Fiddler on the Roof Session 3



Session 3 for Fiddler on the Roof was all about theme and critical thinking. Followed up with opinions and group work based on their opinion of the play.


I started out by having our students yell out the themes that they felt were in the play. We made a list of themes and some of our students needed some coaching to get to the deeper themes.



Next I had our students answer several questions in groups.
1. Is it possible to preserve tradition? How?
2. Is change inevitable? Why?
3. Do events change people, or do people change events?
They then returned to the large group and we discussed these questions. Here is the worksheet we used.


Finally, I had the students answer these questions in groups.
What were your favourite characters in the play?
What was your favourite scene?
What were the impactful parts of the movie?
Based on the above, they were to make a commercial (trailer) to sell us on going to Fiddler on the Roof. Here is the worksheet we usedThis was so fun to see the creativity coming out in the students. They only had a few minutes to prepare for this - so it was a real exercise in Improv!!


After this the students got all dressed in their costumes and performed Fiddler on the Roof for us!! What a treat!! 
Blessings, Natalie

Fiddler on the Roof Session #2



Our second session of Fiddler on the Roof was all about Character. 

First of all I had our students focus on which characters were Round, Flat, Dynamic, Static etc. They yelled out which characters they came up with in each of the categories. 

Next we were onto these note booking sheets and working in pairs to fill out the Character Analysis and/or Character Transformation. They chose the characters that they wanted to analyze and then filled out the pages. We then discussed some of the characters, with the emphasis on the traits and evidence of those traits.



In the final exercise I had them take these paper dolls and draw a representation of one of the characters. They had to add both a speech bubble and a thought bubble to their character and then share them with the group. 
The students then went to practice the play for a second time! It was great to hear them having so much fun!!

Robert Bateman Centre


We once again took advantage of our Pass it Around Victoria passes and went to the Robert Bateman Centre. What a great experience! Not only to see the incredible paintings and marvel at the talent that it took to paint them, but to see the heart of this man Robert Bateman and the love between him and his wife in the many love letters on display.

The Gallery has lots of light and the paintings are hung with maximum impact. I came around one corner and saw two paintings and thought, wow, Robert Bateman was a photographer too! Then realized as I got closer that no, they were paintings that were so well done that from a distance they looked like photos.


I loved the variety of sizes of the paintings. The gallery added small boxes under many of the paintings where you could hear the song of the bird that was painted. That made the paintings come alive even more.
I loved the section of Bateman's early work, and the different painting styles the experimented with. Having a daughter that experiments with a by different mediums and styles, this section really was encouraging! 
There was also a great explanation of a variety of prints, numbered prints and originals. 


We were there about an hour and it was well worth the time spent! I think we all walked out in awe of this amazing artist!

Chinatown Walking Tour


Exploring Chinatown was such a rich experience with Chris, our tour guide from Discover the Past. Chris really made Chinatown, come alive with stories about the people and the history of the 1800's - early 1900's in Canada's oldest Chinatown.


Our students and parents learned about the founding of the Chinese School, early segregation, the Lee family and how fluent English had helped to make this family wealthy. We learned about Fan Tan Alley and even learned the gambling game Fan Tan. We went to the Sam Kung Temple and learned about the Folk Temples with their many gods. 

As we walked around Chinatown Chris helped us to visualize the size and the vibrancy of Victoria's early Chinatown. He pointed out important buildings and borders. He gave us a sense of the culture, business and politics of the time. He also helped us see how monies sent back to China made a difference to modern day China.
Because Chris had visited Southern China several times, he had a real understanding of the heritage of the people in Victoria's Chinatown's early days. It was a 1.5 hours of enthralling stories and information. Thank you Discover the Past!

Rebecca - Movies as Literature

en.wikepedia.org
Such a great classic movie and class!! Rebecca was an excellent choice with all of the twists and turns in the plot. From what I could tell from the discussion in our class, these students got past this being a 1940 black and white and really engaged in the story. Our student who led was passionate about the movie and I think that rubbed off on the students. 

It was wonderful to be back in Google Hangouts again!! There was so much more discussion and participation. I always appreciate our student's viewpoints and their sense of humor!! It is a joy for me to listen to them as they discussed each question. I love this class!!
Here are the student questions for Rebecca.
Blessings,
Natalie

Anne of Green Gables - Movies as Literature

http://shopatsullivan.com/anne-of-green-gables-the-official-movie-adaptation-ebook.html
Another great class that was led in Blackboard by one of our students. I love the way each student puts and emphasis on the elements of the movie that are important to them. Learning to draw out participation from the class is challenging sometimes, but our student led very well!! This is our last session using Blackboard, we are going back to Google Hangouts. The technology really does make a difference in the responses and I love how Google Hangouts is so visual - it really encourages participation!!
Here are the student questions for Anne of Green Gables.
Blessings,
Natalie

Co-op - Canadian History - The CPR



We are so blessed each month to be able to start with an amazing pastor teaching our students Hermeneutics. Each month there is detailed lessons on some aspect of learning about the bible. This month was no different with the lesson being focussed on “Using the Bible to Interpret the Bible”. This first hour seems to fly by and then we are on to Social Studies.



Our Social Studies study this month was focused on the CPR and Chinese Canadians. Our teacher used this resource for leading our session and it was a great one!



She had them do the first lesson in this outline with all of the chairs lined against the wall and each student representing some group in Canada. This was excellent. It was both visual and thought provoking!



She had the mom’s in the group read the short bio’s on those who were influences in Confederation and Annexation… the group then voted on what point of view each person was coming from.



The students also looked at political cartoons and their messages as well as the maps in this package.



Finally, a large portion of the Co-op time was spent discussing the lessons, Chinese Labor Conditions and Chinese Labor Policies. The had group discussions based on the above lessons. Our mom’s read the poetry that is in these lessons to further point out the points of view about Chinese Canadians.

Finally, they watched these two videos:


Not Welcome Anymore




Stephen Harper's Apology to the Chinese Canadians


This was a very full 2.5 hours! 

In the afternoon our students ran through the first reading of the second drama they will be performing for us. 

Finally, it was off to the gym for Volleyball! What amazing days these Co-ops are!


Blessings, Natalie