Saturday, June 13, 2009

June Exams


Classes are finished, but there is still important work to be done. Ignore the good weather and push on with studying for finals. Improve your marks; earn an A or a pass. Keep that conditional acceptance to post-secondary. Position yourself for a scholarship. Don't give up until the final curtain falls.

Social Studies 11 Honours

We began final exam preparation in Friday's class and worked through much of my PowerPoint on preparing for the provincial. It is imperative that you see the rest of it and think about what you will do between now and Friday.

It is essential that you are currently preparing to write the Provincial Final Exam. This is not a test that you can cram for with one or two days to go. You must become familiar with what to expect on the final exam and comfortable with the format of the test. Go to the ministry sites ( Frequently asked questions page, table of specifications, key verb list, & scoring criteria) to see how the exam is put together and look at past exams -- in fact you should write the sample test and look at the posted key to see how you do. To see how to approach the essay questions, look at this document provided to train markers of the exam. Link from my web page on writing the SS11 final.

Your provincial exam is on Friday, June 19, from 9-12:00 a.m. in the small gym. You must get there early. Dress in layers to be comfortable in whatever the climate conditions are on that day. Make sure you had a good night's sleep the night before - overnight cramming is absolutely the worst tactic you could adopt. Practice relaxation techniques if you feel tense. Go to the toilet before entering the exam room!

History 12

With all of the missed classes and interruptions in block 2 this semester, we just barely missed finishing all of the lecture material. I did not complete the final classes to my satisfaction, so be sure to read the base notes for the last four classes to pick up more detail (see them archived below). I particularly recomment watching Frontline; the Long Walk of Nelson Mandela. Also watch this 12 minute interview witht the other Nobel lauriate, F. W. De Klerk. Think of the changes in South Africa and compare them with Gandhi's tactics and the US Civil Rights movement.

We will have an exam prep. session in my room from 1:30 until ? Monday afternoon for those who wish to attend. This will be based on this PowerPoint and will also include a look at how to approach the final exam using an old version.

Be sure to check out provincial exam material at the following government sites:

Try this site for past exams in most grade 12 subjects. Answer keys are also given.

You must bring all textbooks to me before the provincial exam. I will start out in my classroom and will move to outside the exam room before it 0pens. Our text budget has been drastically cut, so I cannot afford to have books go missing. You will be billed for any book not returned - at current replacement costs.

Comparative Civilizations 12

Classes are finished and the final exam has been written, but most of you took the extension to Monday to complete assignments. I guarantee all Monday submissions will be marked. I will likely be able to mark Tuesday submissions too. However, everything will be marked on a first-come-first-served basis. Marks will be posted by Wednesday afternoon as with so much work to come in, they are being regularly updated.

I must get your textbooks back as soon as possible! I will be billing for unreturned texts and will seek you out and possibly turn to voodoo or other tactics to get them. Lost books are too expensive to replace at this time as our book budget has been drastically cut from past levels.

Saturday, June 06, 2009

June 8-12


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As of Monday, there are 5 classes left (3 for C.Civ. 12 as your final exam is during the last two classes. Now is the time to begin preparing for final examinations. 1) Be sure all assignments are complete. 2) Set aside regular time to study for the final.

Need help figuring out how to study? Go to my study skills web page.


Social Studies 11 Honours


To save time, I will test "Government" as a single unit in, probably, the 2nd from last class. This will be a very big test with an extensive multiple-choice component. The subjective section of the exam will have to be shorter than usual to allow for this -- but you will need to study for subjective writing for the final exam in any case. A minimum of 50 flash cards will be needed to earn 5 bonus marks for this test.

The Mark breakdown for the Government test on Thursday is as follows:

85 multiple choice questions (1 mark each) and four from 9 Long answer questions (6 marks each). The total number of marks is, therefore 109 marks -- though with 5 bonus marks it is possible to earn 1114/109.

It is essential that you are currently preparing to write the Provincial Final Exam. This is not a test that you can cram for with one or two days to go. You must become familiar with what to expect on the final exam and comfortable with the format of the test. Go to the ministry sites ( Frequently asked questions page, table of specifications, key verb list, & scoring criteria) to see how the exam is put together and look at past exams -- in fact you should write the sample test and look at the posted key to see how you do. To see how to approach the essay questions, look at this document provided to train markers of the exzm. Link from my web page on writing the SS11 final, and also see my PowerPoint on how to approach the test.

  • Monday, June 8 - Take up #1, p. 297, #2-3 sidebar p. 303, #1 & 3, p. 304, #3, p. 308 & #2, p. 312. Students should have looked at the remainder of the PowerPoint that we did not complete on Friday. Filmstrip -- Provincial Government. Government (red) texts. Read pp. 170-178. Do #1-3, p. 178. Read pp. 240-244. Do Fig. 9-19 p. 241, #2, sidebar, p. 244 #1-4, p. 246.
  • Tuesday, June 9 - Take up homework. Federal and Provincial governments compared. Municipal government introduced. Video & questions on Provincial and Municipal Government. Read (red book) pp. 186-196. Do #1-6, p 196.
  • Wednesday, June 10 - Take up homework. Mayor Mussatto's PowerPoint on Municipal government. Prepare for Government Unit Test on Thursday.
  • Thursday, June 11 - Government Unit Test. Study for the final exam.
  • Friday, June 12 - Provincial Exam Preparation. Preparing for the Social Studies 11 Final Exam PowerPoint.

History 12

You should continue to work on the questions beyond #50, which was collected last week. Many of you still have overdue work, which must be handed in as quickly as possible. I will mark everything I receive in time to submit the mark to Victoria -- but after this week it will be first come, first served. The mark you are given this week may, therefore, be lower than the one that is forwarded to the Ministry.

If we are unable to get the exam prep class on Friday, because material overflows -- highly likely -- we will set up an exam prep time slot during the exam schedule. I will schedule two times if necessary.

Watch as much of the video material linked to below as possible. We simply do not have time to do so in class, but it is extremely helpful.

Comparative Civilizations 12

The final examination is on Thursday and Friday of this week -- Friday's class is a shortened block and I take this into account in setting the test.

The mark breakdown for the Final Exam is as follows:

Day 1: Slide identification - 50 items -- give the name of the work, the creator, and the specific period of the piece -- you therefore have three chances to score 2 marks for each item (100 marks, with a further 15 mark bonus possible). Part 2 requires that you provide labelled floorplan and elevation diagrams -- 2 items, valued at 10 marks each. Part 3 involves writing one from a choice of around 9 essay topics. There is something here for everybody (18 marks - 1 x 6 for composition and 2 x 6 for content). Day 1 is therefore out of 138 marks - but 153 can be earned.

Day 2: 100 multiple choice questions (1 mark each) for a total of 100 marks on Day 2.

The Final Exam is, therefore, out of 238 marks and it is scaled to a mark worth 15% of the year's total value.

  • Monday, June 8 - Painters - Rubens and Velasquez. Sister Wendy segments. Work on final package. England's National Gallery has a nice podcast on their Velasquez exhibit, with great information on the artist and his work.
  • Tuesday, June 9 - Painters -- Carravaggio and Gentilleschi. Video clip on Caravaggio's technique. Sister Wendy segments. Work on final package. Watch Simon Schama's video on The Power of Art; Caravaggio - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 (59 minutes). There is a good feature film on Gentilleschi, Artemisia. This is worth watching if you can acquire a copy.
  • Wednesday, June 10 - The Dutch Masters - Minor masters (Potter, Avercamp, De Hooch and others) and the Majors - Hals, Vermeer and Rembrandt. Sister Wendy segments. Work on final package. If you get the opportunity, the feature film The Girl With a Pearl Earing, is a nice evening's viewing. Regretfully, the Simon Schama documentary The Power of Art: Rembrandt is no longer available online -- if you can find a copy and watch it, it is well worth the effort.
  • Thursday, June 11 - Day 1 of the Final Examination.
  • Friday, June 12 - Day 2 of the Final Examination.