Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Class Minutes for Monday November 29th 2010

1. Prayer
2. Chapter 3: 3 Minutes 3 Columns

We predicted the meaning of three difficult words found in chapter three based on other words that make sense int he context and word families. We then looked up the actual definitions.

3. Setting in "The Painted Door" paragraphs

Ms Meakes discussed the importance of connecting of ideas in our body paragraphs to the theme and using relevant quotes. We got back our setting paragraphs and updated our writing logs.

4. Lord of the Flies Setting

Good and evil are both present
-Man brings evil
-Humans are inherently evil
-Lack of authority results in disorder
-Golding thinks that both good and evil are present in humans and the circumstances bring out one or the other
-Juxtaposition is putting two things side by side to highlight the contrast of them or in order to draw a comparison.

We wrote a paragraph answering the question: How does Golding use setting to communicate a larger idea?

Thanks Lorenzo

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Class Minutes for Wednesday November 24th

1.Prayer

2. Chapter 2: 3 Minutes 3 Columns 
-We were given sentences with bold words. We tried to predict what they mean, then we find the actual definition. Ms Meakes gave us two hints - a: think of other words that sound the same; b: try to think of other words that would make sense in the spot in the sentence. 

3. Review Two Text Framing Notes
-We filled in the blanks.

4. Leads
-We learned how to write strong introductions.
-We found examples from magazine articles to practice.

5.Personal Composition Independent Corrections
-We got back our personal composition and filled out our writing log. 

Homework: 
-Read Chapter 3 in Lord of the Flies.
-Finish the Island Sketch that was assigned on Monday.

Thanks Adelia

Monday, November 22, 2010

Class Minutes for Monday November 22nd

1) Prayer
2) 3 Minutes 3 Columns: we were each given a worksheet, with 3 columns; we were to predict the meaning of the bolded word in each sentence, then find the actual meaning. This activity helps you to practice using context clues to determine the meaning of new words.
3) Chapter 1 Questions: discuss the questions we had to write for homework on chapter 1. Asking questions while you are reading helps to cement the information. It will also help to guide your future reading.
4) The Island-Setting: we were given 20 minutes to work on a sketch (title: This Belongs to Us) of the island as the boys see it, from the top of the mountain. The sheet given had notes and criteria. This is to be completed for next class.
5) T-Chart: as a class we made a t-chart of Golding (author of Lord of the Flies) and Rousseau (philosopher) each man had a different view of the human race. Golding believed that without rules, and systems like schools, the human race would be savage and wild. Rousseau on the other hand believed that every person was good, and searched for good.
6) Homework: read Chapter 2 “Fire on the Mountain”, finish The Island sketch, and do the worksheet Chapter 1&2 Text Framing Notes. All due Wednesday. * Note: EXTENSION ON THE ISLAND SKETCH. PLEASE FINISH FOR MONDAY

Thanks Mineesha! 

Friday, November 19, 2010

Class Minutes for Thursday November 18th

1. Prayer

2. Re-visit survival question from last class and add/revise answer.

The students commented that they revised their answers to reflect our need to work together. Other new survival qualities included focus, empathy, a sense of purpose, and emotional strength. A common idea drawn from the readings was that community or "sticking together" was important to succeed.

3. Context of Lord of the Flies
LOTF was written by William Golding after the second world war. Before the war, Golding was a school teacher. Being a part of WWII caused Golding to revise his ideas on humanity. LOTF centers around Golding's idea that all humans have evil in them and in the absence of authority and law, we descend into chaos and savagery. Furthermore, LOTF takes it's basic idea from an earlier novel entitled Coral Island. In Coral Island  a group of boys is stranded on a tropical island and they prosper. They are great friends, they fight pirates, and they convert the aboriginal people to Christianity. Golding argues that LOTF is a more-realistic portrayal of what would result from a group of boys being stranded on an uninhabited island.

4. Reading Chapter One
  • Page 1 and 2 : "fair" is used 9 times. "Fair" literally means that Ralph has light coloured hair. However, the sense of "justice" is also being linked to Ralph.
  • Ralph as "Adam": the scene is set in a natural paradise, Ralph surveys all that he can see, there is a mention of fruit, but interestingly, Ralph brings his "snake clasp belt" with him, instead of meeting the snake in the garden. 
  • Ralph starts out in a typical English school-boy's uniform. This uniform is a symbol of civility and order. Minutes later, he has stripped off all his clothes and is enjoying the freedom of the island. Ralph's stripping of his clothes represents a stripping away of civility and order. 
  • Several times Ralph is mentioned in connection with light: golden, glimmering, sunlight, fair
  • Good/Bad words: We charted the words with positive and negative connotations.
    • Good: enchantment, incredible, glittering, dazzling, golden, effloresence, God, brilliance
    • Bad: apprehension, coarse, uncompromising, thrust, shrieked, pain, devil, reluctantly, scar, witch-like cry
5. Homework: finish reading chapter 1 and write 10-15 questions that you have about the chapter.  Block 1-2 must also hand in both c/c thesis statements on Monday.

6. Electronic editions: The electronic copies of LOTF can be found as a pdf and as an application.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Class Minutes for Tuesday November 16th

1. Prayer

2. Who Survives?
We answered a three part question: In a disaster situation, who lives, who dies, and why?

3. Survival Simulation
Based on a Northern Canadian winter plane crash scenario, we had to rank items as most to least useful individually and as a group before comparing our work to the answers provided by a survival specialist. It turned out that the best plan was not to go for help, but to remain as a group near the crash site and wait to be rescued.  Many people felt more prepared after discussing their options with a group, while a few felt like they were best on their own.

4. Word Families
We looked at the origins of the word survivor, which comes from two Latin words meaning over and live. We then discussed the meaning of other words with the same root.

5. Other Texts
There were four texts which all centered around the idea of survival.
  • Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales: we used a word cloud to predict what this text would be about. Then we read key points revealing, among other things, that empathy, purpose, calm, and focus will help a person to survive. 
  • "Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions" by John Donne: this is the classic text in which the "no man is an island" metaphor comes from. It also contains the metaphor of being chapters of a common book. 
  • "All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten" by Robert Fulgham: "hold hands and stick together"
  • "No Man is an Island" by Craig and Marc Kielburger
6. Homework: choose two of the texts and write a compare and contrast thesis statement on the topic of survival. 

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Published Classmates!

Congratulations to Cole and Jordyn for being selected for publication in Re:Verse, an online magazine (ezine) for young poets! You can check out their work here.

Class Minutes for Wed Nov 10th

1) Prayer

2) Class Discussion
We discussed the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" that was read for homework.

3) Mystery Envelopes
We split into eight groups and each group was given a question about "The Yellow Wallpaper". We switched so everybody was given a chance to answer each question. The answer key is posted in Moodle.

4) Compare/Contrast Thesis Statements
We compared and contrasted Oreos and Ritz crackers as a class and wrote a thesis based on the info collected. For homework we wrote two thesis statements on the short stories read in class, with loyalty and isolation as prompts. A compare/contrast thesis has three parts: one "difference statement/preview statement" about each topic, and a sentence starting with "however, both . . . " that shows a thematic link between the two items being compared.

Thanks Cara!

Class Minutes for Monday Nov 8th

1. First we finished off our "Painted Door" paragraphs about how setting related to theme.
2. Marked paragraphs using S.T.A.R. method
3. did an exercise where we had to place what we thought was the proper punctuation in the following sentence "woman without her man is nothing"  which demonstrated the importance of punctuation and of point of view/bias.
4. Yellow Wallpaper Jigsaw excercise
to introduce the concept of women's rights and liberation, post-partum depression, and the context of "The Yellow Wallpaper". 

Thanks Jal

Essay Competitions

There are two essay competitions that are available at the moment. Both have mid-December due dates. If you would like to enter these contents, you may submit a copy of your essay to Ms Meakes. She will mark your essay and if it is better than one of your in-class essays, it will replace that mark.

Contest 1: The Patrick Webb Essay Competition

Contest 2:  The Vancouver Foundation of Art, Justice, and Liberty






Friday, November 5, 2010

Class Minutes for Thursday November 4th

1. Prayer

2. Setting in "The Painted Door"
As a class, we did a short brainstorm about what we could write regarding the setting of the story. Ms Meakes explained that in order to get a "6" on the paragraph, we would need to have a thematic base for our argument. Sinclair Ross uses the setting to reveal theme, therefore the paragraph should explain how it does this.

3. Writing the Paragraph
Class time to begin paragraph response.

4. Mark Update
Ms Meakes gave printouts of updated marks. This will still change before the report card due to the addition of the PC and the literary device quiz.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Class Minutes for Tuesday November 2nd

1. Prayer

2. Literary Device Quiz 2.0
We reviewed answers to the previous literary device quiz. After we reviewed, we wrote a second literary device quiz on the same concepts.

3. Return Tattoo
After handing back our tattoos, Ms Meakes explained the marking scheme and asked us to return the tattoos so she could post them in the classroom.

4. Setting in "The Painted Door"
We did a free-write (continuously writing for 2min and 30 seconds) on the question " What is the significance of the author's choice of setting in "The Painted Door"? Consider both the location and the climate."

5. Taking Class Minutes
Ms Meakes explained that students will now be responsible for taking minutes during class. She suggested using the class plan on the whiteboard as sub-headings for the notes. Starting next class, one student will be assigned to take notes each day.