Monthly Archives: July 2018

For years I have been teaching graphic novels in ELL 2 and 3 classes. I think it is also suitable for grade 8s. One of my favourites is Death Note.  It is probably one of the most popular graphic novels … Continue reading →

These films/stories below – with the theme of life just before/after death are good to show in a class of rowdy self assured (even cocky students) who seem very disengaged.  However, if the class has many students (even one) with … Continue reading →

Wikipedia description: Empire of the Sun (film) 1987 American coming of age war film by Steven Spielberg Empire of the Sun is a 1987 American epic coming-of-age war film based on J. G. Ballard‘s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. … Continue reading →

Children’s book banning – especially of LGBT text – has a unique and landmark history in BC.  It involved a school board with a fundamental Christian chair, a gay teacher couple, and the Supreme Court of Canada.  The lasting legacy … Continue reading →

I remember in a Writer’s Craft course in grade 11, we wrote poems, and then passed them along to an art class to have them illustrate our work. They were not given any context or insight about the poems, so … Continue reading →

This was the project that Dr. Shoemaker mentioned! It was started as a response to the waves of refugees from Africa and the Middle East arriving in the Italian island. This is a great tool or even an idea for activities/projects … Continue reading →

This was one of the books Dr. Shoemaker brought in and I was blown away! Everything from the writing style, images, and underlying themes really caught my attention. I highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t already! I believe … Continue reading →

I enjoyed Dr. Shoemaker’s presentation and agreed with her points about the importance of visual literacy. In fact, I learnt how to close read text by close reading images first. I believe this is the case for many people, but … Continue reading →

For anyone wanting to explore some more picture books, this is one that I was just introduced to in my Indigenous Ed class, and I would definitely recommend it! It explores the theme of reclaiming language.

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is this beautiful project that y’all should check out. The creator aims to capture very real human experiences within a made-up word. A few of the words have been made into stunning videos as well … Continue reading →