Yes, that’s right – it’s the middle of October. We’ve had our first brush of snow, most of the leaves have fallen, and the first progress reports have been handed out. Before we know it, we’ll be putting up Christmas lights. In the meantime, things are trucking along well in classes. It is clear that students appreciate opportunities for hands-on learning, (especially in Computer Science) and I am working hard to bring more of those opportunities to class. In English, our class discussions have been going very well as we wrap our thinking around Lord of the Flies. This week is a bit of an anomaly in our scheduling, though, due to the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test practice, scheduled for Thursday, October 20. That will be a major focus in Grade 10 classes this week. With that in mind, here’s our weekly plan:

ENG2D – Grade 10 English will, as mentioned, be focusing on literacy test practice this week. We will use previous copies of the test to gain a familiarity with the types of questions, the instructions, and the expectations. Students will write the test on Thursday. This is a pilot for the online version of the test and if students are unsuccessful, it does not count against them as an attempt. However, if they pass the test, then it does count. It’s a pretty sweet deal. Students and parents can find additional resources on the EQAO – OSSLT website. This is the organization that administers the test.

ICS2O – Grade 10 Computer Science students will wrap up the computer hardware  unit this week, which ends with a short unit test. We had some awesome success doing the hands-on computer disassembly/rebuild project. One group even managed to get their system running. With the cooperation of the GCHS IT Technician, we are also introducing real-world hardware problems into the class. Our students get to take on tech support roles. Yay!

We will then move on to our second coding unit. I’m still deciding if this will be Microsoft smallBASIC or Python. We’ll do both – I’m just not sure which one will come first. Both are available as free downloads if anyone wants to play at home.

Anyway, that’s it for the week. I know students are stressing about the literacy test, but they shouldn’t. We will get through it!

While searching for resources to support the needs of my ENG2D – Grade 10 English students, I stumbled upon an amazing tool created by Sonja Munévar Gagnon of the San Diego County Office of Education Learning and Leadership. The tool is an analytical writing organizer called TEPAC (Topic, Evidence, Paraphrasing, Analysis, Conclusion) which helps students stay on-topic and produce writing that makes meaning of a text. I shared these resources with the class today:

The first resource is an explanation of TEPAC’s parts:

The second resource includes phrases and key words to help students effectively organizer their thinking:

Finally, the third resource is a blank graphic organizer for students to use. First, I provide a prompt connected to the text we are studying, (in our case it’s Lord of the Flies) and then students respond by answering in the topic sentence.

I’m hoping that this organizer resource will help students who had difficulty coming up with organized analytical writing on the first essay assignments. Combined with the Point-Support-Explanation model, these tools should improve student’s writing.

Yes, it’s the middle of October already. Thanksgiving has come-and-gone, and we are officially done a full third of the semester. Already. Seriously. Progress reports, (which provide information on work habits by way of showing missing assignments) and the semester’s Parents’ Night are both scheduled for this week. For more information, please see the GCHS Facebook page. This week, we’ll be going full-speed ahead, so I’m hoping students come prepared to participate!

ENG2D – Grade 10 English students will continue focusing on Lord of the Flies this week. Our focus will be on getting a better understanding of the themes within the novel by taking a close look at the language, as well as comparing the main characters, Ralph and Jack. We will use some new organizational and writing strategies to improve reading, thinking, and writing skills. I would also like to spend some time, if possible, doing some additional Grade 10 Literacy Test practice as students will be writing on October 20. Here are some important resources for the literacy test:

Download (PDF, 1.84MB)

Parent Resources
Student Resources

ICS2O – Grade 10 Computer Science students will complete the unit on Computer Hardware this week, which will be followed up with a unit test. Students have spent time using various resources to gain knowledge in such things as microprocessors and storage devices. Students will also work on disassembling and reassembling a computer.

Our next major unit is an introduction to the Python programming language. This powerful, open source language is used by major computer companies as well as hobbyists. There are some pretty cool projects that can be made using Python so we’ll see where we go!

Here are some great Python introductory projects.

Here’s hoping everyone has a wonderful week. Please let me know if you have comments or questions!