B - The one at Vanier Park.

Today the Grade 12 class watched Hamlet at Bard on the Beach.

G - The one with the mini-intro to Hamlet.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How do we come to name ourselves?

We finished our discussion of Kingsolver's "Naming Myself." Learners had some time to write their own "Naming Myself" poems.

I did a brief synopsis of the first part of Hamlet in preparation for our Bard visit next week.

Thank you to Mr. Casiano for taking over so I could leave for the tournament!

NEXT CLASS: Hamlet

B - The one with allegiance, glory, and fate.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How does Beowulf reveal Anglo-Saxon ideals?

Learners presented in Old English their assigned lines from Beowulf.

We discussed examples of Anglo-Saxon ideals from "The Coming of Grendel."

Learners worked in pairs to read together and discuss "The Coming of Beowulf," "Unferth's Taunt," and "The Battle with Grendel."

NEXT CLASS: Anglo-Saxon ideals continued

G - The one with the "naming."

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Why do we even have markers of identity?

Learners read their independent novels.

We reviewed the entrance tickets and we talked about syntax. Learners rewrote the tickets and because of a glitch on the digital whiteboard, they posted the tickets to their digital portfolios.

We read together and discussed Kingsolver's "Naming Myself."

REMINDERS: Permission Forms for the play!

NEXT CLASS: Your Names

B - The one with we gardena in geardagum.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Why were the Anglo-Saxons so important to literature?

Learners continued to practise their Anglo-Saxon pronunciation before reading out loud the first few lines of Beowulf.

We chatted about Anglo-Saxon ideals:

• allegiance to lord and king,
• love of glory as the ruling motive of every noble life,
• adherence to the inevitability of fate;

and, we discussed the features of Anglo-Saxon poetry:

• four stresses in each line,
• each line was divided by a caesura (break),
• the caesura was resolved with alliteration,
• it contains kennings (a type of metaphor).

We read together the modern English translation of the first part from "The Coming of Grendel." I modelled a close reading of the text and pointed out some examples of Anglo-Saxon ideals.

PRACTISE: Finish reading "The Coming of Grendel" and note the samples of Anglo-Saxon ideals.

NEXT CLASS: more Beowulf!

G - The one with identities.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What's in name?

Learners worked in groups to read together and discuss Valgardson's short story "Identities." They used the Short Story Checklist to guide their close reading.

ENTRANCE TICKET: Why did Valgardson choose the title? (Please post your response to the digital whiteboard.)

NEXT CLASS: "Naming Myself"

B - The one with a few more people.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What's so important about the Ango-Saxons?

We looked at the historical context of Beowulf and discussed some features of Anglo-Saxon poetry.

Learners worked in pairs to work out how to pronounce Anglo-Saxon (Old) English.

PRACTISE: Read the notes on the rules for pronouncing Old English and practise the section from the opening of Beowulf I assigned you

VIEW: History of the English Language - The Anglo Saxons

NEXT CLASS: more on the Anglo-Saxons, The Hero's Journey