Remembrance Day - If you can't remember war, think of peace.

There are a number of projects students should be working on over the next few days in order to make the deadlines. These assignments have been posted in class, discussed in class, and worked on in class over the past few weeks ................... right???

Parent/Teacher meetings are Wednesday, November 19th from 6:30 t0 8pm and on Thursday, November 20th from 9am to 12pm. I am located in room 45. I enjoy having students and parents meet with me together - and encourage parents to bring them along.

English 123
PROJECT FOR THE CHRYSALIDS
Choose one of the options below. Deadline: November 14th.
This project is worth 15% (students have the rubric for this project)

Your choices
1. DESIGN THE FRONT PAGE OF A NEWSPAPER. Write a short news story describing the major event in the book. Include an attention grabbing headline and teasers for the rest of the paper. This is to look like a newspaper so make sure you use a front page of an actual paper to guide the development of your design.
2. CREATE AN EYE-CATCHING POSTER. Choose a scene from the book and cast it in a poster that would attract potential readers or buyers to the book. All work must be hand-drawn / painted. Significant images, symbols, etc. must be used and explained. You must also decide upon a border for your poster that is significant to the text. You poster must include the title, author’s name, a brief summary of the book (written by you) as well as 5 significant quotes from the text. This must be done on one piece of bristol board.
3. COMPILE A SCRAPBOOK OR A MEMORY BOX. Choose one of the major characters in the book, and, as that person, put together a scrapbook or memory box of special memories and mementoes. Be true to the character. This memory box must include 10 significant items that were mentioned or referred to in the novel. It could be a fictional letter from another character, an item that was mentioned, pictures that are significant etc.
4. DESIGN A JEOPARDY GAME. Using the jeopardy game as your model, design a game that includes questions related to the novel. You are to have 5 categories with 5 questions for each category. You could have topics such as characters, themes, relationships, The Fringes etc. You will have to watch the show to get the full effect of how the game is designed.
5. You have been hired by a publishing company to adapt The Chrysalids to an illustrated children’s book. You are to focus your story for a target audience of children aged five to ten. Your story must incorporate a minimum of five illustrations with additional illustrations and titling on the book’s front and back covers. You are not expected to cover every aspect of the novel – choosing the most significant events will be imperative. Remember your audience. Keep it simple, but remember the magic of exemplary story-telling.

English 123 students are also working on a group project video of The Chrysalids due December 12th AND an individual novel project due January 9th.


English 113
Hunter in the Dark Novel Project
Deadline: November 14th. This project is worth 15%.
Directions: Select and complete one activity from each section. Create your project to be insightful, rich with detail, accurate, vivid in imagery and diverse in wording.

Section 1: Character
1. Write a bio-poem about yourself and another about a main character in the book, to show how you and the character are alike and different. Be sure to include the most important traits in each poem.
2. A character in the book is being written about in the paper 20 years after the novel ends. Write the article for the paper. Where has life taken this character? Why? Now, do the same for yourself 20 years from now. Make sure both pieces are interesting, feature-type articles.
3. You’re a “profiler.” Write and illustrate a full and useful profile of an interesting character from the book with emphasis on personality traits and other observations. Profile yourself in the same way. Are there similarities or differences?
Section 2: Setting
1. Research a town or place you feel is equivalent to the one in which the novel is set. Use maps, sketches, population, and other demographic data to help you draw comparisons and contrasts.
2. Make a model or a map of a key place in your life (or where you may want to go someday) and of an important place in the novel. Find a way to express why these places are important in your life and in the character’s life.
3. The time and place in which people find themselves and in which events shape people and events in important ways. Find a way to convincingly prove that idea using the book and your own life.
Section 3: Theme
1. Find out about famous people in history or current events whose experiences and lives reflect the essential themes of your novel. Show what you have learned.
2. Create a multimedia presentation that fully explores a key theme from the novel. Use at least three media (for example, music, painting, poetry, sculpture, photography, and calligraphy) in your exploration. Draw at least two comparisons or contrasts between themes in your life and in the novel.
3. Find several songs you think reflect an important message from the book. Prepare an audio collage, write an accompanying card that helps listeners understand why and how you think the songs express the book’s meaning. Do the same with your life and it’s themes.

Math 9
We have worked on individual math projects in three classes at the lab. Students choose a math topic they find challenging or interesting and prepare a presentation to present to parents and administration. This presentation will be done on December 18th from 12:30 - 2pm. The presentations may not take that long - but all are invited to room 45 for coffee and cookies to enjoy our students' success!

Some project presentations include: Rubric Cube, Math Tricks, Physics of Skate Boarding, Pythagoras Theorem.

English 113

In class today, we reviewed and discussed numerous quotes from Hunter in the Dark and answered Multiple Choice questions in preparation for the mid-term on Friday. Students were given a sheet with 5 essay choices; the choices are mini-essay topics from Hunter in the Dark where personal expression and novel examples are expected. This "essay" format is similar to two previous tests given. Students will choose and write about one of the topics.

Sample question: In this novel, the word "cataract" means: a type of tree, an eye problem, a waterfall, a bird

English 123

In class today, we read Chapter 16 of The Chrysalids. There is one chapter remaining of which we will read tomorrow. Monday is our exam; for which the format will be similar to what we have done in previous tests.

True or False: David's Aunt Emily was turned away by his parents.

Due Dates

Math 9 - to be completed for Wednesday, October 29th up to the end of question 9 on page 348. As noted from class today, the in-class experiment and all questions on page 346 - 348 (8.3) up to the end of question 9 will be collected.

You should be working on your math projects due November 28th. Parents will be invited to our class early in December for presentations (coffee and cookies too!).

English 123 - we have read up to the end of Chapter 15. There are two chapters to go!
Chapter 13 questions are due at the beginning of class on Wednesday (tomorrow).

The Chrysalids project is due November 14th. Choose one project from the hand-out given in class.

English 113 - the Romeo and Juliet assignment is due tomorrow (Wednesday). All three pages, complete with answers, should be handed in at the beginning of class.

The Hunter in the Dark project is due November 14th. Choose one project from each of the three categories.

Week of Halloween!

English 113 - Your mid-term is this Friday, October 31st during class. We will review Hunter in the Dark this week and discuss Romeo and Juliet too! If you look over chapter questions, listen to discussion in class and make notes during review; you will have no problem with the mid-term. Good luck! Please come see me if you need help with anything.

Computer questions on Romeo and Juliet (Sheet 1) is due Monday, October 27th in class. Sheet 2 and 3 are due on Tuesday, October 28th.

Here are some questions for you to try:

1. What drug did Mike look up in a book at the library when he discovered he had lukemia?

2. What school trip was Mike not allowed to go on? Who did not let him go?

English 123 - We will finish The Chrysalids this week in class. Presently, we are reading Chapter 14. Due on Monday, October 27th is the Chapter 12 question sheet we did in the computer lab. Chapter 13 questions will be done during Monday's class, due on Wednesday, October 29th.

Here are some questions for you to try:

1. Sophie had six toes on each foot. How is this significant to the story?

2. David is the main character in the book. What is Rosalind's role?

Math 9 - Monday's class, October 27th, you will begin review for the mid-term (mid-term is November 6th during first block of our double-block). You will have a number of work-sheets to complete at your own pace during class this week along with continued work on probability. Once you have completed all work-sheets, you should be prepared for the mid-term! I will offer extra help any day this week, up to Halloween, October 31st.

Here is a mini-review for SLOPE

Slope = m

Slope = Y/X

Slope = delta Y/delta X (subtract two Y points and two X points)

y = mx + b is equation of the line

y = y point

m = slope

x = x point

b = y-intercept

We will look at equation of a line (beginning page 106) on Tuesday.

Keep Up To Date!

If any of my students miss time, it is expected you will come and inquire about missing work. This week, in English 113, we watched the Romeo and Juliet movie (starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes). This week in English 123 we watched XMen 2000 (starring Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart etc). The XMen is a comparible theme to the novel The Chrysalids we continue to study.

Math 9 worksheets have been handed out and we are working on pages 100, 101 to 104 in the textbook. The topic is slope, m, delta Y over delta X.

Please contact me if you have any questions.
Ms. Norman

Mid-terms begin October 31st

English 113
The mid-term for English 113 is on Friday, October 31st, first block. This mid-term will include two topics: Hunter in the Dark novel and Romeo and Juliet movie. Within the exam, students will be expected to write short and long essay answers, do multiple choice and fill in the blank questions, and fully answer personal opinion questions. As in every assignment, students are graded on full sentence structure and proper paragraph form, thoroughness of thought, and comprehension (whether or not the QUESTION is answered!). Please bring your novel project book to read in case you finish early.

English 123
The mid-term for English 123 is on Monday, November 3rd during 2nd block. This mid-term will be weighted in two areas. The majority of the mid-term will be on The Chrysalids novel and on a more minimal scale the XMen movie. Students are expected to write short and long essay answers, answer multiple-choice questions, and relate themes to excerpts from the novel. Every question is graded on thoroughness of thought, proper sentence structure and paragraph structure, and most importantly COMPREHENSION! Ensure you read the question TWICE before you answer to ensure you have answered the question asked. Please bring your novel project book to read in case you finish early.

Math 9
The mid-term for Math is on Thursday, November 6th. This mid-term will include all work completed to date including: integers, fractions, scatter plots, order of operations. We will review everything in class before the mid-term and I am available to help before school, at lunch or after school most days up to Friday BEFORE the mid-term. The most important thing to remember for the mid-term: CHECK OVER YOUR WORK. There will be plenty of time to complete the mid-term. Please bring a ruler, two pencils, an eraser and a book with you to the mid-term. Calculators will not be necessary.

Thanksgiving and next week

Math 9
If you were not in class on Friday, October 10th: as per our conversation in class on the 9th, remember to bring in a one page outline of your Enrichment Math Project. This is due the first math class back following holidays. You should choose your project to incorporate math operations and equations as we discussed in class. Some ideas are: Rubik Cube, The Golden Ratio, Pythagoras Theorem, Stock Market, Aerodynamics etc.

I wish all my students a pleasant and safe holiday. See you on the 16th.