As of tomorrow, there are only fifteen classroom days left in the semester. That might come as a bit of a surprise for some students but the reality is that Spring always flies on by and then suddenly it’s the end of June. At this point, we are wrapping up in all three English classes as students complete Independent Study Unit work.

On a happier note, we’re all thankful for the hard work of the Greenstone Fire Department, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Fire Management team, and other first responders for their hard work dealing with local forest fires this week.

ENG3U Grade 11 University English students are working on The Canterbury Tales. Students will write a literary essay on one of the tales and then create a seminar presentation for the class. We have created success criteria that includes both being a presenter and a participant in other student’s presentations.

ENG4C Grade 12 College English students are completing an Independent Study Unit on social justice issues. Students will research and write a detailed report on an issue they choose and then create a visual accompaniment for the issue, with the end goal being to teach one another about the world around them.

ENG4U Grade 12 University English students will work through the remainder of Hamlet using resources such as No Fear Shakespeare and SparkNotes to independently build an understanding of the play. Each student will then put together a Hamlet seminar, which will be presented to the class to build an understanding of important parts of the play. Students are also working on their Independent Study Units, which are due on June 13. Presentations for this unit will occur during the last week of school. The first part of the exam will be written in class on Friday, June 17.

As always, I’m available for extra help, feedback, and all that good stuff. Students just need to ask. Have a great week!

Life’s been awesome in every class this semester. We’re down to the last four weeks of class before exams – and the summer. Hard to believe. Though the work has been busy, I would once again like to give everyone a high five for their perseverance this semester. With the final crunch before us, I’m hoping we can continue pushing forward with high effort and happy faces. Here’s what’s shaping up for the next week:

ENG3U Grade 11 University English students just completing their Macbeth group performance tasks. I couldn’t be happier with the results. Students created the success criteria for the assignment, collaborated, performed, and gave one another feedback on their work. The results were amazing: students showed excellent knowledge of the play, went above-any-beyond with their performances, and expressed enthusiasm for the assignment. Here are some pictures from the groups:

Our next focus is on The Canterbury Tales and the Independent Study Unit. I’m excited to see what everyone creates!

In ENG4C – Grade 12 College English, we are halfway through Animal Farm. I’m impressed by students’ ability to make connections between the novel, the characters, Russian history, and the world around them. We’ve been having some great conversations about the novel and what it represents. We’ve also been exploring some ideas about equity, equality, and social justice – and I’m hoping to expand on these ideas as we move forward.

Students are asked to ensure outstanding assignments – especially the short story culminating tasks – are handed in.

ENG4U – Grade 12 University English students are well into Hamlet. We’ve been taking our time with the novel, annotating texts to build an understanding of what’s happening in the play. We’ve finished the first act and students have realized that they must put in effort, focus, and dedication to make meaning – but once the meaning is understood, we’re able to have some good conversations about the characters, plot, and relevance of the play.

Students are also working on their Independent Study Unit work. Deadlines for the assignments are fast-approaching. I’ve been conferencing with students regularly and they’ve had opportunities to use feedback from prior assignments to improve their work.

The Victoria Day long weekend is this weekend. The weather’s supposed to be really nice so hopefully everyone is able to enjoy it (and get work done, too!)

It’s already the mid-point of May. All three classes are working on collaborative literature studies and all classes are doing really, really well. It’s a fun, engaging kind of learning.

ENG3U – Grade 11 English students are just wrapping up their culminating project in Macbeth. Students are working in groups to rework two scenes of the play and create performances for the class. Other groups will then provide descriptive feedback using our success criteria. The expectations and the assessment have been almost completely shifted to the students. We also had some fun doing some quizzing of the play’s final scenes using Kahoot, an online competitive quiz tool.

In ENG4C – Grade 12 College English, we have started our study of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. In this unit, students will learn about critically analyzing a novel and making connections between the text and the world. In order to make this work, we first had to do some background learning. This was accomplished using this great YouTube video on the Russian Revolution:

We also used some PowerPoint resources we found online. We will use a seminar model to discuss sections of this short novel.

Finally, ENG4U – Grade 12 University English students have finally finished Ishmael and have now begun studing Hamlet. I’m looking forward to students building an understanding of the play, interpreting meaning, and making connections outside of the text. We’ll use a combination of performance tasks, group readings, and seminar discussions. I can’t wait!

As always, I wish everyone a great week. Keep up the good work. There’s only five weeks of class left before exams and believe me – that time will go by very, very quickly. Let me know if you have comments, issues, or questions!