English F.P. Exp. 10

"Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator" TED Talk by Tim Urban (13:54) www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator?subtitle=en 

We all procrastinate at some point or another but using class time will help you stay organized in the course. Although, last minute panic can be a great motivator to get things done; just try not to make it a habit. 

• Take notes of introductory terms. 

• Watch TED Talk "The Power of Honest Introductions" by Sarain Fox, Canadian Anishinaabe activist, broadcaster and filmmaker (19:55) on TED, www.ted.com/talks/sarain_fox_the_power_of_honest_introductions?subtitle=en (Warning: She discusses some heavier topics including her father's death.) 

TED Talk Tabletop Discussion: 

• • Take notes on things that catch your attention (memorable moments) in this talk.

  • What do you think the speaker wanted you to learn from watching the talk?

  • What did you already know about the topic before watching the talk?

  • If you could ask the presenter one question, what would it be and why?

• Watch and read "My Honest Poem" by spoken word poet Rudy Francisco (2:38) on YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDa4WTZ_58M  

• Task: after watching both of the video on honest ways to introduce yourself and the power each can have, create your own "Honest Poem" using the template below to guide you. 

• On Monday, members of the debate club kindly presented an interactive debate activity with the class. If interested in joining, see Ms/ Bellwood or Ms. Hanson! 

• Reading: This week, the class read through a few chapters from Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and adapted into a youth novel by Monique Gray Smith. See me if missing the reading package! Groups responded by finding different First Peoples' Principles of Learning in the stories (handout included below).  

• Journal 1: For your first journal entry, please read over the handout and rubric. Try to keep all journal entries in a notebook or stapled together. 

Questions (taken from the reading booklet): 

1. After reading "An Invitation to Remember," what is your first memory of being connected to all living beings? 

2. What is something that you or your family currently buy that after reading "The Gift of Strawberries," you now understand to be a gift? How will this new information impact your shopping habits ?

3. After reading "An Offering," what homemade ceremony or honouring could you create in your family, school, or workplace that cultivates a sense of respect and gratitude for the land and water where you live? 

• Book Chats: In groups of 2-3, interview a classmate on their novel and record their answers. 

Questions: 

1. Describe the protagonist. Do you like or dislike the character so far?

2. Summarize some main points of the plot and conflict.

3. What is your favourite part of the novel so far?

4. What do you predict will happen and why?

5. What is  one thing you would add or change about the book and why?

• On Monday, groups went to the library and explored different books connected to Orange Shirt Day and Truth and Reconciliation and responded to questions. 

• Students listened to an interview with a residential school survivor from the website, Legacy of Hope. Some interviews are quite long so try to select on that is under 30 minutes. The transcript is available if you choose to read instead of listen. The handout with response questions are included below. Link: https://legacyofhope.ca/wherearethechildren/stories/ 

• Universal Themes of Truth and Reconciliation: After listening to the interview, we looked at a section from The Secret Path by Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire that tells the story of Chanie Wenjack who attended residential school but did not make it home. Together, with the Chanie's family, they retold the story through song and poetry. Create a small narrative poetry booklet that tells the story of a survivor through poetry while omitting names and specifics. The handout is included below.  

Week 5: 

• The class had time in the library to complete the poetry books and started a short story unit that will explore different representations of an archetypal hero. 

• Watch: "The Hero's Journey according to Joseph Campbell - video by Matthew Winkler and Kirill Yeretsky" YouTube (3:10) www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Zxt28ff-E  and fill out the Hero's Journey handout using a few different characters for 2-3 boxes.

• On Friday, people paired up to chat with a new peer about their novel and responded to the questions below. 

Week 6: 

• Read "Harrison Bergeron" and respond to the discussion questions (in class completed as group).

• Read "The Leap" and respond to questions independently. 

• Friday, the class will brainstorm and draft a short story about a hero from their own  lives. 

• This week the class began brainstorming and drafting their own "hero" story. Stories should be at least 2 pages double spaced (minimum) or 3 pages double-spaced (maximum) but I'll be looking more at how you developed the story and are hitting criteria included in the rubric. Attached is a list of figurative devices you can use in your writing.  

• On Friday, the class started working on turning their independent novel study into a game. We will have more time next week to complete but make sure the written portion is completed to connect and explain the concepts in your novel to your game. 

Week 8: 

•  This week, the class completed a portion of the online sample of the Grade 10 Literacy Assessment and completed an editing checklist for your "hero" story and the good copy. When handing in your story, please include the brainstorming/criteria page, rough copy, editing checklist, and good copy. 

• The class had time to work on creating games for individual novel studies. 

Week 9: 

• On Monday, the class wrote the Grade 10 Literacy Assessment. If you were absent, check with your counsellor to find a time to complete in the future. 

• Final touches were given to novel study games and students were able to test out each others games and give each a rating on clarity, degree of difficulty, and literary connections. 

• For Halloween, in teams, we read some gothic inspired poems and practiced identifying figurative devices for some practice and sweet treats. 

Week 10: 

•  This week we brainstormed and compared heroes and legends and debated if they belong in the same category or different ones. 

• We mixed up independent reading with free write (writing for 15 minutes with whatever enters your head on the topic without worrying about spelling, sentences, or order of events). Topic 1: "Write a story that includes an anti-hero or a tragic hero." 

• The class read “Running Eagle – Woman Warrior of the Blackfeet” and “Grandfather Bear” and completed plot outlines for each. 

• We reviewed parts of a formal paragraph and students picked one of the two stories listed above, brainstormed their own paragraph topic and completed a paragraph outline. 

Week 11: 

• The class worked on completing a rough copy and we reviewed ways to integrate quotes (handout included below). 

• Students completed a editing checklist and completed a good copy of their paragraphs. Staple and hand in the outline, rough copy, edit-checklist and good copy. 

• The class read "Superdisappointed." 

Week 12: 

•  The class had time to complete the snapshot for "Superdisappointed".

• We discussed elements of satire and watched a few examples from Saturday Night Live and The Onion News: 

  • "Guns" (from SNL, commercial) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwEyBItsXkw

  • “Is The Government Spying On Schizophrenics Enough?” (from The Onion, newscast) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzoXQKumgCw 

  • The class started brainstorming ideas for their presentations and reviewed for the short story test on Wednesday. 

Week 13: 

• This week the class worked on finishing satirical commercials or newscasts. We will present on Friday

• If you missed the test, see me to write on a date that works for you. 

Week 14: 

•  We finished the satirical presentations and the class had time to flip through chapters in the graphic novel, This Place: 150 Years Retold. 

• Students worked on individual timelines for one chapter and then selected a new chapter (with a group or independently) to present to the class. This includes doing some of your own research and will require a bibliography (additional details included in the assignment below). 

Week 15: 

• Students had the majority of the week to complete presentations. Some groups presented on Thursday and remaining groups presented on Friday. 

Week 16: 

•  We started a new novel this week and the class completed a few pre-reading activities to highlight some of the themes and contextualize the novel (included below): 

-Complete the Dystopian Web-Quest and create your own utopian/dystopian world. 

-Read a summarized portion of The Indian Act and the Canadian Human Rights Act.

• The class signed out the novel study, The Marrow Thieves, wrote a paragraph with predictions for the novel based on the font and back cover, then read the first chapter.