We gratefully acknowledge, respect, recognize and appreciate that we live, learn and work and teach on the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dun First Nations and the Ta'an Kwächän Council. 
​Shä̀wnítha / Shro neethun

The Curriculum Document

Click on the embedded link below to visit the B.C. Curriculum page for English Language Arts 9

English Language Arts

The English Language Arts curriculum presents what students are expected to know, understand, and be able to do, articulated in a learning progression that begins in Kindergarten and continues through Grade 12.

A Note on this site vs. Google Classroom

This is a teacher website (and this is a page dedicated to a particular course/class). 
This is a place where I can offer general information, particularly so that it is available to parents/guardians. 

Course materials are only available on my Google Classroom page. 

My Google Classroom page is operated under the umbrella of the Yukon Education Digital Cloud Services, and can only be accessed by students who are also using their Yukon Education Digital Cloud Services accounts (not their personal accounts) via the Yukon-Education-specific Rapid Identification portal. 

Due to the fact that I use licensed materials I cannot (and will not) post materials here, on a public page. 

For information on accessing Google Classroom, students should click here. 

All About Senior English Summer School Boot Camp

​The Grading
​Standards Based Assessment & Evaluation

Ms. Carrey does her assessment and evaluation using a tool called ThinkWave.  Updates will be generated from that service and can be sent to parents via email or in hard copy.

Below you will find the weighted categories for the class.  Specific assignments may have elements that fall into more than one category, but an assignment will be most focused in one category. 

In the descriptions below, there are some examples of skills/content from the curriculum document to help you understand what each category includes. This list of examples is not exhaustive. 

The Categories

30% - Content & Knowledge      

• Information, facts, terminology etc. 
• Strategies and Processes
• Text features, text forms and genres

25% - Comprehension, Connections & Analysis

• Identifying and analyzing bias​
• Thinking critically
•  Apply comprehension and study strategies (i.e. note taking) ​

15% - Communication & Collaboration

• Explore diversity (cultural, varied perspectives) in Indigenous and non-Indigenous texts
• The history of language, and it's influence on personal and social identities
• Clear communication of key ideas for an intended audience and purpose.
• ​Communication with peers and instructors for the purpose of collaboration, review, revision and creation.​
• ​Reading/viewing/listening for meaning

7% - Planning, Creating & Presenting Content

• Planning a research project (i.e. key questions, thesis)
• Planning a project incl. time management 
• Preparing material to be published or presented, and posting/sharing work on the assigned platform

8% Research, Citations & Acknowledgements

• Accessing (seeking, assessing, sorting) information.
• Understanding protocols around ownership and guardianship of Indigenous oral texts.
• Using citations to properly give credit to the creators of source material.
• Quoting vs. paraphrasing vs. original observations.
• Effective use of search engines and databases.

15% - Final Evaluation Tasks 

The Final Exam is worth 15% of the entire course grade. 

It will be an open-book exam, done online in Google Classroom, on the morning of Friday, July 16th. 

Once students have completed and submitted the final exam, they may leave the building - they will be done with their summer school course. 

​The Course Outline
​The Plan and The Expectations

Below is an interactive online 'book' that contains the plan for this summer. 

Click on the pointing finger in the top right to see the interactive elements where you will find links, and more information.  You can open the 'book' by making it full screen (click on the three dots in the bottom right corner and navigate through the material). 

The PLan - Interactive Course Plan Infographic

The Expectations for Summer School are very similar to the regular school year in terms of behaviour on school property and in interaction with other students and staff. 

Key Differences: 

• 3 Unexcused Absences = removal from program, no credit, no refund.
• 3 Lates (in the morning or after break = 1 unexcused absence) 
• An Excused Absence is ONLY for completely unavoidable, documented reasons (i.e. COVID 19 / illness with medical note, specialist appointments that cannot be rescheduled, etc.) 
• Classes move fast! Students must be in the room, at their seat, ready to work by 8:45 am. They get one 10 min break.  
• We are still in a pandemic and Whitehorse is in the middle of an outbreak.  The Safe 6+1 restrictions remain in effect.  Students on break may remain in their classrooms, go quickly to the bathroom (masked) or outside.  
  • Masks must be worn inside in hallways, bathrooms and when entering or exiting the building/rooms. 
  • Students may be unmasked if sitting at their desk, facing the front of the room. 
  • Masks must be worn if a student is moving around the room. 
  • Fountains may only be used with fillable containers. 
  • Students must sanitize hands and common surfaces regularly.
• Vacations are NOT unavoidable - students and parents have chosen for the students to attend summer school. 
• Students have been provided with a Policies and Rules document. These expectations have been reviewed in class and should be shared by the student with their parents/guardians.  
• There is very little room for extensions of deadlines and there is no learning support/assistance room for students on IEPs/StLPs.  Teachers will attempt to make what adaptations they can within the context of the summer school environment (which is fast paced, and which requires focus and consistent attendance and effort from the students). We want the kids to succeed and we believe that they can but time and resources are limited. 

The Course Materials
​Texts and other Resources

• There are no textbooks for this course. 
• Copies of activities and assignments will be provided in class and posted in Google Classroom (see note above).
• There will NOT be a novel study - the focus will be on practicing skills, particularly analysis and writing, and there is not much time for an in-dept analysis of the types of novels suitable to senior students. 
• Students have been provided a Duo-tang and copies of reference materials and "cheat sheets" that they should use and reference for work during the course.  It is also recommended that they keep these references for later use in further English Language Arts classes. 
• The course makes extensive use of multimedia resources like videos.  These are projected during class and linked to the assignments and materials in Google Classroom. 
• Students are certainly welcome to bring their own binders to and from class.  If a student does not feel confident about carting materials back and forth, they may also set up a file folder to be kept in the classroom. 
• Extra copies (should a student lose a copy or be absent) will be found in a folder for the week (in order, in the hanging file bin, Room 111 FHC, under the windows). 
• We will be using materials from a number of sources, including but not limited to: 
  • Cult of Pedagogy 
  • Laura Randazzo
  • Presto Plans
  • Crash Course
  • Short Story: Coyote Columbus Tale by Thomas King
  • TED talks and TED ED 

​The Day to Day 
Here you'll find a quick daily summary of what we did in class. 

Click on the week dates/number below to open up a table that outlines what happened in class on a particular day. 

If a student has to work from home (due to illness, after having contacted the teacher and summer school principal, and with a medical note) they can use this section, along with the daily agenda and assignments / materials posted in Google Classroom to stay on top of their work. 

Week 1 - Tuesday, June 22nd - Friday, June 25th, 2021

Date	In class we:
Monday, June, 21st	Statutory Holiday National Aboriginal Peoples Day  School Closed, No Classes
Tuesday, June 22nd	Reviewed Summer School Policies & Procedures (handouts and presentation/slideshow)  Reviewed (read) the course syllabus and talked about how to contact Ms. Carrey  Did our first Grammar Gap Filler (They're/Their/There)  Completed the Getting to Know You sheet (handed in)  Completed the ELA and Classroom Habits Initial Reflection and Goal Setting Activity (handed in)  Watched videos about the core elements of language and grammar and how these are present across cultures and languages.
Wednesday, June 23rd	Grammar Gap Filler (You're/Your)  Handed out English Terminology Survival Kit (to be added to blue handbook duo-tang)  Watched and read the Short Story - Plot Arc Mini Lesson (including assessing the mini-story re: Jason and the Spider) reviewed elements of plot and Freytag's Pyramid (Plot Diagram) Watched to Pixar Shorts on YouTube (Gerri's Game and For the Birds) Teacher analyzed and modelled identifying plot elements for Gerri's Game. Students completed blank Story Plot Diagram for For the Birds (handed in to be evaluated) Students completed the "Is it a Story?" activity, assessing whether or not a series of short pieces of writing were stories or descriptions / lists of events (handed in for evaluation) Reviewed the points of view in literary works (first person, second person, third person omniscient, third person limited and third person objective) and how 2nd person is rarely used in narrative, and is different than breaking the fourth wall.  Watched: TED ED What is the best point of view?  Reviewed the Plot Lines sheet and compared the 10 basic plot lines (different from the types of conflict) to the types explored in the video What Are the 7 Major Plots in Storytelling? Reviewed the Plot Pacing Mini-Lesson and discussed the fact that not all plot events are created equal, and that the Rising Action is made up of a series of mini-conflicts of varying intensity that build towards the climax of the main conflict.  In discussion, we established that to determine whether or not something IS, in fact, a story, we should first look for a conflict that involves a main character (protagonist) who has something to lose (the stakes).
Thursday, June 24th	Grammar Gap Filler - Two/Too/To  We discussed the literary meaning of "myth" - an enduring story, not necessarily literal - intended as a means of teaching and cultural transmission of values and priorities, not something that is "false" or "pretend" We watched several videos related to/in preparation for reading our short story (A Coyote Columbus Story by Thomas King)  Coyote & Raven - American Tricksters (Crash Course, Mythology)  Exploration, Empire & The Columbian Exchange (Crash Course, History of Science)  The Columbian Exchange (Crash Course, World History)  We spoke about the confirmation today (Thursday, June 24th, 2021) that over 600 (current estimate 751) more unmarked graves of Indigenous people - mostly children - are in a community grave in Cowessess, Saskatchewan.  We talked about how Thomas King's background as a First Nations person born in the USA and then as an academic, author and activist in Alberta, gave him a perspective on how the impacts of colonialism have and are impacting Indigenous peoples.  We talked about the fact that as youth they have a unique part to play in being curious about, keeping an open mind about, learning about and keeping our leaders accountable to taking meaningful action on Reconciliation.  After some intense contemplation of current events, and a quiet moment, I wanted to offer two other perspectives. So I shared two more videos:  Graham Green on Air Farce (Nov 18, 1994) - if Indigenous people had had Customs and Immigration in the Age of Exploration) "I'm Not the Indian You Had In Mind" - by Thomas King, performed by Thomas King, Lorne Cardinal, and Tara Beagan (2007, National Screen Institute) all of whom are Indigenous artists and activists)
Friday, June 25	Grammar Gap Filler - It's/Its 6+1 Traits of Writing  Structured note-taking (notes to be kept for reference)  Rubric provided (will be used for assessment of Narrative Draft 1)  Click here to see a Prezi on the Traits

Week 2 - Monday, June 28th - Friday, July 2nd, 2021

Date	In class we:
Monday, June 28th	Grammar Gap Filler - Then/Than We did some "brain sparkers" writing techniques -  Writing to music  Looking at funny images of animals (Comedy Wildlife Photos)  Using an idea-generator site (52 Prompts)  We read the article "How to write a compelling conflict" from MasterClass  We reviewed the "How to Write a Story" hand out from last week  Students were provided with fillable worksheets for planning and mapping their narrative story (Google Classroom)  Students need to plan and map their story by beginning of class on Tuesday, June 29th, 2021)  We watched Mr. Bean Goes to the Dentist and analyzed how each part would fit into a story map  Students had an hour in class to:  Begin planning and mapping their narratives Complete and submit any missing work, esp the Coyote Columbus Story analysis and questions.
Tuesday, June 29th	TBA
Wednesday, June 30th	TBA
Thursday, July 1st	Statutory Holiday:  Canada Day  (School Closed, NO Classes)
Friday, July 2nd	TBA

Week 3 - Monday, July 5th - Friday, July 9th, 2021

Date	In class we:
Monday, July 5th	TBA
Tuesday, July 6th	TBA
Wednesday, July 7th	TBA
Thursday, July 8th	TBA
Friday, July 9th	TBA

Week 4 - Monday, July 12th - Friday, July 16th, 2021

Date	In class we:
Monday, July 12th
Tuesday, July 13th
Wednesday, July 14th
Thursday, July 15th
Friday, July 16th	FINAL EXAM  in class, via Google Classroom Last Day of Summer School