Characters and Newspapers

Hey everybody,

11s:
Today, we revised over Act II by creating the front page of a newspaper.
You need to finish this in good copy for homework: include a catchy title, a main story along with two smaller stories, and 4-6 quotes to back up your writing.

12s:
We worked hard on characterization for the characters of Taming that we've met so far.
Homework: worksheet "The Name Changes to Protect the Innocent"

See you all around,
Ms. Johnson.

Finishing Act II & Movies:

Hi everyone,

11s:


By now, everyone should have handed me in their completed mandalas. If not, it's going to affect your marks in a negative way.

I handed back the soliloquys and was really pleased with the work everyone put in.
We then sped through the rest of Act II, scenes iii & iv. We will be doing some revision work on this later, don't worry.

Homework: TWO worksheets on Act III, scene i along with a close reading worksheet on Act II, scene iii if you didn't finish it in class.


12s (1-4):
We watched the Zeferelli-Burton 1967 film version of Taming of the Shrew and did a little work on character. Glad to see most of you working hard on this work, as it will help you a lot in the future.

Have a great weekend,
Ms. J.

No Fear Shakespeare and Close Reading

Hi everybody,


11s:


Some of you have no yet finished your mandalas. They need to be completed by end of school FRIDAY, FEB 24th. They are available in my office, and you can work on them at lunch or after school. Come and see me in D206 and I can give it to you.

You should also have handed in your Macbeth/Banquo comparison charts, which were homework from the last class. I will be marking these over the weekend.

We started discussing No Fear Shakespeare or Shakespeare on the Double today, and you were able to translate a soliloquy from Act II, scene i. I am marking these out of 10, and so far, I can see great work. Good job!

Homework: Read Act II, scene ii and fill in a close reading worksheet with 3 quotes.


12s:


Really great to see you using your voices today to bring Taming of the Shrew to life. We also began work on Close Reading, and you all provided excellent examples of quotes to note.

Homework:  you are to read Act I, scene ii and be ready to come to class discussing.

See you all next time,
Ms. J.

Mandalas and Shrews:

Hey there everyone.

11s:


Today, we finished good copies of the mandala. You should have handed in your draft, good copy and rubric all stapled together. You had class time, lunchtime and after school. Some of you are still not finished, but I know this will be remedied by the end of the week.
Homework:   comparison chart of Macbeth & Banquo based on Act II, scene i - look for quotes for evidence.


12s:


We started studying Taming of the Shrew, and it's connotations. We looked at the elements of romantic comedy, farce and what makes up a shrew. It was interesting to hear some of your views on horoscopes and zodiacs.

Homework: You all have a copy of the homework worksheet, based on Act I, scene i of Taming of the Shrew.

Til next time.
Ms. J.

Mandalas and New Faces:

Howdy all,

11s:


We had our entrance slip on soliloquies, pathetic fallacies, and the summary of Act I, scene vi.

We then started our mandala on Act I of Macbeth, with it's various rings. What you handed in is your first draft, and we'll be continuing on with our good copy on Monday. Don't worry if your draft isn't perfect - that's why it's a draft!!

If I were you all, I would bring some nice drawing/sketching/coloring stationary for Monday to make your good copy as beautiful as possible :)

12s:


Nice to meet you all! We did some work re-introducing you to Shakespeare, and starting work on The Taming of the Shrew. Thanks for your participation in class.

FACT OF THE WEEK:  I like that our interesting fact on Shakespeare inventing the word "swagger", made it to Fact of the Week in the announcements. The more you know, the more you grow..

Have a great long weekend
Ms. Johnson.

Meeting Lady Macbeth & Soliloquies...

Howdy all,

Today we finished Act I, scene iii and have seen the last of the witches for a while.

We also developed our knowledge of the soliloquy and looked a little at pathetic fallacy on the way.
If you weren't in class today, you would do well to look at a friend's annotated copy of the soliloquy.

HOMEWORK:
Read Act I, scene vii for next class, and bring all your yellow close reading worksheets for an activity next class.

Til then - happy Singles Awareness Day tomorrow!
Ms. J.

Witches and other women...

Hi Grade Elevens,

Sorry for the delay with posting, let's get down to business.

After seeing how the close reading was going, we decided to slow things down and read together as a class.

We studied Act I, scene iii where the witches meet Macbeth and Banquo and tell them their fates. Ross and Angus then enter and confirm Macbeth has been made Thane of Cawdor.

1-1:  We also covered Lady Macbeth's soliloquy in Act I, scene v. We'll be working more on that Monday so make sure you bring your copy of the soliloquy.
Homework: Finish the worksheet Meeting the Witches


1-3:  We had a great discussion on the merits and possible problems of knowing your future. It was great to see you all actively participating, and I can't wait for more discussions like it.

HOMEWORK FOR ALL:
Pre-read Act I, scene vi as we'll be discussing it next class.

Have a great weekend all,
Ms. J

Witches, witches everywhere...

Hi Grade Elevens,


Today we looked further into witches, and their influence on Macbeth. 


Below are the links for the clips we watched:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHGP_YImpq4 
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clG8ha2D26g
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC9G_CZVAL8

Have a look to catch up and revise what we watched. We can see how a Jacobean audience would have been terrified by this spectacle, as we can see in the quote we noted:

James I wrote (1616): “The devil [can] thicken and obscure so the aire, that is next to them [witches] by contracting it strait together, that the beames of any other mans eyes cannot pearce through the same, to see them.”

We have now gone through Act I, scenes i & ii, making a close reading of both. A little work on Roman numerals brought us up to speed on how to quote the play.

Til next time,

Ms. Johnson.

Starting Macbeth

Dear Grade Elevens,

Today we started getting into the text of Shakespeare's Macbeth.
We listened to the rap (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyytzE13iV4), and filled in our Know, Predict, Learnt worksheets.

Then we started to learn more about the cultural context of Macbeth, and how to be an entertaining reader, using the AT&T Natural Voices Tool (http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php).

Looking into the play, we discussed Act I, scene i and how to read  a text closely, paying attention to words we didn't understand and lines which may hold crucial evidence. The Close Reading Worksheets will help us over the coming weeks to develop our understanding of the play, as well as keep on top of noteworthy acts, scenes & lines.

With 1-3, we were able to look a little at Roman Numerals, and your homework was to finish the worksheet.

For 1-1, we started looking at Act I, scene ii - don't worry, we'll go deeper next week.Thanks for welcoming Ms. Garvin from UBC into our class.

For those who were absent, you need to pick up a textbook from me, as well as the worksheets we went through.

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you all on Tuesday!
Ms. J

First Day's Lesson

Hey there everyone,

It was great meeting you today! Here's a re-cap:

• Introduction to Ms. Johnson

• Course Outline (handout)

• Getting to Know Shakespeare  (handout)

HOMEWORK: Read your independent novel - speaking to you during reader's workshop, it seemed you needed to work more on your reading. Here's your chance!

If you are missing handouts, you need to see me.

For 1-1, in our block on Friday, I will be being observed by Ms. Garvin, a Faculty Adviser from UBC. I will introduce her at the start of the class.

Until next time, I'll be in room D206.

Ms. Johnson.