Month: February 2011

On Friday we read the short story, “We” and completed the questions (see Friday’s post).  Please be aware that even if the buses are cancelled we go ahead with the lesson as planned. Thanks to our class blog, you still had access to the digital copies of the story and handouts.

Today we will be carrying on with our work on the short story. If you need to get caught up, your tasks include: reading the short story and answering the questions on the sheet that follow. You will have to complete the short story chart for homework.

If you were here on Friday, make sure your questions are complete and then get a copy of the short story chart from me.

Today we will be reading a short story called We. For those of you who are away, I’ve uploaded a digital copy that you can access by clicking on the hyperlink above.

Then we will be completing some questions, and two separate charts: Inference Making and Short Story Chart (I can’t upload the second one right now).

Good morning! We are going to continue with recordings today. I’ve got two different devices you can use so this should help us get through recordings a little faster.

We’re going to start with silent reading today and I have a new reading strategy for you to help you deal with new vocabulary.

Then we are going to take up the Scared Witless article and discuss the concept map assignment.

If time permits we will begin read our first short story of the unit, “We.”

I’m away at PD today but you know what you’re working on. You will read the article Scared Witless and answer the questions that follow. IF you finish early, there is a concept map assignment waiting for you.

We’ll begin today with some silent reading, then we will take up the questions on the Stephen King essay.

After that, we’ll brainstorm a list of titles of scary/suspenseful movies and books and then categorize them based on a note you’ll write about the Three Streams of Horror.

Today you are going to be reading an essay about fear by Stephen King.
Before you do that I’d like you to think for a moment about something that scares you and write a personal response of approximately one page double spaced.

What scares you? (I’d rather you take one idea and explore it in some detail rather than list a bunch of things that scare you) How long have you had this fear? How do think you developed it? How do you try to deal with it? If you are a completely fearless individual (liars!) then you can write about a fear someone you know has.

When you are done, move on to the essay but remember you have to look up and write down the definitions of a number of words before reading the essay.

Please hand in all work at the end of the period whether you are finished or not. You will get your essays back tomorrow so that if you are able to record on the weekend, you can do so. If you don’t record it on the weekend, be prepared to record Tuesday.

Good morning!

Today I want to get you thinking creatively which is tough at 8:30 in the morning, I know, but we’re going to do it anyway. We’ll start off by generating a list of topics. They could be topics that your essays are about or other potential essay topics. Then were going to do an exercise to help you develop analogies.

An analogy is a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogy between the heart and a pump.

We’re going to continue where we left off yesterday, watching some effective speakers and creating a list of the qualities of effective speakers. I was thinking about other examples of effective speakers and I remembered this video by a teacher/slam poet named Taylor Mali. Obviously the subject really resonates with me but I think that what you’ll be impressed with is what a powerful speaker he is.

 

Once we’re done with the videos, we will make a list of the qualities of an effective speaker and you will choose at least three strategies that you plan to use when you record your essay.

Your rough drafts of your essays must be here tomorrow: typed and double-spaced please. We will begin recording on Thursday.

Qualities of an Effective Speaker

Articulation (speak clearly)

Exaggeration

Tone of voice (vary), emphasis

Accessible level of language

Humour

Emotion

Analogies, relating one idea to another

Hook

Flow (unity)

Repetition (for emphasis)

Pauses

Metaphor

Rehearsed

using specific words for effect: slang/ swear words

Today is set aside for working on a rough draft of your personal essay. Yesterday you should have completed your outline. If you haven’t done that yet, please do so before you move on to the rough draft. Your outline and rough draft will be evaluated.

If you’re having trouble with the structure of your personal essay, remember you can always check out the This I Believe website where the ones we read in class came from.

At the end of the period, please print off what you got done whether it’s finished or not. If you don’t want to print it, you can also put it in the Hand in Folder. Just make sure your name is part of the file name.