Monday Sept 30

We saw this today ... and got the Act 1 complete! We also got Question 15 for homework.

We saw this as it brings up a bit of a theme of the novel - that being about writing one's story. It was also brought up when we talk about the book / movie Last of the Mohicans, too.

Friday Sept 27

This was an issue today

And ... Friday.

Cool.

We read to page 56 in the text after taking up the homework from yesterday.

We got to chat about 11, 12 and 14 from the Unit questions. We also talked a little about the ideas around Pocahontas' ideas about respect. One character offers to marry her and change her name to "Stands with a Short Skirt". ... which we all agreed wasn't a very respectful thing to do.

Anyway, we also saw this clip from the film "Last of the Mohicans", another film that has First Nations actors and characters in it. I have to point out about the fact that a white man wrote the story of these FN characters ... which is what these characters think about themselves.

I also shared my opinion of the awesomeness of this film against the horrible nature of the novel.





and you should check out these guys....

Wed and Thursday

Wednesday I was away, suffering through the Black Death. I did leave some work to be handed in by the end of class ... it was the first three questions from the Unit outline.

Thursday we started off slowly, as students are not getting to class on time. 11:50 is the start time.

We read to page 34 in the text and did watch some of an episode of The Lone Ranger just to get some background of the character in the text

We also got 5,7 and 10 for homework

Tues Sept 24

We walked ourselves through the WebQuest at the start of the class.

It was due at the end of class today. Email it to me if you can, please.

After that, we saw a bit of Billy Jack the film from which the character in this play was taken and then we read the text. We got to page 27 of the text.

We are back at it tomorrow.

Right at the end of Billy Jack's fight scene in the park.

Monday Sept 23

Well, it was a day.

I asked that small groups of 2-4 people be formed and that they take a few minutes do so some research on an assigned person from the play.

The play has the following characters in it:

And ... most of the class did some good work. I had one group ... uh ... forget what they were doing and I had to step in to do some of the work for Old Lodge Skins. 'm not sure we got that one done right, but we can keep working on it. Eesh.

Anyway, we got a decent description for each character done, and so we read some of the play.

Our notes are here. I'll also post them in the Helpful Links for this Unit on the right.

We are still working on the WebQuest posted last Wednesday. That is due tomorrow (Tuesday)

Chief Dan George as Old Lodge Skins

Friday Sept 20

Well, we finished the Story Unit with the presentations and the hading in of the pieces of writing.

We did chat about Health and Safety and some other great topics that students picked and conferenced about for the last while.

Then we did some introductions to the next unit, a play called Dead White Writer on the Floor.

The webquest is on Wednesday's post ... a write up is due on Tuesday Sept 24 from each student.

Thursday Sept 19

Today was interesting.

We did some of the presentations that were due today. A lot were missed due to students being away.

We then moved forward on the essay pieces due tomorrow or the Web Quest on the next unit.

Wed Sept 19

Right. Today was interesting. 

You need to be in class and doing your presentations on time. You need to be going to class and staying there doing the things I've asked you to do.

We did some of the presentations that were due today. We worked on the essays that are due tomorrow too.

Moving forward, here is the first assignment for the next unit. This needs to be in to the teacher by Sept 24. I will post this due date on the right-hand side of the blog and in the classroom.

Webquest for Dead White Writer on the Floor by Drew Hayden Taylor

1.  Go to the Wikipedia page for Drew Hayden Taylor and state five things you learned about the author.

2.  In a paragraph length formal piece of writing, speculate why we would have chosen this play to read this semester. Ideas might include the identity of the playwright, the issues that the author tends to write about or several other ideas.

3.  In a paragraph length formal piece of writing, speculate as to why you think that the playwright chose to use a few iconic First Nations characters in this play? What do you think about the idea that most of these FN characters are from American produced films or companies?

4.  Pick one of the characters in this play. What are a few things you know about one of that character? What is some of the context for that character?

5.  As a Canadian, what do you think of some of the “Canadian” shows that this author has worked on – like The Beachcomers? Should we watch an episode of this show to see how awesome it was? Why or why not?

Tuesday and Wednesday Sept 18

I did not post yesterday. I'm sorry.

We worked on our presentations and essays as a group.

We did the same today, and we worked on the next step - the draft version of the essay, in class together. I did post a copy of a practise essay in the links, under the "Essay Pics" link.

I am hoping everything is ready for the rest of the week.

After we are done this unit, we are on to a play called Dead White Writer on the Floor, by Drew Hayden Taylor, a writer that lives near our fair city.

And this guy is in the play:

Friday Sept 13

We spent today working on the various Tasks for this unit - the Journal and the Presentation specifically.

It was awesome to help people today - I feel stoked for this semester ... thanks!

Have a great weekend - see you Tuesday!

Thursday Sept 12

We did our quiz today.

Then we handed in our Journals ...

Then we did work on our Presentations or our Task 3's (the writing Task) ...

We'll keep moving forward tomorrow, too!



via GIPHY

Wed Sept 11

It's a sombre day for the world. I can recall exactly where I was when it changed 18 years ago today.

We did move forward then and we moved forward today in class.

We took up homework and took a look at Task 2 Discussions. We made sure everyone present had a topic, too. I've still got a few who need to decide what's what.

We did spend a few minutes on Task 3 Essay Writing as well.

Tuesday Sept 10

First things first, we took a look at what you should be handing in on Thursday.

After that, we chatted a bit about what the topics are for the Task Two Presentations due next week. What is expected in the presentations is also posted on the right-hand side of this blog, too.

Then we celebrated the end of the class with a happy dance:

Monday Sept 9

We are going to be using this today in class:






and this

We will keep on working on getting topics together for students tomorrow and Wednesday!

Friday Sept 6

What a great start to the school year in this class. Thanks for being a big help to that!

Today we read the story "All the days in her life" by M. Callahan in class. We got the questions for homework.

We also chatted about the Adulting ideas for the Discussion and Writing assignments due later on this month.

Right. Have a great weekend - See you Monday!

Thursday Sept 5

Today we read a part of one of my favourite novels, Frankenstein. We read Chapter 5 from the novel and ... well, I enjoyed it. Mary Shelley wrote it when she was a teenager and ... well, it's just a great novel.

We had questions on the chapter and we also need to do the terms for it, too.

We also chatted a bit about the writing (Task 3) and discussion (Task 2) topics, too.

Notes from the last few days

Wed Sept 4

Today we read an awesome piece of literature "Fear" by Anne Frank.

The questions were at the end of the story and we studied the terms for the Story unit, too.  I linked the powerpoint deck to that link in that last sentence.

A quick reminder that you have to hand in both the questions and the terms for each story on Sept 12.

Ok, have a great day!

Tuesday Sept 3

Today was a good day - we spent it getting the classroom set up and having discussions about what to do in this class.

Tomorrow we start!

Welcome to Period 3 English

Welcome to Period Three Grade Twelve English.

I will be using this spot and the Ministry mandated D2L/Brightspace webpages this semester ... see the links to the right-hand side of the blog for more information.

and again ... Welcome!