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Fri. Jan 29th

Last day of class. Don’t get too emotional.

So we are doing some free verse poetry today and by the end of class, we will be completing the unit.

So what is free verse poetry?

It’s an open, meter-less, rhyme-less form. No rules, just emotion / story on page. This is usually where all that bad poetry by teenagers going through a breakup or going through their emo / goth phase and wear too much makeup.

There is hope for free- verse however. Think of spoken word – even though spoken word has a certain cadence. Check out this horrifically bad poem for fun:

Now check out what good free verse is:

After you’re done your own free verse, turn it in immediately as one document with your five poems WITH TITLES.

Then, fill out this form:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=74xl2ZICUkKZJWRC3iSkS10Vl6bcwylLiysCIbcUWk9UQ0dJV1gxOVZYN0M0NExJUFJMV0xESUtaSCQlQCN0PWcu
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=74xl2ZICUkKZJWRC3iSkS10Vl6bcwylLiysCIbcUWk9UQ0dJV1gxOVZYN0M0NExJUFJMV0xESUtaSCQlQCN0PWcu

Thurs. Jan 28th

So now you should have finished the following:

  1. Haiku
  2. Cinquain
  3. Ode

2 more. Mr. Willett is going to help you through sonnets today. I have attached a file that you can work with as you create your own. This is a very structured and in depth way of writing poetry so pay attention well. You will need the entire class for this.

Friday, we will finalize everything together and you will be able to write your free verse in class, turn in the assignment and that will be all.

There will also be a final reflection – it’s more for me. This will be a survey style and is required, just so that I can improve my own profession.

Wed. Jan 27th

Yesterday you completed your first five line poem. This can be placed in either free verse or in cinquain.

Today we will focus on odes and haiku. Here is the way to do an ode, aligning with the previous philosophy of feeling over actuality.

a. four stanzas (mini poem paragraphs)

b. total of 16 lines rhyme or no rhyme

c. dedicate the poem to someone or something (cellphones are now cliché)

  1. Pick something important to you. (Take a look at your narrative as well – you can find ideas in that.)
  2. Write a paragraph about that important thing / person
  3. Take out 16 choice words from the paragraph.
  4. list those words and see connecting words that you can use in a four line stanza.
  5. repeat yesterday’s expansion of words to sentences.

You’ll have 45 minutes to do the Musical Wednesday project. It’s due tonight at midnight.

Tues. Jan 26th

Poetry Unit starts today – It’s a break from all the academic stuff you’ve been doing. We will also spend some time together on working with the Musical Wednesdays project.

First:

Embodied Poetic Narrative (or fractured Narrative) for spoken word ideas.

  1. find an ‘artifact’ in your bag.
  2. Put it in the center of your table.
  3. We’ll do a quick Kinesthetic warm up so you can get rid of your egos
  4. Focus on an object.
  5. Quietly go back to your desks, don’t talk to anyone else about anything
  6. Write for five minutes about the artifact
  7. One word that comes to mind from your story ‘word ball’
  8. Go back to your story and circle key words
  9. Export these chosen words to another piece of paper and reorder them as a poem
  10. Make a physical emblem from these poems (Through visual means aka. Draw a picture)
  11. Interpretive dance?

Here is the final package for the poetry unit:

Tomorrow, I will be showing you a poet I really like. You’ll have time to finish your Musical Wednesdays and also work on the poetry package, point by point. We will do poems in class as models. You’ll know the basics by the time we’re finished.

Mon. Jan 25th

Today is your peer review. DO at least two for other people. I will set up the first groups, and then I will let others work with friends after this is done.

Here is the peer review sheet. I will also print it out so that it is easier for you to write.

If you are done, then you can edit your final drafts. Here are the finalized draft requirements:

  1. Times New Roman Font
  2. 12 point font size
  3. Double Spaced
  4. Name on the top right
  5. Title of piece

Please follow these requirements as this is seen of as your ‘final essay’ for the course. See me if you are confused.

Fri. Jan 22nd

Same as yesterday.

Put it all together today. See me for fluency and flow tips. These things cant be taught generally as a class, but if you let me see specifically in each essay, I can teach you a few tricks to make your essay really work well with conjunctions, transitions and word choice.

Here is a very in depth rubric that I will be looking at while I’m reading your essay. If you’ve been following along, then you have nailed all of the requirements. I will open a teams assignment page today.

We’ll finish the movie as well while you’re working.

Thurs. Jan 21st

[Movie in the 2nd Hour – you can still work quietly]

Now that you have all of your evidence and points / topic sentences written out, I would like for you to write a controlling statement at the top of a blank document.

I have a document here – how to construct a paragraph. This is something I will show you how to do with an example from a student. Miguel?

The Ten-Sentence Critical Paragraph – A Variation of P.E.E.

Like any model for composition, this is open to criticism. For instance, these paragraphs tend to become formulaic and predictable in structure. Excellent paragraphs, certainly, don’t always follow this or any guide. This guide might help, however, especially in the beginning stages of writing about literature.

Sentence 1 – Topic Sentence – contains the title of the piece of literature, the writer’s full name, and your topic. If this is an answer to an assigned question, then your topic sentence might be a rewording of the question into a statement. (a thesis statement, your statement to prove)

Sentence 2 – Main Point #1, One way the writer does what you say he or she does is through…

Sentence 3 – Example/Reference or quotation #1. The best example from the piece of literature which supports you main idea #1.

Sentence 4 and 5 – The explanation in your own words of how/why this example/quote does what you say it does. This section is where you develop your answer and prove your thesis.

Sentence 6 –   Main Point #2. Another way the writer does what you say he or she does is…

Sentence 7 – Example/Reference or quotation #2. The best example from the piece of literature which supports you main idea #2.

Sentence 8 and 9 – The explanation of how/why this example/quote does what you say it does. This section is where you develop your answer and prove your thesis.

Sentence 10– Concluding Sentence. Minimally: summarize your paragraph repeating some of the key words from the question. Better: relate this literary device/technique to the effectiveness of the whole composition and how the device/technique helps the author develop the theme, or, relate the composition’s theme to real life.

Remember the Conventions of Critical Writing (writing about literature)
1. Verbs should be in Present Tense
2. Use Objective Point of View (no ‘I’ statements) It’s not simply your opinion. You are making a plausible interpretation of a writer’s work.
3. A quote should not sit as a sentence. A quote should become part of your sentence.
4. convey, portray, depict, evoke, and any literary term… are good words to use!
5. Refer to the reader, the writer, the speaker    

Wed. Jan 20th

Part 1:

Musical Wednesdays work:

What you should have by the end of the hour:

Part 1: Song chosen / Part 2: Questions answered

Part 3: What media will you use for the video? Please consider uploading to youtube and giving me access. If not, then you can upload your video to sharepoint and give me access.

I will walk around to help you through this.

Part 2:

Midsummer night’s dream – Putting together the paragraphs.

Now you have all the evidence and how they connect to the characters. you have to

  1. explain the significance of the evidence and how it relates to the character.
  2. Intergrate the quotes so that it’s not so choppy.
  3. come up with the topic sentences for each paragraph.

Here is a document for integrating quotes:

Also I know that you haven’t gotten your podcast grades back yet. It will be done by this Friday at the latest.

Your questions for MND should be turned in by the end of the day today.

Tues. Jan. 19th

We will finish the play today.

I will print out the outline for you to follow. Just find evidence that answers the question and then next, we will come up with a claim (thesis / overall statement) together. Then we will work on breaking this down into parts and analyzing the evidence.

We will also continue the movie in the last half our of class.

Mon. Jan 18th

We will hopefully finish the play today or tomorrow. The questions (you do not have to do, but keep in mind as we finish the play) are right below:

IV i

1. How has Bottom adjusted to the attention of Titania and her fairies?
2. What is Oberon’s reaction to Titania’s infatuation with Bottom?
3. What sort of explanation will Oberon make to Titania’s question about what happened to her? Do you think he will tell her the truth?
4. Why are Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and the others out in the woods so early in the morning?
5. What is Theseus’s first explanation of why the young people are asleep in the woods?
6. What explanation does Demetrius make? Why does he compare his love for Hermia to an illness?
7. What is Theseus’s decision concerning the four young people?
8. Why can’t the young people be sure whether they are awake or dreaming?
9. Bottom believes he too has had a dream. How is he going to use that dram to entertain the Duke?

IV ii

1. What opinion do the other artisans now have of Bottom since they think he is lost?
2. What do they most regret losing by not being able to perform the play?
3. Why must the artisans hurry to the Duke’s palace?

https://uacmwillshakespeare.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/a-midsummer-nights-dream.pdf

This is the entire play in both modern and early modern English from Luuka.

Now think about this question:

plain how Lysander’s statement. “The course of true love never did run smooth” (I, i, 134) fits each of the characters in the play. 

Write down evidence to this question on the handout I have given you (Tuesday – Printer’s broken today). It will also be on this PDF document if you need another handout:

BONUS: I also found an AVI file of the movie on my hard drive. I want to watch it a piece at a time so that you’ll have a full comprehension and see how great it is live.

Fri. Jan 15th

Here are the questions for Act three. The questions for acts 1-3 are due on Monday the 18th of January. I will post an assignments folder later on today.

We will finish act three and work a little on the questions today. I will go over them with you briefly then we will go on to act 4 briefly. These are discussion questions that we will talk about for act 4 scene 1. You DO NOT have to complete these.

1. How has Bottom adjusted to the attention of Titania and her fairies?
2. What is Oberon’s reaction to Titania’s infatuation with Bottom?
3. What sort of explanation will Oberon make to Titania’s question about what happened to her? Do you think he will tell her the truth?
4. Why are Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and the others out in the woods so early in the morning?
5. What is Theseus’s first explanation of why the young people are asleep in the woods?
6. What explanation does Demetrius make? Why does he compare his love for Hermia to an illness?
7. What is Theseus’s decision concerning the four young people?
8. Why can’t the young people be sure whether they are awake or dreaming?
9. Bottom believes he too has had a dream. How is he going to use that dram to entertain the Duke?

Now next week will be all about using these questions to answer these questions:

1. How does Shakespeare use contrasting tones and characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? 

2. Explain how Lysander’s statement. “The course of true love never did run smooth” (I, i, 134) fits each of the characters in the play. 

We will spend a little time today going through these questions with the evidence you have. We will be breaking down a three paragraph (750 word approx.) essay piece by piece.

Thurs. Jan 14th

Welcome back. Not too much to report today. We will power through Act 2 Scene 2.

You will finish the questions. We will talk about the questions. Then we will try and get through Act 3 Scene 1 – this is the scene that I love the most.

That will be all today.

Wed. Jan 13th

We will continue the play. Act 2 will be completed by today. Lots to explain.

You will have 15 / 20 minutes at the beginning of class to get the act 1 questions finished. We’ll talk about it a little bit after. It’s just a review. You’ll hand in all the questions when we finish the play.

Look at yesterday’s blog for the questions. Act 2 questions are also in this document.

I will need:

Titania

Oberon

Puck

Here is the Musical Wednesdays Final information. I will repost this again – we will also see some student examples today that will make things clear. These are my international summer school students (grade 12):

Just a note: This doesn’t give you instructions to how to make a video. Everyone uses different video editing software. We will discuss this today.

Tues. Jan 12th

Just a continuation of yesterday. I have decided that this unit will be 2 weeks including an essay and a prep test. Very comprehensive. The last week is poetry. Yet today we will also have your final Musical Wednesdays on a Tuesday. Tomorrow, I will give you the final assignment that will be due in a week. That will fulfill the Musical Wednesdays assignments.

As for today, we will finish act 1 and 2, then go over the questions tomorrow. At 10AM today, we will do Mr. Willett’s “Tuneful Tuesdays”

Here are the questions again:

Here is your final Musical Wednesdays: Now dubbed Tuneful Tuesdays:

Do You Remember Walter?

Today we’ll be listening to the song “Do You Remember Walter?” by the Kinks from their 1968 album The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society. We’ll listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics before discussing some questions together!

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Erhio9iZpSU

Lyrics: https://genius.com/The-kinks-do-you-remember-walter-lyrics

What did you think of the song? Did you like it or dislike it? Why? Is it ‘your kind of music’? Again, why?

  • Is the speaker old or young? How do we know? What does the speaker think about growing old? Do we agree with him?
  • The last line of the song is “Yes, people often change, but memories of people can remain.” Is this the song’s message? What do we think this means?
  • Do we agree with the song’s message? Do we think our own memories work like they do in the song?
  • Finally, what can we say about this song and about “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”? Are they similar or completely different? How can we compare them?

Mon. Jan 11th

Welcome to Shakespeare!

You’ll get a book today. We will start and get through as much as we can in an hour. There are questions that go along with it. These questions are discussion questions for the following day in small groups.

Your actual essay question for Midsummer Night’s Dream is as follows — you can choose one:

1. How does Shakespeare use contrasting tones and characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? 

2. Explain how Lysander’s statement. “The course of true love never did run smooth” (I, i, 134) fits each of the characters in the play. 

We’ll explore this soon.

So First, whenever you learn a kind of new language, you find out how to insult people.

Now I will give you a lecture on Shakespeare’s language. You can download the PPT.

We will do Act 1 & Act 2 today. You’ll meet a few characters. It’s good to write the down because you might not be used to the strange names – Roman, mostly. Please finish the following questions. I will also give you time (15 minutes) tomorrow. You will only need to do up to Act 3 for questions and turn them all in together on Friday.

Next week, we will be working on essay structures so that you will be ready for grade 10. Typical English stuff.

Tuesday, December 5th, 2017

Yesterday there wasn’t enough focus on what is really important. If you feel like there is nothing to do then please go to the library or learning center so that I don’t have to ask.

We’ll finish Act 4 Scene 2 today. It is short.

Then workshop. Get into five groups. I will check the members before we proceed. You need to work together in order to teach the class about literary essays – this is what I will expect from each of you at the end of the unit.

Introduction:

Body Paragraph:

Conclusion:

Thesis Statement:

Title / Audience:

ACT IV, SCENE II

1. What opinion do the other artisans now have of Bottom since they think he is lost?
2. What do they most regret losing by not being able to perform the play?
3. Why must the artisans hurry to the Duke’s palace?

Here are this week’s spelling words:

amiable / amity / conjunction / discourse / dotage / enmity / jollity / paragon / recount / visage

I am surprised that no one got the word accommodate right last week. For shame.

We will finish act three, scene two today. If we have time, it will be a chance to recap the summary of the play so far. Since this is the first Shakespeare experience for most of you (Mr. Archbold excluded), I will be focusing more on ideas and depth of character. Let’s get this thing done by Friday at the latest.

Keep up the good work. For our guest on Friday, I give you a 70% because Arash was sending memes the whole class. Not good.

ACT IV, SCENE i Questions:

1. How has Bottom adjusted to the attention of Titania and her fairies?
2. What is Oberon’s reaction to Titania’s infatuation with Bottom?
3. What sort of explanation will Oberon make to Titania’s question about what happened to her? Do you think he will tell her the truth?
4. Why are Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and the others out in the woods so early in the morning?
5. What is Theseus’s first explanation of why the young people are asleep in the woods?
6. What explanation does Demetrius make? Why does he compare his love for Hermia to an illness?
7. What is Theseus’s decision concerning the four young people?
8. Why can’t the young people be sure whether they are awake or dreaming?
9. Bottom believes he too has had a dream. How is he going to use that dram to entertain the Duke?

So we will finish Act III, Scene i and Act III Scene ii. My goal is to have this entire play read together by next Friday so that we can start on our charts of comparison and contrast that parallel the movie we will watch. I will talk more about that next week.

Here are the questions for both Act III, Scene i and Act III, Scene ii:

ACT III, SCENE i
1. How are the actors going to keep from scaring the ladies when Pyramus kills himself or when the lion roars?
2. How are the actors going to manage the setting/scenery such as the moonlight and the wall?
3. Why do the rest of the actors run off when Bottom reappears?
4. What does Puck plan to do when he follows after the other actors?
5. How does Bottom react to Titania and the other fairies?
6. Bottom says, “…reason and love keep little company together nowadays.” Why is this such an apt statement at this point
in the play?

ACT III SCENE ii

1. What does Hermia accuse Demetrius of doing?
2. How are Puck and Oberon going to correct Puck’s earlier mistake?
3. Why is Helena upset when Demetrius says he loves her? Isn’t this what she had wanted all along?
4. Of what does Helena accuse Hermia
5. How close had Hermia and Helena been in the past?
6. How does Lysander treat Hermia? Why can’t she believe what he says?
7. Of what does Hermia accuse Helena?
8. Why is Helena afraid of Hermia?
9. What are Lysander and Demetrius going off to do?
10. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about the two young men?
11. What is Oberon going to do about Titania?
12. Why doesn’t Oberon fear the coming of day?
13. How well does Puck’s trickery work?

Thursday, November 30th, 2017

Remember to meet 5 minutes before class today. We will be going to the cafeteria together to help set up for the grade 9/10 finals for spoken word

Today: Let’s power through as much of the text as we can.

I will try and get through a little bit of Act III, Scene i with you. So here are the questions:

ACT III, SCENE I
1. How are the actors going to keep from scaring the ladies when Pyramus kills himself or when the lion roars?
2. How are the actors going to manage the setting/scenery such as the moonlight and the wall?
3. Why do the rest of the actors run off when Bottom reappears?
4. What does Puck plan to do when he follows after the other actors?
5. How does Bottom react to Titania and the other fairies?
6. Bottom says, “…reason and love keep little company together nowadays.” Why is this such an apt statement at this point
in the play?

Remember: The more you put in to this text, the more you’ll get out of it. Listen to what I say about this text. You will learn something, I guarantee it.

and Act 1 Scene 2 ( need a new list of actors). A list of questions is needed to be answered (below) to put in your journal.

1. Why does Oberon want Titania to wake and fall in love with some vile thing?

2. Why does Hermia insist Lysander sleep a little ways from her?

3. Why does Puck anoint Lysander’s eyes?

4. How does Helena react to Lysander’s sudden love for her when he awakens?

5. How is Hermia’s dream a reflection of reality?

(See yesterday’s blog for Act II Scene i)

This week will be all about Midsummer Night’s dream. We will follow a similar structure for each day. The first thing will be to read out loud the text, then have some time for your journal questions. Finally, we will bring it all together by trying to find themes. Except for Thursday, this will be the plan for the week.

So today: Act 2, scene i. Remember the intangible vs. the tangible. (Remember?)

1. How have Oberon and Titania been involved in the past with Theseus and Hippolyta, and why have they come to Athens?

2. Omitted

3. What effect has their quarrel had on nature, on the seasons, on humans?

4. Why won’t Titania give up the changeling to Oberon?

5. What does Oberon send Puck to find?

6. What are Oberon’s plans for Titania?

7. How does Helena react to Demetrius’s verbal abuse?

8. What is her response to his threats of physical abuse?

9. In what way is Helena’s behavior inappropriate for Athenian women?

Also, think about these questions/ comments for the play as a whole. You will be writing a long answer format paragraph essay on one of these questions:

Keep track of the four plots (the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta; the mixed-up love affairs of Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena; the preparation and performance of the play by the Athenian tradesmen; and the quarrel between Oberon and Titania) as they emerge in the play. Note where the plots meet and overlap.

2.  Think about Puck as the play’s interpreter and look for examples to use later in writing an essay based on those observations.

3. Make note of each time the word “dream” is used in the play and how it is used. For example, Hippolyta in her first speech says, “Four nights will quickly dream away the time,” (I, i) in reference to time passing until her wedding with Theseus. Lysander says, “…short as any dream,” (I, i) in explaining to Hermia how quickly their hopes for a life with each other
are dashed.

4. Make note of each time the word “moon” is used in the play and how it is used. For examples, Theseus mentions moon in I, i, in reference to the stages of the moon. He says the old moon lingers and is impatient for the new moon to come so he can get married. Hippolyta says the new moon will soon behold their marriage ceremony (I, i).

5. Some say the main theme of the play is the transitoriness and inconstancy of love. As you read, find examples to support this statement.

6. Note how the language of the artisans (Bottom, etc.) differs from that of the court (Theseus and Hippolyta), of the lovers (Hermia, etc.), and of the fairies (Oberon, etc.). What is achieved by this variety? Compare Theseus’s first lines Hippolyta, “Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour/Draws on apace…” (I, i) to Lysander’s first speech to Hermia, “How now, my
love! Why is your cheek so pale? (I, i). Oberon’s greeting to Titania, “Tarry, rash wanton: am not I thy lord?” (II, i) in sharp contrast to the other two examples. Be sure to note the mistakes in vocabulary the mechanicals make, whether the actors are speaking in poetry or prose, and what difference that makes.

Fri. Jan 8th

Today is the final day for those two final projects to be submitted. If you are diligent, this is an extremely doable work. The hardest thing will be getting your finished work onto your edublog.

So just as a reminder:

  1. Please finish your storyboard and hand in the link to your edublog to teams. use the instructions from Thursday Jan. 7th.
  2. Please finish your podcast. Upload the audio file to your edublog. Post the link to your edublog in teams.
    1. Title the new post: My Podcast
    2. Use the categories “ADL & ENGLISH 9” Use the tags #Purdy #Podcast #English9
    3. Type / in a blank block and choose audio. Upload your audio file.
    4. Podcast Reflection (Post underneath the audio file):
      1. What were your books? Did you enjoy them?
      2. How did you feel about working with a partner? Did you make the work equal? Was it more trouble than a benefit?
      3. What was your takeaway from the project?
    5. Save! Publish! Make Public!

Thurs. Jan 7th

Today, I will talk about how to put your work on an edublog.

Here are the manual steps:

  1. Go to http://mycentennial.sd43.bc.ca/  
  2. Login using your School ID
  3. Go to “My Sites” Dashboard
  4. Click on “New” and select “Post” or click on “Posts” and select “Add New”
  5. Use the Default Editor  
  6. Add the title My Storyboard to your post
  7. Post your saved storyboard as an image to the blog.
  8. Write the reflection. This is the format for the reflection that should come right underneath:

Tim Burton, in Edward Scissorhands, used ________________scene_________________________ in

order to ___________________acheive what purpose_______________________. For example, in my

own interpretation, I ­­­­­­­___________________changed / kept________________________________

because___________________cinematic choice________________________.

This adaptation from film to visual novel taught me ______________________________________ _______________________interpretation / viewpoint / technical elements________________ .

The rest of the time in class is getting everything in order for Friday’s due date at 11:59PM for both the podcast (Posted on your edublog as well) and the Edward Scissorhands assignment.

Wed. Jan 6th

Musical Mondays Final:

PART 1: 5 points

Choose a song that is classroom appropriate. This song can be from 3-5 minutes in length.

  1. Play the song (Either video or sound)
  2. Show the lyrics of the song. (genius.com is a great resource to screenshare for the video – Youtube usually has subtitles, etc. )

PART 2: 10 points

Create 5 questions about the song that you will answer orally on the video or live. These are the five questions that you can use, but if you have others, then use those. 

  1. What is the overall theme of the song?
  2. What are some lyrics that are meaningful to you?
  3. What is the style / genre / tone of the song?
  4. What are some fun facts or context around the song and its artist?
  5. What connections can you make from the song to your own life?

PART 3: 10 points

Write a 750 word reflective response (Formal I statements) focusing on the answers to the above questions and your process of this assignment. Turn this nd the video in to Teams after you have finished the assignment. I will also have a Teams assignments place for you to upload this file from next week.

Today:

Musical Mondays #6

I am changing the songs, as we have been talking about otherness in listening to music and this fascinates me.

Alternative rock came about in the 90’s. Some of you might have heard about it , some not. I am giving you three songs that had their moment in the sun, then passed away. These are one hit wonders – in my own time growing up. We love songs then hate them after some time has passed. These songs were some of those songs for my generation.

Why do we hate songs we once loved? What is over-saturation? Think deeper than ‘ it got boring’.

Here are the songs. The rest of the day is normal. We’ll discuss them during and after you finish the work.

  1. Harvey Danger, Flagpole Sitta: https://genius.com/Harvey-danger-flagpole-sitta-lyrics
  1. Marcy’s Playground, Sex and Candy: https://genius.com/Marcy-playground-sex-and-candy-lyrics
  1. Whetus, Teenage Dirtbag: https://genius.com/Wheatus-teenage-dirtbag-lyrics

October 24th, 2019

Mon. Jan 4th / Tue. Jan 5th

I will be gone for the first hour (Maximum). This is the time where I’d like for you to work on your Edward Scissorhands comic. When I get back, I would like to work more on the independent study. The following is based on what we talked about yesterday.

We will be doing two things this week.

  1. Edward Scissorhands storyboard with reflection. Here is the file again:

You will put your rough draft work on this website for the final. We can explore it today in class: https://www.storyboardthat.com

Here are the video instructions from youtube:

You will be finishing up this storyboard and writing your reflection for the end of this week. Please bring your device. You will be putting this directly onto your edublog as well as the independent novel study project (See below).

2. Reading your independent study book / Completing Podcast.

So now I’d like for you to look at these questions and complete them so that you have something to say for the podcast you will be doing a friend / classmate. This will be the second hour. Here is the information. I will talk about this in class as well:

These two projects should be finished by the end of this week. Our schedule will be 1st hour Edward Scissorhands project / 2nd hour Podcast for independent novel study. (Wednesday, I will explain your Musical Wednesdays final)

Then Next week: Shakespeare!

Thurs. Dec. 17th / Fri Dec. 18th

This is the final I’d like for you to take home over the break. You will be doing half of it at home (the planning stages) and then you will bring those plans back for completion in the new year.

And we will finish the movie today – exactly how we’ve been doing. Please turn in what you have by the end of class so I know you have been engaged this past 2 weeks. Participation / completion mark.

Also mid term reports came out. Questions? Email me:

rpurdy@sd43.bc.ca

Wed. Dec. 16th, Musical Wednesdays #4

R&B

So we haven’t done this before, but the genre will be the same. Here’s the thing: The generation isn’t the same. The first artist is Otis Redding:

Cigarettes & Coffee

https://genius.com/Otis-redding-cigarettes-and-coffee-lyrics

Nowadays, R&B is a little different, but still the essence of what R&B stands for is there. What are the similarities? What are the differences?

Confessions Part II

https://genius.com/Usher-confessions-part-ii-lyrics

So today, when you fill out the music sheet, I would like for you to think about, with all the music we’ve covered so far, what links can you make? I’ll ask you the questions as well during the class.

Mon. Dec 14th / Tue. Dec 15th

Today, right away, we will be jumping into Edward Scissorhands. I plan to have this done by the end of the week. This is a very tall order, but I think that we can get through it.

I will be stopping periodically so that you can complete the necessary pages for the completion booklet. We have already done this three times, so you should know all the terminology by now. We had practice with those movies on Thurs / Fri to help know what I want.

One student went above and beyond the expectations. I will show you his work in class before we begin. There are questions I would like for you to complete as well. Everything is in this folder:

I will check for completion over break for everything you’ve done. You will do a take home project for when you get back from break. For those who are diligent, I will post the final project this week.

When we get back from break, we will spend a class doing this, a week doing the book club and a week with Shakespeare. We’ll finish with Musical Wednesdays videos that you post online to your blog. Then you’re done with grade 9 English. Crazy, right?

Thurs. Dec 10th / Fri. Dec 11th

Remember the clips of movies you saw and analyzed? We will start with getting you all set up with that in small distanced groups today. Then you pick the favorite of that group (or a volunteer) and then share it with the class.

This should take a little while. After that, because of the schedule change on Thursday, we will have a little time to analyze two film clips.

  1. Meet Joe Black (2 times with and without sound)
  2. (Friday only) Apocalypse now (With sound / without sound)

Monday we will start Edward Scissorhands so I hope you can get ready for that. We might condense it to be finished by the end of the week.

Here is the package again. It has everything you need for today’s class.

Wed. Dec 9th Musical Wednesdays #3

One of my heroes – Check out the chain shirt. This is from his groundbreaking album Joy.

A Sexy Man!

Soul: What is Soul? Soul is hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic.

“music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying.”

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/how-isaac-hayes-changed-soul-music

But in reality, soul is the experience of the listener. Soul to me is love’s truth.

Note: Both these songs are covers of other songs. But with Soul, they’re the superior versions.

Isaac Hayes By the Time I get to Phoenix (Edited) / Al Green How Can you Mend a Broken Heart

https://genius.com/Isaac-hayes-by-the-time-i-get-to-phoenix-lyrics

https://genius.com/Al-green-how-can-you-mend-a-broken-heart-lyrics

Mon. Dec 7th / Tues. Dec 8th

BRING A LAPTOP FROM NOW ON!

Welcome to the film unit. This is an overview of everything we will be doing throughout the unit. It should take us to Winter break.

You have a final / ADL project combo, but I will post that next week. Today you will be filling out a survey and then getting used to film terminology that we will be using a lot for these next 2 weeks.

Film Terminology:

HOUR 1:

I will be stepping out, so please finish your final bits and pieces on the non-fiction narrative that is due today (11:59PM for Monday; 3:00PM Tuesday for Tuesday class)

When we get back, you will be filling out a film survey. It is in the film unit package.

HOUR 2:

Then we will go over shots. Here is a video we will watch:

Your exercise will be to find a clip from your favorite movie and show me some of these vocabulary words explained.

Thur. Dec 3rd / Fri. Dec 4th

This is the last day you can work on the narrative non fiction, but there is a set schedule we will follow:

HOUR 1:

You will do up to three peer reviews in the first hour. Choose someone random (or I can assign people, I haven’t decided) to read their narrative. Here is the checklist. I also have paper copies.

This peer review is paraphrased from our previous lesson. Thank you for your input. It worked well.

Fill out the peer review after reading and give it to the author. Do it two more times. You should be working the first hour on helping others. This is very important for higher grades and especially university classes. They do this model all the time in university. I often wonder why the professor is even getting paid because we’re doing all the grading…

HOUR 2:

Get that good draft done. If you don’t “feel like it”, then pretend. It’s better to get things done in class so that the weekend is full of cool new memories you can write about later.

Final is due: Monday, December 7th at 11:59PM. I will open a Teams assignment on Friday at 2PM so you can start turning in your finals then.

Here is the rubric for the final paper:

Wed. Dec 2 – Musical Wednesdays 2

How Jazz Continues into Blues and why the two are interchangeable.

What is Blues?

This is a type of blues that is synonymous with ‘Rock.’ since you know what rock music is, how are these lyrics / pieces different?

https://genius.com/The-jimi-hendrix-experience-red-house-lyrics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjDyEv1xzaE

https://genius.com/Led-zeppelin-since-ive-been-loving-you-lyrics

This is the studio version if you don’t like the live version:

Fill this out like last week:

https://mycharlesbest.sd43.bc.ca/rpurdy/files/2020/11/Music-analysis-guide-9s-Wednesday-Q2.docx

Mon. 30th Nov / Tue. 1st Dec

You have your books for the book club.

You have read two Dave Sedaris short stories and completed two sets of questions.

Let’s review the questions and make up our own definition of what a narrative non-fiction piece should be. This will be what designs the rubric for your final paper.

From your rough draft, you have generated ideas based on the free writing that you did last week. Today it’s time to commit to one of the prompts and then create different sides of the story (kind of like a funhouse mirror) starting very small. This is a summary of what we will be doing today:

1. Review the Sedaris “Go Carolina” questions

2. Discuss what the definition of a non-fiction narrative is

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSftpdU7T8JRPmXw7Xwm_Yb1FeiqnFwRU__c7oF_5QYBRHOIUQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

3. look again at this document:

4. Commit to one of these tasks

5. Write one draft (timed like Monday / Tuesday)

6. Write from another time of day / what happened right before / after / different character’s perspective

7. Include these details in the first draft.

On Thursday, you must have a rough draft completed so that there can be a peer review. I will give you a checklist on this day (based on what we talked about this Monday) so that you will be able to discuss with your partner what to do. This is better than me looking at them all.

Th. 26th Nov / Fri. 27th Nov

We will be continuing with the narrative non-fiction exercises today. So far, to recap, you have read a story, done questions and have had time to free write what is known as ‘stream of consciousness’ writing.

We will go to the library first, and you will choose your book. (I will remind you when you get to class.)

The following is an open google document that you can write your name and the book you chose. After I get all the names, I will make a PDF copy and upload it to this blog. You have a week to settle on one book.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11oO1a0LDmD2kDdqZmPcGKloW7DBJbW6HcJj08Ot2fe0/edit?usp=sharing

After the library, we will be going a little further with story and taking good ideas from writers who are better than you before you commit to one narrative story and create a rough draft next week.

FRIDAY CLASS ONLY:

Since this is a smaller class, we will be doing a journal once a week until we all meet in the morning as a full class. The journals will be based on a quote I choose. Here is the information.

The Quote today is: “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” –Margaret Mead

BACK TO REGULAR CLASS:

We will be starting off with reading a story called “Go Carolina” by Dave Sedaris. I will read the story to you and then you will complete three long answer questions the same way you completed the questions last week.

These questions will be completed by Monday 30th of November at 3PM. They are a minor letter grade worth 10 points.

Wed, 25th Nov – Music Wednesdays 1

Today is the beginning of my personal favourite unit:

Musical Mondays #1. Jazz

This will take a bit of explaining. Here are my notes regarding this continuing unit:

Here is the homework sheet that you will be using each week to explore each of the songs. I will have two for you to complete. This is the .doc you’ll be using for each lesson:

When you analyze a piece for perceptive reasons, then the basic questions asked are the ones that seem simple, but provide evidence for good discussion.

Here are the links to the lyrics & the video today:

https://genius.com/Nina-simone-just-in-time-lyrics

https://genius.com/Billie-holiday-strange-fruit-lyrics

Mon 23rd Nov. / Tuesday 24th Nov.

1. First, we will have a quick discussion of what happened in the short story “Letting Go” By Dave Sedaris.

These are the notes from the discussion of the M/Th Class:

Please turn in this assignment into teams by 3PM today.

2. (Monday class only) We will be doing six word memoirs. This won’t take too long.

3. After, we are doing, what I like to call: Speed journal entry. This is a particular timed writing exercise that helps generate ideas for your final non fiction story. You will share these to someone sitting near you. Here is the handout:

NOTE: Please do this as there is another side project connected to your writing today.

4. Finally, I will show you what books you will be reading for the book club. We are going to the library on Thursday / Friday after we meet in room 204 so that you can choose your books for the semester.

Thurs 19th Nov. / Friday 20th Nov.

Welcome to class. Here is the syllabus:

We will go through five units this quarter. They are:

  1. Narrative Non-Fiction
  2. Film as Literature (Edward Scissorhands)
  3. Book club / Podcasts
  4. Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare)
  5. Short Stories with a twist

Online work sucks. Let’s not lie about it. I have designed a writing unit for our Wednesday Online meetings based around one of my favorite things in the world: Music. Music of all kinds – because music is a form of poetry and we can really go into what words mean through genre. This will explain everything.

We’re going to start right away with Narrative Non-fiction. Here is the text you need for today (And the questions for Monday):

And here is the assignment we will be working on in different forms for the next 2 weeks:

Questions? rpurdy@sd43.bc.ca

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