National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - September 30

 If you're wondering how to spend the lst iteration of this new national holiday, the CBC has a lot of great films created by indigenous filmmakers.  Here is a link to Curio.ca which has many great short films:

https://curio.ca/en/video/four-faces-of-the-moon-14707/

(In fact, this is just a link to one of the films, but I think it will lead you to others.)

September 28 update!

 Everyone, please wear orange tomorrow to show your determination to help Canada become a better, more equitable place for all of us.  The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has asked for September 30 to be set aside for us to think about what has happened to indigenous peoples as a result of colonization.  Wearing an orange shirt is a visible way of saying you are willing to do this thinking and resolve to listen to and learn from indigenous people about how we can move forward to a better Canada in the future.

Drama 9/10:  Make sure you have an idea for your heritage story for Friday's journals.

Drama 8:  Make sure you have handed in your journals.  Several of you are not completing your journals.  We will work on the musical tableaus tomorrow.

Senior Drama:  Be thinking about how we can incorporate social media and the concept of an escape room into our scary plays.  Final performances of the haunted house plays is Friday!

English:  Be working on your Short Story project.  You should probably have finished reading the stories and answering the questions by now.  Be alert for ideas to write about in your own short story.

Keep up with your reading logs daily!  Everyone who has done a book report so far has been great.  This will soon be you!

No email!

 Just in case any of you are trying to email me this weekend, the district is doing something with our email and it is not available.  You could always post a comment here if you wanted to ask me a question or comment on how beautiful the morning is.  I am looking out my window and there is just a slight hint of mist over the inlet and the trees are almost golden in the early morning sun.  Think it's time for a walk!

Oral Book Report instructions for English 11

 1.  Bring your book and show it to the class.  (Have a reasonable facsimile if you don't have a copy.)

2.  Tell us the title and the name of the author.  Tell us something interesting about the author.

3.  Summarize (briefly) the plot of the book, including the characters' names.

4.  Did you like the book?  Explain why or why not.

5.  Would you recommend the book?  To whom?  Why or why not?

6.  You may read a selection from the book.

You may use notes if you like.  You should make eye contact with the class.  You need to speak clearly and confidently.

You should be prepared to answer questions about the book.

We will see several reports each day.

DON'T FORGET TO REWRITE YOUR PRECIS AND HAND IT IN ON MONDAY!  ATTACH YOUR ROUGH DRAFT WITH MY NOTES ON IT.

PLT Information

I have not received the answers to any of the questions you posed at our homeroom this morning so I can't give you any information about what is expected for tomorrow's PLT.  Hopefully, you've heard from people who were able to access the presentation and know how to proceed.  Sorry, everyone.  

I am sure things will go more smoothly as we get used to this new way of doing things.

Drama 9/10:  Practice "speak the speech" out loud!  You will get time on Monday to work on your heritage story before you present.

Drama 8:  We will work on the story tableaus on Monday.

I hope you all have a great weekend.   Enjoy these first days of autumn (it is the Mid-Autumn Festival in many places in Asia, so have a moon cake!)

 Remember, Friday is a professional day!  

English 11 - September 22

Great tableaus today!  See how one picture saves 1,000 words?

I hope you were able to pick up a yellow Short Story Project handout today on your way out.  We will discuss a due date for the whole thing on Thursday.  It is probably a good idea to start reading the stories.  They are entertaining and engaging stories, so it shouldn't be a chore.  You can also start thinking about a short story idea for your own story.

Remember, we will have homeroom tomorrow at 9:20 to discuss PLT and what we can do with that "unstructured" time.

English 11 -- September 20

Write your precis tonight if you didn't get finished in class.  DO NOT GIVE YOUR OPINION.  Just summarize what Laura Spinney tells us in the article.  Follow her structure and evidence.  It should be APPROXIMATELY 1/4 the length of the original article.  Give your precis a name.

Journals for Drama for September 17

 Drama 8:

Do you work well with other people?  Rate yourself (between 1 and 5) as a group member -- with 5 being terrific and 1 being very poor.  Explain why you rate yourself in that way.  Are you a good leader?  Explain.  What qualities does a person need to have to be a good group member?  A good leader?  Write about a time you worked in a group and explain what you learned from the experience (it doesn't have to be a good experience.)

Drama 9/10:

Are you interested in history?  What do you know about the history of Canada?  (Try to come up with three things, at least.)  What do you know about your country of origin (the place you wrote about last week)?  (Try to come up with at least three things.)  When we are working on our heritage stories, we will have to know things about history -- like what caused different wars or why people left their home countries to come to Canada.)

For example -- I know that my home country, Ukraine, was always being taken over by other powerful nations -- like Poland and Russia.  I also know that the place where my grandfather came from is very much like Saskatchewan in terms of topography.  During the 1930's, Stalin's Soviet government deported many Ukrainians to Siberia and there was a horrible famine in which many Ukrainians died.  It is called "Holodomor" (which means "death by hunger" in Ukrainian).  Luckily for me, my grandparents had left Ukraine long before that terrible time.

Senior Drama:

Actors/Directed Studies:  Provide the backstory for Trevor and Melissa.  What motivates them to act the way they do?

Theatre Production:  Describe three locations in the school that would be good for us to use in our interactive Hallowe'en drama.  Explain what could happen there.

Director/Scriptwriters:  Write a scene in which Melissa and two friends (give them believable names) arrive at Trevor's Haunted House.  The scene should be at least a page long.

Directed Studies:  What do you want to get out of your drama class this semester?  Give me an overview of the kinds of things you are interested in doing.

It's Always Something!

 English 11:

The print function on the school's photocopiers isn't working so I haven't been able to print the questions I want you to think about for the short story, "The Lottery".  I hope you enjoyed reading it.  I remember when I first read it in high school, I really enjoyed it.  I loved how it shifted from this idyllic little village to the shocking conclusion!

Here are the questions:

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

 This story was first published in the New Yorker magazine in 1948.  The New Yorker “received a torrent of letters”, the most it had ever received for a work of fiction.

 Jackson talked about the response in a lecture:  One of the most terrifying aspects of publishing stories and books is the realization that they are going to be read, and read by strangers. I had never fully realized this before, although I had of course in my imagination dwelt lovingly upon the thought of the millions and millions of people who were going to be uplifted and enriched and delighted by the stories I wrote. It had simply never occurred to me that these millions and millions of people might be so far from being uplifted that they would sit down and write me letters I was downright scared to open; of the three-hundred-odd letters that I received that summer I can count only thirteen that spoke kindly to me, and they were mostly from friends. Even my mother scolded me: "Dad and I did not care at all for your story in The New Yorker", she wrote sternly; "it does seem, dear, that this gloomy kind of story is what all you young people think about these days. Why don't you write something to cheer people up?"

 Are young people still thinking about “gloomy kind[s] of [stories]”?

 Most people who wrote were angry and outraged.   What about the story bothered them, in your opinion?  Did you find it shocking?  Did you expect the ending?  What foreshadowed the ending?

 What is a scapegoat?  Explain how that idea relates to the story.

 Do you adhere to any traditions?  Do you know why you might follow those traditions?  Do you know the meaning of the traditions you and your family observe?  Write about one with which you are familiar.   (I always have a Christmas tree, for example.  Pagan traditions often used evergreens as decorations for the winter solstice; the branches were symbols of life going on even in winter.  The use of a Christmas tree to celebrate Christmas was started in Germany.)

 What is ironic about the story?

Senior Drama:

We can't print stuff, so here is a short scene I want you to grapple with!

Scary scene:

 Melissa:  Trevor, why do your pants look so stupid?

 Trevor:  (silence)

 Melissa:  Trevor, are you ignoring me?

 Trevor:  No.

 Melissa:  Then answer my question.

 Trevor:  I didn’t hear it.

 Melissa:  That’s your problem.  You NEVER listen.  You’re a subhuman.

 Trevor:  You don’t need to tell me that.

 

 Trevor:  I’m having a Hallowe’en party.  Want to come?

 Melissa:  What are YOU having a party for?

 Trevor:  I think it’ll be fun.  I’m trying to change my spots.

 Melissa:  What are you talking about?  You’re so weird.

 Trevor:  They say a leopard can’t change its spots.  It can.

 Melissa:  Okay, then.  But why would you think I’d come to your lame party?

 Trevor:  Aren’t you curious?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No English class tomorrow!

Hi English 11, I will really try to get your in-class essays marked by Thursday. Make sure you read Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and pay attention to foreshadowing, symbols and irony. If you are not sure what any of those are (you need to listen in class!), you can look them up. You can even find sites that explore "The Lottery and Irony", but if you look on those sites, you still need to read the story and understand how the irony works. You can do this reading and thinking during PLT which is a very sensible use of your time!

English 11 update

Make sure you are familiar with the First Peoples' Principles of Learning (easily googled) and the short story, "Charlie", by Lee Maracle. You want to be sure you understand both and can write confidently about them. I am looking forward to reading your paragraphs ending with the phrase "It isn't fair! It isn't right!" Mrs. Smith screamed.

Our First Friday

Here are your journal topics for our first Friday of this brand new school year! Drama 8: What should Ms. Kosar know about you? You can tell me about whether you have ever done Drama before, about what you expect from the class, about whether or not you have stage fright. If you have done Drama before, tell me about what you did (it might be in your elementary school, or at an extracurricular activity or even just in your backyard!). Do you do any other sort of performing? (sports, music, dance, something else) Do you like to perform? Drama 9: Our first project is called "heritage drama". This sort of project focuses on our diverse heritages. If we are not a member of a First Nation of Canada, then our families have immigrated here from somewhere else (it might have been long ago, or you might have come to Canada yourself). My family came from Ukraine -- my grandfather took a ship and then a train from Kiev to Saskatchewan and settled in a place called Tiny with his wife and four children. Find out when your family came and where they came from. How did they get here? Will their immigration to Canada make a dramatic story? If you have indigenous heritage, was your nation located here in BC? I encourage you to share a story from your family history, since you have been on this land since time immemorial. Senior Drama: We are going to develop an interactive performance for Hallowe'en. In our opening scenes which you performed yesterday, there were some interesting scenes that could be the source of some starting off points for our presentation. At the end of one of the scenes, an actor said, "I am the coolest kid in the school". How could that line form the end of a scary scene? Describe your idea in at least five sentences. I will give you ten minutes in class to write your journals and then I will collect your journals on Tuesday of next week. Please try to keep up with the journals. English 11: Make sure you familiarize yourself with the First People's Principles of Learning (you can look them up online). The story we just read, "Charlie" by Lee Maracle, really resonanates with the ideas that are embedded in these learning principles. Think of how Charlie's life would have been different if his school had honoured these principles of learning. Think of how Charlie's dad might have used these principles if Charlie had been able to stay home.

Back in the saddle

Great to be back at school. I am always glad after the first day because I feel like we have passed the hardest part of the year -- having to get up early for the first time in a long time to get ready for school and then getting through the anxiety of meeting new people and figuring out where everything is and imagining what the rest of the semester is going to be like. I feel like we had a good start and I was happy to see everyone back in the theatre and learn most of your names and discuss the forthcoming year. Now that we've had our first day, I feel confident that it will be a good school year and that we'll all learn new things and have good experiences and do our best. English students: Please read "Charlie" from A Corner in Each Life. It is on page 68. Make sure you know the meaning of the following words: stoic, machinations, pedagogues, Seagram's, furtive, listless, Wendigo. Pay attention to how the author uses imagery, especially with regard to the natural world.

A Walk Through Woodhaven Swamp

If you liked my video of Rocky Point, you'll love "A Walk Through Woodhaven Swamp". I am really improving with the camera. Woodhaven Swamp is in Belcarra Regional Park and it is a lovely spot -- very quiet and peaceful. One of the encouraging things about it is that it was completely logged about 100 years ago. Many of the stumps show evidence of logging -- if you have ever heard of how loggers use springboards, you will see evidence of the notches they made for the springboards all over Woodhaven Swamp. Many of the stumps are nursemaids for new trees and it is a very natural feeling forest. Nature is very resilient if we make room for her. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/SnlB60IsS6c

Rocky Point at the End of Summer

Here is a link to a video I made of the scene at Rocky Point this morning -- https://youtu.be/zskri57xlMA. I am practicing using the camera and I know the video is a bit shaky, but I hope that practice makes perfect. I had a nice conversation with a Portugese woman about the seals and the jobs she had and what it is like in Portugal. I have heard that random conversations are good for community building. Be open to listening to people and being friendly, especially now that school is about to start!