Corman’s Corner

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Wednesday

January25

English 9

First reading journal is due today.

As well as maintaining a reading journal, students will be asked to write a narrative sharing a memory they have of a grandparent, great-grandparent, or any elderly person. Today we will work on a brainstorming activity for topics.

I will also review the choice of research projects.

Students will be expected to complete one of the following projects either independently or with a partner.

  • VISIT WITH SENIORS – Visit a home for seniors or a nursing home. Arrange your visit with the staff before you go. Also, make sure to develop some interview questions. Please see me if you need help developing these. Write about your impressions of that visit. You may wish to record of film your interview, and/or take photographs. If you decide to do this, please ask the participant(s) for permission. (You may interview an elderly relative or friend.)
  • BOND BETWEEN GENERATIONS – Read children’s literature that illustrates the bond between the very young and the very old. This may give you some ideas about content and structure. Create your own picture book. Keep your audience in mind. If you feel comfortable, you may want to share your picture book with a group of elementary students. Please see me if you would like to arrange to do this.
  • POETRY – Create a collection of poetry about the elderly. It should include six poems with a brief analysis of each. Take your time and be selective. At the beginning of your collection, include a written explanation of your choice of poems. You must also include a bibliography citing at least three different sources. Please see me if you need help preparing a bibliography. Try to make your collection visually appealing.
  • MEDIA – Create a collage using pictures, articles and advertisements. (If you create a glog, you can also include video and music.) Take your time and be selective. Your collage should clearly illustrate a theme. Include a written explanation of how the elderly are portrayed in the media. Please see me if you need any help with this expository piece. Try to make your collage visually appealing. You want quality over quantity.

I’ll finish by sharing a picture book with the students: Waiting for the Whales.

Glog examples: one, two and three.

Developing Da Vinci

This is our last class. :(

We will begin with an Instant Challenge: Channel Surfing.

We’ll have time to watch a few TED Talk favourites.

Students will be asked to complete a course evaluation before leaving.

 

 

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Tuesday

January24

English 10

Exam preparation.

Developing Da Vinci

We will be watching Waiting for “Superman”. Following the film, we will be discussing models of education. We will finish with a team building activity.

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Monday

January23

English 9

The class will begin with 15-20 minutes of silent reading. As part of our mini-unit on aging/the elderly, they will watch the movie Harold and Maude. Following the viewing of the film, students will be given time to work on the following questions:

  1. Maude seems to say that 75 is too early to die, but that 85 is too late. What do you think about this?
  2. What is Maude able to show Harold that he may not have seen before he met her?
  3. Are Harold and Maude a good couple? Why or why not?
  4. Ultimately, is this movie happy or sad? Or both? Explain?
  5. What do you think about assisted suicide? Should it be legal? Should doctors be able to help old people die if they want to?
  6. What did you like and/or not like about this movie?

Answers should be written down. They will be shared during a class discussion.

English 12

This is a study block for students. Netbooks will be provided if students want to work on practice exams. The following videos may be helpful:

Part A: Multiple Choice

Part A: Paragraph

Part C: Essay 

Part D: Original Composition 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Friday

January20

English 10 and 12

We will play a review game. Students will have some time in the lab to work on practice exams.

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Thursday

January19

English 10 and English 12

We will be working on “showing” not “telling.

  The little girl looked so tired, she clearly needed a nap. 

 

Her sleepy eyes hardened into red-rimmed slits. She cocked her plastic Viking      helmet aggressively, the horns sticking out only a little more than her curls. One  fist clutched a decapitated lollipop, the other a cardboard sword. She leveled the  point at my chest. “You mean dragon!” she growled. “You’ll never make me nap!”

 

Students will be asked to take a general statement (perhaps one from below), and bring it to life with details.

  • Jane dressed in an unusual way.
  • My brother is talented.
  • Carol was angry with her father.
  • The park was busy.
  • The woman seemed happy.
  • I was sad when my dog died.

If there is time, students will have time to work on exam review.

 

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Wednesday

January18

English 10 and English 12

We are preparing for the provincial exam. We will spend some time reviewing terms before the students get a chance to work through practice exams. We will focus on the synthesis section, today.

Developing Da Vinci

Students will have time to finish their third TED Talk review, which is due tomorrow.

English 9

We will review how to fix comma splices. Students will discuss the poem “The Forsaken” in literature discussion groups. We will then review narrative poetry, repetition, word choice, simile, metaphor and onomatopoeia. Students will have time to work on their reading journals, which are due on Wednesday, January 25th.

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Tuesday

January17

English 10 and English 12

We are preparing for the provincial exam. We will spend some time reviewing terms before the students get a chance to work through practice exams. We will focus on the stand alone, today.

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Monday

January16

English 9

All character essays have been marked. Students can read my comments on their GoogleDoc.

The 55 Word Poems and 60 Word Stories are due today.

We will be starting a mini-unit today on Aging/The Elderly. We will start by reviewing reading journal and literature discussion group criteria. We will then practice these using the poem “The Forsaken” by Duncan Campbell Scott. The poem will also give us a chance to discuss cultural bias and narrative poetry among other terms.

English 12

Students will have a chance to work on the O.C. They will pick either this O.C. or their last to be submitted for assessment.

  • Each generation has something valuable to offer.
  • With independence comes increased responsibility.
  • Differing points of view make life interesting.
  • Happiness can be found in unlikely circumstances.

The link below will be useful for students in preparing for the provincial exam.

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/search/

English 10

Students will write an in class original composition. They will have approximately 50 minutes to complete the piece. When they are finished, they will have time for silent reading. They will pick either this O.C. or their last to be submitted for assessment.

Topic: People and events can sometimes surprise us.

  • You may agree or disagree with the topic.
  • You may include persuasion, narration and/or description in your writing.
  • You may use ideas based on your own experiences, the experiences of others, your reading, your imagination, or from any aspect of your life.
  • Plan your ideas before you write.
  • Your response should be approximately three to five paragraphs in length.

The link below will be useful for students in preparing for the provincial exam.

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/search/

Developing Da Vinci 9

The second TED Talk review is due today.

We have one presentation to watch today. Students will then have time to work on their third TED Talk review, which is due on Thursday, January 19th. On Wednesday, students will begin to share their favourite TED Talks with the class.  

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Friday

January13

English 12

Students will be working on their persuasive essays – due Monday.

English 9

Students will work on a creative writing activity which will allow them to review plot elements: 60 Word Stories.

Examples…

Dinner time

Stanley and Freddy looked up eagerly as Julie brought their plates in. Would it be that wonderful Chicken Chow today, or the tasty beef in gravy? Maybe it would be venison, or perhaps even duck! Stanley sniffed the air appreciatively while Freddy panted in anticipation. Meal-times had been great since Julie discovered that new range of dog food!

The Old House

Jim and Milly felt sad as they sat in the house for the last time. There were so many memories here. Jim had decorated it. Milly had made cushions and curtains. It was so homely. ‘Seems a shame to take it down’ Jim said as he descended the ladder, ‘but the new tree-house will be much better.’

Both the 55 Word Poem and the 60 Word Short Story must be ready for Monday.

Developing Da Vinci 9

Will will be working on our second TED Talk review. The second review is due on Monday.

More examples… 

For my second talk, I listened to Daniel Goldstein talk about “The battle between your present and future self”. I was initially attracted to this talk because I am very interested in planning my future and making adjustments now so that I can have a better future. I wasn’t really clear on what the future and present selves were, but I was definitely interested to find out.

Luckily, Mr.Goldstein immediately answered my question. Your present self is you NOW. The future self is you LATER, at some point in the future. For example, your present self might not want to floss your teeth because they’re lazy or too tired, but your future self would want you to floss because they want nice teeth. Personally, I can definately identify with that. Having braces, it usually takes about 20 minutes to properly brush, pick, floss, wax, water floss, double check and rinse my teeth, so sometimes when I’m tired or running short on time, I skip some steps. Sometimes I only brush and rinse, which I’m not proud to say, but I guess in those cases, my present self wins out.

Mr.Goldstein talks a lot about commitment devices. He explains that they are items or methods we use to keep ourselves committed to being favourable to our future selves. For example, when I was younger, I struggled to make myself save money instead of spending it, so I made a commitment device. I told myself that for every $250 dollars I saved, I would be able to spend $50 of it. When I started, I looked in stores and picked something that I would buy with the money, so that I would be able to guarantee my happiness after I’d saved. The plan worked really well, and soon enough, I accumulated many desirable things, as well as some savings for the future and charities. So I am in agreement with Mr.Goldstein when he says that commitment devices do work.

But, Mr.Goldstein didn’t stop there. He explained that he and some of his co-workers have been trying to figure out how to favour our future self without the use of commitment devices. Simply because in the using of commitment devices, we’re saying that we aren’t strong enough to do the task on our own. Mr.Goldstein was determined to show that we could be strong enough to not give into the temptations of our present self. He thought that perhaps we needed commitment devices because of our inability to believe or imagine what would happen to our future self. So, in terms of addressing the issue of people not saving enough for their retirement, he invented a computer program test to see if visualizing the future self would help you favour it. He had a dot that you could drag from the future to the present. If you dragged it towards the present, the future face would gradually get more sad, and vice versa for the other way. The test subject’s challenge was to make both faces happy. When the test subject had seen the visual aid and played with the program, most reported to have more of a strong understanding and desire to put aside more money for the future. This goes to show that visualizing our future self helps us learn to not neglect it. In my opinion, this hypothesis could help solve some major issues. For example, 2 out of 3 people do not save enough money to adequately support themselves during retirement, so with this visual aid theory, we could move in the direction of changing that!

In conclusion, Mr.Goldstein research is fascintating and full of possibilities. It really made me think about my own will power and temptations. I had no idea that the method I used to help save money as a child actually had a name and a spot in the research world! But I guess you learn something new everyday! :)

TED Talk: Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics (about TED Talks) by Sebastian Wernicke

    Personally, I found this to be one of the most informative TED talks I have seen. In it, Sebastian Wernicke believes he can pinpoint what exactly defines a good TED Talk from a bad one. Using data from the comments made by TED viewers, Wernicke told us what to do and what not to do from choosing our topic all the way to what we should wear while giving a speech. These were organized into three main areas of a TED talk: topic, delivery and visuals.

According to Wernicke’s research, your topic should have both emotion and ideas to have the best response from the audience. Therefore, your topic should be something your audience can connect with, such as happiness, religion, food and the choices you make. Things to avoid would be more of the technical topics such as architecture, weather, media and war. I both agree and disagree with this. In my opinion, if you specialize in a more technical area, you should do a talk on that. However, incorporating some emotional aspects into your presentation should help you connect with your audience, such as humor, personal stories, and things that also have to do with their daily lives. What you should stay away from is just giving them random information that they may or may not care about, depending on their interests.

Next, Wernicke talked about delivery. He claimed that—for the most part—your talk should be as long as you can make it, because the most liked TED talks are usually around fifteen to twenty minutes long. The exceptions are if they are beautiful, funny, or ingenious—in which case you should keep them short. I think that there is some truth to this. If your topics are meant to be fascinating, inspiring, or persuasive, you should spend as much time as possible to get your point across. On the other hand, if your purpose is to entertain yet provoke thought, a short presentation should keep the audience from getting bored and leave them with questions of their own.

The last thing Wernicke brought up was your TED Talk’s visual. As for your appearance, you should look both informative but interesting. I.e.: glasses, nice but strange coloured clothes, and should appear confident. Honestly, I don’t think your physical appearance will matter much, but I do think that it is essential to have confidence in your speaking. As for your presentations appearance, slides are good to have, but props are even better. Colour is also important, and the colour of your slides should be rich and interesting. In other words, stay away from brown, black, grey and dull shades of green and blue. Contrasting or deep colours are best. I agree with this, because props and slides add entertainment and can give the audience something to look at. Colour choice just helps to enhance the props.

To me, the topics in this talk can go beyond TED. They are the basic rules of presentation that can be applied to any aspect of giving a speech. The talk itself was both funny and informative, despite being only five minutes long (just like Wernicke said about funny talks). I would recommend this video to anyone who struggles with public speaking, or just wants a good laugh.

English 10

We will take a look at samples of original compositions and discuss them. We will review the following terms in preparation for the provincial exam: aside, bias, cliche, figurative language, genre, hyperbole and propaganda.

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Thursday

January12

English 10

Following silent reading, students had time to finish their original compositions based on the topic – Our experiences help shape who we are. They then shared their pieces in small groups. All completed compositions must be handed in tomorrow at the beginning of class.

English 12

Following silent reading, we reviewed a number of terms for the provincial exam. Students then had time to work on their persuasive essays.

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