ENGLISH 9

FINAL CLASS TO CREATE YOUR PUBLISHED PERSONAL RESPONSE 

1.) Finish Bowling for Columbine.

2.) Read personal response examples from the Performance Standards of BC (not yet within expectations and exceeds expectations and note the differences in quality).

3.) Review of the writing booklet with a focus on the 6 Traits of Writing and strategies you can use to improve your writing.

-Ideas
-Organization
-Voice
-Word Choice
-Sentence Fluency
-Conventions

Remember, you're handing in (in this order)

1. Published work (typed): version 3.0 with self-assessment of published work (purple sheet) 
2. Revision copy of your work (typed): version 2.0 
3. Draft with self-assessment (purple sheet - should have this done already): version 1.0.

3.) Continue working on your personal response until it is in a "published" state.  This response is due January 10th, 2012 (Thursday after we get back), but I'm not giving you any more class time to work on it.   

4.) Last 15 minutes - Christmas surprise.

ENGLISH 9

Continue watching Bowling for Columbine.  We will use this as inspiration for writing poetry in the new year.

ENGLISH 9

In part due to our computers being down, we watched the first half of Bowling for Columbine (we couldn't work on our personal responses; also, I wanted to show students this film anyway, later in the year).  Students were asked to list five examples of when someone's decision had an impact on him/herself or another person + write two-three sentences on "So far, I would give this film ___ stars out of 4 because . . ."

ENGLISH 9

A.

1.) Bullying article from last weekend's Globe and Mail as an example of quality personal responses.  What made them good?  What didn't work?

B.

1.) Your job for today and tomorrow will be to pick one personal response draft (we've now written five) and take it to a "published" state.  Use the Six Traits of Writing and the formal Writing Process to help produce quality work.

Hand in (stapled in this order):

• Published work
• Self-assessment of published work
• Revision copy of your work
• Peer assessment of draft
• Draft with self-assessment (should have this done already) 

2.) Six Traits of Writing - an overview.
-Ideas
-Organization
-Voice
-Word Choice
-Sentence Fluency
-Conventions

3.) The Writing Process - an overview.
-Pre-writing
-Drafting
-Sharing
-Revising
-Editing
-Publishing
-Assessing

ENGLISH 9

1.) Class brainstorm on board: "Vancouver Riot"

2.) Watch Vancouver riot 2011 video.

3.) Photos of Vancouver rioting (Globe and Mail).


4.) Class discussion.  "What do you think of the riot?  What caused the riot?  How did some people's actions affect themselves and others?  Was it worth it?  What can we learn from the riot?"


5.) Read Teen athlete apologizes for Vancouver riot role (CBC News).
"He is a good kid who got caught up in the moment and made some bad choices," Findlay said. "It's actually refreshing to see somebody as brave as him to step forward, accept responsibility and man up in the way that he has."  What do you think about this statement?  Can a "good" kid make "bad" choices?  Can a "bad" kid make "good" choices?  What makes somebody "good" or "bad"?  Is this labelling useful?


6.) Read ‘Miss Congeniality’ charged with participating in Vancouver Stanley Cup riot (National Post).


7.) Read Vancouver riots can teach us about compassion (Common Ground).


8.) Personal Response writing prompt: What do we mean when we say someone is "good"?  Can you be a "good" person and still make bad choices?  Is there a line that gets crossed when (severe) enough bad choices turn you into a "bad" person?  Does everyone, deep down, think that they are "good," regardless of their behaviour?

ENGLISH 9

Creative Writing: 

"How do our decisions affect ourselves and others?"

1.) Book Week 2012 Writing Contest Information.

2.) Watch "Cyber Bullying" from Childnet International + class discussion.  "What did you think?  What causes bullying?  What counts as bullying?  What doesn't count as bullying?  How would you handle a similar situation, if people were doing the same thing to you?  What are some solutions to bullying?"

4.) Review terms defamation and libel.

3.) Read "Is Facebook Making You Mean?" + class discussion.  "Is it making you mean?  Why or why not?  Should Facebook be 'policed'?  Should something more serious than loosing your account happen to you if you use Facebook to bully other people?"

4.) Personal writing response prompt: "Is Facebook making today's youth meaner?"