December 7 - 11
Monday - We created found poems for a favourite scene in the novel. Students did a great job cutting out unnecessary words and keeping only those strong verbs, adjectives and adverbs that create imagery.
Remember to bring a non-perishable food item tomorrow to donate to the Whitehorse Food Bank and in doing so, we get to eat German Christmas cookies, drink hot apple cider, listen to the band students play Christmas carols and get a picture with Santa. Thank you Ms Schmidt!
Tuesday - Symbolism and Theme in the novel activity
11:00 - Music room for cookies, cider and Santa.
Wednesday - Interactive vocal activity
Class discussion regarding some of the themes in the novel
Thursday - Begin preparations for writing a five-paragraph essay
Friday - Five-paragraoh essay
Remember to bring a non-perishable food item tomorrow to donate to the Whitehorse Food Bank and in doing so, we get to eat German Christmas cookies, drink hot apple cider, listen to the band students play Christmas carols and get a picture with Santa. Thank you Ms Schmidt!
Tuesday - Symbolism and Theme in the novel activity
11:00 - Music room for cookies, cider and Santa.
Wednesday - Interactive vocal activity
Class discussion regarding some of the themes in the novel
Thursday - Begin preparations for writing a five-paragraph essay
Friday - Five-paragraoh essay
November 30 - December 4
Monday - We went over the answers to the test that was written on Friday and began watching the movie The Giver. As students view the movie they were to complete a chart comparing and contrasting the novel to the movie.
Tuesday - Tableau activity
Working in pairs or groups of three, students were given a specific scene in the novel to portray in a tableau (living picture). Students did a great job with this activity. They stayed focused on the task, created effective props, participated fully and were a fantastic audience. Excellent work!
Wednesday - Finished The Giver video
Completed compare and contrast chart
Movie critic - Wrote a paragraph rating the movie and explaining why or why not it lived up to the novel.
Thursday - Symbolism and Theme activity
Friday - Many students were away on a French class field trip, so the rest of us worked ahead on creating a found poem.
Tuesday - Tableau activity
Working in pairs or groups of three, students were given a specific scene in the novel to portray in a tableau (living picture). Students did a great job with this activity. They stayed focused on the task, created effective props, participated fully and were a fantastic audience. Excellent work!
Wednesday - Finished The Giver video
Completed compare and contrast chart
Movie critic - Wrote a paragraph rating the movie and explaining why or why not it lived up to the novel.
Thursday - Symbolism and Theme activity
Friday - Many students were away on a French class field trip, so the rest of us worked ahead on creating a found poem.
November 23 -27
Monday - Vocabulary Activity
Students chose twenty unfamiliar and interesting words from a list of words used in the novel. I tallied up the lists and created a vocabulary activity using the twenty most popular words.
Read chapters 17-18
Tuesday - Each student was given one vocal word to study and they completed a graphic organizer demonstrating their understanding of the word - definition, synonym, antonym, illustration, sentence
Read chapters 19-part of 20
Add to character profiles
Wednesday - Vocabulary Activity called "speed-dating"
Students demonstrate their understanding of their vocab word and their communication skills by sharing the info on their graphic organizers in a "speed-dating" format. Each student creates a note as they complete the activity.
Read chapters 20-21
Thursday - Read chapters 22-23
Completed a comparison chart - our society compared to the community depicted in the novel
Friday - Comprehension test on The Giver
Students drew/created an image of an important scene in the novel to be used in one of next week's activities.
Students chose twenty unfamiliar and interesting words from a list of words used in the novel. I tallied up the lists and created a vocabulary activity using the twenty most popular words.
Read chapters 17-18
Tuesday - Each student was given one vocal word to study and they completed a graphic organizer demonstrating their understanding of the word - definition, synonym, antonym, illustration, sentence
Read chapters 19-part of 20
Add to character profiles
Wednesday - Vocabulary Activity called "speed-dating"
Students demonstrate their understanding of their vocab word and their communication skills by sharing the info on their graphic organizers in a "speed-dating" format. Each student creates a note as they complete the activity.
Read chapters 20-21
Thursday - Read chapters 22-23
Completed a comparison chart - our society compared to the community depicted in the novel
Friday - Comprehension test on The Giver
Students drew/created an image of an important scene in the novel to be used in one of next week's activities.
November 16 -20
This week we will continue to read the novel The Giver in class. Most students are listening to an audio recording of the novel while they follow along in the book. Students are practising their recall, summarizing and note-taking abilities by participating in class discussions and by completing chapter summaries. They are also required to record details about the main characters of the story.
Monday - Read chapters 3-5 of The Giver and created chapter summaries.
Tuesday - Read chapters 6-8 of The Giver and created chapter summaries.
Wednesday - Students wrote a quiz on chapters 1-5 and then read chapters 9-10.
Thursday - Read chapters 11-13 and completed chapter summaries.
Friday - Read chapters 14-16 and completed chapter summaries.
Monday - Read chapters 3-5 of The Giver and created chapter summaries.
Tuesday - Read chapters 6-8 of The Giver and created chapter summaries.
Wednesday - Students wrote a quiz on chapters 1-5 and then read chapters 9-10.
Thursday - Read chapters 11-13 and completed chapter summaries.
Friday - Read chapters 14-16 and completed chapter summaries.
November 9 - 13
Students will complete the first draft of their descriptive paragraph. We will review and do some practice work on metaphors.
Remembrance Day ceremony during Tuesday's class.
On Thursday we will begin our novel study.
Remembrance Day ceremony during Tuesday's class.
On Thursday we will begin our novel study.
November 2 - 6
October 27 -30
On Tuesday I was away, but students completed their notes on literary devices - we added symbolism, personification and metaphor. Students worked on identifying and correcting sentence fragments and run-ons.
We reviewed and practised how to find the meaning of a word in a sentence using context clues.
We read The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. Students identified unfamiliar words as they listened to the story being read aloud. Working in small groups or pairs, they chose five words from their list to define using context clues. We also identified foreshadowing and irony in the story.
We viewed an animated version of the short story to assist in understanding the plot line.
We discussed point of view in the story and analyzed the narrator of the story - found evidence in the text (what did he say or do?) and linked that to his motivation and his persona.
Types of Sentences - declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory.
Happy Hallowe'en!
We reviewed and practised how to find the meaning of a word in a sentence using context clues.
We read The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. Students identified unfamiliar words as they listened to the story being read aloud. Working in small groups or pairs, they chose five words from their list to define using context clues. We also identified foreshadowing and irony in the story.
We viewed an animated version of the short story to assist in understanding the plot line.
We discussed point of view in the story and analyzed the narrator of the story - found evidence in the text (what did he say or do?) and linked that to his motivation and his persona.
Types of Sentences - declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory.
Happy Hallowe'en!
October 19 - 23
Monday - finish literary devices posters
Tuesday - prepare and practise for presentation; create cue cards and practise in front of a teacher or peer
Three groups presented today - good job presenters!
Wednesday - presentations
Create notes using a graphic organizer - students worked in groups of four and used info on student posters to complete notes on literary devices
Thursday - Earthquake Drill
Self-evaluation of literary devices poster and presentation
Grammar Day! Fragments and Clauses - independent and dependent clauses
Homework: Finish worksheet - turn dependent clauses into independent clauses/complete sentences
Friday - last of the presentations, prep for grammar game
Tuesday - prepare and practise for presentation; create cue cards and practise in front of a teacher or peer
Three groups presented today - good job presenters!
Wednesday - presentations
Create notes using a graphic organizer - students worked in groups of four and used info on student posters to complete notes on literary devices
Thursday - Earthquake Drill
Self-evaluation of literary devices poster and presentation
Grammar Day! Fragments and Clauses - independent and dependent clauses
Homework: Finish worksheet - turn dependent clauses into independent clauses/complete sentences
Friday - last of the presentations, prep for grammar game
October 13 -15
Literary Devices - What are they? What is their purpose?
Literary Devices Poster - Working in small groups, with a partner or individually, students will create a poster with definitions, examples and illustrations of the literary devices they are required to understand and use in grade 8.
What makes an effective poster? We will view a number of exemplars and create criteria by which students' posters will be assessed.
Literary Devices Poster - Working in small groups, with a partner or individually, students will create a poster with definitions, examples and illustrations of the literary devices they are required to understand and use in grade 8.
What makes an effective poster? We will view a number of exemplars and create criteria by which students' posters will be assessed.
October 5 -9
D.A.R.T. - Students wrote this standardized formative assessment test in order to inform teachers of their strengths and areas needing improvement with regard to reading.
Show, Don't Tell - Using details, description and dialogue to strengthen student writing
Effective Titles - in-class activity and a note was given
Avoiding Comma Splices and Using Semi-colons
Revision work on two pieces of student writing - "First Impressions of High School" and "I Am..." paragraphs. Remember to complete and submit the editing checklist!
Show, Don't Tell - Using details, description and dialogue to strengthen student writing
Effective Titles - in-class activity and a note was given
Avoiding Comma Splices and Using Semi-colons
Revision work on two pieces of student writing - "First Impressions of High School" and "I Am..." paragraphs. Remember to complete and submit the editing checklist!
September 28 - October 2
Parts of a Sentence - Identifying Subject and Predicate
Transition Words - Using transition words to connect ideas and improve flow in a piece of writing
Show, Don't Tell - Using details, description and dialogue to strengthen student writing
Root Words, Prefixes and Suffixes - Deciphering meaning through root words
Transition Words - Using transition words to connect ideas and improve flow in a piece of writing
Show, Don't Tell - Using details, description and dialogue to strengthen student writing
Root Words, Prefixes and Suffixes - Deciphering meaning through root words
September 21 - 25
Revise paragraphs using teacher comments for guidance.
PD Day Tuesday
Inferencing - What is it? How do I show support/evidence from the text? As a class, we studied some exemplars and practised finding evidence from the text that supports our inference.
Bungee Jumping - Reading Test - Students wrote a test with a similar format to the practise test last week.
Formative assessment - I was looking to see that students used the strategies I demonstrated and we practised last week. Some students had difficulties with inferencing so I will do a mini-lesson tomorrow and give more time for that section of the test.
Terry Fox Run - Students walked or ran the 5km loop around Porter Creek and reflected upon how cancer has affected their lives.
PD Day Tuesday
Inferencing - What is it? How do I show support/evidence from the text? As a class, we studied some exemplars and practised finding evidence from the text that supports our inference.
Bungee Jumping - Reading Test - Students wrote a test with a similar format to the practise test last week.
Formative assessment - I was looking to see that students used the strategies I demonstrated and we practised last week. Some students had difficulties with inferencing so I will do a mini-lesson tomorrow and give more time for that section of the test.
Terry Fox Run - Students walked or ran the 5km loop around Porter Creek and reflected upon how cancer has affected their lives.
September 14 - 18
Dracula (adapted into a short play) - Students each had a role as we read the play aloud. We practised reading strategies with regard to building vocabulary, foreshadowing and determining mood through detail, description and dialogue.
I Am...Paragraph - We discussed the meaning of the word "Community" and determined which communities we belonged to. Students completed a graphic organizer to help them organize their ideas and then began writing a paragraph about themselves.
Everest - Practise Reading Test - We completed this together as a class. I modelled pre-reading, during reading and post-reading strategies and students worked together to answer the reading comprehension, inferencing and vocabulary questions. Some students had difficulties with inferencing so I will do a mini-lesson next week before the "real" Reading Test.
The Art of Storytelling - Ivan Coyote Presentation - a Canadian and former Whitehorse resident who is the author of many books shared a couple stories with some English classes
I Am...Paragraph - We discussed the meaning of the word "Community" and determined which communities we belonged to. Students completed a graphic organizer to help them organize their ideas and then began writing a paragraph about themselves.
Everest - Practise Reading Test - We completed this together as a class. I modelled pre-reading, during reading and post-reading strategies and students worked together to answer the reading comprehension, inferencing and vocabulary questions. Some students had difficulties with inferencing so I will do a mini-lesson next week before the "real" Reading Test.
The Art of Storytelling - Ivan Coyote Presentation - a Canadian and former Whitehorse resident who is the author of many books shared a couple stories with some English classes
September 8 -11
First Impressions of High School Paragraph - Students reflected on their first week. I modelled how to engage in the writing process: we brainstormed for ideas, created a web or list on the board and students created their own, read some exemplars, and then students began writing a first draft.
Parts of Speech - nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections
We reviewed parts of speech and played a creative game where students construct and deconstruct sentences and different parts of speech.
Free Zone Activity - we discussed the kinds of behaviour and types of things that are helpful and nurture/foster learning in a classroom and those that do not. We used a bowl of soup as a metaphor for those things that nurture/nourish learning and co-created the rules for the classroom.
Prepostion Scramble - group challenge
Parts of Speech - nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections
We reviewed parts of speech and played a creative game where students construct and deconstruct sentences and different parts of speech.
Free Zone Activity - we discussed the kinds of behaviour and types of things that are helpful and nurture/foster learning in a classroom and those that do not. We used a bowl of soup as a metaphor for those things that nurture/nourish learning and co-created the rules for the classroom.
Prepostion Scramble - group challenge
September 1 - 4
Welcome to High School and Welcome to Grade 8 English!
Course Outline
Student Survey
Introduction to Library and Ms Estabrook, our teacher-librarian
Silent Reading - Grade 8 Prescribed Learning Outcome B4 - Independently select and read, for sustained periods of time, texts for enjoyment and to increase fluency
Homophones practise and review - challenge activity
Perspective-Taking: Six Thinking Hats - in-class activity
Course Outline
Student Survey
Introduction to Library and Ms Estabrook, our teacher-librarian
Silent Reading - Grade 8 Prescribed Learning Outcome B4 - Independently select and read, for sustained periods of time, texts for enjoyment and to increase fluency
Homophones practise and review - challenge activity
Perspective-Taking: Six Thinking Hats - in-class activity