Friday, June 25th

Well, don’t cry, but it’s the last day.

So we will go outside for:

Cinquain / Ode / Free verse poem

Then by 10AM we’ll come back in again for found poem / sonnet. You’ll all be wired from freezies, but it should work.

Then at the end of the class, you’ll turn in your five best. You can turn them all in if you’d like but I’m only going to read five.

Then… Enjoy your life!

Thursday, June 24th

Good morning. Ready for poetry?

First, we will work with the PDF document and I will explain all of the different kinds of poems with you by doing one of each (except for the sonnet – we will do that one tomorrow.)

Then you will have some poetry to do. Yet with poetry, you need inspiration. We will sit outside at this time. Here are some good themes to talk about:

Love

Death 

Religion/Spirituality

 Nature

 Beauty 

Aging

Desire 

Identity/Self

 Travel/Journeys 

Apocalypse 

Dreams

Celebration

 Wellness/Recovery

 New Life/Birth

Disappointment/Failure

 War

Immortality

 Coming of Age

This document will be turned in on Friday by the end of class. All of this is in class work!

Wednesday, June 23rd

Musical Wednesdays work today. It’s due this evening – no excuses. I don’t have time for them.

Presentation at the beginning: 9:15AM with Ashlynn and Rachael (and virtually poor Ana)

2nd Hour, I’m going to introduce the poetry unit.

Here’s the package you will need to take a look at. It’s a PDF, so you will have to open a word document in order to do the following poems that lie within. This will take us to the final Friday.

Tuesday, June 22nd

You will continue like yesterday. There are two major thinggs you need to do:

  1. Memorize that monologue.
  2. Musical Wednesdays.

We will get into groups, three groups. One Oberon, one Puck, and one Egeus. You will practice with your group members and then present at 10AM.

THe rest of the time and through the first hour of the day tomorrow, it’s Musical Wednesdays.

I will have your papers back to you by tomorrow at 7PM. Haven’t handed it in? DO it immediately. The schedule is very tight for my grading and I need them all in by Friday.

Anything missing? Find out tomorrow. I will print out final reports for you tomorrow.

Monday, June 21st

Final Day for the essay. 30 minutes at the beginning of class in order to make everything come together. Those of you that have completed the essay and turned it in have free time while I am working with these students.

PLAN FOR THE WEEK:

Now I’ve thought about this for the whole weekend – and here’s my counter offer for the memorization:

I believe that it’s important to memorize a part of the play, even if it’s a small part, it’s good to own that.

MONDAY:

Choose any ten lines from three specific sections I choose. (I will have printouts.) These lines will be said by one person. Memorize these lines. I will have you in three groups.

TUESDAY:

Keep memorizing those 10 lines!

On Tuesday in the second hour, you will be reciting these lines in the groups that have your same memorization lines.

I will grade for completion. (10 points, one per line memorized.)

WEDNESDAY

Only one group on this day. They will go first. The rest of the time, you will have the time to work on your videos and I will have time to help you. Do not start on this day! It’s due tonight. Have it almost done and by the end of the day so you can submit it on time. You can use this time to film and upload as well.

THURSDAY / FRIDAY

Poetry writing package. Perhaps we will go outside to write. It’s actually a good final unit – really low key but also you will learn about the Shakespearean Sonnet and Iambic Pentameter.

Then… You are done.

Friday, June 18th

A conclusion simply is an introduction reversed at this level.

You have now (if everything has been going well) completed the body paragraph connection and should be working on the mapping sentence.

A mapping sentence is the last line of the first paragraph and should include each of the topic sentences from your body paragraphs.

The first sentence of your conclusion is paraphrasing this mapping statement.

The second sentence of the conclusion is restating the thesis in your own words.

The final sentence of a conclusion paragraph is a bigger theme and how the essay relates to the human condition in some way.

Then you’re done.

Here’s the peer review when you’re ready to show a person your work:

This is against everything I believe in, but i think it’s only fair:

Your essay will be due on Monday June 21st at 1159PM.

Thursday, June 17th

So you make body paragraphs out of evidence. How do you do that?

Transition words. Here’s a handout:

Today you’ll piece everything together using transition words and appropriate fluidity of ideas.

I’ll show you an example using a student’s outline sheet that has been completed. Pay attention to this, as it is helpful for when you have to do an essay on your own in the future.

Then we work on intro and conclusion, making them fit seamlessly into your essay.

Tomorrow, you will have something to work with for the peer review.

Wednesday, June 16th

ONLINE CLASS! Go to our teams page so that you can access the live stream.

So I will start the class at 9:00AM and I will create two rooms for the groups that are working together for Musical Wednesdays. Everyone else, stay online and if you come to any roadblocks for the assignment, let me know.

Here’s the document instructions again for the MW class:

I will create another room as well. This class is also a place where I can work one on one with certain students regarding the essay.

Both assignments are extremely important to complete.

Essay is due Friday, June 18th at 11:59PM

Musical Wednesdays will be due Next Wednesday June 23rd at 11:59PM for the video and during class for the presentations.

Tuesday, June 15th

Today is a very important work block. We will be using the time for you to collect ‘data’ or evidence for that statement we were working on yesterday.

I will provide examples (lame ones) so that you have an idea of what to do by yourself. So to break down this day:

  1. finish your statement
  2. Organize your thoughts into three categories (Characters / Linear action / theme etc.)
  3. Find evidence from the book for these categories and see if everything fits that statement.
  4. show me for approval.
  5. Finish your ‘map sentence’

We will share some ideas together. On thursday, we work on introduction (which is adding one sentence) and putting the evidence into three coherent paragraphs.

Friday will be conclusion (reversal of introduction) and the peer review for final drafts.

Monday, June 14th

Today, we will finish the play. And that’s a big thing, really. You are now someone that has read a Shakespeare play. Did you understand it all? Probably not, but it’s a good introduction to his world. This will help:

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

After we finish the play, I will show you how to write an IB style paper – we’ll work our way into a five paragraph essay, day by day for three days. (Tues / Thurs / Fri) You will use this format for the rest of high school. This first essay will be heavily scaffolded, but the more you do it in the future, the better you’ll be.

Here’s the structure:

This will be overwhelming at first, I’m sure. Yet you will have this essay under your belt by the end of it. This you can use in the future, guaranteed.

Now think about this question:

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. 

Friday, June 11th

Like I told you yesterday, We are completing Act 3 today.

First, we will assign new parts to start fresh.

Second, we will read the act. I won’t talk as much from now on. I will still interrupt, but I want you to get a feel for the language more than my summary.

We will continue the movie after we’ve completed the act and finished the questions. (About 25 minutes of time at the end of class.)

Here are the questions for act 3:

Thursday, June 10th

Today, we’ll finish act 2. Then you’ll complete the questions for act two. I’m still going to help you with this act – explain things, but a little less.

I’ll repost the questions as well. Then we’ll discuss. Remember to give the act, scene and line number when you write out your answers.

If we have time, we can continue the movie. If none of you are interested in that, then we’ll start act three.

The play will be finished on Monday, 14th of June. Then we start the essay structure. I will give you a heads up on Friday for those of you that like to do things early.

Wednesday, June 9th

Last Teacher directed Musical Wednesdays:

Neo Soul (Contemporary) Where is Soul / R&B Going?

This past year, I have really gotten into Neo-Soul. But what is it? Where did it come from? People argue that it was Lauryn Hill, D’Angelo and Erykah Badu that started the movement, really. This was in the 90’s, early 2000’s.

In these next few videos, I’d like you to think about contemporary music as a whole. Think about these questions that you can share with a partner:

  1. What is a musical movement? How does it start? (You might need to do a bit of research.) Ex. Where does rap come from / How did music become popular?
  2. Based on the classes we’ve had for Musical Wednesday, can you see the evolution of R&B throughout the years? Give examples of this.
  3. Pick an R&B song that you think is classified as Neo Soul. These are the elements that make up Neo Soul:

https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-neo-soul-2851222

These two songs are contemporary or ‘next-wave’ neo soul. They are two very talented guitarists. You can also place this genre in ‘alternative R&B’ as well. There is a heavy guitar focus, because this is the exact kind of music I’m in to and I want to share it with you as a final Musical Wednesdays presentation.

https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Isaiah-Sharkey/Time

Here is Melanie Faye With ‘Super Sad, Always’.

https://genius.com/Melanie-faye-super-sad-always-lyrics

BONUS: (Isaiah Sharkey and Melanie Faye Jamming!)

This is your final Musical Wednesdays worksheet.

Turn it in by the end of the day. The final we will be looking at next week. Here is the 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):Musical-Wednesdays-Final-Assignment-2021DownloadMM-EXAMPLE-WRITTENDownload

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.

Tuesday, June 8th

We will continue the play. Act 2 scene 1 (at least) will be completed by today. Lots to explain.

You will have 30 minutes after we finish act 1 to get the act 1 questions done. We’ll talk about it a little bit after. It’s just a review. You’ll hand in all the questions when we finish act 2.

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

Monday, June 7th

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.Shakespearean-Insult-Kit-23eijv7Download

Now I will give you a lecture on Shakespeare’s language. You can download the PPT.Shakespeares-Language-15yhqn1Download

We will do Act 1 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 2 for questions and turn them all in together on Friday.

We will be working on essay structures so that you will be ready for grade 10. Typical English stuff.Act-One-and-Two-Discussion-Questions-1r2uxthDownload

Friday, June 4th

Your teams worked really well yesterday. I was very happy to see that everyone seems to be getting along well enough.

This is your final day to get everything in gear and post the podcast along with a quick informal reflection on your edublog. You will turn in a link to your edublog on teams. (Like Edward Scissorhands.)

There will be problems here, so that is why I’d like everyone to finish up at first – let’s say until 1015AM the time is yours. Here’s the plan for today:

9:00 – 10:15AM: Work with your groups and finalize anything that needs doing.

10:15 – 10:40: Type up reflection on a word document. Here are the questions that you will need to answer:

  1. What were your books? Did you enjoy / hate / not care (for) them?
  2. How did you feel about working with a group? Did you make the work equal? Was it more trouble than a benefit?
  3. What was your takeaway from the project?
  4. How was the use of technology in this project? Who did what when it came to the tech elements?

10:40 – 10:50: Post it on your edublog. Tell me the issues you’re facing with posting audio. I’m sure there will be some.

10:50 – 11:00: Yes.

Next week – you all become Shakespeare scholars.

Thursday, June 3rd

Great class yesterday. You can submit your Musical Wednesdays Assignment in the teams folder.

So today, we’re continuing with the podcast. By the end of the class today, you should have a good amount of work done. Tomorrow, you’ll have a few other things to do so try and get the bulk of the assignments done by today.

This is another major letter grade, yet here’s the thing: It’s a group grade, so make sure to pull your weight in the group so that you don’t drag down the rest of your crew.

That’s the class. You can spread out. I’ve let the administration know so you can go to the library / hallway / outside in the commons area. Let me know so I know where you are at all times.

Wednesday, June 2nd

Musical Mondays #3

So I can finally teach this class the way I designed it. After next week (Contemporary R&B/ Hip Hop) you’ll be working on your final.

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.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: 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.Music-analysis-guide-9s-Wednesday-Q2Download

Here’s something to do before you finish the work, however:

  1. Find song from your past that got ‘over saturated.’ Play it for your people / classroom buddies.
    1. Discuss these three questions and make sure to be ready to discuss the answers to me personally.
      • What made this song old and stale to you? (Besides repetition) Why is it that songs become loved, hated, then loved again?
      • What memories does this song invoke?
      • Are the lyrics even important or is it the beat? Something else entirely? (Nostalgia, aesthetic, etc.)
  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

Tuesday, June 1st

We’re in final countdown now. A few questions:

  1. Did you turn in your film package?
  2. Did you post Edward Scissorhands?
  3. Did you turn in your film review?

Today’s plan

Reading your independent study book / Completing Podcast.

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.

Podcast-RubricsDownload

Independent-Novel-Study-Podcast-infoDownload

The first document is a detailed rubric on what I want from a podcast.

This second document is a list of generic questions you will be doing by yourself. Finish this sheet. You will not be handing it in. You will, however, be sharing the answers with a partner. Please get into groups of 2-3 people.

This Podcast is a 5 -10 minute (max) edited “Book Chat” with another human being about the syntopical connections you will find. I want this to be a conversation, organic, fluid. I don’t want a recording of “What did you get for question one? Great. What about two?” BORING.

We will go over this in detail on Tuesday so everyone is on the same page. You all have a recording device already. (Phone)

FAQ:

Q:I didn’t finish my book. What do I talk about?

A: Finish the book. OR Talk about as much as you’ve read.

Q:My group doesn’t know what to talk about in our podcast.

A: Answer the questions on the handout first. Then you’ll have enough to talk about.

Q:Can we have the same / different books?

A: Yes. Both. I prefer different books as they lead to bigger conversations.

Q:Where do I post it?

A: On your edublog as an audio file. I’ll show you examples. Upload the link to your edublog on Teams. That is all you’ll need to hand in.

Monday, May 31st

So, I bet you’re wondering what the point of all that reading has been about. Well, I do want you to get into reading a little more. What teacher of English wouldn’t? But here’s the unit – It’s only an official week long (or four days minus the Musical Wednesday.)

Day 1: Uploading a review of your novel through modeling.

  1. Look for the book you’re reading on Goodreads . Read the reviews.
  2. Find a review that you want to share with a small group. It can either be a scathing negative review or a positive gush of emotional garbage. As long as you connect to it.
  3. Model that in your own review. A good review is: Hook / summary / instances of interest / what it means to you / what it could mean for others / other books that can connect to the one you’re reviewing.
  4. Write your own review.
    1. (Optional) Post it on goodreads and screenshot the post. Turn in the picture of the screenshot to Teams by Wednesday at the latest. You’ve made your mark on the world.

Day 2-4: Podcast upload Edublog for English Grade

I have two documents for this final assignment. I will show you examples as well.

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.

Podcast-RubricsDownload

Independent-Novel-Study-Podcast-infoDownload

The first document is a detailed rubric on what I want from a podcast.

This second document is a list of generic questions you will be doing by yourself. Finish this sheet. You will not be handing it in. You will, however, be sharing the answers with a partner. Please get into groups of 2-3 people.

This Podcast is a 10 minute (max) edited “Book Chat” with another human being about the syntopical connections you will find. I want this to be a conversation, organic, fluid. I don’t want a recording of “What did you get for question one? Great. What about two?” BORING.

We will go over this in detail on Tuesday so everyone is on the same page. You all have a recording device already. (Phone)

FAQ:

Q:I didn’t finish my book. What do I talk about?

A: Finish the book. OR Talk about as much as you’ve read.

Q:My group doesn’t know what to talk about in our podcast.

A: Answer the questions on the handout first. Then you’ll have enough to talk about.

Q:Can we have the same / different books?

A: Yes. Both. I prefer different books as they lead to bigger conversations.

Q:Where do I post it?

A: On your edublog as an audio file. I’ll show you examples. Upload the link to your edublog on Teams. That is all you’ll need to hand in.

Friday May 28th

A-L have an advantage over the M-Z. I would like to spend some time with M-Z to work on the final Edward Scissorhands assignment for ADL / English. This is how we will have the seating plan. A-L one side / M-Z another side.

You have this entire block to work on your final assignment and ask as many questions as you can so that there will be no secrets nor confusion as you take the assignment with you over the weekend.

Since this is for two classes, I can’t stress the importance of full class completion by Monday. This work block day can be the day to really get a good amount of work finished.

I will show the video that Ms. Sona Han has completed for you all.

Thursday May 27th – A-L ONLY

Since we’ve finished the movie, there are a few things we can get accomplished today in the hour and a half we have.

  1. Get together in your groups – you will finish any extraneous work that needs to get done. (Collecting info, finishing questions)
  2. We will look at final examples from other students who have finished the project already so you know what I’m looking for.
  3. We will look at the academic paragraph structure that you will be posting online with your storyboard – See below:

Analytical Statement with Textual Support and Reflective Commentary

Tim Burton, in Edward Scissorhands, uses _____________________________ in order

                                                                                       Cinematic element

to ____________________________________________________________________.

                                             Achieve what purpose

For example,____________________________________________________________.

                           Provide evidence from the text to support  the topic sentence.

_______________________________________________________________________.

________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________.

________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________.

                                             Reflective commentary (Explain theme)

_______________________________________________________________________.

                                                Sentence of closure/summary

4. You will commit to a scene that you will analyze.

5. Start a rough draft of the storyboard.

Seems like a lot? Not really, as you will have most of the class, as soon as I know that you all have an idea of what you’re doing, to work on your projects and start a rough draft. I will have storyboard paper printed out for you.

If you’re finished with the final package for the film unit, you will be able to turn it in today through Monday. It will be a (sorry for the oxymoron) large minor letter grade.

Tues. May 25th / Wed. May 26th

We will flip THIS FRIDAY!! Morning classes start THIS FRIDAY!

So it will be a very interesting week.

No independent reading today. We have to finish this movie, so we’ll start right away. I will show you the final project – I am updating it, but this is a general outline.

After the movie finishes and you have met with both of your groups twice, then I will introduce the final part of your project.

On Thursday (For the M-Z class), we will work on the project all day. It will be due, along with the completion package of your note taking throughout the unit 9AM Monday, May 31st.

The class on Friday will work entirely on the final project together. Since M-Z has more experience, they will work with the A-L as aides. Still, for everyone, the project and the film package will be due 9AM Monday, May 31st.

Wed. May 19th / Thurs. May 20th

Independent reading for 15 mins.

Today, right away, we will be jumping into Edward Scissorhands. I plan to have this done by the end of class Mon /Tues. 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 and meet in what I’d like to call ‘expert groups 1/2/3.’ I will assign those now. (It’s a variation of a jigsaw group you might have done in middle school.)

We have already done this observation / explanation 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.

There are questions I would like for you to complete as well that lead to what you will be completing for me as a standalone piece – connected to ‘essay writing skills’ you will get familiar with when we do our final essay in Shakespeare. Everything is in this folder (In case you lost yours):

Mon. May 17th / Tue. May 18th

20 Minutes independent study reading.

NOTE: No Musical Wednesday this week – The classes are changing. Straight in class learning.

Last name A-L: Mon / Thurs (NO CHANGE)

Last name: M-Z: Tues / Wed (BIG CHANGE)

We will look at your clips first. I’ll give you a few minutes to get ready for that. 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. There might be some moving around.

This should take a little while. After that, because of the schedule change on Wednesday / Thursday, we will have a little more time to analyze two film clips. Please open your film unit packages. I will show you where to go.

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

Wed. / Thurs. we will start Edward Scissorhands so I hope you can get ready for that. You will have what I call ‘expert groups’ for each film device.

Thurs. May 13th / Fri. May 14th

SERIOUSLY>>>BRING A LAPTOP FROM NOW ON!

Welcome to the film unit. This is an overview of everything we will be doing throughout the unit. Download and save this package. You will be referring back to it every day you’re in class.

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:

Film Chat – Survey for film / TV Shows

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. You have the rest of class to do this.

Musical Wednesdays #2 May 12th

One of my heroes: Isaac Hayes – Check out the chain shirt. This is from his groundbreaking album Joy. (Or maybe it was Hot Buttered Soul. He loved that chain shirt.) 1970’s goodness.

A Sexy Man!

Soul: What is Soul? Soul is hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic. (Look that up).

Here is Isaac Hayes singing Walk on By from his album Hot Buttered Soul. (Originally written by Dianne Warwick)

https://genius.com/Isaac-hayes-walk-on-by-lyrics

Soul is:

“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 what is hidden inside all of us, and music personifies this abstract.

You’d think that soul, like Isaac Hayes sweet sexy silky voice is a lot of feeling. Yet it can be also like a ballad. Ray Charles was a soul master as well with his piano. I recommend checking out the movie Ray with Jamie Foxx as well. Here he is singing Georgia on my Mind. A Jazz standard made into Soul. A lot of you might have heard renditions of this song. (Originally written by Hoagy Carmichael)

https://genius.com/Ray-charles-georgia-on-my-mind-lyrics

Choose a song, fill out this worksheet and turn it in:

Mon. May 10th / Tues. May 11th

Today, you should have a rough draft of your non-fiction narrative finished. It is due tonight at midnight, so in essence, this is a work block, but also a time for you to get feedback from your peers.

A major letter grade paper is one that you have rehearsed beforehand. Since this is your first real polished work for me, treat it as a first impression. I’ve gotten a glimpse at who turns stuff in, who needs to be looked at closer etc.

Now I need to know who wants to do well and improve in class, and who just wants to get their passing mark and move on. Either or is fine. We all have different goals in high school and now is a good time to shape yourself as a person and ask – how much do I want this?

I’ll help you in any case.

Here is a peer review. Find one or two friends and get them to look at your paper. You can also ask me. I can probably get through about four or five realistically in the time we have today, so ask earlier on.

Thurs. May 6th / Fri. May 7th

20 minutes reading.

Today is a kind of “Round table” Write. By the end of the day, there should be a general consensus that you have a topic and you are about 500 words in. Here are the rules for what’s going to happen:

Non-Fiction Writing Speed dating: 45 minutes (Approx.)

  1. I have pieces of paper. On them are prompts – ‘writing prompts’ they’re called. They’re all different. You’ll never have the same one twice.
  2. Write for exactly 5 minutes. I’ll be timing.
  3. Change your prompt with the person sitting next to you.
  4. Either continue the same story with this new idea or change it completely.
  5. do this five times.
  6. Choose your favorite one.
  7. Share with a partner
  8. Share the experience with the class.
  9. Commit to one idea.
  10. The rest of the class is one on one to write and discuss with me.

Since this class is heavy intensive writing, I urge you to keep on task otherwise it doesn’t work. You can do this longhand or on the computer. To save yourself from cramps in your hand, I suggest typing it out.

10 minutes before the end of class, I will have talked to all of you regarding your ideas. You have to commit, so I know that over the weekend, you know exactly what it is you’re writing about.

The final writing is due at the end of the day on Monday next week (May 10th) What am I looking for? Check below:

Here is the rubric:

Musical Wednesdays – May 5th (#1)

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

What is Blues? You tell me.

Check out this video:

BB King How Blue Can You Get?

https://genius.com/Bb-king-how-blue-can-you-get-lyrics

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

Hendrix Red House Live

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

Then some iconic British boys took the blues concept as well. This is Led Zeppelin with ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’.

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

Fill this out and turn it into teams by next week:

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

Mon May 3rd / Tue, May 4th

20 minutes for reading, as promised. Make sure to always bring your books with you so you don’t just do nothing. I have extras, but only for another week.

This is the second story in Narrative Non fiction. 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 earlier this week.go_carolina_-_david_sedarisDownload

These questions will be completed by Friday, 7th of May at 2PM. They are a minor letter grade worth 10 points. Go-Carolina-QV2Download

Finally, we will finish the day with another free write. This is another extension / exercise that might be quite challenging for you. You will not have to share this one. It’s for me only. The second part of the week is a workshop for your final idea.

IDEA: Describe a time that was tragic / sad / depressing while it was happening, but looking back, you can see the humor in the story. This story is to be done as a reflection from the you now making fun of the you then.

Thurs, April 29th / Fri, April 30th

Lots to do today. Here’s the list of what we need to do:

  1. Pick your books – Here are the choices – We’ll go to the library in 15 mins – then you pick your book / when we get back, you read it for 15 minutes:
    1. Killing Mr. Griffin
    2. Marrow Thieves
    3. Indian Horse
    4. Whirligig
    5. Long Way Down
    6. 5 People you Meet in Heaven
    7. Blue Gold
    8. Feed
    9. ADVANCED: Black Swan Green

NOTE: See info below for a quick summary of what the independent book unit is all about:

  1. 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:Narrative-Storytelling-task-2eww7jw-1Download
    1. Free write on one topic I choose for the class.
    2. Share your idea with someone close to you (physically).
    3. Share that person’s story with the class.
    4. Talk about the difference between oral formulaic and written story.
  2. Musical Wednesdays Recap – What did you learn – What did you take away? This first assignment will NOT be turned in. Just discussion.
  3. This is the second story in Narrative Non fiction. (This might go to next week) 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 earlier this week.go_carolina_-_david_sedarisDownload
    1. These questions will be completed by Monday 3rd May at 2PM. They are a minor letter grade worth 10 points. Go-Carolina-QV2Download

Wed, April 28th – 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:Musical-Mondays-IntroductionDownload

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:Music-analysis-guide-9s-Wednesday-Q2Download

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://youtube.com/watch?v=CgXUeRbel3c%3Ffeature%3Doembed
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Web007rzSOI%3Ffeature%3Doembed

Mon 26th April / Tuesday 27th April

Welcome to class. Here is the syllabus:2017-Grade-9-Syllabus-19p2qpwDownload

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.Musical-Mondays-IntroductionDownload

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

And here is the assignment we will be working on in different forms for the next 2 weeks:Narrative-Storytelling-task-2eww7jwDownload

Questions? rpurdy@sd43.bc.ca