As many of you know, it’s been a tremendously awesome week for the Wilson Clan. On Thursday, April 7, we welcomed our daughter, Tessa, into the world. I want to thank all of my students for their messages and kind thoughts, but also for their patience, as it’s been a week since I’ve been in class. I’m on my way back, though!

This week is MidTerm week, (at least teachers have to prepare them this week) so I will be consulting with each student as to where they stand progress-wise. This is extremely important for college and university applications. No stress! Otherwise, here’s what’s happening this week:

ENG3U Grade 11 University English: Final, revised copies of the Frankenstein essay are due on Monday. Students benefited from a few extra days made possible by Tessa’s arrival. Through the use of descriptive feedback and past essay writing knowledge, I’m expecting these to be awesome. In addition, the creative culminating projects for the short story unit are due. I’m really pumped about these ones and look forward to sharing them. We are going to jump into Macbeth next. For students who aren’t Shakespeare fans, this play is actually pretty straightforward and the characters are awesome. Huzzah!

ENG4C Grade 12 College English: This week, students will begin looking at business writing, (the wonderful world of reports, forms, business language, and planning) as it connects to many first-year college programs. We will look at some more technical forms of writing. This is a short unit, but it’s an important one for building skills necessary for success after high school. The Crow Lake Final Report Assignment should be completed by now. If it’s not, students risk a zero on their midterm for this assignment so make sure to get it done!

ENG4U Grade 12 University English: We are about a quarter of the way through Ishmael, which is a bit behind where I want to be, but again – blame Tessa. We will continue our Socratic approach to the novel, (meaning discussions and seminars) this week after reviewing where we left off early last week. Students have been working on a few projects in the meantime. One is a research project on an Ancient Civilization and the other is a bit more creative: a rant about society.

Once again, thank you so, so much for all of your kindness, patience, and understanding. We will get back on track this week and work our way into the second half of the semester. Please get in touch with me if you need any extra help or guidance. Enjoy your week!

Today, Grade 11 University English students begin a short story project. You can view the assignment here to see the learning goal and success criteria.

Students must choose from this list of short stories: http://bit.ly/25wguSc and record their choice by visiting this link: http://bit.ly/1VTduuT

Hooray for short stories! Looking forward to the finished products!

March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. To be completely honest, I don’t even remember the beginning of the month as everything’s blown by so quickly. I do know that the weather says that there might be some snow this week so we’ll see how lamb-ish the end of the month truly is for Greenstone.

I also know that midterms are fast-approaching and this is a very important time for everyone, especially potential grads. Therefore, please ensure all work is done on time and that you see me if you need help! Here’s the update for this week:

ENG3U – Grade 11 University English students will transition from Frankenstein to short stories this week. Students will write a unit test on Tuesday, work on their essays, and begin studying the form and style of short stories. I have a collection of fifteen great stories, (one for everyone!) and this will lead into a bit of a presentation project.

ENG4C – Grade 12 College English will wrap up Crow Lake this week. I’m a little disappointed that more students didn’t keep up with the reading, though there is still a short opportunity for people to catch up and complete the novel. Students will be completing a review assignment on the novel this week. Next up is a unit on business writing and college preparation.

ENG4U – Grade 12 University English students begin Ishmael this week. We will use the novel as a means to discuss our impact on the world, as well as social issues, the role of the individual and society, and whether or not the world really is in danger from humanity. I’m looking forward to some interesting discussions!

As we get introduced to Ishmael, here are some websites with background information that may have inspired Daniel Quinn to write:

-And-

The 1960s – Facts and Summary (History.com)

April is right around the corner and the remaining time between now and the end of the semester will go by quickly. Thanks to students who have been working hard on assignments, using feedback to improve their work, and participating in class discussions. It’s been fun so far! Have a great week!