well, I know we had a poetry activity planned, however, since I am unable to get around this week, I've decided to transition to a novel unit so you will be able to work more independently.  1984 is one of the great novels of the 20th century and just as relevant today in our era of post-911 security concerns as it was in the post-WW2 Soviet era.  I hope you enjoy the novel; we may pair it with another novel for comparison/contrast: A Brave New World  and The Handmaid's Tale are possible choices.  We may choose to go another direction too; I want to leave it a little open to see where things progress in terms of flow and interest.

As you read, think about big ideas that may be thematic.

As you start the novel, pay attention to the setting - even the opening sentence hints that this is a strange world - take time to notice the imagery.  Hint: words are important to Orwell - note how he uses them like a paintbrush.

En 11: Macbeth Lesson, Tuesday, 11 Oct

Go to the link http://bit.ly/q8wcFd to see a demonstration of how to complete the Act One quotations activity.  These quotations are the ones that will be on your upcoming test.

SS 11 Map Lesson: Tuesday, 11 October, 2011

Let's try something new.  Click on the link  1914 Map Lesson      to view a ten-minute lesson on the map of Europe in 1914.  I've used ScreenFlow to create a narrated PowerPoint slide show.  You should, at some point, pause the video to hand-draw your own copy of the map using rectangles in the way I did.  By the end of this exercise, you should have mastered the four signpost states and some of the other countries we discuss or you read about.

SS 11: Friday, 7 October

Today I collected your "The Nature of Canada in 1900" paragraphs.  We also did an activity to highlight the nature of the conflict and competition that helped lead to the First World War and did a worksheet highlighting some key vocabulary terms linked to the causes of the war.  We also viewed a PPT on Europe in the era prior to the war. 

We read pp 21-24 in the text and completed Ex # 3 (outlining the chronology of the events that led to fighting in the war).  Please ensure these two things are done for homework.  Expect a quiz on Tuesday.

En 12: Friday, 7 Oct

Today we finished the Form and Structure discussions and lit devices and started a new activity that will have a creative element.  Earlier, I introduced the notion of connotation vs. denotation and today we got a list of loaded words that we will work with to expose a deeper understanding of this concept.

No homework unless the Form and Structure assignment is still incomplete.

En 11: Friday, 7 Oct

Today I checked Act I vocabulary words to find that half of you failed to finish.  That was disappointing.  We read and discussed Scenes 6-7 and then you set to work noting responses to the 10 small-bullet questions for the act.  When that was done we broke into groups and discussed one of the big-bullet questions.  We'll share our thoughts with each other next class.

Ensure you have the 10 questions and the vocab work done for Tuesday's class.

 

En 8: Friday, 7 Oct

Today we had a check-in circle and then we debriefed the Chapter 7-8 questions.  I was disappointed that half of the class failed to get the Chapter 8 questions done.  At the end of class we chose five adjectives (words that modify or "describe" nouns - people/places/things) for the protagonist, Rhayader, and then placed them next to the appropriate sin or virtue on the list of virtue and sins in the study guide.

ex. strong   (might be paired with the virtue "fortitude")

Please have your five adjectives paired on your lstudy guide ists for Wednesday's class.

Today we took our brainstorming activity from yesterday's class (what was the nature of Canada in 1900?) and moved it forward with a lesson on writing the perfect "so-what" paragraph.  We used the worksheet shown above to help organize our ideas and give us complete arguments to use in our paragraphs.  Please hand in your finished paragraphs and your completed what/so-what tables tomorrow.

En 11: Thursday, 6 Oct

Today I checked to ensure everyone was finished the contractions worksheet.  Then we read and discussed Act I, sc 3-5.  We finally got to meet Macbeth, Banquo and Lady Macbeth.  Hmm, things are not sounding good for Duncan.  We used the last 20 minutes of the class to complete the Act I vocabulary sheet - please ensure it is done for next class.

We'll finish reading Act tomorrow.

En 8: Wednesday, 5 October

Last class Poya gave us a visit and discussed her home country, Taiwan and her exchange to Canada.  I then introduced the concepts of accent and dialect, and then read Chapters 7-8 with two distinctly different English accents (to illustrate the differences between the soldier's and officer's speech patterns in The Snow Goose).

Today we took time to get our photos taken whilst working on the study guide questions for those two chapters.  I took time to tell the story of Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner and the story of the good Samaritan.  I also listed the seven sins and virtues, and we briefly discussed numerical symbolism.  For homework, please complete the guide questions you were unable to finish in class.

En 12: Wednesday 5 Oct

Today was a pretty relaxed class.  We have been working pretty steadily for the last two days to finish the Form and Structure poetry activity and today we started to discuss our responses.  I wanted to make sure we had a chance to enjoy our discussion and so I loosened the reins and we had lots of analogies and stories to help us connect to the topics under consideration.  Tomorrow I'd like to finish with this activity and give you a chance to finish the "devices section."  We are also going to to return to connotation vs. denotation and do a "creative" assignment.

SS 11: Wed 5 Oct

On Monday we reviewed for the government unit test that we wrote yesterday.  Today we had a PPT discussion on the nature of Canada at the turn of the last century.  Tomorrow we will do a "what/so-what" activity and then write our first paragraph.  There is no homework.

En 11: Wed 5 Oct 2011

On Monday we got an intro to Macbeth and played with the opening scene.  Yesterday we saw how where we stopped when we read changed the meaning and ease of understanding of the play.  We also read II, ii and got Mr Lewis' class mad because I spoke the Sergeant's lines so loudly.  Today we learned how to block a scene.

For homework, please read the remainder of Act I 
(scenes iv-vii = scenes 4 to 7).

En 12: Friday 30 Sept

Today, we worked on a study guide question sheet designed to help us examine the form and structure of poetry using the Imprints 12 anthology.  The paragraph writing samples are designed to give you practice developing a and expressing a view about what you are reading.  This will be a necessary skill when you come to do your provincial exam.

En 11: Friday 30 Sept

Today we worked at editing our TOMATS essays.  First we copied the essay to a fresh page so that we had two copies of it.  Next, we edited the second copies.  Then, we chose a sample paragraph from the edited version and copied it again to a third page.   We also took the undedited version of that paragraph from the original essay and added it also to that third page to we could compare it to the edited version.  Finally, we added "comments" to the edited version using the "insert" tab from the Word toolbar in order to participate in meta-cognition.  I've included a sample of the last step as a model.  Note how some of the comments are about writing style and format; others are reflective and still others explain why certain editing choices were made.

En 8: Friday, 30 Sept

Today I collected the character sketches due for homework.  Then we read Chapter 5 independently and discussed the questions together.  Next, we read Chapter 6 in pairs and worked on the questions in pairs after Mr. Marshall gave a short review of the history of Dunkirk.  No homework, unless you want to work to be ahead.

En 12: Thursday 29 Sept

Today we wrote the "David" exam.  Take a break tonoght - no homework.

SS 11: Thursday 29 Sept

Today we started our review in preparation for the government unit exam.  We began with a quiz and then took turns identifying and explaining the significance of the terms on page 2 of the workbook.  We covered #1-39.  We'll do the rest on Friday.  You should expect your exam on Tuesday (I will be absent).

En 11: Thur 29 Sep

Today I returned the TOMATS essays and then we worked on assessing our thesis statements for accuracy.  We ended up examining our topic sentences for their effectiveness.

En 12: Wed 28 Sept

Today we finished our discussion of "David."  We will have a test tomorrow.

Section 1: Multiple choice: in a line from the poem tell what the highlighted word means (7 ques)
Section 2: Multiple choice: answer 8 questions related to the form and meaning of the poem
Section 3: Match 11 devices to their corresponding example from the poem
Section 4: Write one multi-paragraph response to one prompt
                                     OR
                  Write three single paragraph responses from a choice of six.

It would be good to review the David PPT from the links list (Slide Share) on this blog.
Also, review the notes from the study guide.

This test will give us some writing samples with which to work.

En 11: Wednesday, 28 Sept

Today we discussed a plan to incorporate ScreenFlow as a means of recording writing/editing sessions to the Internet.  This way we could learn editing and assessment skills from the essay samples we produce, and also create a resource to visit on YouTube when we want to revisit those lessons.  No homework today.

SS 11: Wednesday, 28 Sept

Today we discussed affirmative action and preferential hiring and discussed/finished the worksheets up to #21.  We also finished the PPT on human rights.  Please complete Ex # 22, 23 and 24 for homework.

En 8: Wednesday, 28 Sept

Today we used ScreenFlow to make a movie of a "character sketch" writing lesson.  We started with a brainstorm activity and then I modeled a paragraph with a strong topic sentence that creates interest.  I will try to open a YouTube account so I can post our movies to the Internet.  Please complete your rough copy character sketches for Friday's first period class.

SS11: Tuesday 27 Sept

Today we reviewed the three types of voting practices and wrote some simple definitions.  Then we worked on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.   For homework, please complete the table of seven rights/freedoms on Ex #19.

En 11: Tuesday, 27 Sept

Today we wrote the objective test for TOMATS and finished watching the film.  There is no homework.

En 12: Tuesday 27 Sep

Today we discussed the study guide questions from the poem "David."  We used a student-led group discussion format where I gradually released my input as you got used to presenting information and then adding to it through discussion.  We will finish up tomorrow and write the test on Thursday.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

En 12: Friday, Sept 16

Today we discussed two PPTs on poetic devices.  We started a work sheet on device definitions.  We shall finish this work on Monday and try to apply our new skills to identifying devices inside sample poems.

SS 11: Friday, 16 Sept

Today we did a third quiz for the governement unit.  A big majority of the class is now above the 75% range and when asked, and you said you now feel ready for an exam.  Next we shared the name, slogan and political specrum location for our made-up political parties.  We spent the rest of the class developing our party's platform and poster.  We will complete this work on Monday and present on Tuesday.

En 11: Friday, 16 Sept

Today we completed our movie posters.  Next, in small groups, we discussed the Part 4 and 5 questions.  For homework, please write a three-sentence summary for Parts 3, 4 and 5.  See the example from Part 2 that I did with you earlier in the week.

This may seem easy, but it's not; you must leave out a lot more than you can include.  You must be selective and concise; this work will help you write your essay next week.  Have a good weekend.

En 11: Thursday Sept 15

Today we started with comments that explained why we chose the thematic words we did for the novel and put them onto yesterday's blog post.  Next, we saw some examples of title pages that had different visual characteristics.  Then we started to create our own movie posters for TOMATS.  We'll finish the posters tomorrow.

En 12: Thursday 15 Sept

Today we finished up with Dylan Thomas' poem and then had a PPT discussion on the connotations of war.  We also did some exercises to see how connotation goes beyond personal connections.  We shall continue with this tomorrow.

SS 11, Thursday 15 Sept

Today we finished the PPT on the political spectrum and where Cda's parties fall on it.  We also did a fun PPT on the different political ideologies (such as communism).  We next discussed how Canadians can effect political change through things such as elections or protests.  Finally, we began a project to create our own political party (one of the ways to effect change).

For homework, create  a party name, logo, where that party is on the spectrum and a slogan.  We'll carry on with thr posters and platforms tomorrow.

En 8: Wednesday, 14 Sept

I returned your Smartie/marshmallow paragraphs today.
In general, I thought you did very well again today.  We did a quick review of the last class and then read and discussed the second chapter.  At the end of the class I asked you to write a brief journal entry about your reactions to the story to date.

Keep up the great work.

En 11: Wednesday, 14 Sept

Today we started with a short quiz for Part 3 of TOMATS.  Then we debriefed the Part 3 questions.  I gave the class the remainder of the block to finish reading the novella.  Please ensure you have the story finished for tomorrow's class.

En 12: Wednesday, 14 Sept

Today we looked at the Dylan Thomas poem, but got a bit side-tracked talking about politics.  I thought you came up with some good questions and the time was still well-spent.  We'll have to stick to poetry tomorrow.

En 12: Tuesday, 13 Sept

Today we worked with Yeats' The Second Coming.  We appropriated images from the Web to create a slideshow for the poem (we each took three lines and found images for those lines).  Next, we completed the first half of the analysis sheet together.

We decided to each create a G-Mail account so that we can collaborate in class (today it would have been nice to synchronously build a PPT of the poetry images).

There is no homework today but you might like to think about how you would complete the analysis sheet.

SS 11: Monday, 12 Sept.

Today we began with a quiz of what we've learned to date in our government unit.  You did well for a first try, but I know you'll improve with practice.  I find that you are using the correct vocabulary more and more frequently - precision is important in senior high.  We also viewed and discussed a PPT designed to make you fluent in understanding the concepts of majority and minority governments.  Remember that the outcome will usually greatly affect the term of office for the winner.

Don't forget to go to the SlideShare site on my list of links if you ever wish to review one of the slide shows.

No SS homework today. (Remember to read your novels for English).

En 12: Monday, 12 Sept

Today we examined thinking strategies around experiencing poetry.  I modeled some ideas using "Grass" as an example.  Next, we listened to Yeats reading "A Second Coming."  It took a bit of time for some of us to settle, but I was very satisfied with the quaility of the ideas that came out in the end.
Tomorrow we will finish those few intro poems and then look at the influence of connotation in our reading.

I forgot to post Friday, here is a shot of the notes you wrote: