Student Chalk art from Mr. Casey''s Classroom

Here was the final chalk art that was completed by our students:

Mr. Casey's Gr 9s Debate Literature and Learning

It’s been a busy week in Mr. Casey’s Classroom.  This past week Mr. Casey and his class completed their class debate on two topics.  The first resolve was “English is the most important subject to study in high school,” and the second was “It is more important to study recent literature (within 20 years) than classical, older literature (1900+).  The students were hard at work on lunches, preparing the classroom for the debate.  Students spent many lunch periods completing complementary chalk art to set the tone for the room.  Mr. Casey set out to finish preparing the classroom by December 4th, so prospective students could see what a classroom would look like, prior to a debate.

Students helped out with arranging desks, cleaning boards, and arranging materials for the debate.  After the preparations were made, students watched clips from The Great Debaters to help inspire and motivate their efforts.  The movie was well received with many students asking to see the full movie --unfortunately, there is only ever so much time for learning, thus they had to stick to the clips.

After having watched the inspirational clips, Mr. Casey led students into a discussion about debating and some various topics they could debate.  Students in both period 1 and 2 were very engaged in the discussion and offered some great questions and insights.  After much discussion, students used their online app (Socrative®) to vote for their choice in topic of debate.

 

Once the topic was chosen, Mr. Casey placed each student on one of two teams; you were either the affirmative, or opposition.  In their teams, students selected two speakers for the debate and the others provided quotes and statistics to help form supported arguments.  Mr. Casey explained the debate format and gave students 2 days to prepare.

Finally, the day of the debate arrived.  Students on both sides (in each debate --we had two periods, remember), put forth great effort and arguments.  Some arguments were successfully rebutted as others stood strong without opposition.  It was a great opportunity for students to be introduced to debating at a high school level.

Arthur Slade Skypes with Brennan

I was honoured today with the invitation to participate in the Skype call to Arthur Slade (author of the great Canadian novel Dust).  Ms. Peacock had asked if I could help her with setting up the technology component (projector, Skype, etc.)

The whole start of this came about when a couple of students in Ms. Peacock’s grade nine class tweeted the author of the book they had just finished reading in class.  Ms. Peacock then asked Mr. Slade if he would like to be a guest speaker for her class.  Mr. Slade responded that he would be happy to do a quick 20 minute question and answer for her period four class.

See the first video HERE!

See the second video HERE!

Students were prepared, very respectful, despite the excitement, and very responsive.  Mr. Slade did not disappoint, either.  His answers were thorough, thought provoking, and very witty.  Even when a short question did come up, he quickly shared his personal connections to  the question, how he came to these connections, and where these connections may lead him. The students and Mr. Slade were awesome.

We wrapped up the Skype session around 2pm; we nearly doubled the time that he had allotted us.   A few key takeaways that I’m sure most of the class got, were...

7680. There will be no movie anytime soon as Dust is not as internationally known as many other stories
      
7680. Mr. Slade’s mother has read the book; however, despite having a character named after him, his father has yet to read the book.
      
7681. Mr. Slade does not believe in ESP or ghosts, but he does enjoy writing about them!
      

Mr. Casey

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Matthew Casey Wachna, OCT

Setting the Scene for Macbeth

Hanna McMahon (left) and Kayla Renaud-Ouellette drew the backdrop for Macbeth, Scenes 4-6, in Mrs. Jeannotte's 3C English class. It's a great way for us to put ourselves in the scenes.  Kayla is undoubtedly frowning because we didn't finish the play today! We will be reading about Macbeth's tragic end tomorrow.

Reel Canada Film Festival: Monday, November 3

Our students had a fantastic time at the Reel Canada Film Festival event at the Capitol Theatre on Monday!  

Our own John Baillargeon on stage participating in the event!

Another Brennan Cardinal, Dante Cence-Reeves, shows his enthusiasm about Canadian film.

The main event: Skype interview with The F Word director.

grade nine English

Romance! Lies! Fights! Murder!  What is going on in grade nine English?  We are reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Be Careful if you enter the room- there may be a sword fight going on....

Field Trip: Reel Canada Film Festival

On Monday, November 3, many of our grade 11 and 12 students will be attending the Reel Canada Film Festival.  It is a tremendous opportunity for our students to experience Canadain film and explore what it means to be Canadian.  The film festival provides students the rare opportunity to skype with directors of the films that they have viewed and participate in interactive sessions that explore the film making process.  Looking forward to the day!

                                

After-School Literacy Program

Our after-school Literacy Program got underway on Monday, October 27th.  Grade 10 invitees began their literacy journey with their instructor, Mrs. LaBute.  They were hard at work familiarizing themselves with the reading and writing tasks of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test.  The snacks were delicious, and it was a great first session!  The second session will be on Wednesday, Nov.5 in the Learning Commons area after school.