Happy Holidays!

This week, we finished off our compare/contrast paragraphs, and students submitted these to me for feedback.  I will read them over the break and return them in January.  We will refine our compare/contrast paragraph writing skills in the new year, and then students will write paragraphs that I will mark.

Over the break, you can maintain your English language skills by reading for 20 minutes a day - newspapers, magazines, books, anything!  Also, try to get together with some friends and practice your conversations in English.

I hope you all have a safe and restful break.  I look forward to working with you again in 2013!

CHSS vs. my old school

We created a chart of information, comparing our experiences at Cariboo Hill, to our experiences at a school we'd previously attended.  We talked about how we would consider different features, or attributes, of the two schools.  Things like teachers, classes offered, cafeteria food, technology available could be considered.

Then, we created a compare/contrast paragraph outline, using either block style or point-by-point style.  We reviewed different transition words/phrases that could be used to link ideas.

Finally, we began writing a practice compare/contrast paragraph, comparing CHSS to our old school.  These paragraphs will be submitted next class and Ms. Barsky will provide feedback on them.

Compare/contrast writing

We began class by sharing our charts from last day, discussing our ideas related to the poem, "You Have Two Voices".  Students shared what they thought the speaker's experiences were like when she speaks her first language, compared to when she speaks English.  We discussed the importance of supporting your ideas with evidence from the poem.  We constructed charts that contained our own ideas, plus phrases from the poem as support.

Then, I shared a model compare/contrast paragraph - "Computer vs. Typewriter."  I asked students to read the paragraph and note the two subjects being compared, whether the paragraph focused on differences or similarities, and the ideas presented by the author about each.  Students handed in their charts at the end of class.

Elements of Fiction

We began today's class by meeting in our book circles.  Each group read a next chunk and continued to ask questions, make connections and speak generally about what they thought was going on.  I was SO impressed with the focus and conversation in these circles!  We will continue reading the books next day.

Then, we began to look at some of the elements of fiction: in particular, we discussed protagonist, antagonist, internal conflict and external conflict.  I shared definitions for these elements of fiction and then we worked to come up with examples of each of these from popular stories we have read or watched.  We discussed how Harry Potter is the protagonist in the Harry Potter books, and Voldemort is an example of an antagonist.  When Voldemort and Harry fight, that is an external conflict, and when Harry had to struggle with the death of one of his friends, that is an internal conflict.

We are going to watch an episode of The Simpson's next class, and discuss how these elements apply in that episode.

Conflict Dialogues Performed!

We began our class today with our performances of the conflict dialogues.  Each group performed and the audience was asked to determine the external and internal conflict present in each scenario.  Impressive acting by all of you!

We then discussed the differences between speaking your first language and speaking English.  This information will serve as a pre-reading piece next class.

"Two Kinds" Dialogue

We finished the story, "Two Kinds" today, and we continued to discuss examples of antagonist, as well as examples of conflicts.

Students wrote a reflection at the end of the story, commenting on whom they believe is most at fault for the state of the relationship: the mother or the daughter.  These reflections were submitted to me.

Then, students were paired up and asked to create a dialogue that represents an example of internal conflict and an example of external conflict.  These will be performed for the class on Wednesday.