Students read their personal novels, then watched a scary "Veldt" video, by Deadmau5.
We talked about what makes an effective hook - and looked at their "Seven Snappy Starters" homework.
We discussed theme in "The Veldt" - and students set about planning their upcoming paragraph work.
All writing will take place in class, or in the Writing Lab - NO WRITING WILL HAPPEN AT HOME.
Today students learned the term allusion and reviewed foreshadowing, setting, symbol, conflict, and theme.
In small groups, those students who had handed in their work on time were able to receive feedback from classmates on their work. They discussed answers, but also checked that the work was titled properly, that quotes were incorporated and properly cited, that there was no 1st-person, that pronoun use was accurate, and that the answers made sense.
Groups were also investigating the connection between setting, conflict, symbol, and theme in the text. They were asked to come up with two symbols from the text and explain them, and to write a theme statement.
Few followed the steps for writing a theme statement - and most could do with a re-think.
Next class we will continue to look at theme, and begin working on paragraph writing in earnest.
Students handed in the hard copies of their homework, and picked up the following:
Anyone who missed today's quiz, or the sheets, should come to tutorial as soon as possible.
For homework, students are choosing one of the three possible topics at the end of the "Seven Snappy Starters" sheet, and then writing seven snappy starters for that topic - as per the example on the sheet (regarding exercise).
Anyone wishing to get a big ahead should be thinking about the overarching theme in "The Veldt."
Students began the block with reading their personal novels, and doing a Comma Review - there is a comma quiz next class.
We then read the remainder of "The Veldt," with students highlighting advanced technology/negative impacts of technology as they read.
We concluded the block with a brief discussion of some aspects of the story.
HMWRK - The assignment for "The Veldt" will be on Teams. As per the last work, please bring a hard copy to class to work with.
Students began class with a quick check in, before doing some comma work and reading their personal novels.
Students looked at the feedback on their previous assignments (some never handed them in, so they will be at a disadvantage for the next work).
Students received their theme statements, and we went over some possible examples.
We discussed the positive and negative impacts of technology on students' lives, before beginning work on "The Veldt." We read to the bottom of page 120 - we will continue reading next class.
Today's class was interrupted by a lengthy earthquake/fire drill. We did not get through all that was intended, but we'll pickup from where we left off next class.
Students handed in their new theme statements, and picked up:
Students should ensure they understand both sheets, and practice writing theme statements for a few of their favourite stories/movies.
We began today's class with students handing in the homework from last day - 1/3rd of the class did not have work to hand in. There is a clear trend for some students, and they should look to prioritize this early learning, or they will find themselves very behind in just a short time.
No one did a perfect job of the homework - as a result, we set about writing better statements, and critiquing them as a class. No group wrote a perfect statement.
AND SO! Homework is to write a solid theme statement for "Barney," using the "How to Write a Theme Statement" sheet.
Please note: Students were encouraged to go to the Writing Lab for help with this work at lunch today, but most did not do so. The HWL is open Mon/Tues/Wed, and tutorials are open daily, apart from the FRIDAY OF WEEK 1.
Students read their personal novels, then watched a scary "Veldt" video, by Deadmau5. We talked about what makes an effective hook...
