If I were an actor....

We began class today with some puns.  Some funny puns.  Punny stuff.  Yes.

Then, we took Act I scene i and ii from Twelfth Night and we began to make sense of them as actors/directors would.  How would the people on stage position themselves in relation to one another?  What gestures would they use?  What emotion is guiding their speech?  We went down to the cafeteria to begin to move as actors would, and then came back to the classroom to debrief the scenes.

We will discuss the acting of scene ii next class.

Today was fun.

Right?  It was so fun.

We divided up the first three scenes from Twelfth Night and students did choral readings of these scenes.  Fun.

Then, students chose a scene and wrote to me about what they understood of what was going on in the scene, as well as noted poetic and literary devices used by Shakespeare.  Also fun.

More to come next week. Of fun, I mean.

Poetry Test!

We began class today with our poetry test.  I will return those as soon as I can read through them.  Soon.  Promise.

I then distributed some "Pre-Reading Questions" for our Twelfth Night unit.  These four questions are desigened to get you thinking about some of the themes that will arise in our reading of the play.  Please be ready to discuss your answers to the questions at the start of class on Wednesday.  You will not need to submit your answers, but you will want to have your thoughts recorded to share with your classmates in our discussion.  If you misplaced the handout, one may be accessed on the side here.

A Life Lived Ordinary....

After a super fun word game, students were asked to submit their synthesis charts.  If you did not turn in your chart, please make sure you do so, ASAP!

Then, students did a free write about whether they perceive their own life to be ordinary, or extraordinary.  After writing for a bit, they were asked to write about what would make their ordinary life extraordinary, or vice versa.  Students shared their thoughts with each other.

Then, the poem "Ordinary Life" was distributed, and students were asked to annotate it, considering what they thought the poem was about, and identifying poetic devices used.

We will discuss the poem in Thursday's class.  A summative assessment will occur in class on Monday.

It's Friday, Friday!

Since we were all feeling the pain and agony of last block, Friday afternoon... we made today's block a work period - time to complete the synthesis activity we began last class.  I have asked that students have this chart complete for Tuesday's class.

Some students chose to read great books this block, instead.  Yay, great books.  We love you.  Lots.

Synthesis Chart

Today, we read the poems by Rita Joe, and began to synthesize all that we have learned about the experience of Aboriginal people in residential schools.  Using the information gathered from Rabbit-Proof Fence, the Assembly of First Nations document, the children's books Shi-shi-etko and Shin-chi's Canoe, and the poems "I Lost My Talk" and "Hated Structure: Indian Residential School, Shubenacadie, N.S.", we are now beginning to pull out common themes/threads in order to synthesize our learning.

We have altered the original assignment somewhat... we have decided to create a chart, with the sources listed across the top, and then "aspects" or "points for comparison" listed down the left hand side.  We discussed that elements such as emotional impact, first language, conflicts, religion, etc. might be aspects to consider.  You choose the aspects you believe are central, and common, to many sources.  Charts can be completed in point form, and I will reserve some time on Friday for work on this chart in class.

Residential Schools - Personal Experiences

After spending time last week considering one person's interpretation of the residential school experience in Australia (the director of Rabbit-Proof Fence) and the weekend considering an informational text piece which summarizes the residential school experiences of First Nations children in Canada, today was focused on the personal experiences of those children.

We began by discussing what we thought was the most important information from the AFN document.  We also spent time discussing ties between the film and the document, noting that there are many similarities.

Then, I read two children's books aloud: "Shi-shi-etko" by Nicola Campbell, and its sequel, "Shin-chi's Canoe."  Both are stories about children's experiences of being forced to go live in a residential school.  Students created a "Word Web" of words and phrases while they listened to the stories, made up of those words and phrases that most resonated with them.  We will finish our reading of sources next class, when we consider two poems written by Rita Joe about her personal experiences with residential schools.

Residential Schools in Canada

We completed Rabbit-Proof Fence today, and discussed our questions and observations, once it was completed.

I distributed a package to read over the weekend, about the experiences of First Nations people in residential schools in Canada.  I asked students to make note of important points, conflicts, themes, emotions... just as we did with the film.  Begin to think about similarities between the two.  We will add two poems written by a First Nations poet as our final source before synthesizing, next week.

If you were absent, you can access the readings here: http://www.sd61.bc.ca/edsrvs/ANED/educationalResources/ResidentialSchools/Secondary_Residential_School_Tips_for_Teaching_Controversial_Issues.pdf  The readings are pages 4-10.

Synthesizing the Aboriginal Experience Using Multiple Texts

Today, we began a synthesis activity that will carry us through several lessons, as we are going to view a film, read an informational text piece and read two poems, and then synthesize our findings.  Our topic of exploration is the experience of Aboriginal people with residential schools, in Canada and Australia.

We began watching Rabbit-Proof Fence today, and I asked students to make note of significant events, characters and their emotions, conflicts, and themes.  We will finish the film and discuss it in Thursday's class.

See... I promised you we'd watch a movie, and we did!