En 12: from Tuesday, 16 November

Today we concluded our poetry unit.  I returned the tests and then asked students to complete a self-evaluation of their war poetry paragraphs.  Research has shown that self evaluation is an important part of the learning process, and I realize that I don't often facilitate it in a meaningful way apart from the meta cognition that occurs during the completion of your writing logs.  Evaluating writing is  difficult to do, and if you found it unpleasant then you had a glimpse into my world.  In spite of what you may think when you get feedback that doesn't assess your work as favourably as you had hoped or expected, I do take great care when marking, and I do much marking.  It is difficult for me to give someone a low mark or a mark lower than I know they expect.  I really do care how you feel and I want you to experience success and no, I don't enjoy watching some one's frustration.   However, you want to know that you deserve the mark you get when it's a good mark and so do I.  As I said in class, marking English work is often subjective, but by using the rubric to add transparency, I hope to give you a true sense of what the different marks represent.  I know it's a bit naive, but I'm hoping you will move beyond working for food pellets (marks) and work for the purpose of learning and developing your skills.  That's one of the reasons I return work with feedback in forms other than marks.  I think it's important to explain to you from time to time where I'm coming from, but I also know that for many years you've been boss-managed in school and old habits are hard to break.  My wish is that you leave the course satisfied that you were given the tools to succeed and the opportunity to improve experiences where your desired level of success was not initially met.  I want to talk to you if you ever feel you're not being treated fairly or respectfully because to be treated so is an expectation I think you should have.  Keep me honest; no one likes to be wrong, especially in so public a forum as a classroom, but I hope I'm not so proud that I can't acknowledge and fix my mistakes when they occur, or explain the reasons for my choices.

Anyway, this went further than I expected when I started.  As we move into Shakespeare, I just wanted to take time to have you think about your learning, in the short and long term, and the internal and external evaluation that is connected to it.

En 10: Homework from Tuesday, 16 Nov

You all did well in today's reading.  Before you return to class on Wednesday, please paraphrase two medium-length speeches:

a) Montjoy: Act 3, scene 6, lines 103 to 123

b) Henry: Act 3, scene 6, lines 125 to 144

Remember that a paraphrase is NOT a translation, NOR is it a summary - it's a little of both.

Take each sentence and put it into your own words.  If I was to do the beginning of Montjoy's speech at line 123, I would say the following:

"My king told me to tell Harry that our army was just sleeping and waiting for the right time to attack because it is better to not be rash and thus we didn't attack him at Harfleur.  Tell Harry he shall be sorry for what he has done and want to offer himself for ransom to fix the insult and injury France has suffered...."

Use the No Fear Shakespeare link on the blog to get a translation if you need help.
Good luck.

English 11 from Monday. 15 Nov

Remember that it is the season of power outages - if the school stays open we will work.  I like breaks too, but this is a senior academic course and working at a steady pace will eliminate the need to rush near the end (and no one wants to do that after the winter break).

En 11-1: 
We finished the quotable quotations sheet from Act I and had a chance to review the details.   You will have a test on Wednesday - 4 of the 12 quotations.  On the test, you will give a) speaker; b) audience; c) what's happening; and, d) what is the significance of the speech.

Also, please pre-read all of Act II (about five pages).

En 11-2:
We didn't get quite as far as Group 1.  Please have your worksheet completed for Wednesday.  If you don't do your preparation, you'll have to complete it while the rest of us review the answers.  Your test will be Friday.

Also, please pre-read all of Act II (about five pages).

WARNING:  We'll be doing a similar quotations test after Act III, but without all of the prep in-class.  You'll have to pay attention to the scene discussions as we read in order to have an idea of what lines are "quotable."

SS 11 Notes from Friday, 12 Nov

Today we just reviewed the vocabulary terms from the First World War.  You are all now responsible to know them and be able to give the "what/so what" details if asked to on a quiz.  That will not represent "deep" understanding, but it is a place from where we can begin.  You have also answered the textbook chapter questions so I am expecting that you now understand the basics.  You must also be familiar with the geography of western Europe, and be able to identify the areas where Canadians ventured.  You must also be familiar with the following key land engagements:

     Ypres, 1915; Somme, 1916; Vimy Ridge, 1917; Passchendaele, 1917; and, the Hundred Days,  
     1918. There is something special that is associated with each and you must know it (the "so what").

You should also be able to comment on the air war and the war at sea.

Finally (and this is a BIG one because it connects so well with our central question of "what does it mean to be Canadian") you must be familiar with how the war affected the home front.  Specifically, think of the following:

     women, conscription (French-English tension?), and the economy of total war.

SOCIALS 11 IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT - YOU MUST GET INVOLVED OUTSIDE OF CLASS IF YOU ARE TO BE SUCCESSFUL (you don't have to be a history nerd, but it helps).

En 12 Notes from Friday 12 Nov

We will have our poetry unit test on Monday:

a) On a past provincial exam, be prepared to read a poem, answer some multiple-choice questions and write a paragraph response. 

b) Using the list of terms I gave you on my 8.5 X 14 inch matching exercise at the start of the unit, be prepared to define some devices and name some devices from quotations I give.

To help you study, here are the answers from the last poem in Friday's study package:

"Finding a Name"
22. d
23. c
24. c
25. d
26. d
27. b
28. b
29. c

Good luck; good studying; and have a good weekend.  (hey, that's a great example of parallel structure).

En 10: Henry V homework from Friday's class on 12 Nov

Today we looked at the "Harfleur speech" from the beginning of Act 3 (scene 1).  Before Monday's class, please ensure you do the following:

a) find three quotations from the speech that you find to be motivating or inspiring.

b) write your own speech (people often write about sports) that meets the following guide lines:
     * about 15 lines long
     * colourful adjectives and adverbs
     * powerful verbs (ex. instead of "run" try "charge" or "attack")
     * employ some figurative language such as metaphors or similes (ex. "our defenders are a wall" or we
        will crush them like the fleas that they are")

Enjoy your weekend

English 11: from Monday, 8 Nov

Today, we reviewed Act One together orally.  Next, on loose-leaf paper, we answered the 10 "round bullet" questions for Act One at the back of the study package.  Afterwords, we watched the first four scenes of Act I of the movie. Finally, we were introduced to 12 "quotable quotations" from Act I; we will find out the following information for each:

a) line citation (ex. I, ii, 23-28)
b) who's speaking
c) who's the audience
d) what's happening, and so what?

The quotations are NOT for homework, but you are free to get started.