English 8-3

Today we finished off the Lit Circles and did a peer evaluation sheet.  Students then had time to finish off their booklets and any other outstanding work. 

English 8-3 Thursday and Friday Dec 14 and 15th

Thursday and Friday have been primarily finish up work days.  Students finished off their lit circles and lit circle booklets, as well as, finishing paragraph and a character activity.  There are a handful of students who will have English homework over the weekend. 

Tuesday, Dec 12 English 9-3 and 8-3

The English lessons began with DEAR and then we went right into our film, "The Wave!" I hope that you all enjoyed it.

Tuesday and Thursday Dec 5 and 7th English 8-3

On Tuesday, we read our lit books during DEAR and then worked on our week 3 booklet assignment. When we were done we started our personal response paragraph to bullying and/or empathy. The questions were:

How are the characters (a minimum of 2 characters) in your novel affected by bullying?  Which are victims and which are perpetrators?
                                                                         OR
 How do your characters (a minimum of 2 characters) show empathy? Were they empathetic from the start?  Use examples to support your statements? 

On Thursday, after DEAR and working on our booklets we met for the third time in our Lit Circles. After Lit circles there was time to work on the paragraphs.

We also took a vote on how to spend the reward you all earned for catching my mistakes: the class voted to see the 1980's film, The Wave.

Thursday, November 30, English 8-3

Today in English we met in our Lit Circles.  The week two job, in your booklets, should now be complete and we should be working toward week 3. Some of the discussions had some very interesting elements today. Good Work!

Afterwards we went over the stations we had commented on last week and we prepared for our next paragraph assignment.

English 8-3

In English 8 today we had a rather interesting lesson. After finishing our lit circle reading and booklet writing, we watched two short videos about bullying.  Each of our novels deals with bullying in one form or another.  These videos help flush out our thoughts on what our characters might be experiencing.  We did a gallery walk and we will discuss what we learned next class.  I will include Shane's Koyczan's spoken word poem, "To this day."

English 8-3

Today, we had time to read out lit books and work on our booklets.  Then we had a quick review of tenses and how to correct them in our writing.  It was a short class today due to passion block.

English 8-3

Today, the Lit Circles met for the first time.  The first discussions were difficult because the stories haven't really taken off yet.  I would like to remind students that they are being marked on their contributions to lit circles, so it is important that the novels are read and the booklet filled out.

Students finished their paragraphs and they will receive their corrections or mark next class.

Tuesday, Novemeber 21 English 8-3

 Today, I was away and I left instructions for the TOC to give time to read and prepare for  literary circles for Thursday.  The groups will meet every Thursday until winter break. Should you be away on that day due to illness, be sure to contact someone in your group and let them know. Share with them what you can.

I asked that you watch the rest of the short film, "Outrospection" (you will find a link to this film on the previous post) which discussed empathy. There are two kinds of empathy: Affective empathy- a shared emotional response and Cognitive empathy - perspective taking or stepping into the shoes of another.  I asked that students write a paragraph explaining when he/she may have experienced or shown empathy.  I will give time next class for students to either correct completed work or finish off their first drafts.

English 8-3

We started class off by going down to the library to get our literary circle books. We then broke out into groups and divided up the book and jobs over the next four weeks.  When we were finished, we started by watching  Outrospection - we only managed 5 minutes and we will continue next Thursday.

Already there were great conversations about empathy. 

English 8-2 and 8-4

Literary Groups: English 8-2 and 8-4

I have had to make some adjustments to the lit circles due to availability.  Stay tuned and I will post new books for groups.  I am presently sourcing similar stories or stories by the same authors.

November 14 English 8-3

We took a book walk through several book choices for our upcoming literary circles.  I ask that you choose three and I will form groups.  I will post the groups tomorrow.

We then had Ms. Sharkey the librarian for a visit and she had the class do a little quiz to figure out which genre they liked most.  Thank you! Ms Sharkey.

English 8-3

Today in English we got caught up on some unfinished work. The students finished off all owing work. Those who finished early went to the library to work on a Remembrance day activity.

English 8-3 David's Haircut

Today, I handed back assignments.  I asked that you correct your work and hand it back into to me to show that you have learned from your mistakes. Most of you finished in class. Thank you!

Then, we wrote on the theme of David Elkes' short story, "David's Haircut."
I offered some prompts to those who felt they required some supports for their writing.  I asked students to use evidence from the story to support their topic sentence.  Most of you completed your paragraphs in class.   You will be given time next class to finish your writing.

When they are graded I will give an opportunity for students to correct their work for an improved grade.

"Mistakes, obviously, show us what needs improving.  Without mistakes, how would we know what we had to work on."     -Peter McWilliam

English 8-3 Theme

Today, we talked about theme and how to find the theme of a story.
 
Theme: Life lesson, meaning, moral or message about life or human nature that is communicated by a literary work.
In other words...
Theme is what the story teaches readers.
Theme is not a word, it is a sentence.
You do not have to agree with the theme to identify it.

We then read some sample short stories and searched for the theme in pairs.  Everyone came up with great examples.

Lastly, we read David's Haircut.  This was a chance for you to tryout finding the theme on your own. I asked that you write what you think the themes is at the bottom of your notes.  We will talk about these next time.

* Although there are some notes here, if you were away be sure to photocopy the notes of one of your classmates so that you have a complete copy.

English 8-3 Halloween

Visual Stories and Charles paragraphs are due Oct 31, 2017

Today, despite Halloween, we did a little finish up work.  Students finished their paragraphs for Charles and worked on their Visual Stories.  I went over the Rubrics for  paragraph writing and for the visual stories. Next class we will be starting a new story called, David's Haircut by Ken Elkes.  We will focus on theme.  Both the Charles paragraph and Visual Stories should be handed in.

English 8-3: Characterization and Charles

Your Visual Stories are due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, Oct, 31, 

Today in English we talked about character in the story Charles.  In partners we decided on 4 traits that best characterized Charles/ Laurie.  We then hunted through the story to find quotes that supported those traits.  The last job was to write a paragraph ideally on google drive and share it with me. karawagner5@gmail.com

The topic of the paragraph was:

What are some characteristics of Laurie and Charles? Is Laurie/ Charles a round character what is your proof.
 
Please use full sentences and use the quotes to support your statements. We will work on them next class as well.

For example:
 Laurie is deceitful because he leads his parents to believe that Charles is the troublemaker in class when it is actually him.  The quote that supports that is, "It was Charles," he said, ""He was fresh.." 
You will need to describe all for traits in this way.