Period 1--AP 20
We opened the class with watching the scene from Branagh's version of Othello for the students to see how Iago managed to manipulate Othello into believing Cassio was talking about Desdemona, when in fact, he was referring to Bianca. From there, we continued with our reading and are almost finished with Act IV.
Period 2--AP 30
Mr. Farrell helped the students analyze the first soliloquy of Hamlet. They continued with the reading of Act I and we spent a bit of time looking at Polonius's speech since it is so applicable to advice they may be receiving from their parents in this, their grade 12 year.
Period 3--AP 10
We continued with our analysis of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" and the students were clearly able to see the misinterpretation they all made of the poem from the beginning! It was fun for them to discover the true meaning of the poem and work together to develop a theme based on the idea of personal myth making. This was a fun class today!
Period 4--History 10
A couple of students started the class with their current events presentations. They were interesting to say the least! Then, we studied the political cartoon with which I left them which illustrated some of the reasons for the French Revolution. I handed out a sheet which outlined some of those reasons (again, looking at the three estates), and finished off the class with a little quiz (that didn't count for anything--just a knowledge check) on their understanding of the three estates.
No school for students tomorrow as it is a Professional Development day for teachers, so everyone can enjoy their long weekend!
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
November 28, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
Apparently, there are some pretty fragrant lockers, so the entire school did a locker clean out for the first 10 minutes of class. After we got settled again, we were finally able to finish Act III and are well on our way into Act IV. We are starting to see the progression of Othello coming unravelled.
Period 2--AP 30
We continued with our reading of Hamlet and just made it to the first solilouy. We noted character motivations and started to see some of the subtle undertones in the play. I handed out a clean copy of the soliloquy and asked the students to annotate it which we will take up tomorrow.
Period 3--AP 10
The students presented their interesting choral montage poems of "David" which were very impressive (and fun!). We moved into the study of "The Road Not Taken." First, I read the poem to the students and had them summarize what they thought the poem was about. We didn't share anything yet...most will have misinterpreted the poem (as many do). Then, they were put into groups and asked to annotate the first two stanzas. Once that was complete, we shared some of the annotations, paying particular attention to the tense of the poem. Finally, they and their group annotated the last two stanzas and we had just enough time to share some of their findings. Tomorrow, we will look at the misinterpretations of the poem.
Period 4--History 10
We finished the power point about decision making and discussed the text. Then, they were given another handout with blanks to fill in that explained the roles and make-up of each of the Three Estates of France. Through discussion, they understand the rigidity of French society in pre-revolution France. At the bell, they were given the political cartoon showing the 1st and 2nd estates on the back of the 3rd. They had a bit of time to analyze it, but we will go over it together tomorrow.
Apparently, there are some pretty fragrant lockers, so the entire school did a locker clean out for the first 10 minutes of class. After we got settled again, we were finally able to finish Act III and are well on our way into Act IV. We are starting to see the progression of Othello coming unravelled.
Period 2--AP 30
We continued with our reading of Hamlet and just made it to the first solilouy. We noted character motivations and started to see some of the subtle undertones in the play. I handed out a clean copy of the soliloquy and asked the students to annotate it which we will take up tomorrow.
Period 3--AP 10
The students presented their interesting choral montage poems of "David" which were very impressive (and fun!). We moved into the study of "The Road Not Taken." First, I read the poem to the students and had them summarize what they thought the poem was about. We didn't share anything yet...most will have misinterpreted the poem (as many do). Then, they were put into groups and asked to annotate the first two stanzas. Once that was complete, we shared some of the annotations, paying particular attention to the tense of the poem. Finally, they and their group annotated the last two stanzas and we had just enough time to share some of their findings. Tomorrow, we will look at the misinterpretations of the poem.
Period 4--History 10
We finished the power point about decision making and discussed the text. Then, they were given another handout with blanks to fill in that explained the roles and make-up of each of the Three Estates of France. Through discussion, they understand the rigidity of French society in pre-revolution France. At the bell, they were given the political cartoon showing the 1st and 2nd estates on the back of the 3rd. They had a bit of time to analyze it, but we will go over it together tomorrow.
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
November 27, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We did our last sheets for the Math PLT--thank goodness! Now we can concentrate the full class on our English endeavours!
We continued to read Act III and almost completed it...we were able to read through the climax of the play with Othello fully becoming "Iago's creature" by the end of scene iii.
Period 2--AP 30
We did our last sheets for the Math PLT--thank goodness! Now we can concentrate the full class on our English endeavours!
We finished with the antecedent action for Hamlet. I introduced the importance of Shakespeare and his family going through religious "schizophrenia" between Protestantism and Catholicism during his own lifetime, and how that creates an anachronism in the play in regards to how Hamlet sees the ghost of his father. This morphs into his tragic flaw. We began reading the play but didn't get very far before the bell rang.
Period 3--AP 10
This was a fun class that had the students doing some group work. They were first given the task of individually choosing the 7 most important lines from the poem "David" and then ranking those lines in order of importance. Then, they got together with a pre-assigned group and they shared their lines. One person was designated to copy down the lines. Together, as a group, they created a new poem trying to keep the basic gist of the original, but telling it in a unique way. We will share these new poems tomorrow in class.
Period 4--History 10
In continuing wit the French Revolution, we examined information on politcial decision making. The students were given a handout and were required to fill in some blanks as I discussed the information on each slide. We will finish this tomorrow.
We did our last sheets for the Math PLT--thank goodness! Now we can concentrate the full class on our English endeavours!
We continued to read Act III and almost completed it...we were able to read through the climax of the play with Othello fully becoming "Iago's creature" by the end of scene iii.
Period 2--AP 30
We did our last sheets for the Math PLT--thank goodness! Now we can concentrate the full class on our English endeavours!
We finished with the antecedent action for Hamlet. I introduced the importance of Shakespeare and his family going through religious "schizophrenia" between Protestantism and Catholicism during his own lifetime, and how that creates an anachronism in the play in regards to how Hamlet sees the ghost of his father. This morphs into his tragic flaw. We began reading the play but didn't get very far before the bell rang.
Period 3--AP 10
This was a fun class that had the students doing some group work. They were first given the task of individually choosing the 7 most important lines from the poem "David" and then ranking those lines in order of importance. Then, they got together with a pre-assigned group and they shared their lines. One person was designated to copy down the lines. Together, as a group, they created a new poem trying to keep the basic gist of the original, but telling it in a unique way. We will share these new poems tomorrow in class.
Period 4--History 10
In continuing wit the French Revolution, we examined information on politcial decision making. The students were given a handout and were required to fill in some blanks as I discussed the information on each slide. We will finish this tomorrow.
Monday, 26 November 2012
November 26, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We had to spend some time getting everyone caught up with the Math sheets that they missed for the PLT. Then, we did the second last one--we will finish tomorrow!
Once back on track with Othello, I showed the students the soliloquy by Othello that I already annotated for them. We went through it together and they copied down their ideas as well as mine. We had a few minutes left so we continued reading Act III, scene iii.
Period 2--AP 30
We had to spend some time getting everyone caught up with the Math sheets that they missed for the PLT. Then, we did the second last one--we will finish tomorrow!
We are starting Hamlet! We did a quick cruise through the life and times of Shakespeare just as a review and we also reviewed the concepts of anachronism and antecedent action. With a power point, I started filling them in on some of the antecedent action that is necessary for them to understand in order for them to understand the reading we will be doing of the play.
Period 3--AP 10
On Friday, the students were asked to do a directed annoation of the poem "David" looking for foreshadowing, symbols, imagery, mood/atmosphere, and theme. We spent the class looking at the poem and finding these together. Near the end of class, I asked the students to choose the seven lines in the poem that they feel were the most important to the poem and then rank those lines by importance.
Period 4--History 10
We had a few current events presentations. This was followed by the introduction of the new unit. They had a handout with the objectives of this unit as well as one on Louis XIV. We supplemented this handout with a power point of the Sun King as well as one showing images of his palace of Versailles. There were two questions the students had to do to starte out discussion for tomorrow.
We had to spend some time getting everyone caught up with the Math sheets that they missed for the PLT. Then, we did the second last one--we will finish tomorrow!
Once back on track with Othello, I showed the students the soliloquy by Othello that I already annotated for them. We went through it together and they copied down their ideas as well as mine. We had a few minutes left so we continued reading Act III, scene iii.
Period 2--AP 30
We had to spend some time getting everyone caught up with the Math sheets that they missed for the PLT. Then, we did the second last one--we will finish tomorrow!
We are starting Hamlet! We did a quick cruise through the life and times of Shakespeare just as a review and we also reviewed the concepts of anachronism and antecedent action. With a power point, I started filling them in on some of the antecedent action that is necessary for them to understand in order for them to understand the reading we will be doing of the play.
Period 3--AP 10
On Friday, the students were asked to do a directed annoation of the poem "David" looking for foreshadowing, symbols, imagery, mood/atmosphere, and theme. We spent the class looking at the poem and finding these together. Near the end of class, I asked the students to choose the seven lines in the poem that they feel were the most important to the poem and then rank those lines by importance.
Period 4--History 10
We had a few current events presentations. This was followed by the introduction of the new unit. They had a handout with the objectives of this unit as well as one on Louis XIV. We supplemented this handout with a power point of the Sun King as well as one showing images of his palace of Versailles. There were two questions the students had to do to starte out discussion for tomorrow.
Friday, 23 November 2012
November 23, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
The were given a few minutes to refresh and cram for thier literary devices quiz and then wrote it. Then, we reviewed the paraphrase that the students started yesterday for Othello's soliloquy...they needed a few more minutes to finish, so they were given that time. We discussed the content of the speech. Then, I tasked them with reading the speech and with specific direction to look at structure (caesura, rhythm, syntax), metaphors, and imagery, they were given time to start annotating. We will finish this up on Monday.
Period 2--AP 30
The were given a few minutes to refresh and cram for thier literary devices quiz and then wrote it. This class was given to them as a work period.
Period 3--AP 10
The were given a few minutes to refresh and cram for thier literary devices quiz and then wrote it. We reviewed the poem "David" and discussed the themes in the poem. As read, I continually posed the question, "What would you do?" Once we finished reading and discussing, we began a focussed annotation of the poem looking for imagery, symbols, foreshadowing, etc. They will finish this on Monday and we will discuss.
Period 4--History 10
These students had their exam to write during this class. We will start their unit on the French Revolution next week.
The were given a few minutes to refresh and cram for thier literary devices quiz and then wrote it. Then, we reviewed the paraphrase that the students started yesterday for Othello's soliloquy...they needed a few more minutes to finish, so they were given that time. We discussed the content of the speech. Then, I tasked them with reading the speech and with specific direction to look at structure (caesura, rhythm, syntax), metaphors, and imagery, they were given time to start annotating. We will finish this up on Monday.
Period 2--AP 30
The were given a few minutes to refresh and cram for thier literary devices quiz and then wrote it. This class was given to them as a work period.
Period 3--AP 10
The were given a few minutes to refresh and cram for thier literary devices quiz and then wrote it. We reviewed the poem "David" and discussed the themes in the poem. As read, I continually posed the question, "What would you do?" Once we finished reading and discussing, we began a focussed annotation of the poem looking for imagery, symbols, foreshadowing, etc. They will finish this on Monday and we will discuss.
Period 4--History 10
These students had their exam to write during this class. We will start their unit on the French Revolution next week.
Thursday, 22 November 2012
November 22, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We continued to read the play. We are just in the middle of Act III, scene iii, so things are heating up for Othello. We will continue with this reading tomorrow.
Period 2--AP 30
"The Pardoner's Tale" was the focus for this day's study. We reviewed the concept of indulgences, medieval Catholicism, and sin in order to set up the events of the tale. This is primarily an except of the tale--his lecture to the pilgrims about the sin of avarice are summarized rather than read in full, and the reading the students did picks up right from the actual tale of the three rioters. The students were then given their assignment--as a judge, which of the three tales we examined, "The Miller's Tale," "The Knight's Tale," and "The Pardoner's Tale" was the best tale. This will be done in a persuasive essay format, and the students need to be aware of the need to use counter-arguments and contrast to fully make their case. They will also need to define what they feel makes something a "good" tale.
Period 3--AP 10
We revisited the idea of euthanasia and looked at a power point that examined the legal definition of murder as well as the more morally ambiguous idea of mercy killing/assisted suicide. We did this by examining the Canadian cases of Sue Roderiquez and Robert Latimer. We started reading the poem "David" by Earl Birney and the students were directed to be on the lookout for foreshadowing.
Period 4--History 10
As a class, we reviewed the overview study sheet I gave them yesterday and then, they had the rest of class to study for tomorrow's exam.
REMINDER: The AP classes have their literary devices quizzes to study for tomorrow.
We continued to read the play. We are just in the middle of Act III, scene iii, so things are heating up for Othello. We will continue with this reading tomorrow.
Period 2--AP 30
"The Pardoner's Tale" was the focus for this day's study. We reviewed the concept of indulgences, medieval Catholicism, and sin in order to set up the events of the tale. This is primarily an except of the tale--his lecture to the pilgrims about the sin of avarice are summarized rather than read in full, and the reading the students did picks up right from the actual tale of the three rioters. The students were then given their assignment--as a judge, which of the three tales we examined, "The Miller's Tale," "The Knight's Tale," and "The Pardoner's Tale" was the best tale. This will be done in a persuasive essay format, and the students need to be aware of the need to use counter-arguments and contrast to fully make their case. They will also need to define what they feel makes something a "good" tale.
Period 3--AP 10
We revisited the idea of euthanasia and looked at a power point that examined the legal definition of murder as well as the more morally ambiguous idea of mercy killing/assisted suicide. We did this by examining the Canadian cases of Sue Roderiquez and Robert Latimer. We started reading the poem "David" by Earl Birney and the students were directed to be on the lookout for foreshadowing.
Period 4--History 10
As a class, we reviewed the overview study sheet I gave them yesterday and then, they had the rest of class to study for tomorrow's exam.
REMINDER: The AP classes have their literary devices quizzes to study for tomorrow.
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
November 21, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We finished with our viewing activity of the two soliloquies and did a bit of a comparative analysis between the two productions. We continued to read the rest of Act II of Othello. The students notice the number of passages and monologues that Iago's has compared to the title character and are starting to appreciate the evil genius of Iago.
Period 2--AP 30
We did another page for the Math PLT and then got down to work. We discussed the questiosn from yesterday's viewing activity of the "Knight's Tale" and then moved into some post-viewing questions. We spent some time determining the theme of the except as well as appreciating the various "lenses" through which a viewer and reader must use in order to see the "big picture" of Chaucer's intent. Tomorrow we will take up the "Pardoner's Tale."
Period 3--AP 10
Since I was missing half the class for Driver Training, I gave the students left in class time to get caught up on various assignments, read Animal Farm, or work on other assignments (like studying for their History exam).
Period 4--History 10
We finished reviewing the rest of that booklet of supplementary info from yesterday, and then I gave the kids a handout for them to fill out that is, essentially, a study guide. We will go over the study guide tomorrow together as a class.
We finished with our viewing activity of the two soliloquies and did a bit of a comparative analysis between the two productions. We continued to read the rest of Act II of Othello. The students notice the number of passages and monologues that Iago's has compared to the title character and are starting to appreciate the evil genius of Iago.
Period 2--AP 30
We did another page for the Math PLT and then got down to work. We discussed the questiosn from yesterday's viewing activity of the "Knight's Tale" and then moved into some post-viewing questions. We spent some time determining the theme of the except as well as appreciating the various "lenses" through which a viewer and reader must use in order to see the "big picture" of Chaucer's intent. Tomorrow we will take up the "Pardoner's Tale."
Period 3--AP 10
Since I was missing half the class for Driver Training, I gave the students left in class time to get caught up on various assignments, read Animal Farm, or work on other assignments (like studying for their History exam).
Period 4--History 10
We finished reviewing the rest of that booklet of supplementary info from yesterday, and then I gave the kids a handout for them to fill out that is, essentially, a study guide. We will go over the study guide tomorrow together as a class.
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
November 20, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
The grade 11s did another PLT work sheet for their multiplication tables. We will finish with this for the school's Math PLT next week.
After this, we continued with our viewing activity of the two soliloquies from Othello. We "annotated" the viewing experience and looked at the richness within a visual text. This became particularly obvious when we compared the two different versions of visual texts--one the Branagh version of Othello, and the other, a recording of live theatre--or at least a lower level production. Students spent considerable time looking at lighting, music, body language, facial expression, pacing of dialogue, volume of dialogue, and other technical aspects of the play. We will finish this tomorrow and then move on with the play itself.
Period 2--AP 30
The students were given a handout on viewing the "Knight's Tale" to introduce the concept. We spoke about being active listeners and some of the cues and conventions they may practice in their daily lives while being "master" viewers. They applied some of their powers of observation to a visual text picture of Sir Lancelot and had to come up with words to describe the knight. By using those cues, the students then made predictions as to what the tale may be about. We went over the handout given to them with the cues and conventions for them to look out for and fill out as they watch. We watched it all the way through and then the students filled it in the chart as best they could while the excerpt was playing again. We will take up their observations tomorrow.
Period 3--AP 10
The students did another practice multiple choice exam today. They will get a little bit of time to finish it up tomorrow.
Period 4--History 10
I gave the students another handout with supplementary information about the English Civil War and Glorious Revoltuion. While much of this won't be on their Friday exam, it does help round the picture out of what life was like in England during this time as well as review some of the information we have just finished studying.
The grade 11s did another PLT work sheet for their multiplication tables. We will finish with this for the school's Math PLT next week.
After this, we continued with our viewing activity of the two soliloquies from Othello. We "annotated" the viewing experience and looked at the richness within a visual text. This became particularly obvious when we compared the two different versions of visual texts--one the Branagh version of Othello, and the other, a recording of live theatre--or at least a lower level production. Students spent considerable time looking at lighting, music, body language, facial expression, pacing of dialogue, volume of dialogue, and other technical aspects of the play. We will finish this tomorrow and then move on with the play itself.
Period 2--AP 30
The students were given a handout on viewing the "Knight's Tale" to introduce the concept. We spoke about being active listeners and some of the cues and conventions they may practice in their daily lives while being "master" viewers. They applied some of their powers of observation to a visual text picture of Sir Lancelot and had to come up with words to describe the knight. By using those cues, the students then made predictions as to what the tale may be about. We went over the handout given to them with the cues and conventions for them to look out for and fill out as they watch. We watched it all the way through and then the students filled it in the chart as best they could while the excerpt was playing again. We will take up their observations tomorrow.
Period 3--AP 10
The students did another practice multiple choice exam today. They will get a little bit of time to finish it up tomorrow.
Period 4--History 10
I gave the students another handout with supplementary information about the English Civil War and Glorious Revoltuion. While much of this won't be on their Friday exam, it does help round the picture out of what life was like in England during this time as well as review some of the information we have just finished studying.
Monday, 19 November 2012
November 19, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We did the math sheets for the Math PLT assessment. We are almost finished with these. Then, I went over the literary devices the students will need to know for their quiz on Friday. They are some tough words, so the kids will have to actually study and ensure that they know their devices. Finally, we started in with the major crux of the lesson--we are focussing on viewing today. To start with, we looked at the Brannagh version of Othello with Iago's first soliloquy--we viewed it once to get the main idea of it, and then started in on actually "annotating" the viewing and breaking it down into its parts for lighting, levels, editing, dialogue, body language, sound, pacing, etc. We will continue with this tomorrow.
Period 2--AP 30
We had a lot to get through today. We did the math sheets for the Math PLT and then reviewed the literary devices for their quiz on Friday. They are some tough words, so the kids will have to actually study and ensure that they know their devices. Finally, Mr. Farrell was able to finish up "The Miller's Tale" with the students. They had an "exit slip" in which they had to examine the tale and consider the Miller's values about life and love using about five examples from the text to support their opinion.
Period 3--AP 10
We went over their literary devices for their quiz on Friday. At this point, we had a handout that examined multiple choice strategies. We will be doing another multiple choice practice exam tomorrow.
Period 4--History 10
We finished going over the handout for the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution. We read, highlighted, and made notes about the information they learned. They decided on Friday for their unit exam.
We did the math sheets for the Math PLT assessment. We are almost finished with these. Then, I went over the literary devices the students will need to know for their quiz on Friday. They are some tough words, so the kids will have to actually study and ensure that they know their devices. Finally, we started in with the major crux of the lesson--we are focussing on viewing today. To start with, we looked at the Brannagh version of Othello with Iago's first soliloquy--we viewed it once to get the main idea of it, and then started in on actually "annotating" the viewing and breaking it down into its parts for lighting, levels, editing, dialogue, body language, sound, pacing, etc. We will continue with this tomorrow.
Period 2--AP 30
We had a lot to get through today. We did the math sheets for the Math PLT and then reviewed the literary devices for their quiz on Friday. They are some tough words, so the kids will have to actually study and ensure that they know their devices. Finally, Mr. Farrell was able to finish up "The Miller's Tale" with the students. They had an "exit slip" in which they had to examine the tale and consider the Miller's values about life and love using about five examples from the text to support their opinion.
Period 3--AP 10
We went over their literary devices for their quiz on Friday. At this point, we had a handout that examined multiple choice strategies. We will be doing another multiple choice practice exam tomorrow.
Period 4--History 10
We finished going over the handout for the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution. We read, highlighted, and made notes about the information they learned. They decided on Friday for their unit exam.
Friday, 16 November 2012
November 16, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We continued reading from Othello. We made it through to the end of scene ii today and will continue with the play on Monday.
Period 2--AP 30
The students had to do one more math sheet for the math PLT at OHS. From there, they performed their boasts and the students did an excellent job! I was so impressed. Once everyone was finished, Mr. Farrell took over to continue with "The Miller's Tale." The hilarity of the tale and its "fabliau" properties became pretty obvious as we near the end of the tale. We will finish this up on Monday.
Period 3--AP 10
The students were given the class to complete their viewing activity from Of Mice and Men. This will be due Tuesday. I also handed out the novella Animal Farm and encouraged the students to quickly research the Russian Revolution before reading it. This should be read by about December 10th-ish!
Period 4--History 10
Two students were able to present their power points on a chosen current event. At this point, we continued with the textbook handout and notes. The section on Charles II was completed. We should be able to finish the rest of the handout on Monday. The students chose to have an exam for this unit scheduled on Friday. I handed back a number of assignments and their exam.
We continued reading from Othello. We made it through to the end of scene ii today and will continue with the play on Monday.
Period 2--AP 30
The students had to do one more math sheet for the math PLT at OHS. From there, they performed their boasts and the students did an excellent job! I was so impressed. Once everyone was finished, Mr. Farrell took over to continue with "The Miller's Tale." The hilarity of the tale and its "fabliau" properties became pretty obvious as we near the end of the tale. We will finish this up on Monday.
Period 3--AP 10
The students were given the class to complete their viewing activity from Of Mice and Men. This will be due Tuesday. I also handed out the novella Animal Farm and encouraged the students to quickly research the Russian Revolution before reading it. This should be read by about December 10th-ish!
Period 4--History 10
Two students were able to present their power points on a chosen current event. At this point, we continued with the textbook handout and notes. The section on Charles II was completed. We should be able to finish the rest of the handout on Monday. The students chose to have an exam for this unit scheduled on Friday. I handed back a number of assignments and their exam.
Thursday, 15 November 2012
November 15, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We analyzed Iago's soliloquy looking specifically at the tone Shakespeare infuses into this speech for the villain. We just started reading Act II after annotating and analyzing the speech but the bell rang before we could get very far.
Period 2--AP 30
Mr. Farrell continued taking the students through "The Miller's Tale" and while we aren't quite finished, we will take a break from it tomorrow as the students present their boasts from Beowulf.
Period 3--AP 10
We finished watching the clip from the movie Of Mice and Men and annotated it much the same way we would annotate something written...just with a different format. The students were just starting in on their assignment--to write a formal, business letter to the Director of Education promoting one particular method of infomormation delivery (visual vs. written vs. auditory). They will get more time to complete this tomorrow.
Period 4--History 10
As we continued through the textbook handout, we switched gears just a bit. Rather than the students continuing to write the notes, I provided a cloze handout where they can fill in various blanks from our reading as we discuss the content. This does speed things up a bit and the students still get the notes from the textbook.
We analyzed Iago's soliloquy looking specifically at the tone Shakespeare infuses into this speech for the villain. We just started reading Act II after annotating and analyzing the speech but the bell rang before we could get very far.
Period 2--AP 30
Mr. Farrell continued taking the students through "The Miller's Tale" and while we aren't quite finished, we will take a break from it tomorrow as the students present their boasts from Beowulf.
Period 3--AP 10
We finished watching the clip from the movie Of Mice and Men and annotated it much the same way we would annotate something written...just with a different format. The students were just starting in on their assignment--to write a formal, business letter to the Director of Education promoting one particular method of infomormation delivery (visual vs. written vs. auditory). They will get more time to complete this tomorrow.
Period 4--History 10
As we continued through the textbook handout, we switched gears just a bit. Rather than the students continuing to write the notes, I provided a cloze handout where they can fill in various blanks from our reading as we discuss the content. This does speed things up a bit and the students still get the notes from the textbook.
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
November 14, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We did the next sheet in our 2 minute math PLT work.
Back on track with Othello! We finished reading the rest of Act I of the play, paying particular attention to characters and their opinions of other characters in the plays. Iago remains an enigmatic figure at this point, but certainly fascinating. I handed out their options for writing with this. They have about 20 different topics of which they must choose 3 and write a "take" or a smaller-scale essay (no more than 2 pages). We just finished going through them and the bell rang. On tomorrow's agenda, we will analyze Iago's soliloquy.
Period 2--AP 30
We did the next sheet in our 2 minute math PLT work.
Mr. Farrell continued with the "Miller's Tale" analysis. We examined similar characters to to those on the pilgrimage while Mr. Farrell helped the kids annotate the tale itself. They had to orally read sections of the passage and then were required to annotate a passage and answer some questions to be handed in for the end of class.
Period 3--AP 10
We compared and contrasted reading pros and cons with auditory pros and cons to start the class. Then, we switched gears to FINALLY get a chance to view the last chapter of the novel visually through the movie, Of Mice and Men. We watched it through once to look at the pros and cons of viewing, and then we started to examine the clip in more detail. We paid particular attention to the concept of juxtaposition as we viewed. The further we went in and examined such concepts as lighting, pacing, levels, tone, dialogue, sound, etc., the students were able to see just how rich this small passage in the movie is and how all these elements work together to create tension in the viewer.
Period 4--History 10
The students continued with the reading of the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution handout. We finished with the Tudor kings and queens and have started in on the Stuarts. Tomorrow, we'll be tackling the English civil war.
We did the next sheet in our 2 minute math PLT work.
Back on track with Othello! We finished reading the rest of Act I of the play, paying particular attention to characters and their opinions of other characters in the plays. Iago remains an enigmatic figure at this point, but certainly fascinating. I handed out their options for writing with this. They have about 20 different topics of which they must choose 3 and write a "take" or a smaller-scale essay (no more than 2 pages). We just finished going through them and the bell rang. On tomorrow's agenda, we will analyze Iago's soliloquy.
Period 2--AP 30
We did the next sheet in our 2 minute math PLT work.
Mr. Farrell continued with the "Miller's Tale" analysis. We examined similar characters to to those on the pilgrimage while Mr. Farrell helped the kids annotate the tale itself. They had to orally read sections of the passage and then were required to annotate a passage and answer some questions to be handed in for the end of class.
Period 3--AP 10
We compared and contrasted reading pros and cons with auditory pros and cons to start the class. Then, we switched gears to FINALLY get a chance to view the last chapter of the novel visually through the movie, Of Mice and Men. We watched it through once to look at the pros and cons of viewing, and then we started to examine the clip in more detail. We paid particular attention to the concept of juxtaposition as we viewed. The further we went in and examined such concepts as lighting, pacing, levels, tone, dialogue, sound, etc., the students were able to see just how rich this small passage in the movie is and how all these elements work together to create tension in the viewer.
Period 4--History 10
The students continued with the reading of the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution handout. We finished with the Tudor kings and queens and have started in on the Stuarts. Tomorrow, we'll be tackling the English civil war.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
November 13, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We completed another sheet from the Math PLT. Once that was finished, we continued with our reading of Othello. The class was cut short for portfolio preparation, but we should finish Act I tomorrow.
Period 2--AP 30
Mr. Farrell started teaching today. He introduced the "Miller's Tale" by examining it in contrast to the romanticism of the Knight's Tale (which would have come immediately before the Miller's Tale). He identified and defined the concept of the fabliau through some visual images of everything that the knight stands for in comparison to everything the Miller finds entertaining. They just started reading the tale itself when the bell rang to end class. Again, this one was cut short for portfolio preparation.
Period 3--AP 10
We reviewed the concept of parallelism that we began discussing last Thursday. I read then the first few paragraphs from chapter 6 and then had them look for similarities in the first few paragraphs of chapter 1. It was interesting to see how Steinbeck was able to tie the novel together through repeated images between these chapters. Tomorrow, FINALLY, we should be able to get our viewing activity in!
Period 4--History 10
We continued with the handout they received last week that goes through England and it's intial struggles between Catholicism and Protestantism. Our focus, for this class, was on Queen Elizabeth I and the problems and sucesses she had during her reign.
We completed another sheet from the Math PLT. Once that was finished, we continued with our reading of Othello. The class was cut short for portfolio preparation, but we should finish Act I tomorrow.
Period 2--AP 30
Mr. Farrell started teaching today. He introduced the "Miller's Tale" by examining it in contrast to the romanticism of the Knight's Tale (which would have come immediately before the Miller's Tale). He identified and defined the concept of the fabliau through some visual images of everything that the knight stands for in comparison to everything the Miller finds entertaining. They just started reading the tale itself when the bell rang to end class. Again, this one was cut short for portfolio preparation.
Period 3--AP 10
We reviewed the concept of parallelism that we began discussing last Thursday. I read then the first few paragraphs from chapter 6 and then had them look for similarities in the first few paragraphs of chapter 1. It was interesting to see how Steinbeck was able to tie the novel together through repeated images between these chapters. Tomorrow, FINALLY, we should be able to get our viewing activity in!
Period 4--History 10
We continued with the handout they received last week that goes through England and it's intial struggles between Catholicism and Protestantism. Our focus, for this class, was on Queen Elizabeth I and the problems and sucesses she had during her reign.
Friday, 9 November 2012
November 9, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
Since most of the class was missing for Remembrance Day Service preparation, they were able to use this class to prepare for their portfolios, read their ELA novel, or do some other homework.
Period 2--AP 30
Mr. Farrel took the students through the assignment for the Prologue. It will be due on the 19th of November. A reminder that their Boasts from Beowulf are due this coming up Friday and we WILL be doing them! Circumstances always seem to conspire against their presentation! They were given a bit of time to work on the assignment and then they will be starting something new on Tuesday (Monday is the long weekend).
Period 3--AP 10
We didnt' have this class because of the Remembrance Day Service where we honoured the current and verteran soldiers of the Canadian military and the sacrifices they have made on our behalf.
Period 4--History 10
It was Current Events Day today. Only two of the four students were ready to go but they afforded lots of opportunity for discussion. With the time that was left, the students reviewed Elizabeth I and her decision to have Mary, Queen of Scots beheaded. In the end, the students decided that Elizabeth made the right decision!
I hope everyone has a restful long weeken and that they take a few moments on November 11th and remember the men and women who served over the years for our continued freedom.
Since most of the class was missing for Remembrance Day Service preparation, they were able to use this class to prepare for their portfolios, read their ELA novel, or do some other homework.
Period 2--AP 30
Mr. Farrel took the students through the assignment for the Prologue. It will be due on the 19th of November. A reminder that their Boasts from Beowulf are due this coming up Friday and we WILL be doing them! Circumstances always seem to conspire against their presentation! They were given a bit of time to work on the assignment and then they will be starting something new on Tuesday (Monday is the long weekend).
Period 3--AP 10
We didnt' have this class because of the Remembrance Day Service where we honoured the current and verteran soldiers of the Canadian military and the sacrifices they have made on our behalf.
Period 4--History 10
It was Current Events Day today. Only two of the four students were ready to go but they afforded lots of opportunity for discussion. With the time that was left, the students reviewed Elizabeth I and her decision to have Mary, Queen of Scots beheaded. In the end, the students decided that Elizabeth made the right decision!
I hope everyone has a restful long weeken and that they take a few moments on November 11th and remember the men and women who served over the years for our continued freedom.
Thursday, 8 November 2012
November 8, 2012
NOTE: The morning periods were all shortened to allow the students a chance to work on their portfolios to get ready for the three-way conferences taking place next week.
Period 1--AP 20
We continued reading Othello and are almost finished Act I. We should finish it up tomorrow and I will then introduce the writing options for them.
Period 2--AP 30
We finished all of the characters of The Canterbury Tales Prologue. Tomorrow, Mr. Farrel (Mr. Dingle's intern) will be introducing the assignment and then taking over the class for a time.
Period 3--AP 10
We did a listening activity where I read the last chapter to the students. They've already read it several times and now they had the chance to listen for cadence, pausing, tone, volume, etc. in order to create a response in a listener. Toward the end of class, we started examining parallelism between the beginning of the novel and the end.
Period 4--History 10
We started with a handout reviewing much of what I went over with them orally in the last couple of days. Then, they were given a textbook handout that will follow the English monarchs as they work their way to a constitutional monarchy.
Period 1--AP 20
We continued reading Othello and are almost finished Act I. We should finish it up tomorrow and I will then introduce the writing options for them.
Period 2--AP 30
We finished all of the characters of The Canterbury Tales Prologue. Tomorrow, Mr. Farrel (Mr. Dingle's intern) will be introducing the assignment and then taking over the class for a time.
Period 3--AP 10
We did a listening activity where I read the last chapter to the students. They've already read it several times and now they had the chance to listen for cadence, pausing, tone, volume, etc. in order to create a response in a listener. Toward the end of class, we started examining parallelism between the beginning of the novel and the end.
Period 4--History 10
We started with a handout reviewing much of what I went over with them orally in the last couple of days. Then, they were given a textbook handout that will follow the English monarchs as they work their way to a constitutional monarchy.
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
November 7, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We did the last entry for the Math PLT for this week. When we moved back into English, I went over a "character map" for the play Othello. Each student was then given a part to read and we started to work our way through the first scene. I always find the first scene is slow going as the students have to get back into the rhythm and sound of the language.
Period 2--AP 30
We continued with the characters from "The Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales. We will finish this tomorrow and then we will do a brief assignment on the Prologue. Students are reminded to have their Beowulf Boasts ready to go for Friday.
Period 3--AP 10
The title was our main talking point in English today. The students had the opportunity to read the poem by Robbie Burns from which Steinbeck got his inspiration for the title. Before we view the clip to look at juxtaposition, I created a handout for the students that deals with the same scene, but presented in three different ways. First of all, the students (today) read the last chapter of the novel. They were to look for diction or choice of detail that creates emotion in the reader and highlight those sections. There were some questions to go with this part of the assignment. Tomorrow, we will examine the same passage from a listening perspective and then, finally, we will view it.
Period 4--History 10
The students had to listen to me lecture again today. I finished going over an oral overview of the contents of this unit. Essentially, it was story time starting with Henry VIII and ending with the Glorious Revolution of William and Mary of Orange. I find that this oral introduction to the content of the unit helps the students focus as we do some text book study.
We did the last entry for the Math PLT for this week. When we moved back into English, I went over a "character map" for the play Othello. Each student was then given a part to read and we started to work our way through the first scene. I always find the first scene is slow going as the students have to get back into the rhythm and sound of the language.
Period 2--AP 30
We continued with the characters from "The Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales. We will finish this tomorrow and then we will do a brief assignment on the Prologue. Students are reminded to have their Beowulf Boasts ready to go for Friday.
Period 3--AP 10
The title was our main talking point in English today. The students had the opportunity to read the poem by Robbie Burns from which Steinbeck got his inspiration for the title. Before we view the clip to look at juxtaposition, I created a handout for the students that deals with the same scene, but presented in three different ways. First of all, the students (today) read the last chapter of the novel. They were to look for diction or choice of detail that creates emotion in the reader and highlight those sections. There were some questions to go with this part of the assignment. Tomorrow, we will examine the same passage from a listening perspective and then, finally, we will view it.
Period 4--History 10
The students had to listen to me lecture again today. I finished going over an oral overview of the contents of this unit. Essentially, it was story time starting with Henry VIII and ending with the Glorious Revolution of William and Mary of Orange. I find that this oral introduction to the content of the unit helps the students focus as we do some text book study.
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
November 6, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We continued with our background information to Elizabethan England. We finished it this class, so we will begin our study of Othello tomorrow.
Period 2--AP 30
We did our mental math for the OHS Math PLT for the first two minutes. Students seem to be showing marked improvement.
We continued with our study of "The Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales. We are paying particular attention to Chaucer's "voice" as the narrator and attempting to discover the speaker's attitude about the characters he introduces. With luck, we should finish this tomorrow and then will move on to some tales.
Period 3--AP 10
We continued with our study of Of Mice and Men. We spent some time on questions raised by the themes and how Steinbeck delivers. Hindsight offers the students the chance to look at how tightly Steinbeck weaves his motifs and themes throughout the novella.
Period 4--History 10
We looked at the overview of the new unit examining the English Civil War/Glorious Revolution and studied the concept of revolutions through a concept attainment lesson on the topic. After this, they had some notes about the definition of a revolution as well as information on the Seven Stages of a Revolution. After this, I started introducing them to some of the main players on the stage that we will be discussing starting way back with Arthur (Tudor), son of Henry VII. We are doing a quick cruise through History to introduce the kids to these "characters."
We continued with our background information to Elizabethan England. We finished it this class, so we will begin our study of Othello tomorrow.
Period 2--AP 30
We did our mental math for the OHS Math PLT for the first two minutes. Students seem to be showing marked improvement.
We continued with our study of "The Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales. We are paying particular attention to Chaucer's "voice" as the narrator and attempting to discover the speaker's attitude about the characters he introduces. With luck, we should finish this tomorrow and then will move on to some tales.
Period 3--AP 10
We continued with our study of Of Mice and Men. We spent some time on questions raised by the themes and how Steinbeck delivers. Hindsight offers the students the chance to look at how tightly Steinbeck weaves his motifs and themes throughout the novella.
Period 4--History 10
We looked at the overview of the new unit examining the English Civil War/Glorious Revolution and studied the concept of revolutions through a concept attainment lesson on the topic. After this, they had some notes about the definition of a revolution as well as information on the Seven Stages of a Revolution. After this, I started introducing them to some of the main players on the stage that we will be discussing starting way back with Arthur (Tudor), son of Henry VII. We are doing a quick cruise through History to introduce the kids to these "characters."
Monday, 5 November 2012
November 5, 2012
Period 1--AP 20
We did the next sheet in for the math PLT. Most of the kids are showing improvement in their mental math skills, so it should be interesting to see where they end up by the end of the month!
As far as English goes, I gave the students back their To Kill A Mockingbird essays today and briefly spoke to them about their performance. Once report cards are out and I have a few minutes, I will give them their "writing sins" to review. In the meantime, we started in on Othello. I'm hoping to read this fairly quickly. It is a good play and the action moves well, so I should be able to finish this at a reasonable pace. We spent some time looking at the life and times of Shakespeare which impacts some of the actions of the characters in the play. We will finish this discussion tomorrow and then begin reading the play.
Period 2--AP 30
We did the next sheet in for the math PLT. Most of the kids are showing improvement in their mental math skills, so it should be interesting to see where they end up by the end of the month!
With ELA, I sectioned the boards off into various parts for the students to write their information down for others to copy. Having it done this way allows us to see the juxtaposition of the various characters. So far, the kids did an excellent job, but it will take us some time to finish with the Prologue.
Period 3--AP 10
We started going over Of Mice and Men even though we read it and did our assignment before we started reading Macbeth. It is always worth it to examine this classic novella more thoroughly. We are looking at character motivation and how Steinbeck presented the various themes of the novella.
Period 4--History 10
Since Friday ended up being a "snow" day without the busses running, I gave the students this class to finish their open-book exam from last Thursday. Anyone who did not get a chance to finish after these two class days, should make time to do so outside of class time.
We did the next sheet in for the math PLT. Most of the kids are showing improvement in their mental math skills, so it should be interesting to see where they end up by the end of the month!
As far as English goes, I gave the students back their To Kill A Mockingbird essays today and briefly spoke to them about their performance. Once report cards are out and I have a few minutes, I will give them their "writing sins" to review. In the meantime, we started in on Othello. I'm hoping to read this fairly quickly. It is a good play and the action moves well, so I should be able to finish this at a reasonable pace. We spent some time looking at the life and times of Shakespeare which impacts some of the actions of the characters in the play. We will finish this discussion tomorrow and then begin reading the play.
Period 2--AP 30
We did the next sheet in for the math PLT. Most of the kids are showing improvement in their mental math skills, so it should be interesting to see where they end up by the end of the month!
With ELA, I sectioned the boards off into various parts for the students to write their information down for others to copy. Having it done this way allows us to see the juxtaposition of the various characters. So far, the kids did an excellent job, but it will take us some time to finish with the Prologue.
Period 3--AP 10
We started going over Of Mice and Men even though we read it and did our assignment before we started reading Macbeth. It is always worth it to examine this classic novella more thoroughly. We are looking at character motivation and how Steinbeck presented the various themes of the novella.
Period 4--History 10
Since Friday ended up being a "snow" day without the busses running, I gave the students this class to finish their open-book exam from last Thursday. Anyone who did not get a chance to finish after these two class days, should make time to do so outside of class time.
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