May 26 - 30

Contact me by e-mail at: kbenoy@nvsd44.bc.ca 

This blog provides lesson plans for each week.  Look ahead to see where we are going.  Look back to see what you might have missed. All assignments are provided here.  If anything is underlined, click on it to bring up the document or, in the case of videos, link to an online version of what was scheduled for seeing in class or as enrichment.  
So you just want to see photos of Sutherland activities? Click here to see my Picasa Albums. 

Things that are static -- not requiring regular change -- can be found at my website:http://sites.google.com/site/kbenoy/.  Admittedly, I do not update this site regularly, so there may be dead links.

I take a few photos around the school, if you are interested, click here to see my Public Picassa photo albums.  

Grad Boat Cruise photos are now posted.

Recent albums include the Centennnial Theater and Sutherland concerts of the Asahikawa High School Wind Orchestra, the Senior Girls' soccer games vs Howe Sound, Carson, Windsor and Seycove - also the playoff games against St. Thomas More and Windsor. The Junior Girls vs Windsor, Handsworth, & the playoff game vs Sentinel, the Junior Boys' rugby game vs Seycove, and the May 9 Ultimate Tournament.  Finally, there are also pictures from Gwynne Dyer's talk to Senior Students.


***Strike Advisory:  Thursday, May 29 has been set for North Vancouver's one day strike (We are also informed that the Government intends to lock teachers out for 3 days at the end of June) -- part of the ongoing labour dispute involving revolving strikes throughout the province.  There will be no classes Thursday unless a settlement occurs.  Teachers are trying to minimize the strike's impact on students.  In the months that we have struck so far there has been little to no impact;  as the dispute ramps up the impact will be greater, but I am hopeful that things are sorted before the impact becomes appreciable.

***Partial Lockout Advisory:  I'm afraid this will impact students and I am not able to buffer them from its effects.  You can read the full letter by the Government's chief negotiator here.  Clearly those who wrote the letter don't understand the impact of what they order.  To justify cutting teacher pay by 10% they have reduced what we are allowed to do at work or at home: "...we are suspending the performance of specified duties and reducing the hours of work of your members, which provides the basis for this reduction in salary."  I face government sanctions if I try to do more than they outline!

Most significantly:"unit employees are directed not to work during recess or lunch hours except as specifically required by the essential services order."  This means I cannot supervise make up tests or provide tutorial assistance as I would normally...or provide the usual extra exam prep classes for Provincial Exam writers. We are also directed "not to attend their workplace earlier than 45 minutes before the commencement of their instructional time or later than 45 minutes after the end of their instructional time...." This means there is no longer the opportunity to make up missed tests before or after school -- as 45 minutes is insufficient to do so.  From now on, students will have to miss another class in order to make up tests.  

I have no idea how final exams will be marked if I cannot legally work beyond the hours they specify.  The Social Studies 11 provincial exam ends at 4:00 p.m. on the day before we are locked out for the remainder of the year.  I have to leave school before the exam ends and I will not walk into school the next day if all my other colleagues are locked out on the street. Someone else (not teachers) will have to mark these.  Similarly, now that the ministry has made it necessary to write non-provincial final exams during regular classes, I do not have time to mark these tests in the time provided and also complete report card entries. Report cards are endangered.  Clearly this dispute has the potential to turn the year end into a major train wreck.

Social Studies 8 

We just wrote a unit test on the Middle Ages last week.  Our Renaissance and Reformation unit will take us until just beyond the end of this week. I expect we will write that unit test on Tuesday, June 3.  This test will be smaller than usual.   I expect the Renaissance and Reformation test will be as follows: 25 multiple choice questions (1 mark each) and a choice of two from four long answer questions (6 marks each). The total is, therefore, out of 37 marks. 30 properly-done flashcards are needed to earn 3 bonus marks. 

• Monday, May 26 - Finish taking up p. 143 material.  See more of Sister Wendy's material. Take up #1-4, p. 147. Continue Romeo and Juliet video  (part 1, part 2,).  Describe the renaissance world shown in the movie. How did the lives of upper middle class families then differ with the lives of the same kind of people today? Be sure to think about family relationships, work, interests and lifestyles. No specific homework today.  Why not work on flashcards for this unit?
• Tuesday, May 27 - Take up #1-4, p. 147. Continue Romeo and Juliet video  (part 1, part 2,).  Describe the renaissance world shown in the movie. How did the lives of upper middle class families then differ with the lives of the same kind of people today? Be sure to think about family relationships, work, interests and lifestyles. No specific homework today.  Why not work on flashcards for this unit?
• Wednesday, May 28 - Complete the video.  Use the notes taken when you watched the film to write a paragraph comparing upper middle class life in the Renaissance with upper middle class life today.  Note:  We only managed to finish film of Romeo and Juliette today.  I've moved the remainder of this material to Friday.
• Thursday, May 29 - On Strike.  No classes will be held today unless a settlement is reached.
• Friday, May 30 - Hand in paragraph assignments.   Introduction to the Reformation. Video -The Protestant Reformation; Part 1and Part 2. While watching, answer the following: 1. Why did the Roman Catholic Church face criticism in the 14th century? 2. How did the Church deal with critics? 3. Why were ideas spreading quickly during Luther's life? 4. Why did Luther criticize the Church? 5. How did he escape punishment by the Church? 6. What other reformers brought change to Europe? What did they believe? Read pages 147-150. Do #1-5, p. 150. If you are interested in the reformation and have a little time, watch one or more of the following BBC documentaries (1 hour each) The Protestant Revolution; Part 1; The Politics of Belief, The protestant Revolution; Part 2; The Godly Family, The Protestant Revolution; Part 3; A Reformation of the Mind, and The Protestant Reformation; Part 4; No Rest for the Wicked.

Social Studies 11 

Our Post-War Canada unit concludes this week.  Expect your unit test to be on Friday, May 30.   I expect the unit test to be roughly as follows: 43 multiple choice questions (1 mark each), 5 definitions (2 marks each) and a choice of 2 (Note: this is a change because we cannot give extra time on this test) from 5 choices (6 marks each). The test is, therefore, out of 71 marks. 30 flash cards are needed to earn 5 marks. 

Now is also the time to begin thinking about and preparing for the Provincial Exam.

***Here is a set of summary notes for the Social Studies 11 course -- excellent for use in studying for the final exam. 

***Here is another, shorter, set of notes for the Social Studies 11 course.

***Here is a much more thorough webpage of review materials. 

Find another set of notes on the Counterpoints text at:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/ss11exam/Counterpoints.htm

Be sure to look at past exam material to get comfortable with the format.  Go to 

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/search/.

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, and also see my PowerPoint on how to approach the test.

• Monday, May 26 - Take up  the sidebar on p. 211 & #1-2, p. 213 and #2-6, p. 216.   Block 3 Mr. Tewanee Joseph will be in the class to relate the experience of First Nations people in modern Canadian society and the influences of the past.  There will likely be time for questions and answers. If this part of the class ends early, we will continue the PowerPoint - Land Claims and the Indian Act.  Be sure to study tonight for the exam on Friday.  Make and use flash cards.  Block 4.  This will depend on what happens in block 3 today.  If all of the block is used by our speaker, we will fill in here with what I used in block 3 during Gwynne Dyer's talk -- material on Nuclear war.  If not all of the class is used, we will continue the PowerPoint
• Tuesday, May 27 - Continue PowerPoint Land Claims and the Indian Act. Watch video segments from Canada; A People's History - the following episodes:" Taking Back the Past" and "Land And Nations".  Complete these questions while doing so. To study for the exam on Friday, create a timeline of Canadian events from 1945 to the present.  This is homework, not an assignment.
• Wednesday, May 28 - Complete the PowerPoint and any other material not finished.  If there is significant time left over, we will look at some more episodes from Canada; a People's History. If we finish everything, we will start the next unit by handing out the new text books -- which can also be found online  -- and in much better condition than the print versions.  If time, we will begin the PowerPoint for Chapter 1. Study for the unit test on Friday.
• Thursday, May 29 - Regrettably, this is a strike day.  No Classes.  Use the time to study for the unit test and begin preparing for the Provincial final exam.
• Friday, May 29 - Post 1945 Canada Unit Test.