Monday, November 3 - Friday, November 7

Friday
Today we had a rousing game of English 10 Provincial Exam Terms and Devices Q&A + basketball! Thanks to everyone for helpful suggestions to improving the game. Some of us (J-S?) were getting very concerned about fair play! Hopefully you learned a few terms as a result. Next I shared my sample micro fiction effort including symbols.

Criteria for micro-fiction: 

- sufficiently limits words

- chooses every word carefully

- includes sufficient imagery/images/symbols

- effectively leads the reader in one direction, then twists at end

    (plays against expectations)

- effectively writes a situation (more than an entire story)

- successfully invites the reader to read again

- closes with a phrase that sends the reader back into the story

- few if any errors in spelling, sentences, capitalization

Micro-fiction example with symbolism ( 9; mirror)

Numbers on a clock flick over: 9:00 am. Blissfully unaware of time, she opens one eye then the other, stretches, yawns and drifts back to sleep: dreams filled with warmth and sunshine  resume as she rests comfortably nestled in the duvet. Minutes later as the clock displays 9:09 am, she is wrenched fully awake by four inviting smells coming from downstairs. Her progress downward toward the kitchen, toward the aroma of cream in coffee, is momentarily arrested by desperate thirst. She pauses in the bathroom to drink directly from the tap. As she raises her head from the sink, she catches her reflection in the vanity mirror and gazes at it lovingly, yawns, stretches again and continues making her way down towards the scent of butter. As she enters the kitchen she smells fish. A familiar voice and the familiar smell that is attached to the voice addresses her: There you are at last you lazy creature. “‘Bout time you got up Mittens.”

Thursday
To begin the class, I asked everyone to look back at their paragraphs about an elementary classmate and do a tally of the types of errors you made in one of your drafts. Next, I asked you to set a writing goal for your next piece. Afterwards, we returned to looking at information and examples of micro-fiction. We read a short article about them and pulled out some criteria. Then we looked at a couple of examples. Writing time tomorrow!
Wednesday
Due to the PLC timetable today, we didn't get through a great deal - totally my fault! We discussed tried the on-line games for reviewing the exam terms, discussed the micro-fiction assignment from yesterday, skipped the symbolism war, and marked the practice sheet about the sample micro -story.
Tuesday
I was away today, but here are the notes I left for my replacement.
1. Silent reading for the first 15 minutes
2. Tomorrow we will have "Symbolism Wars" - we will be pitting the girls vs the boys. Today for 15-20 minutes, the two teams should work on collecting as many symbols and examples of symbolism from the story "The Metaphor" as they can find: 
symbol - an object  literature that represents, suggests or stands for something else; for example, an idea, a belief, a concept.
symbolism - a device in literature where an object represents an idea or a quality
Students must state what they think the symbol is; what it symbolizes; evidence from the story that supports what they are saying about the symbol. 
3. Students are going to write a micro narrative that includes a lot of symbols/symbolism. The practice one they do today should be done in pairs and handed-in at the end of the block. I have created a hand-out to do individually with an example. Then they can use the second sheet to plan their partner story. The story should be neatly written out on lined paper and stapled to the symbol chart sheet. The story has to be about a journey that provides a significant learning experience for the protagonist. They must include symbols/metaphors from the following categories: an animal; a plant; weather; an object; a character with a symbolic job/profession; an activity that is symbolic (dancing = happiness; swimming = cleansing/rebirth); a number
Monday
Today everyone wrote a quiz on The Metaphor; the purpose of the quiz was simply to encourage people to do the reading. We had a bit of a lively discussion briefly about whether or not Ms. Hancock killed herself or whether her death was an accident. Seemed like most students favoured suicide and you argued your position well. Next I gave some reminders about the sticky note work which is due next time you see me. I added the extra bit of sticky note work on symbolism in the story - make sure you have some notes that point out the use of symbols/symbolism in the text. At the end of the class I handed back your paragraphs about an elementary school classmate. They were very well done and it was a pleasure to read the polished good copies. Looking forward to going through your poems next!