Wednesday May 23

Right on, our unit on Poetry continued today.

Today we read Ode to a Grecian Urn in class. I think it was awesome, but students disagreed with me.

All good, all good.

In any case, we also heard Loki read this poem




and then we did this poem for homework, before getting more of the PoeT presentations done.

There were no signs by Irving Layton

By walking I found out

Where I was going

By intensely hating, how to love.

By loving, whom and what to love.

By grieving, how to laugh from the belly.

Out of infirmity I have built strength.

Out of untruth, truth.

From hypocrisy, I wove directness.

Almost now I know who I am.

Almost I have the boldness to be that man.

Another step

And I shall be where I started from.

Tuesday May 22

So ... right. We are back at it again, Daniel...

which is a poetry term ... Allusion ...

In any case, we watched this poem and then did the poem "Teachers" by Rosen for homework.

Teachers  by Michael Rosen

Rodge said
“Teachers” they want it all ways
You’re jumping up and down on a chair
or something
and they grab hold of you and say,
“Would you do that sort of thing in your own
home?”

So you say “No”
and they say
“Well, don’t do it here then”

But if you say “Yes, I do it at home”
they say
“Well we don’t want that sort of thing
going on here
thank you very much”

“Teachers, they get you all ways”
Rodge said

Friday May 18

So ... it was "Carnival Day" here, resulting in a total of seven students into class today.

We did do a few things, including doing two Poet (Task 3) Presentations. One mentioned a Governor General's Award and a Writer in Residence position.

In any case, we also did this poem as a part of the Journal (Task One)

On Samsonite Assembly Line 72

riveting suitcases

            Rivet a blue one, rivet a blue one, rivet a blue one, rivet

a blue one, rivet a blue one, rivet a blue one, rivet a blue one, rivet a blue one, rivet a blue one, rivet a blue one

   rivet a blue one  rivet a blue one

    rivet a blue one                                             rivet a blue one

    rivet a blue one rivet blue rivet one a blue blue blue

                        THANK GOD A RED ONE!

    rivet a blue one rivet a blue one rivet one hundred rivet

an hour rivet rivet blue rivet suitcases rivet rivet can’t rivet rivet wait rivet

for rivet coffee rivet rivet break

Finally, we watched this:

Thursday May 17

We will have poems read and then watch this


  

The Cloud by PB Shelley

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers, 

From the seas and the streams; 

I bear light shade for the leaves when laid 

In their noonday dreams. 

From my wings are shaken the dews that waken 

The sweet buds every one, 

When rocked to rest on their mother's breast, 

As she dances about the sun. 

I wield the flail of the lashing hail, 

And whiten the green plains under, 

And then again I dissolve it in rain, 

And laugh as I pass in thunder. 

Mother to Son

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Wednesday May 16

So ... we had a cool class today.

First, we saw this one and this one:



and then we read a few other poems as a class, by class members for their Task 2 assignments.

A few were kind of sad, so we read this one

Finally, though, we read this for homework:

Laughing Song

By William Blake

When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy,
And the dimpling stream runs laughing by;
When the air does laugh with our merry wit,
And the green hill laughs with the noise of it;

when the meadows laugh with lively green,
And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene,
When Mary and Susan and Emily
With their sweet round mouths sing "Ha, ha he!"

When the painted birds laugh in the shade,
Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread:
Come live, and be merry, and join with me,
To sing the sweet chorus of "Ha, ha, he!"

Tuesday May 15

This should be updated to "Cell phone" not "television" ....

Muffin and Puffin By Dennis Lee 

Muffin and Puffin and Murphy and me 


Went to Vancouver to swim in the sea.


Muffin went swimming, and swallowed a shark


Puffin saw Whales in Stanely Park


Murphy got lost and went bump in the dark 


And I had a strawberry soda




Muffin and Puffin and Murphy and me


Came back from Vancouver, and back from the sea.


Muffin is puffing from eating the shark


Puffin is huffing from Stanley Park


Murphy is frightened to sleep in the dark


But I had a strawberry soda!

The Taxi

BY AMY LOWELL

When I go away from you 

The world beats dead 

Like a slackened drum. 

I call out for you against the jutted stars 

And shout into the ridges of the wind. 

Streets coming fast, 

One after the other, 

Wedge you away from me, 

And the lamps of the city prick my eyes 

So that I can no longer see your face. 

Why should I leave you, 

To wound myself upon the sharp edges of the night? 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

BY ROBERT FROST

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

We also took a look at Ode to Joy and Telefon

Mon May 14

We started poetry .... #awsome.

here are the poems we looked at today, and which are a part of Task One:

Friday May 11

We did our quiz on Othello, handed in the journal and then we started Poetry.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday May 10

These days we finished off Othello and got to watch Coriolanus, another play by Shakespeare that has some shared themes and characters.

And it stars Stoic the Vast and He Who Shall Not Be Named.

We also did some work on the Theme Study and the Character Sketches.

Friday stuff is due and a quiz.

Stoic the Vast(r) and HWSNBN (L)

Friday and Monday May 7

Seminars

And prep for Poetry and more seminars.

Thursday May 3

We get through Act Five, scene one today and we previewed the ending of the film version of the play.

Tomorrow some of the seminars are due. The rest are going to be done on Monday.

Should be all good.

Wednesday May 2

Ah ... Act four ... we finished it. It was awesome.

Remember to always think about Shakespeare as an actor - Act IV, iii was in the text to give the people playing Othello (Or whatever the main character is in the play a break before Act V)

Right.

We also watched a bit of Act V of the film version.

I also showed two videos to the class. The link is here and the other is here.

We also saw this

Tuesday May 1

Oh, it's May. Oh, thank Goodness, it's May.

So happy to share that fact with my students. But I digress.

We worked our way through Act four, scene two of Othello today. We got questions 31, 32 and 33.

I did give some time for my students to work together and make sure they had the timing down for their seminars, too. Starts Friday!