Secondary English
Grade 12 after IOC
Having successfully completed their IOCs last week, grade 12 DP English class worked on reviewing Paper 1 skills this week. Additionally, they have been researching contextual information for their next literary work - 'Persepolis'. I look forward to their...
Grade 12 English survived it!
The grade 12 English class hit the ground running after the week long break. They survived a grueling assessment, Individual Oral Commentary, which tests their ability to think on their feet and express themselves orally by analyzing a pre-studied text. Well done,...
Grade 7/8 language acquisition
In the past couple of weeks, our grades 7 and 8 language acquisition students have learned to use similes and adjectives to 'show' rather than 'tell' something. This culminated in a descriptive writing assessment to finish off our unit on food.
Tragedy and the Common Man
Grade 9 have been enraptured by the dramatic twists and turns of Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons,' but all good things come to an end. Having reached a powerful conclusion, the class is now working on the summative assessment task which turns on Miller's exploration of...
Tragedy and the Common Man
Grade 9 have been enraptured by the dramatic twists and turns of Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons,' but all good things come to an end. Having reached a powerful conclusion, the class is now working on the summative assessment task which turns on Miller's exploration of...
DP English Class
Grade 11 class continues to explore the unit on readers, writers, and texts. We studied and analyzed advertisements on 'blood diamonds'. Then, we chose different text types on the topic of blood diamonds and explored how each text type has specific features that sets...
The effects of mass hysteria
As we continue with our study of Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible', the effects of mass hysteria under theocracy is becoming apparent. What can we do if we lived in a society driven by power, not reason? What can we do in a society where justice is based on a 17...
First unit of study in grade 11 English
Grade 11 DP English Language and Literature course is new for all of us, so we spent the first week learning about the various requirements, assessments, areas of exploration and concepts. The first unit on gender equality and the #metoo movement saw some passionate...
Grade 7/8 Language Acquisition class are continuing with their first unit of study where we are exploring the statement of inquiry, " choices we make about what we eat are influenced by our culture and the context in which we live." Last week, we learned about the...
Burn the witches
Grade 10 English students have started their first drama unit of IGCSE with The Crucible. Set in Salem and heavily inspired by the Salem witch hunt, the play explores the effects of mass hysteria. A play is written to be performed and that's exactly what we do in our...
G12…the outsiders of ABIS
For our final text in Grade 12, we are reading Camus' The Outsider, a brilliantly depressing book to finish off 12 years of education. If you haven't read it and you're looking for something to make you feel like life is meaningless, then this is the book for you....
We Need Your Puzzles!
The Secondary Library has a new feature: The Secondary Puzzle! So far our students have completed two puzzles, which make great brain breaks during a long day of learning and provide super teamwork opportunities. The only problem is that we've run out of puzzles, so...
Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry
Grade 11 students are doing a great job in breaking down and analyzing poetry by Carol Ann Duffy. They first do this in groups and then discuss as a whole class. The discussions are mostly student lead, and I only step in to steer them in the right direction if needed.
Urban decay in 1984
As we read 1984 in class, we are recognizing the most important element of a totalitarian dystopian society - control - and how this control is causing urban decay, both literally and figuratively. Students made min maps and finding examples from the class and...
You should read this book because . . .
Grade 7/8 language acquisition class has finished their second book reading challenge. This week, students talked about their book, most and least favorite characters and reviewed their books. Here are the books they chose:
Big Brother is Watching You
Grade 9 English students have started their study of the novel "1984". Before focusing on the novel, we learned about the socio/political context of the time and biography of Orwell that influenced his writing. As well, we learned about totalitarian government and...
How do presidents make important decisions?
Being the leader of a country is not an easy job, especially if the world around you is at war and your country has just been attacked. What information does a president need to give the command to launch atomic bombs? What moral obligations does he/she have before...
G10 tackles poetry
For our final exam text, we are finishing off our study of poetry, focusing on war and nature poems. Of course, since poetry is poetry, it's also all about love and death. What else would you write a poem about? Or, in the parlance of today's teens.... "Because,...
Secondary English – week 16
DP Language and Literature students have started a new unit on language of campaigns. We studied a few Dove campaigns and analysed why some worked while others did not. MTV Switch campaigns were used to learn and practise analysing camera angles, images, lighting,...
English in week 15
DP HL students wrapped up a unit filled with fun and comedy as we examined language and laughter. We enjoyed examining and analyzing various comedians such as Trevor Noah, Michale McIntyre, Will Ferrell, Nicky Gervais, etc. Grade 7/8 Language acquisition class wrapped...