November 2 – November 5
All Classes
- As students know, Coffin will be absent this week. To check out what has been planned for each day in all classes, please open the document below:
Students of the Week
October 30
NOTE: coffinblog will not be updated daily next week as Coffin is attending a teachers’ institute in Ottawa. Instead, a weekly schedule is posted. If students have pressing questions, Coffin will be checking e-mail periodically during the week. Use the Contact Coffin link to the right.
Canadian History 621
- We continued viewing the CBC documentary called The Great War, to freshen our perspective on Canada’s role on the WWI battlefields.
English 621
- Many students were so obviously overwhelmed with yesterday’s lesson that they couldn’t stand it again today. In their absence, we distributed Echoes 12 textbooks and then had a very pleasant time reading in-class novels.
English 521
- Taking some of the unfamiliar terms from A Walk in the Woods, pairs of students wrote their own travelogue essay that employed ten of the words provided.
Student of the Day
October 29
Canadian History 621
- Today, we watched a very cool sand art video (thanks to Kelly MacKenzie for sending that along).
- We then finished our notes and discussion regarding World War One by completing the following:
- Class concluded with ten minutes of news from a US perspective.
English 621
- Library research day for debates. Students were encouraged to take the last half hour to look at their topic from their opponents’ perspective so as to develop counter-arguments.
English 521
- Following some personal reading time, we discussed possible novel choices for the independent novel study after mid-terms. Novels available at the school include In the Heat of the Night, All Quiet on the Western Front, More Joy in Heaven, Catcher in the Rye, and Huckleberry Finn. Other suggestions included The Time Traveller’s Wife and some others.
- We then read a selection from Echoes 11 entitled A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. We’ll study this more in depth from a vocabulary standpoint tomorrow, when we’ll also decide on novels.
Student of the Day
October 28
As many students know, Mr Duncan is taking a year’s leave with the Canadian military in Afghanistan. Follow his exploits at Duncan’s Odyssey.
Canadian History 621
- Library Research Day
- Due Today: Remembrance Day Essays
- Response: Open Forum
- Response: In the News
- Response: Duncan’s Odyssey
English 621
- After some personal reading time, we were treated to a refresher about the Poetry Elements.
- Don’t forget to check out Michelle MacDonald’s Music as Social Commentary activity from last year to serve as a guide.
- Independent Novel Studies have been decided. They are:
- 1984: Matthew MacInnis, Chad Dennis, Emma Carter, Wayne Mosher (copies available at school)
- The Kite Runner: Emma Meanor & Cody McInnis
- A Thousand Splendid Suns: Sarah Dunphy, Nicole Kelly, Kyla Koke, Jessica Fraser, Chelsea MacEachern
- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Raelene MacKinnon, Brandon Kok, Peter MacLeod
- Great Expectations: Brady McKenna & Katelyn Feehan (copies available at school)
- Into the Wild: Dan Hendricken, Graeme Forrest, Justin Coffin
- Angels and Demons: Catherine MacInnis, Daniel Hughes, Ashley MacAusland, Afton McInnis
- Night: Kayla McNally, Kelcy McNally, Dawson MacMillan, Matt McInnis
English 521
- Library Research Day for Symposia
Student of the Day
October 27
We welcomed Holland College Journalism’s Stephanie Davey to our classes this morning as she observed us in action.
Canadian History 621
- We discussed the CEF in Battle (1917-1918) by talking about Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, and Canada’s 100 Days.
- Rememberance Day Essays are due tomorrow.
English 621
- We began class by handing out the course calendar for the rest of the semester (major due dates, etc.)
- New assignments handed out:
- Independent Novel Study (vote on the below choices and hand in ballot tomorrow):
- Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World, The Great Gatsby, A Separate Peace, *The Kite Runner, *A Thousand Splendid Suns, *The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Great Expectations, The Merchant of Venice, *Into the Wild, *The Secret Life of Bees, *Any books in the Twilight series, *Angels and Demons, *The Da Vinci Code, * The Lost Symbol, Other (with Coffin-approval)
- * copies not available in school
- Poetry Slam! (due November 20)
- Music as Social Commentary Analysis (due November 30)
- Independent Novel Study (vote on the below choices and hand in ballot tomorrow):
English 521
- We began with some personal reading time.
- We then handed out the course calendar for the rest of the semester (major due dates, etc.)
- New assignments handed out:
- Poetry Wham! (due December 14)
- Poetry Slam! (due December 16)
- Poetry on Film (due December 18)
- Class concluded with a refresher dealing with the proper method of recording research information on index cards.
Student of the Day
