Class Minutes, Thurs. Feb. 11th

1. Poetry device quizzes were handed back, but instead of a mark, you were told how many wrong you got, but not which ones. So, students had time to make corrections (without notes) and re submit their tests for an improved mark. This is an example of formative assessement- using assessemnt to further learning.
2. We read and explicated Ondaatje's poem, "The Time Around Scars," and wrote a practice thesis statement.
3. We read and explicated two poems on memory: a. "Remember", by Christina Rossetti, and "Mnemonic," by Li Young Lee. Then we wrote compare and contrast thesis statements, which were collected.
4. When we return from break we will be writing a compare and contrast multi paragraph on two new poems.

Class Minutes, Tues. Feb. 9th

Today in class we:
1. Wrote the poetry device quiz
2. Handed in our Found poetry paintings and paragraphs (1-2 only)
3. 1-4 had painting time
4. The wordsworth, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," paragraphs were handed back with feedback. We discussed formative assessement: its theory and practice.
5. Students completed an Assignment Log for the, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" paragraphs and put them into their portfolios.

Class Minutes, Fri. Feb. 5th

Today we worked on our Tom Phillip's found poetry. 1-2 was ready to paint, so their poems, including the explanatory paragraph are due on Tues. 1-4, however, just started the word search step and will have approx. 30 min. on Tues. to paint and their poems will be due on Thurs. Don't forget that your terms test is Tues. too.

Class Minutes, Wed. Feb. 3rd

We had a very busy day today.
1. We were assigned words to define on the Grade 11 Poetry Terms to Know Google Doc., which has been sent to everyone's gmail account. The terms quiz is on Tues. Feb. 9th, so the sooner your term is defined, the better. Including an example for your term is also helpful.
2. We explicated the poem, "High Flight." We searched for devices, discussed their purpose and read a sample pargraph analysis.
3. We explicated the poem, "I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud." As a class we discussed and took notes on the purpose of the three main devices: simile, personification, and hyperbole. The draft of the paragraph analysis is due next class.
4. We looked at samples of Tom Phillip's found poetry in "A Humument" and samples of previous students' poetry. Mrs. Wall handed out pages from "To Kill A Mockingbird." Students were to circle words and phrases found on the page, connecting them to make a poem that is removed from the context of the novel. The poem, without illustration, is due next class, Fri. Feb. 5th.

Class Minutes, Mon. Feb. 1st

Today was the first class back after exam week. We went over our exams before starting a short poetry unit. We were introduced to Shane Koyczan, the spoken word artist headlining the Spoken World Poetry Slam at Granville Island on Feb. 18th at 7:30pm. Consider going if you're not out of town. He's amazing. (Check him out on youtube). Then, to wrap things up, we did a sort and predict of poetic phrases. Mrs. Wall gave us 12 categories (each a different poetic device), including allusion, onomatopoeia, etc. Then, in groups of 4-5, we had to sort the phrases into their appropriate categories. Good review of devices and intro to the unit.