English Class Musings

​Well, what a year we've had! Our students proved themselves to be resilient, dedicated, and creative. When we went online, we took a little break to do wellness checks, taking advantage of all the online content, viewing and discussing, orally and in writing: videos of people singing from their balconies, photography, poetry, songs, and online concerts. Then we continued as usual, with our novel study discussions and essay writing, using Google Classroom and Google Meet.  The students were able to make connections to events happening now with all our novels: Red Scarf Girl, about the Chinese Cultural Revolution (grade 7/8); the old classic, Lord of the Flies (grade 9); and Half Blood Blues, about black jazz musicians in Europe during WWII (grade 11).  They wrote exceptional essays, making excellent links to the pandemic situation and the Black Lives Matter movement, and proving that our students are excellent inquirers, with the ability to express their opinions and make links with the world around them.