Dec 13,2010

HUM 8

Please finish using the insert strategy ?_+etc as you finish reading the bias article. (If you did not complete it in class.)

Eng 11

Confirm with parents that you are able to bring what you signed up to bring to the potluck.
THink about your eulogy on Macbeth or Lady macbeth for Friday.

Dec 9,2010

HUM 8
Please finish the last worksheet on the newspaper. You do not need to do number 8 and 9.

Then finish your article on PLI T and values. (You only need to do one-the one you were doing in class).
Think about how is the value embedded(how do you see the value in the article) in the article  and expressed in it.
Why do you think it is a positive or negative value.
THIS ONLY NEEDS TO BE IN DRAFT FORM PLEASE

Eng 11

If you didn't finish the tragic hero chart please complete it,

Dec 7,2010

HUM 8

Please finish the first two sheets for the newspaper. I believe they are numbered 38,39,40,41 and then 46, 47, 48, 49. You don't want to be doing the sheet with the chart on it. THis will be due on Thurs. I know most of you finished one sheet in class and some almost finsihed the second.

ENG 11
Please put your character analysis into a wordle and post it on the class blog. We have amzing step by step instructions. Thanks to Matt for posting them  and to  Matt and Danny for figuring out how to do it and teaching the class!!! Thanks guys.

Feudal Contract Rubric

Content

EE-FM
1. Extremely fair
2. Answers the target fully
3. List all obligations
4. Position always stated when appropriate
5. Given criteria is followed
6. Consequence is very appropriate
7. Completely logical and realistic

M
1. Mostly fair
2. Answers the target adequately
3. Listed some obligations
4. Position usually stated
5. Given criteria is mostly followed
6. Consequence is appropriate
7. Very logical and realistic

MM
1. Not very fair
2. Answers the target partially
3. Listed one obligation
4. Position sometimes or partially stated
5. Given criteria is minimally followed
6. Consequence is not very appropriate
7. Somewhat logical and realistic

NY
1. Not fair at all
2. Does not answer the target
3. Did not list an obligation
4. Position not stated
5. Given criteria not followed
6. Consequence not stated or poor
7. Not logical and not realistic

Feudal Contract Rubric

Creativity/Appearance

EE-FM
1. Very artistic
2. Paper mimics the Middle Ages
3. Very neat

M
1. Artistic
2. Colourful construction paper
3. Fairly Neat

MM
1. Slightly artistic
2. Blank white paper
3. Somewhat neat

NY
1. Plain
2. Lined paper
3. Not neat at all

Feudal Contract Rubric

Grammar/Expression

EE-FM
1. Few errors; these do not distract the reader
2. Sentence structure and vocab enhance the content

M
1. May include errors; these do not distract the reader
2. Sentence structure and vocab enhance the content

MM
1. Includes errors that may distract the reader but do not interfere with meaning.
2. Simple sentences and vocab

NY
1. Several errors that make the writing difficult to understand.
2. Sentences may be incomplete or run-on.

Dec 1,2010

HUM 8

YOur character Journeys need to be shared with me on Friday.

ENG 11

Draft Character analysis due Friday Dec 3

Nov 29, 2010

Hello everyone,

There is NO HOMEWORK for Wednesday!!! =D

I just want you to check the blog every now and then. That's all!

(If you haven't seen my earlier post on Nov 24, 2010, then please have a look at it. I think it might help prepare you for Friday's summative assessment).

See you all on Wednesday,

Mr. Wong

Nov 25,2010

HUM 8

Please see Mr. Wong's post yesterday.

Please print off one of your slides and explain why you have chosen to hand it in. How do you see it connecting to one of your EQ's.(EG. Why is this slide adn example of what makes a powerful leader or civilization etc.) Look in your notes for your other EQ and you can pick any relevant EQ of your choosing.

ENG 11
Presentataitons are due on Monday.

Nov 24, 2010

Hello everyone,

You all should have a 2-page handout on Feudalism. Your homework will be to magnet strategy all three sections. Please read the comments that I wrote on your homework and look at MY MAGNET STRATEGY of the Bayeux Tapestry as an example of how I formed my sentences.

Here are some guidelines that you should follow when doing the magnet strategy:
1) Do one little magnet note per paragraph (the start of a new paragraph is always indented). For this homework, you MUST have only 6 little magnet notes.

2) Do one big magnet note per section ("Feudalism Develops In Europe", "The Lives of Nobles", "Manorialism"). I want just one sentence on each big magnet note. For this homework, you MUST have only 3 big magnet notes.

3) Try to use different magnet words in a section. Ex. If you chose "Europe" as your magnet word for the first paragraph in the section, "Feudalism Develops In Europe", you CANNOT use it in the second paragraph of the section. Read this next part carefully! You CAN use "Europe" in the next section, "The Lives of Nobles", because it is a different section. But if you use it for one paragraph, then you cannot use it for the second paragraph in this section. ("Europe" is not a good magnet word for the second section).

4) Your "clinging" words are the words that you attach to your magnet word. You can have many clinging words but make them short.
Suppose your magnet word is society and you are now looking for clinging words...

DO NOT DO THIS: Ex. "peasants served and were controlled by nobles"
DO THIS: peasants
or DO THIS: nobles
or DO THIS: controlled

5) Use ALL magnet words in your sentence. You do not have to use all your clinging words in your sentence.

I know this is a lot to read and a bit hard to do but it is a good strategy that will help you remember important details. It will pay off in the end. Keep up the good work and see you all on Monday. Pro-D day on Friday! Awesome!!

Cheers,

Mr. Wong

Nov 19, 2010

Hello everyone,

I hope you all enjoy your weekend. It's already starting to snow outside! Make sure you stay warm and watch out for cars. Be safe and have fun. =D

Here is the homework I assigned:

1) Use the magnet strategy for the "Preparing for War" section on p. 39-40. I will collect this as a formative assessment. You may write it all on paper OR you may write them on sticky tabs and stick them onto the paper.
2) Read" The Tactics and Technology of a Battle" and "Medieval Propaganda" sections (p. 40-41). You do not have to use the magnet strategy for these. Furthermore, you do not have to read the "Making the Tapestry" section.

By reading these sections, you will see how William defeated Harold and discover why the tapestry was put together.

See you all on Monday,

Mr. Wong

NOV 19,2010

HUM 8

Please finsih your power points for Monday. I will try and gmail a rubric to you on the weekend. Check your gmail accounts Sunday. I can't promis that it will be there,but I will do my best. I will have it for Mon am.

FInish Magnet strategy for Mr. Wong. read and Magnet strategy text.

ENG 11

Work on your final group presentations due NOV 29. No more class time to work on them.

Post a comment on someone elses blog( a Praise, Polish, Ponder) someone who is doing a different scene.

nov12,2010

Eng 11

Work on your macbeth presentations
On your blog write about your understanding of the scene so far and what EQ"s you are intending to connnect ot and why. Bring in any text support to help back up what you are saying.

nov 9,2010

HUM 8
Create a gmail account if you do not already have one. You can email me your gamil address to mscenglish11@gmail.com.
You need to bring your signed agendas-internet user agreements for Friday's class as we will be in the lab.

If you haven't finished reading Max please try and finish reading it.
If you didn't finsh your notes on the Anglo Saxons and Celts finish them for Friday as well as we will be using them for our computer project.

Eng 11

Read over the Macbeth assignment and think about what scene you want to present and who you want to work with. If you can bring a laptop to class on Friday.

nov 7

I was away on Friday. All classes will probably have to finish what they did not finish in class.
Keep reading Max the Mighty (HUM 8) Macbeth(ENG 11).

Nov 3, 2010

HUM 8

summative Assessment on Fri.   Be able to explain in detail why the Vikings were a powerful civilization/society. Can you give examples and explain why you gave those points.

Finish reading max

Bring a silent reading novel of your choice if you have finished Max.

• Finish your character chart-if you haven't already

ENG 11

Read any version of ACT I of Macbeth
Post on your blog an explanation of how you see one of the NEW EQ connecting to the first ACT. eg what is ambition ?and use examples from what you saw in the movie to explain your answer. A written verison of your group discussion. use quotes to back up what you are saying and refer to your chart that you filled in from the movie to help you find what to write about.

NOv 1,2010

HUM 8

Please finish all 6 paragraphs of note taking  on the Viking hand out. Iam looking at main ideas(what is important) and the Nov 3

there will be an in class Summative Assessment on the Vikings on Friday. Why were they a powerful civilization. Be sure that you are able to explain your answers with examples.

If you have finished MAX please bring in your own silent reading book.

Eng 11

Think about what you saw in Macbeth today.

One more thing for HUM 8

FOR YOUR INFO WED AFTER SCHOOL See How a TREBUCHET works


What: "What about Jack?": Used jack o lanterns will be launched by a trebuchet onto our field where they smash and be collected for compost
When: Wednesday, November 3 from 3:00-5:00pm
Where: McMath back field / north end of student's parking lot
Why: to encourage composting of pumpkins after Halloween and composting in general and to promote school spirit
Who: the GVRD, Richmond district, the Natural Club, the Link Crew, and student's council will all be involved / participating in some way.
How: the GVRD is setting it up using their engineers and safety plan. The district is cleaning up. We bring the kids and pumpkins.

Oct 30,2010

HUM 8

No homework. Some of you may be finishing Max, if so make sure you bring a silent reading novel to class on Monday.

Great responses to what made the Vikings a powerful civilization.

Eng 11

Please post a link on your blog to help simplify Mabeth. Eg Sparks notes etc.

Oct 27,2010

HUM 8
Just think about societies and civilizations. What do you notice around you.

ENG 11

Select your favourite blog entry and fillout the sheet on why it is your best. Feel free to make any changes to improve it. This will be your summative response entry to demonstrate your best piece of reflecting for this unit.

Select another word from the list and represent it to show you understand it. This piece will also be summative to show you have transferred what we did in class the other day.

oct 22,2010

HUM 8
No homework.

Eng 11
Your summative projects on your short stories are due. Remember to include the persopnal part-the connection piece as well as connecting to the stories.
Due Tues Oct 26

Oct 15, 2010

HUM 8

please finish your scale piece of the world. Those of you who do have two pieces can leave it as a box if you want.

If you didn't finish your role play please finish that. I will post the criteria later. It is what we discussed in class.

Eng 11

Begin thinking about the final task. You have it and it is also an older post on this blog and on the class blog.

ENG 11 Summative Task Identity

Here is your final task. It is also on the class blog.


SUMMATIVE IDENTITY TASK


ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

How are people transformed through their relationships with others?

How does what I know about the world shape the way we view ourselves?

How do our personal experiences shape our views of others? Ourselves?

What does it mean to be an insider or an outsider?

What personal qualities help or hinder a person’s growth?



Guiding thoughts to include in your final piece:

 Which of the poems and/or stories had the most meaning for you personally?

 What thoughts and/or feelings did the texts evoke in you. Why?

 What ideas or feelings seem most significant to you? Why?

 Does the literature remind you of anything significant in your own life? Explain.

 How do the stories or poems resonate with your own experience?

 How can reflecting on the differences and similarities help you clarify your own identity as distinct/or similar from/to the character in the text?

Explore the theme of identity and how it connects to the literary works we have studied in this unit. Your final piece can be written, oral, video, PowerPoint, piece of art, music, art, a combination of these or any other idea.(Please see me).

Introduction: explain the theme you’ve identified within the literary works. (Hint; look to EQ’s)



Body: present a well developed personal connection to this theme by employing concrete examples (evidence) from the literary works and by narrating incidents from your own experience and/or ways of thinking. (You’ll find some of this in your formative pieces on your blog—look to what you have done in your responses.)



Conclusion: bring your discussion to a logical and memorable close.











Fully Meeting Meeting Minimally Meeting Not Yet Meeting

Exploration of identity theme

Theme is explored in extensive depth, ideas have been interpreted and personalized, Meaningfully chosen text support is included from multiple sources and is well integrated.

Theme is explored and understood. Some interpretation and personal understanding is evident.

Text support used to express point.

Theme is referred to and basic understanding is demonstrated. Very little text support. Theme is basically referred to but understanding is not evident,

No text support.





Understandings of the concepts of identity

Has an insightful, original and detailed way in explaining and showing their identity(interpreted and personalized)

Has a solid understanding of the implication of the concept of identity

Has included several examples from multiple (diverse) sources Theme of identity is explored and there is some interpretation (personal) evident

Is able to explain show and connect identity with some evidence from a source. Mentions identity and basic

understanding is demonstrated Brief mention of identity

Understanding is not evident

Method of presentation

Format is powerful and captivating, conveys theme, clear effective, engaging, unique choice of material shows and understanding of audience and purpose

The presentation is coherent and organized with a clear and effective pattern of development. Format is unique, theme is clear, focused, effective.

Choice of material shows considerable sense of audience and purpose Ideas are presented effectively, with the format is in consistent organization and pattern. Format is functional, predictable, choice of material shows some sense of audience and purpose Format is incomplete

brief

Oct 14,2010

HUM 8

Please finish your joint paragraph on the journey of one of the characters from the movie. I realize you began it together, however for those of you who did not finish it in class you may finish it on your own.

Also please finish the sclae activity making the wrapper 50% smaller.

Eng 11

Please post on the class blog or your own if you are not on the class one yet a song or poem of your choice that connnects to identity with a  brief explanation as to why you have selected it.

Oct7

Hum 8
No hmwk
W
Eng 11
Create your blog
Read second Short' story
Finish your resonse tobrother dear
Post an image etc on your blog for the second Short story

OCT 4 2010

HUM 8

Finish Journal # 3 writing a detailed connection to the last short story you read.

Finish summarizing the notes on scale in your own words.
Due for WEd, Oct 6

Eng 11

Please create your blog.
Please return the signed letter of permission form your parents so you can blog.
The class blog address  is  MrsCEnglish11.blogspot.com
Please email me your blog address at mscenglish11@gmail.com

Write your response to "Brother Dear" for WEd.

Sept 30,2010

HUM 8
Find 3 connections for your short story.

Summative Assessment on Latitude and longitude Monday OCt. 4 Please review your notes and know everything we have studied on it.

ENg 11

Fill out chart on Brother Dear for Monday

sept 28,2010

HUM 8

Please finish your sheets on latitude and longitude for Thursday Sept 30.
Please bring in a blank file folder.



ENg 11

Please bring in a blank file folder.

Sept 24,2010

HUM 8
 You don't have any homework this weekend. Please remember to bring in your file folder for next class.

ENG 11

Good copy of your essay on Humanity is due. Please ensure that it is typed double spaced. It is due on Tues. Remember to include both drafts with it.

Please remember your file folders.

sept 23 2010

HUM 8

Please finish the map of your Day 2 at school. It is due Thurs Sept 23.
Please bring in a file folder and your sticky notes if you have not already done so.

Eng 11
Please complete your 2nd draft of your Humanity paper for Thursday. remember to write about Humanity and Identity and the impact/role they have in your life.

Sept 17

HUM 8
Please finish your map of the world.(All the places we want to go or have  been) It is due Tues.

Sept 16

HUM 8
Bring a picture or a printout of a place you have been to or want to go to for Friday Sept 17.
Please bring your binder with 3 dividers as well. 3 packs of sticky notes also.

Eng 11

I Am creation is due on Friday.

sept 13, 2010

HUM 8

Welcome to the start of the school year and you have found this blog. YOur homework is to finish the collage for Wed. Sept 15th. It is all about you. 10 I am statements and visuals.

For Friday Please bring your binder with dividers 3 at the moment. Also please bring 3 packs if post its.
Also 25cents for the journals.
IF you haven't returned the signed form please return it.
Thanks

JUne 1,2010

HUM 8

the students are working in partners and selecting how they want to present their topic on Japan. They will have THursday's class to work on their presentations and their work-skits, videos, posters etc are due on Monday June 7.

Eng 11

Your choice   summative journal  is due on THursday June 3 . Look at your 3 formative ones you wrote for the most recent lit circle, take my feedback and your peers, and if need be, polish it and hand it in for your summative journal entry. Please select your best entry. Make sure you discuss the EQ, the context and that there is a connection.

may 10,2010

PLEASE NOTE I WILL NOT BE POSTING ON THIS BLOG UNTIL MAY 26. THERE WILL STILL BE HOMEWORK.  I AM TAKING A GROUP OF STUDENTS TO JAPAN. WHEN I RETURN, THE POSTING WILL RESUME.


HUMANITIES 8

Who was the most important person in the Renaissance? Presentations are due Wed May 12.
We are beginning a new unit on Friday.

Eng 11

You have to work on yur multimedia presentations. They are due May 26.

Thursday May 6, 2010

HUMANITIES 8

Complete your comparison notes from the movie on what you saw was different about life in the Renaissance to the Middle Ages. Most students completed this in class as they watched the movie. We also discussed it at one point. I will be checking to make sure that everyone had a chance to finish it over the weekend.

The Most impressive piece of art and artist of invention/ scientist is due on Wed May 12. Everybody has to be ready to present in some oral fashion adn have some written product. THe product is up to you.

ENG 11

Journal 3 is due Monday. How are relationships impacted by decisions,how do conflicts impact decisions etc. Look to what you discussed this week in your lit circles.
YOur novels need to be finsihed by may 14. Next Friday.

May 4,2010

HUM 8
Renaissance Projects
I have changed the due date to WEd MAY 12. You have the option of having any way to represent your learning.. I do need an oral and written component to go with it. YOu can do a poster, a podcast, a poster point, the original way, other... Some of you are finished-please just practice!!!!!

Continue to read your novels.

ENg 11
Please continue to read your novels.

HUM 8

Renaissance Project:

Many of you began your draft in class today. For Tuesday, May 4th finish your draft. 

Tuesday May 4-you will have both classes to recreate the Artwork. Bring all necessary materials and supplies to class. I do have some construction paper. YOu can print the image off the computer, you just need to make it look fancier.

YOu can also work on your good copy of your write up after you have had your draft peer edited. (We will have time in class for this).

Journal #2: If you did not finish it in class today, please finish it for homework. Remember to bring in a quote, connect it to an Eq as you explain why you picked that passage and then write your connection piece.

Novels need to be finished By May 14.I HOPE YOU ARE READING AT HOME.

Eng 11

Final revised paper (Decision) due May 4.

Continue reading.

2nd journal entry due this week.  EQ, connection and evidence . Think about what you have been discussing in class.

April26

HUM 8
Renaissance Project:
Notes-due Friday April 30-you will have a class on Wed and one class on Friday to finish your note taking. Bring all notes and books to class.

You also need to find what piece of art work or invention etc you are recreating by the end of class on Friday.

Tuesday May 4-you will have both classes to recreate the Artwork. Bring all necessary materials and supplies to class. I do have some construction paper. YOu can print the image off the computer, you just need to make it look fancier.

Novels need to be finished By May 14.I HOPE YOU ARE READING AT HOME.

Eng 11

Final draft of decision paper due Fri. April 30 In ink  double spaced or typed. Final revised paper due May 4.

Continue reading.
2nd journal entry due this week.  EQ, connection and evidence . Think about what you have been discussing in class.

April 21, 2010

HUM 8

Your good copy of your opinion piece is due MONDAY APRIL 26. Please hand in your draft and your outline with it.

Please post three websites you found on the blog to help you with your research. Remember we are also looking at Renaissance art in general as well as your person. What contributed to creativity during that time period? What is Renaissance art like? You should have a good chunk of your notes completed using the SQRRRR method for WEd April 28.

Answer on the blog or on paper the question I have posted.

ENG 11

Final draft of decision piece due Friday April 30.

JOurnal with comments on blog due by Monday's class. Ideally sunday night.

April 19,2010

HUM 8

Draft of your opinion piece is due Wed. April 21st.

Eng 11

Draft of your 1st revised Decision piece is due April 21st.

April 16,2010

Hum8

PLease finish your Renaissance chart. You need to have completed 3 people by Monday.

You also need a draft version of your decision you have made.

Eng 11

Draft version of your decision you have made. Min 2 pages double spaced.

April 13, 2010

HUM 8

Write about a decision you have made in draft form for Thursday.

Answer one EQ on the blog for thurs. Englishlysoc8.blogspot.com

If you did not finish your opinion piece, please have it finished for Thursday.
Remember your novel as well.

Eng 11
Good copy of your journal entry due Thursday.
Draft of Decision due Thursday.

Friday April 9,2010

HUM 8

Check out the blog we created as a class today!!! engsoc8.blogspot.com
Ideally if you can create a gmail account to access it for posting your comment, but you do not need to. Otherwise you can comment as anonymous, just make sure you sign your name.

OUtline of position paper due Tues. April 13. Select a topic that you are passionate about and are willing to speak to the class about.

ENG 11

Journal entry due Tues April 13. Remember I am looking for good connections.

Hum 8

Good copy of your Reformation drafts-Who in your opinion was the most important person of the Reformation. Remember to have Three points!!!!!

Sign your blogging permission letter.

Find your novel to read with a partner. I have a class set of novels to choose from if you don't want to choose your own.

Eng 11

Think of all the symbols and imagery in the film.

Sat April 3

Hum 8
Please finish who you think is the most importatn person in the Reformation and why. On the back of your chart sheet is fine. One or two sentences is fine as well. Due WEd april.7.

If you are choosing not to use one of the class novels for our next novel study,please checkwith me to verify that the novel will be suitable.  I am including a list of suggestions you might want to check out. You can also come up with your own ideas as well. Enjoy the long weekend.

Title of Novel: Ask Me No Questions


Author: Budhos, Marina ISBN: 9781416949206 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 8 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

This is the story of Nadira Hossain and her family, who emigrated from Bangladesh to America, and remained in the country ilegally on a visitor's visa. The two daughters, Nadira and Aisha both attend high school in New York, and face the racism that emerges after 9/11. As U.S. paranoia grows in the wake of the terrorist attacks, Muslim men are made to register with the government and as a result, Nadira's father faces the possibility of deportation. The family seeks refuge in Canada, only to be turned back, arrested and detained by U.S. immigration. It is up to the two sisters, particularly Nadira, to try and free her father, and save the life her family has created in America.



Title of Novel: Burn My Heart

Author: Naidoo, Beverley ISBN: 9780141321240 Copyright: 2007



Recommended for Grade(s): 7,8 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Two young boys, Mathew, white and privileged, and Mugo, black and poor, befriend each other during unrest in the Kenya Highlands in the 1950's. Tensions mount as the Mau Mau, a group of impatient Kikuyu intimidate their tribemates to take oaths to resist land ownership by white settlers, and to forcefully take back their native land. Mathew and Mugo's friendship is compromised by the growing tension and suspicion between blacks and whites and Mathew becomes more involved with Lance, a friend from his boarding school. Mugo becomes marginalized as Lance and his father, Inspector Smithers, influence Mathew's father's attitudes towards the black workers who provide service on their ranch. Ultimately, while exploring on his father's ranch, Mathew is goded by Lance into making a careless error that has serious implications for Mugo and his family.



Title of Novel: Code Orange

Author: Cooney, Caroline B. ISBN: 9780385732604 Copyright: 2005



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Code Orange is written by an American author and it takes place in post 911 New York. It is a contemporary suspense/survival story not only about a 16 year old boy named Mitty, but also about the greater population of NYC. The story unfolds as Mitty procrastinates doing his science research project on the infectious disease smallpox. His soon to be girlfriend Olivia motivates him to begin his school work. At the beginning of his research he stubbles upon some old scabs that turn out to be 102 years old and from a smallpox victim. He believes that he has contracted smallpox and in an attempt to seek assistance from the medical world on-line, terrorists learn about his condition and kidnap him to use him in his infected state to kill the people of NY. The FBI and the CDC as well as his friends and parents franctically search for him as he tells no one about his fears of having smallpox.



Title of Novel: Does My Head Look Big In This?

Author: Abdel-Fattah, Randa ISBN: 9780439922333 Copyright: 2005



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Amal, an Australian-Palestinian girl living in Melbourne makes a decision to wear the hijab full-time as a step of her Islamic faith. This decision receives the reluctant support of her parents who fear, rightfully so it seems as the novel unfolds, the issues Amal will face as a result. This decision by Amal combined with typical female teenage issues of crushes on boys, the drama of female friendships and cliques, the pressure to succeed in school, and conflicts with parents and authority figures which provide the central plot of the novel.

Title of Novel: Far North

Author: Hobbs, Will ISBN: 9780380725366 Copyright: 1996



Recommended for Grade(s): 7,8 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Fifteen year old Gabe Rogers is an only child being raised by his grandparents in Texas. His mother is deceased and his father works on the diamond drilling rigs in the Northwest Territories. Gabe decides to move to a boarding school in Yellowknife to be closer to his father and to experience the "real" North that he has read much about in his father's letters. Gabe shares a room with a Dene youth named Raymond Providence. Raymond, like many Dene teens, quits school and plans to return to his remote community. The story begins when the Cessna carrying Raymond, Johnny Raven a Dene elder, and Gabe experiences engine problems. The pilot dies and the three are left in the middle of a subarctic winter. The teens learn how to survive the winter from the traditional methods of Johnny and of the Dene people.

Title of Novel: Flight or Fight (Wildlife Rescue Series)

Author: Haynes, Diane ISBN: 9781552856581 Copyright: 2005



Recommended for Grade(s): 7,8 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Jane is a quiet high school girl who is moved to a more active ecological awareness by the discovery of a bird that has been covered in canola oil from a spill in Burrard Inlet while she is training for a half marathon running around Stanley Park. As she learns more about the problem she becomes embroiled in a battle with the polluting company. When Jane escalates her attempt to make the company assume responsibility she becomes a target of violence from members of the company.

Title of Novel: Heck Superhero

Author: Leavitt, Martine ISBN: 9780889953338 Copyright: 2004



Recommended for Grade(s): 7,8 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Heck, the 13-year-old protagonist, is left alone and on the streets after he and his mother are separated after being evicted from their apartment. Heck's mother suffers from mental illness and Heck's only concern is finding her before she harms herself or finds herself truly lost from him forever.

Title of Novel: I Am David

Author: Holm, Anne ISBN: 9780749701369 Copyright: 1965



Recommended for Grade(s): 7,8 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

David escapes from a concentration camp with the help of a man who works at the camp. The man gives David instructions to make his way to Denmark. With very little but his convictions and what he has learned while growing up in the camp, he travels over several European countries to eventually discover the man saved him and sent him to find his mother. All along his journey he fears that they will eventually catch up with him and send him back to the camp. He uses his wits, his strong sense of self, and his newly found connection to his God to make his way home.

Title of Novel: Kat's Fall

Author: Hrdlitschka, Shelley ISBN: 9781551433127 Copyright: 2004



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Darcy, a 15 year old teenage boy, attends an alternative school and lives with his younger sister and his father. Darcy is very protective of his sister as she is both deaf and epileptic. Darcy is the primary care giver for his sister as his father is a trucker who is completely out of his element in dealing with a disabled child. Darcy’s mother has been in jail for many years. She was convicted of attempting to murder his then baby sister by throwing her off a balcony. Tensions escalate when Darcy’s mother is released from jail and their father wants Darcy’s sister to go live with their mother. Darcy regularly cuts himself even though he knows this is not a healthy activity. Darcy then begins to have memory flashbacks which reveal to him that he, not his mother, had thrown his sister off the balcony. Further hardship is added to Darcy’s already stressful life when Darcy is falsely accused of sexually molesting a young deaf girl whom he babysits.

Title of Novel: Killing Sea, The

Author: Lewis, Richard ISBN: 9781416953722 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 8 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Two teens, from completely different worlds, find each other in the wake of the destruction by the most devasting tsunami ever seen. Ruslan, a native of Aceh, is searching for his father, while Sarah, an American girl, having lost both parents struggles to find medical assistance for her brother. Although from different worlds, they depend on each other's strengths. Although fictional, the novel provides a fairly accurate descrption of the tsunami that struck Indonesia in December 2004.

Title of Novel: King Of The Lost and Found

Author: Lekich, John ISBN: 9781551928029 Copyright: 2007



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Raymond Dunne is being raised by his dad who has to work two jobs to support the family. Raymond desperately wants to be popular at school, but his medical conditions (including spontaneous fainting) make him more of the school freak than anything. Raymond becomes involved with Jack, the grade 12 ex-basketball star and gets caught up in an elaborate and subversive scheme to turn the school's secret bomb shelter into a very exclusive club where select students gather to participate in activities that the school administration has banned. The story is about unlikely but productive friendship and not being limited by seemingly obvious physical and social constraints.

Title of Novel: Lightning Thief, The

Author: Riordan, James ISBN: 9780786838653 Copyright: 2005



Recommended for Grade(s): 7,8 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Percy Jackson has struggled in school due to dyslexia and self-described ADHD. Every field trip he has ever taken has resulted in some disaster. The only teacher he respects is his Latin teacher whose interest in ancient mythology peaks his interest. However on his Grade Six fieldtrip he is attacked by his Math teacher, an ancient Greek fury, and he finds out that his best friend is a satyr who is only at school to protect him. He escapes to a summer camp for halfbloods - children of mortal humans and Greek gods - and finds himself in the middle of a war between Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. His quest, which he must accept to save his mother, is to find who stole Zeus's lightning bolt and the helm of Hades and prove it wasn't his father.

of Novel: No Signature

Author: Bell, William ISBN: 9780770427061 Copyright: 1992



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

As Steven "Wick" Chandler, approaches his eighteenth birthday, he is overcome with a need to find out what happened to his father who disappeared 10 years ago. When his father first left, he sent Wick postcards regularly. They contained no message and no signature: just DAD stamped on the back. After seeing the emotional toll these postcards were taking, Wick's mother hid the subsequent postcards, causing Wick to wonder why his father all but forgot about him. When Wick discovers his mother's secret, he is compelled to find his father, but when he does, he is not prepared for what he finds. His father has been keeping a shameful secret all these years, but by revealing this secret to Wick, the two are able to rebuild their relationship. As a result, Wick is able to make peace with the conflicts he has been fighting inside himself.

Title of Novel: Pirates!

Author: Rees, Celia ISBN: 9780747564690 Copyright: 2003



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Two young women from completely diverse backgrounds find themselves in a situation that causes them to flee to the perilous life of piracy. Although their backgrounds are different, they share many parallels within their fight for their lives on the high seas.

Title of Novel: Step from Heaven, A

Author: An Na ISBN: 9780142500279 Copyright: 2001



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

This story is very well-written. It is about an immigrant family struggling to find their place in a new country. The abusive father provides a foil for the characters' own struggle and success in America. The novel is not a conventional narrative. It is written as a series of episodes connected chronologically. At the beginning the students might find it difficult to follow because of the structure and the point of view of the young protagonist who lives in Korea and doesn't speak any English.

Title of Novel: Stitches

Author: Huser, Glen ISBN: 9780888995780 Copyright: 2003



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Travis, a grade 9 student, and his friend Chantelle are consumed with their puppet production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Travis' talent makes him a target of bullying which becomes increasingly threatening when his friend Amber breaks up with her boyfriend, the bully. Travis' home life is turbulent; his mother works on the road and he lives in a trailer with his aunt, uncle and cousins. The aunt and uncle have a dysfunctional marriage. Travis' living conditions cause him some embarrassment, but his friends from more affluent backgrounds accept him anyway. Travis and Chantelle have a particularly close relationship; they call themselves "the changelings" because neither of them see themselves as "normal" - Chantelle is physically disabled, while Travis' interest in sewing puppets sets him apart from most teenage boys.

Title of Novel: Tweaked

Author: Holubitsky, Katherine ISBN: 9781551438511 Copyright: 2008



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Sixteen year-old Gordie Jessup watches in horror as his older brother relentlessly spirals down into a grim world of crystal methamphetamine addiction. His horror turns to rage as he feels helpless to stop the impending ruin of his once-happy family. No one is immune to the devastating effects of crystal meth in this story that leaves the reader believing this nightmare could happen to anyone.

Title of Novel: Vertical Limits

Author: Withers, Pam ISBN: 9781552857830 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Two fifteen-year-old protagonists, Jake and Peter, and an older friend decide to assist Jake on a solo climb of a 3000 foot cliff face. Peter intends to produce a documentary of the adventure. They pick up a hitch-hiker named Katja, a fifteen-year-old girl, who is on the run from goverment authorities for personal tragic reasons. Katja also happens to be an expert, avid climber. The oldest of the group needs to go on a "search and rescue" mission to help find a lost seven-year-old boy. Instead of waiting for Gecko's return, Jake decides to begin his solo ascent. After the first day, a storm sets in and Jake endures many difficulties in survival. He discovers a partially mummified human corpse. Meanwhile, Peter and Katja attemt a rescue of Jake, and after some heroics by all three teens, they unite and safely descend. The adventure becomes even more successful when they find the lost boy. Katja's personal problems are resolved and Peter creates a well received documentary that includes much more than originally intended.

Title of Novel: Victory

Author: Cooper, Susan ISBN: 9781416914785 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: Below Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Susan Cooper dispenses a family saga in which two children cross an ocean 200 hundred years apart: Sam in 1803 and Molly in 2005. Separate, yet together, Sam and Molly struggle through fear and hope to a final ordeal that terrifyingly tests their valour. Alternating chapters follow the mystifying connection between a homesick English girl living in present-day America and an eleven-year-old boy serving in the British Royal Navy, aboard the H.M.S. Victory, commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson.

Title of Novel: Waking

Author: Harvey-Fitzhenry, Alyxandra ISBN: 9781551434896 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Since her mother's death, Beauty's dreams have been haunted by the Shadow Lady. At school she tries to be invisible to avoid the questions and innuendo that now follow her. But when Luna, a new student who is not afraid to dress and act outside the norms of peer pressure, arrives, things begin to change. As Beauty gains self-confidence through her friendship with Luna, her lucid dreams darken and are filled with images of blood and death. It becomes clear to the reader, and eventually, to Beauty, that the Shadow Lady of her dreams is her mother and the little girl, herself. Through the dreams, Beauty understands and comes to terms with her own response to her mother's suicide.

Title of Novel: Whistling Season, The

Author: Doig, Ivan ISBN: 9780151012374 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 8,9,10 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

After his life is touched by two unexpected visitors, Paul realizes how life is full of surprises and is never quite what you expect. Set during the early 1900s in the wild Montana prairie lands, the protagonist, thirteen year-old Paul Milliron, is still trying to cope with his mother's death and help his father raise his two younger brothers. In response to an ad that Paul's father took out in the newspaper for a housekeeper, the Milliron family welcomes Rose Llewellyn and her brother Morris Morgan to Marias Coulee and into their lives. Their presence has an enormous effect not only on the entire family but on the small community as well. Paul soon takes on the burden of being the keeper of a series of large and small secrets and discovers how the truth does not always set you free.

March Break

HUM 8 and Eng 11

Enjoy the break!

What is new for English 11

Here is the suggested book list. It is also on your blog.

Title of Novel: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You


Author: Cameron, Peter ISBN: 9780374309893 Copyright: 2007



Recommended for Grade(s): 10,11 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

This coming-of-age tale features a protagonist named James who is nearing graduation and struggles with his trying to find and love his true self. He deals with questions around sexuality and his academic future as well as his familial relationships. James is a loner with a strong voice, much like Holden Caulfield in Catcher in they Rye.





Title of Novel: Thirteenth Tale, The

Author: Setterfield, Diane ISBN: 9780385662857 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 9,10,11,12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Margaret Lea is a solitary soul who spends most of her time surrounded by books. She is an aspiring biographer and works for her father in his antiquarium bookstore in London. She appears to receive the offer of a lifetime in the form of a proposal by England's most reknowned and celebrated novelist, Vida Winter. Gravely ill, Vida Winter wants Margaret to write her biography. Intrigued by the mysterious Ms. Winter, Margaret agrees to this undertaking, not realizing the emotional and psychological toll this will have on both women. Family secrets and ghosts of the past will have to be confronted and put to bed before either Margaret or Vida can have any peace again. The novel is reminiscent of the gothic genre, full of plot twists, mystery and murder.



The novel has gothic elements that remind the reader of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Its mystery is engaging and appealing, with many plot twists and surprises along the way. The rich setting and atmosphere appeal to lovers of mystery and the gothic genre.







Title of Novel: Three Cups of Tea

Author: Mortenson, Greg / Relin, David Oliver ISBN: 9780143038252 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Three Cups for Tea is the true story of Greg Mortensen who in 1993, failed to summit a mountain but ended up building schools in the most impoverished areas of Pakistan and eventually Afghanistan. Greg Mortensen, an avid American mountaineer, failed to find success on K2 but decends exhausted and lost, and finds his way to a local village in which the people welcome him and take care of him. After witnessing their poverty, he leaves promising to come back and build them a school. Over the next decade, he succeeds in building 55 schools, some especially for girls. Greg's story allows readers to witness his belief that it is through education and not war that battle with terroism is won.



The story of Greg Mortensen is the story of one man's pursuit of peace in the time of war. This book brings hope for a future for Pakistan, Afghanistan, and all other countries where education is deprived for any one of a myriad of reasons. Students will learn a great deal about tolerance, the culture of Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, and the meaning of true aid. Through Greg's story, one comes to realize that one person can make a difference.









Title of Novel: Book of Negroes, The

Author: Hill, Lawrence ISBN: 9781554681563 Copyright: 2007



Recommended for Grade(s): 12 Estimated readability: Above Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

This novel tells the story of Aminata Diallo, a skilled midwife who is also able to read and write, and who survives kidnapping by slave traders at the age of 11. Aminata’s story spans six decades and three continents, dramatizing her tale of survival and migration. Born around 1745 in Mali, she is kidnapped as a child and sent across the Atlantic Ocean to South Carolina. She works on an indigo plantation and later as an urban slave before escaping her master in New York City. Aminata ends up serving the British as a midwife and scribe, recording in a British military ledger called the “Book of Negroes”, the names of thousands of fugitive slaves desperate to sail from New York before American patriots take control of the city. At the end of the war, Aminata sails with thousands of blacks to Nova Scotia and discovers that freedom in the British colonies is illusory and life just as dangerous as what she fled in the America. In 1792, she joins the first "back to Africa” movement and sails with 1,200 Black Loyalists to Sierra Leone. After a decade in Africa, she sails to England to advocate for the end of the slave trade and write her life story.



There are many reasons for recommending this novel:

1. This novel chronicles an important part of Canadian history, one that many students have likely not encountered.

2. The novel is beautifully crafted from and literary perspective.

3. The themes and issues are topical.

4. The characterization is powerful and diverse.

5. The narrative itself is gripping and captivating.

6. The events are portrayed realistically.





Title of Novel: Catch Me If You Can

Author: Abagnale, Frank W. ISBN: 9780767905381 Copyright: 1980



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: Below Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Catch Me If you Can is based on the true story of Frank W. Abagnale who, armed with numerous aliases, has come to be known as one of the most daring con men and escape artists in the world. Frank travels the world as a mere teenager, impersonating airline pilots, a professor, doctors, lawyer, and FBI agent in order to forge checks and con people to live a life of luxury.





Title of Novel: Cockeyed

Author: Knighton, Ryan ISBN: 9780143051855 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

When Ryan turns 18, he is diagnosed with a disease causing progressive blindness. His experiences of dating, falling in love, hiding and finally coming to terms with his disability offers insight into our culture, identity, and values.



This book deepens student's empathy of the disabled without any didactic aspects. Many students will like the fact that it's not too lengthy and that the author begins his engaging memoir as an adolescent student , concerned with such things as driving tests, dating and leaving home.

Any social considerations...

Ryan learns to drive while unseeing. He likes the mosh-pit at clubs because then he can dance and bump into people without embarrassment. His first love is a deaf woman---these tragicomical situations could be regarded by some as irreverent, but help to build his character and to give the reader insight into his issues.



Title of Novel: Five People You Meet in Heaven, The

Author: Albom, Mitch ISBN: 9781401308582 Copyright: 2003



Recommended for Grade(s): 10,11 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Eddie, an old man who works as the head maintenance man at the Ruby Pier amusement park, is killed trying to rescue a young girl from a car that comes loose from one of the rides and smashes to the ground. Eddie ascends to heaven and while there meets five different people who have, inadvertently or not, had a significant impact on his life. Through his meetings with these individuals the reader learns Eddie’s life history and Eddie learns how truly important his life on earth really was.



The Five People You Meet in Heaven is an engaging novel with much potential for discussion and critical thinking activities. As the novel explores the importance and value of each person’s contribution to the world, the novel would be excellent for any student who is confronting issues of self-esteem or self-worth. The novel would be an excellent tool to teach point of view as the perspective of several different characters is explored and the novel lends itself well to extension activities such as having students explore who might be the five people they would meet in heaven and what those people might tell them.





Title of Novel: Floor of the Sky, The

Author: Joern, Pamela Carter ISBN: 9780803276314 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

This novel, written for an adult audience, tells the story of teenager Lila, who must decide what to do with her un-born child. When she is sent to stay with her grandmother Toby in Nebraska, the reader is exposed to the complicated connections and relationships in Lila’s rural family, and the secrets that lie in Toby’s past.



The novel is a character study of both strong and weak individuals who struggle to make decisions about their future as they deal with the fallout from their past. In the background are the challenges of modern and contemporary rural life: issues such as teenage pregnancy, economic uncertainty, the rise of the superstore and agribusiness, illness, crystal meth addiction, infidelity, death, the role of faith, divorce, and a dominating father-figure.





Title of Novel: Girls, The

Author: Lansens, Lori ISBN: 9780676977967 Copyright: 2005



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

The novel begins with a horrific tornado. Just as one child is snatched away by this storm, craniopagus conjoined twins, Rose and Ruby are born, then abandoned. Their life would have been very different, and most likely difficult, if Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash did not adopt them. With their firm, loving guidance, Rose and Ruby grow up and experience what all girls do - the quest for acceptance, love, secrets, heartbreak, true joys and devasting losses. Throughout their journey together, Rose and Ruby are each other's greatest nemesis and ally. As their thirtieth birthday draws nearer, they realize how lucky they really are to have this incredible physical and emotional bond.



This novel addresses a number of important motifs - acceptance, alienation, love, strength, the power of secrets, fate, the concept of what is 'normal' and the importance of physical and emotional bonds. Lansens provides a wealth of topics for discussion and thought. After reading this novel, one cannot look at 'disability' in the same manner. The structure of the novel is also interesting. The alternating point of view clearly demonstrates how one event can and will be viewed differently. In addition, she creates strong images to convey setting, mood, emotional tone and character. This novel provides numerous insights into the complexity of the human condition.





Title of Novel: Glass Castle, The

Author: Walls, Jeannette ISBN: 9780743247542 Copyright: 2005



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: Below Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

This powerful memoir is the story of a young woman's childhood. The narrator shares her experiences of living with an alcoholic father and a mother who likely suffered with some mental health issues. As a result of having unstable parents, the family lived in extreme poverty. Frequently, they were forced to move to varying parts of the USA.



This true story sheds light on the resiliency of the human spirit. The author's experiences show how complicated relationships truly are. Her parents, who were, by generally accepted standards, incompetent, also showed moments of unconditional love. As well, they were able to instill a love for learning in their children even though they were not always attending school and often did not have any food to eat.



While this memoir may seem bleak, it does provide the reader with hope. The narrator uses humour and her intelligence to respond to her circumstances. In the end, she, one of her sisters, and her brother, all grow into to capable adults who lead happy lives.





Title of Novel: Invisible Armies

Author: Evans, Jon ISBN: 9780002007696 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Danielle, a wealthy American studying yoga in rural India, believes she is helping out a friend when she agrees to deliver a passport to an Indian woman living near a mine. After being abducted and imprisoned Danielle manages to escape with the help of Laurent, a mercenary involved in anti-globalization activism. She becomes a member of an eco-terrorist group fighting a transnational mining company which is poisoning thousands of impoverished Indian farmers. With the help of a group of computer hackers Danielle ultimately comes to recognize she cannot trust people she has believed share her desire to make the world a better place and that both sides in the conflict are hiding secrets they will do anything to protect.



This novel is a well-written, fast paced thriller, whose multiple surprise plot twists will keep readers wanting to know what will happen next. The examination of the effects of corporate exploitation will likely appeal to students who have an awareness of global issues. The detailed explanations of high tech Internet hacking will intrigue students interested in technology.





Title of Novel: Kind of Courage, A

Author: Heffernan, Colleen ISBN: 9781551433585 Copyright: 2005



Recommended for Grade(s): 10,11 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

The story takes place from 1910 to 1918 and is set in the Canadian Prairie and is told in two voices. The first belongs to Hattie, a farm girl, and the second belongs to David, a city boy from a well to do family. Hattie's story explores loss suffered in war. Her mother is broken when her older brother enlists. While Hattie does her best to help with farm work, it is not enough. Father seeks outside help and brings a CO to the farm. The children are disgusted. The conscientious objector is David. His story explores belief and personal integrity. In an interesting twist of fate, it was his relationship with a German immigrant organist that made him aware of the biases around him that seemed based on emotion rather than fact. As the two story tellers lives become entwined, David's story prevails and he wins Hattie over with his courage.



While this is really a story of how war shapes lives, the focus on revealing the heart and mind of a conscientious objector adds a new dimension to the stories of war so many readers and historians know. This book helps to round out the study of war by presenting a new perspective.

Title of Novel: King Leary

Author: Quarrington, Paul ISBN: 9780385666015 Copyright: 1987



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: Above Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Ninety year old Percival Leary is invited to travel to King Leary night at the Toronto Gardens to make a commercial for ginger ale. He is accompanied by his alcoholic roommate, Blue Herman, and an orderly from the Home. While this is the narrative’s vehicle, most of the story is reminiscence about the friends, family and career of Leary, the King of hockey. Leary’s memories revolve around an unlikely trio who meet accidentally and go on to careers in professional hockey. Leary recalls the dynamics among the three as he and Manny Oz become hockey players under the unlikely influence of the Bowmanville monks, and Clay Bors Clinton works his way, rather unethically, to becoming manager of the Toronto Leafs. The two stories entwine in the furtive aging mind of Percival Leary. His memories are punctuated by his and Manny’s early athletic pursuits as they skate their way to becoming legends – especially in Percival’s mind. He methodically revisits their respective romances, marriages and families and, darkly, Manny’s fall into alcoholism. The presence of Clay Bors Clinton in their lives casts a long and pervasive shadow. Eventually, Leary’s moments of nostalgia blur with his present reality and impending death, and ghosts begin to accompany his every move.



A passion for hockey infuses the story; this aspect will be most appealing to hockey lovers; however, the game’s history and the changes it has undergone are obvious directions for study. Connections can be made to hockey personalities of the past.

*****0R Finnie Walsh by Stephen Galloway—it may be easier to read. He is a BC author.



Title of Novel: Life of Pi

Author: Martel, Yann ISBN: 9780676973778 Copyright: 2001



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: Above Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Life of Pi is a story of survival divided into three parts. Part I establishes the background of the protagonist and his voice, that of an adult recalling an incredible experience. Pi’s formative years occur in India, where he learns that animals are conditioned creatures of habit and that true religion is based on loving God. Part II, the longest section in the novel, deals with Pi's physical ordeal at sea and his psychological survival. Initially, Pi finds himself adrift in a lifeboat accompanied by a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger. After a terrifying struggle for dominance among the animals, Pi manages to keep the 450 lb. cat content and subservient for 227 days. While the reader is drawn into the realism of Pi's relationship with the tiger, the latter events of Part II become surreal when Pi and the tiger encounter a mysterious stranger adrift at sea, and then a carnivorous island. Part III serves as the denouement, where Pi washes ashore in Mexico and is interrogated in his hospital bed by Japanese insurance investigators. They badger Pi for a plausible story, leaving all to question what actually happened during Pi's adventure at sea.



Life of Pi is a powerful novel dealing not only with a boy's coming of age and understanding of his place in the universe, but also with the promotion of tolerance and acceptance.





Title of Novel: Lullabies For Little Criminals

Author: O'Neill, Heather ISBN: 9780060875077 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: Above Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Baby, thirteen, lives with her heroin addicted father in Montreal. She becomes involved with drugs and prostitution, yet retains her spirit. In the end, she realizes that redemption must come from within.



O'Neill's novel presents a side of street life not often seen in novels. While not left with the idea that drugs and prostitution are acceptable lifestyles, the reader comes to see that they are a reality for some people. Through rich character development of Baby, we come to understand that life is complex, people can still retain their humanity in troubling situations, and that there are no simple answers in life. Ultimately, the novel provides hope. It deals with themes such as the need for love and acceptance, acceptance of a parent's inability to parent, and redemption. This novel will provide topics for many rich discussions.





Title of Novel: Million Little Pieces, A

Author: Frey, James ISBN: 9780307276902 Copyright: 2003



Recommended for Grade(s): 12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Frey’s autobiography, which he now admits to embellishing, deals with his time spent in a treatment centre after reaching his “bottom” of drug and alcohol abuse. During his time at the centre, Frey comes to terms with his past, formulates his own sense of what ‘recovery’ will look like for himself, and forms strong, healing and lasting friendships with the diverse cast of characters in his recovery unit.



Despite the very lengthy list of cautions that this novel warrants, and some particularly challenging segments, taken on the whole, at no point do any of the considerations outweigh the tremendous value of this novel. It contains rich, deep and complex characters, portrays multiple worthy themes, and is written in an extremely engaging and compelling style. This book has proven very popular with grade 11 and 12 students; it has been particularly gripping for young men, who are often hard to engage in reading. Frey handles the topic of this book with a grittiness and realism that serves to clearly represent the dark world of addiction.





Title of Novel: Namesake, The

Author: Lahiri, Jhumpa ISBN: 9780618485222 Copyright: 2003



Recommended for Grade(s): 10,11,12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

The Namesake begins in India and builds up narrative momentum immediately with an arranged marriage and a deadly train crash. But the story quickly shifts to 1968 Boston where the Ganguli family have moved to begin a new and promising life. Soon Ashima Ganguli is pregnant, and a son, Gogol Ganguli, becomes the beloved first addition to their family and a symbol of their new hope. But as he grows up, Gogol seemingly rejects first his name, which he perceives as foreign and foolish, and then further markers of his Bengali heritage. It is his precarious and often exhausting negotiation of old world traditions balanced against new world habits that forms the central motif of the story. Lahiri paints an intimate collection of almost mundane suburban scenes that, bound together, illustrate an expansive family landscape where bonds cannot be broken, even across oceans.



The Namesake is a sensitive portrayal of the difficulties many first-generation young people face when struggling to balance the pull of their parents' old world values and the new world values of their birthplace. Students of recent immigrant families will likely recognize and sympathize with some of Gogol's dilemmas as he tries to fit in, beginning with changing what he perceives is his awkward first (pet) name. Not understanding the import and tradition behind his name becomes a central metaphor for the novel. Lahiri is able to render Gogol's frustration and anger in realistic ways, while maintaining the reader's sympathy for the struggles of Gogol's parents as they do their best to negotiate a world whose rules often bemuse and confuse them. Rich and multi-layered character portraits avoid cliches and maintain student interest as the teen protagonist moves from childish naivete, through embarrassment and shame, to pride and maturity.





Title of Novel: Never Let Me Go

Author: Ishiguro, Kazuo ISBN: 9780676977110 Copyright: 2005



Recommended for Grade(s): 11 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

As children, Kathy, - the rather naive narrator - Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules. Eventually, the characters understand that they have actually been cloned so that their organs can be harvested, if need be, for the person from whom they have been cloned. The plot moves from the students' youth to their young adulthood as organ donors or "carers" and their "completions", once their bodies are no longer able to function with multiple missing organs.



Students are likely to relate to the portrayal of a naive narrator who questions her own growing sexuality; who describes her dilemmas with cliques and friendships that thrive or disintegrate because of petty squabbles; and who displays stereotypical attitudes toward the institution of school and teachers who appear to be either old and fusty or young and heroic.





Title of Novel: Ordinary Man, An

Author: Rusesabagina, Paul ISBN: 9780143038603 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Paul Rusesabagina, the manager of the upscale Hotel Milles Collines, manages to save not only his immediate family, but more than 1200 other Tutsi and moderate Hutu refugees. Using only his verbal skills (and a few well chosen bottles of alcohol), he keeps everyone safe in the hotel for seventy-six days. The story of this remarkable feat is coupled with his personal history, as well as the history of a country that rose at a slow boil to a horrific conclusion while the rest of the world watched.



For students who have heard so often of the Holocaust, this may be a more immediate reminder of the horrors of war and the consequences of our actions and inaction. This engaging and short auto-biography reminds readers that genocide can and did happen again.





Title of Novel: Radiance

Author: Lambert, Shaena ISBN: 9780679313793 Copyright: 2007



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Keiko is a survivor of the nuclear attack at Hiroshima in World War II. She is chosen to represent the anti-nuclear cause in the United States and flown there. She is taken in by a couple in a home-stay situation. She becomes quite close with her home-stay family. The anti-nuclear project forces her to turn on her home-stay family in order to preserve the original purpose of her trip in a story of hope and betrayal. There is continual reference to the Cold War era.



This novel would appeal to a smaller percentage of students who may be interested in Cold War history and popular culture of the 1950s. The novel may be able to interest female students in Cold War history.





Title of Novel: Rooster

Author: Trembath, Don ISBN: 9781551432618 Copyright: 2005



Recommended for Grade(s): 10,11 Estimated readability: Below Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Rooster, an underachieving high school student, has no direction in life until he is given an ultimatum – work with an adult special needs bowling team or don’t graduate from high school. Rooster chooses to work with adults and through his participation with the team, he not only develops dedication to, and appreciation for, the special group of adults, but also gains respect for himself.



Title of Novel: Smashed

Author: Zailckas, Koren ISBN: 9780143036470 Copyright: 2005



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: At Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Koren Zailckas, 24, examines her own alcohol abuse as a young teenager. She experiences out of control parties, blackouts, a trip to the hospital and the depression of the problems that impact her life until she is finally able to tackle her problems and right herself.



The author accurately points out that alcohol is a dominant force in our culture;

further, it is widely accepted and destructive to many young people. This subject is explored in an honest, personal manner which leaves many opportunities for important discussions. Without being overly didactic, the author finds solutions

and constructive ways to deal with her problems.





Title of Novel: Sold

Author: McCormick, Patricia ISBN: 9780786851720 Copyright: 2006



Recommended for Grade(s): 11,12 Estimated readability: Below Grade

Plot / Reasons for Recommendation

Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut in the mountains of Nepal. Her family is desperately poor. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family. He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid working for a wealthy family in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi undertakes the long journey to India and arrives at "Happiness House" full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution. An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family's debt – then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so she can never leave. Lakshmi becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives by her mother's words – "Simply to endure is to triumph" – and gradually she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision – will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life? Written in spare and evocative prose, this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real and a girl who not only survives but triumphs.

March 17,2010

TimeLine- You have several assignments  due. You have had quite a bit of class time to work on these.


Friday March 19 Due summative presentation of your role in Medieval society.
THis will also be a POTLUCK feast. Please REMEMBER TO BRING THE FOOD DISH YOU SAID YOU WOULD. ALSO BRING A CUP AND YOUR OWN PLATE PLEASE. THIS WILL BE A MEDIEVAL BRUNCH. BRING SOMETHING to share with the class.  You will need to be in role so think about what you can wear. Bathrobes can make you look like a Baron if you need an overcoat. DO some research, talk to the drama dep. Remember you have done most of your research for this at the beginning of the unit. Now all you need to do is connect it to TIPL.

Eng 11

You are continuing to work on your lit circle. Assignmentt 3 is now due. I am looking for post its. You should almost be finished your novel.

Mar 11, 2010

HUM 8

TimeLine- You have several assignments coming due. You have had quite a bit of class time to work on these.

MOn 15-Formative interview -Crusades.
Wed March 17 DUE Summative LIt Circle Character Mind Map
Wed March 17 Due INterview SUmmative Choice Crusade or Plague

Friday March 19 Due summative presentation of your role in Medival society.
THis will also be a POTLUCK feast. Please check as to what you can bring to share with the class. You will be telling the class and confirming what you are bringing next WED. You will need to be in role so think about what you can wear. Bathrobes can make you look like a Baron if you need an overcat. DO some resarch, talk to the drama dep. Remeberyou have done most of your research for this at teh beginning of the unit. Now all you need to do is connect it to TIPL.

Eng 11

You are continuing to work on your lit circle. Assignemnt 2 is now due. I am looking for post its. You should almost be finished your novel.

THere will be no post on Monday,

March 9,2010

HUM 8

Please finish the Crusade sheet. think of reasons for why the crusades beagan. Then what does power do to motivate people. How does this connect to the Crusades. You only need to finish the first side. Use your KWL chart to help you complete the sheet. THe readings you did in class will help you as well as your textbook pgs. 62-64. Due on Thurs. march 11

Eng 11

The  second installment of your lit circles is due at the end of class on Thurs. Make sure you select a new word. You have the option of handing it in at the beginning of class on Wed. Your final one is due on the 19TH. You need to have finished your novels by then.

March 3, 2010

Hum 8

Creative journal write: In character write about yourself and the the crusade is impacting you. what is your vision? Why are you on the Crusade? What type of conflict are you experiencing? tell me why with soem specifice stories/situations etc. This is due Fri March 5

Eng 11
Your first lit circle project is due on Friday Mrach 5.
If you have lost the assignment I have pasted in here. Tables do not  format well-so you can try and make sense of it.

Lit Circle Instructions and Rubrics




1. For each of the 3 words you chose, brainstorm and develop definitions/explanations that take into consideration their denotation, their connotation, and as many of the questions as possible.

2. For one of the words, create a mind map of the term that defines/explains/explores the word as well as gives examples of it from the novel you are reading.



Mind Map Rubric Fully Meets Expectations Meets Minimally Meets Expectations

• Understanding of word (denotation & connotation)

• Organization of map (central image, use of color/codes/ links) • mind map conveys an insightful understanding of the word, with rich multiple associations & examples - central image is metaphorical; many connections between ideas are made & are clear • mind map conveys a thorough understanding of the word, with several associations & examples

• central image is meaningful; many connections between ideas are made & are clear • mind map conveys a basic understanding of the word, with some associations and examples

• central image is present but literal or limited, several connections between ideas are made but are not always clear



3. For another one of the words, create an original image or symbol, or a collage that defines/explains/ explores the word. Provide a brief written explanation (bullets/charts/paragraph is fine) of the thinking behind the image.

Image Rubric Fully Meets Expectations Meets expectations Minimally Meets Expectations

Understanding of word

(denotation & connotation)

image(s) convey(s) an

insightful understanding of

the word, with rich multiple

associations & examples image(s) convey(s) a

thorough understanding of

the word, with several

associations & examples image(s) convey(s) a basic

understanding of the word,

with some associations and

examples



4. For the third word, write a found poem for another word definition/explanation/exploration of the word. Staple your draft to the good copy.

Writing Rubric Fully Meets Expectations Meets Minimally Meets Expectations

Understanding of word

(denotation & connotation) writing conveys an insightful

understanding of the word,

with rich multiple

associations

• details & examples are

specific, effective & may

show subtlety writing conveys a thorough

understanding of the word,

with associations

supporting details &

examples are relevant and

clear writing conveys a basic

understanding of the word

some relevant supporting

details & examples; may be

vague at times

Creativity and Imagery The poem is creative and original. The lines work well together. The images are neat and enhance the poem

The poem is interesting. One or two lines need to be moved to be more effective. The images are neat and meaningful. The poem has a topic but the lines need work. More images are needed to fully express the poem's imagery.

Visual Qualities Poem uses a creative, visual interpretation of the idea of found language. Poem’s visual presentation enhances meaning. Poem offers a visual reflection of the idea of found language, but the visual presentation is not linked to meaning. Poem uses some visual elements to reflect the idea of found language, although these are employed in an incomplete of inconsistent manner.











English 11

Found Poem





How to write a found poem:





1) Find 15 -20 examples of poetic phrases from you novel. Using several of the examples, arrange these in “found” poem and explain in writing the significance of this poem to your novel.. Here is a student’s (short) example from the novel of Mice and Men:

A girl

Smiled happily.

The meanness

The discontent

Were all gone.

She lay still.

On the sandy bank under the trees.

She looked closely at

The surface of the green pool.

She said quietly,

“Looks kinda scummy.”



2) Write a well-supported paragraph on how your poem demonstrates your understanding of the term. Be sure to use examples from the novel to support your explanation




 All summative assignments are individual. You must submit all 3. The order in which you hand them in is up to you.

 I will do a mini lesson on mind maps, imagery, and found poems in the first week of lit circles.

Feb 25, 2010

HUM 8
Watch the Olympics
If you have not finished your novel you had better finish it as it was supposed to be finished today.

ENg 11

You are reading your lit circle novels and marking them with your post its looking for moments, quotes etc that connect to your key terms.

feb 23,2010

HUM 8

Due thurs feb 25 Plague interview and your journal on your readings you iscussed in class today. Remember to make a connection and you want to talk about the importance of your character's role in the world. (Only if you didn't finish in class).

ENg 11

Lit circles- 3post its for your readings,begin to think about your tasks.

Thurs Feb 18

This will be the post for Fri and what is due Tuesday.There will not be a post tomorrow.

Hum 8
COntinue to read your novels and mark your three post its with examples of TIPL.
Your ABC Olympic books are due on Tuesday Feb. 23.
Work on your plague interviews as well. They are due Thursday Feb 25.

Eng 11
We are beginning Lit circles. IF you do not have your novel, please get your novel for class. You also need sticky notes to mark text as we work through your novels.

Feb 12,2010

HUM 8


Olympic book due fri Feb 19.. You will hand in the entire book. You will be presenting to the class your three favourite letters.

YOur course planning sheets are due Fri Feb 19th as well. I will be collecting them. They are the PINK sheets in your blue course planning booklets that went home today.

Due Wed Feb 17-In role and on your scroll journal: How was I affected by the plague?



Eng 11

MEdia Critique due Wed Feb 17.

Feb 10, 2010

HUM 8

Due Fri Feb 12

Reading journal-see last post for instructions.
Bring any Olympic info to work on your aBC Olympic book.

Due Wed Feb 17-In role and on your scroll journal: How was I affected by the plague?

Eng 11
MEdia Critique due Wed Feb 17. You should try and get a draft completed for fri in order that I can give you some feedback. YOu will have Fri. class to work on your critique as well.

feb 8,2010

HUM 8

Journal entry-reading journal Due Fri Feb 12.  What are you noticing about your character? How does TIPL influence and affect your character? Make, develop and explain a connection about your character.

Current Events- Due Fri Feb 19 ABC book on the Olympics.  For this fri bring in material, picture, anything you can find off the internet, etc as you will have one block to work on your book, poster etc. COme prepared to use the class time wisely.

ENG 11
Think  about the two videos.

Feb 4, 2010

HUM 8

Lit Circles- Read what your group has decided. Mark your test with 3 post its about your character. What s/he says, does, looks likes, reacts  to , interacts with, feels, etc...

Mind Map- If you didn't add enough detail in class today-add more branches  this weekend. We will be doing a gallery walk on Monday and your Mindmap will be up on the wall. Draft form is fine.

Eng 11

Work on filling out your movie chart

Feb.2,2010

HUM 8
Current events summative choice article. Select one of your best current event formative articles that I have given you feedback on. Fill out the sheet which I gave youtoday in class. Submit why it is your best one.

Read what your group has decided for lit circles. Every group has selected different readings. The novels have to be done by the end of FEb.

Eng 11

Choice summative blog piece. YOu have four blog entries to choose from. Please select one, take my feedback, edit it and submit it with the rubric for Thursday.

Jan 29,2010

HUM 8
 READ your new novels. each lit circle group decided how many pages they were going to read for Tuesday Feb. 2

Eng 11

Catch up any missing posts.

jan27,2010

HUM 8

Due Fri jan 29:
1.Your current events on the middle ages. See last day's post for more info.
2.Journal 3: Sell where you live from your character's perspective. Remember we are living in the Middle Ages.
3. Read the first 10 pages of your novel for Friday's class.

Eng 11

Complete the chart on Shake Hands with the Devil. Think about the evidence etc that you saw in the film.

jan 25,2010

HUM 8

For Fri jan 29 please finish your Medieval current events story. This is summative and you can present your story orally if you want as well as handing in your written version.

ENG 11

Post a comment or on the blog in response to one of the two questions on the bottom of the movie assignment sheet.

jan 21, 2010

Hum 8

Write on your scroll  journal 2. What would your Feudal contract look like. (Think about what you have learned about Feudal contracts, read page 45 of the text and think about what you need and can give.) Remember this all connects to TIPL. Due Mon jan 25

ENg 11

The Movie project due Mon Jan 25. Select a movie with a partner and answer the questions. YOu will have a 5 min presentation on Mon. I will try to later post a copy of the assignment on the class blog as well.

Homework for Jan 19

HUM 8

1.Cut out the puzzle pieces and on a seperate piece of paper, build your pyramid. Due Thursday Jan 21.
2. Write a journal entry on the legal size piece of paper- on how you feel about your role in the Middle Ages. if you have chopsticks or some sort of stick, attach the top part of your journal to the stick. Due Thursday as well.

Eng 11

Continuing the video next day.
Catch up on your journal/blog if you have not submitted it.

Eng 11
You have read a short story. Think about all the techniques the author used to convey a sense of "darkness" evil, or violence. Write a response either on your blog, as a comment to this post, or handed in as a journal entry. Think about what impacted you the most and why? How did the author do it? Use the questions to guide you and bring in SPECIFIC EXAMPLES FROM THE TEXT TO SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER.


Hum 8

Finish  finding out info about your character. You will be presenting this info in an informal session on Tues Jan 19. If you really don't want to do it orally, then you can hand in something written to me.(Otherwise you do not need to hand in anything written.) I will give you some formative feedback as this will be used for your summative assessment at the end of the unit.

In case you left your questions at school, here is the worksheet:

Intro to the Middle Ages: Meeting your character




During this unit you will look at the unit through the eyes of medieval character. You have drawn the role of____________________.



Your first task is to find out about your life.



What would a normal day look like for you?

Where would you live and who would you live with?

What would you wear?

What would you eat? How would you get your food? How would it be prepared?

What would you do for work? For your free time?

Would you have any hobbies?

Would you have nay friends? Any romances?

Were there any people you weren’t allowed to hang around with? Why?

What was your “ place” in society?

What privileges” and rights did you have? What obligations and duties did you have?



What were your possessions?



With the aid of the internet, books and videos, find out as much as you can about your character. You will be introducing yourself to the community at gathering announcing the building of a new cathedral.



I am hoping for this to be oral, however if you want you can write it up and hand it in.



Keep all your notes as you will need them for our summative project. This part is formative!!!!!

jan 13

Eng 11

Your good and final copy of the essay is due. Remember to include all drafts, outlines and notes.
Typed or written in ink and doubled spaced as discussed in class. ALL DUE FRIDAY JANUARY 15,2010.

Hum 8

NO CURRENT EVENTS THIS FRIDAY.
Think about the difference between your role in society and the role you will be playing in the Middle Ages.

Jan 12,10

Sorry about the late post. Here is your homework for tomorrow Jan 13

Hum 8

IF you didn't finish thinking about the terms in your group-power, trust, loyalty and interdependence you need to finish those for tomorrow. What they mean, what they look like in society etc...


Eng 11
Your Macbeth essay draft 2 with revisions done. Final good copy of essay is due on Friday.

THursday Jan 7

English 11

Your essay is due at the the start of class on Monday Jan.11. Double spaced, typed or written in ink.
My email is dcaldwell@sd38.bc.ca


Hum 8

Your survival project is due on Monday Jan 11. You can present it any way you want to. You can do it in any format provided you have narrowed it down to be able to include 3 quotes and talk/explain about how they are significant/important to the survival of you character.
A character description and a detailed explanation with connections about which theme you feel is the most important to the survival of your character. Remember you have the freedom to choose the way you want to represent this survival kit. If you want to do it all orally-you can. If you want to make a shoe box survival kit you can. It isyour imagination to tell me how the elements help your character survive.\

Tues Jan 5,2010

HUM 8

Due Thurs jan 7

Survival Project Editing Stage

Quotes

Character description

Draft write up

All in draft form are ok.

Final project due Monday Jan 11

Eng 11

Rough draft of your Macbeth Essay

essay due Mon jan 11