Welcome

Welcome to high school. For those in secondary two, welcome back. I am Mr. Jordan Kent and this is my third year at Noranda School. I am looking forward to this class. I have been working hard putting together a challenging and engaging program.

English 1 - 2 is an exciting, interactive course focusing on the student’s literacy. Through work in literature and media, students will develop and build upon their interpretive skills, research skills, critical thinking, and creativity. Students will have opportunities to explore a wide-variety of texts, including, novels, plays, poetry, film, advertisements, graphic novels, and etcetera.

The course is comprised of four competencies: uses language/talk to communicate and to learn, represents her/his literacy in different media, writes a variety of genres for personal and social purposes, and reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts. More detailed information about the curriculum outcomes can be found on the ministry’s website.

You can always get a hold of me if you have any questions or concerns. The best way to contact me is through my school email: jkent@wqsb.qc.ca. You can also call the school and leave a message with Rosemarie at 819-762-2706.

I do not overload students with homework. However, students are required to complete assigned readings at home, as well as complete assignments that they were unable to finish in class. I do my very best to post assignments on the class blog at NorandaEnglish12.blogspot.com. Occasionally, I will post handouts on drop.io/jordankent in case a student has lost a handout and requires it at home. Students can always benefit from completing extra work at home including reading a good novel, writing creative stories, completing grammar activities that I can provide, and even watching English television if they don’t normally do so.

The following is a breakdown of this year’s plans for English 1-2. I have provided some detail for the first two units so that you and your child know what to expect. In between units, students will complete grammar assignments, creative writing assignments, and other single-class lessons. The schedule may change or be adjusted.

Month	Unit Description
September	Word Play: This unit will introduce the students to the expectations of cycle one English Language Arts. Throughout the unit the students will be introduced to a board game that builds their language skills. They will then work as a group to evaluate and review the game. They will also create promotional material and a group presentation. During this unit, students will be reading the novel Hatchet, writing summaries, and completing occasional quizzes in preparation for the following unit. Students will have class time to read but most of their reading will be done at home.
October/November	Survivor Unit: This unit is all about the wilderness. Students will finish reading the novel Hatchet and complete a variety of activities based on the novel. There may also be a field trip during this unit; I will keep you updated.
December	LES (Learning and Evaluation Situation): An LES is the Ministry of Education’s term for a unit of study. The ministry provides some LESs for teachers in the province. I use at least two of the LESs provided by the ministry to ensure that I am providing texts and assignments at the appropriate level. The LESs provided by the ministry are typically on fun, engaging topics and are completed within 7-10 classes.
January	Medieval Unit (inter-disciplinary: English and History): Students will explore knights and castles in this exciting unit. Students will learn to read non-fiction texts, learn the origin of the English language, and give a presentation.
February	Creative Writing Portfolio & Class Novel Study: Students will get to write and share their creative writing. We will also study the novel The Outsiders and complete associated tasks.
March	Battle of the Books/Independent Novel Study
April	TBA
May/June	Final LES (Learning and Evaluation Situation)