Let’s Read Together

Reading Club(Gr.8~9)

This English Reading Club is specifically targeted for students in grades 8-9. In this club, students will be analyzing various different texts, including short stories, poems, and novels. Analyzing texts is an essential skill in English in being able to be a better writer and reader. The texts that are worked on are fascinating and well- known texts that should most definitely be closely inspected, and they are also beneficial to study before moving into high school English. But most importantly, this club will not only guide students in analyzing these texts, but it will also teach students the analytical skills necessary to be applicable in any future texts they encounter. The club leaders are all very familiar and passionate about these texts, and they hope to share their expertise and familiarity with you!

Club Leaders:

Anita Hao

Anita Hao is a grade 10 full IB student at Western Canada High School. In the past few years, Anita’s biggest achievement was actually in music, specifically piano, where she won 2nd prize at the Canadian Music Competition and attended numerous prestigious world-class music festivals like Music Fest Perugia and E-Piano International Music Festival. Apart from piano, Anita is also a very good student who skipped grade 8 and gets extremely high school averages annually. Apart from music, Anita is also an avid reader, reading many famous classics and books. Through this club, Anita hopes to share her passions in reading and writing to students and teach them how to achieve these activities at a high level.

Sandy Zhao

Sandy Zhao is a grade 10 full IB student at Western Canada High School. She is deeply passionate about reading and believes that you should read whatever you want and enjoy! It doesn’t matter if it’s novels, short stories, poems, biographies or news articles. You will find that when it comes to writing and interpreting text, the knowledge you have acquired from reading will aid you immensely. Sandy is looking forward to reading with you!

Zeqi (Zerchee) Sun

Zeqi (Zerchee) Sun is a grade 11 full IB student at Western Canada High School. She genuinely enjoys reading and literature analysis, and she is taking English to the higher level. She has many tutoring experiences in the past, and she is also a table tennis coach and swim instructor! She hopes to apply her experiences to help students in this club excel in English and not just in English but also learning strategies that will allow students to excel in any future courses! English is extremely important for all studies, and she hopes that she’ll be able to foster that love for literature for every student in this club!

Cynthia Li

Cynthia Li is a grade 11 student at Western Canada High School. She is currently enrolled in the full IB program and is taking English to the higher level. She has always been fascinated by the wonders of literature and has a great passion for education. Her experience as a tutor and badminton coach will help her lead this reading club to its maximum potential. During her free time, she enjoys playing and watching sports, listening to music, debating, and reading! She looks forward to an amazing club!

Judy Zhao

Judy Zhao is currently attending Western Canada High School as a grade 11 IB student. She enjoys performing arts, traveling, and creating. Philosophical books are her favorite books to read up on, but she also takes pleasure in analyzing poems and short stories with others. She hopes to learn more, as well as help others to do the same.

Vivian Qin

Vivian Qin is a grade 10 full IB student at Western Canada High School. She enjoys playing the piano and she has won awards in competitions. Her favorite subject in school is math, however, she really enjoys reading as well. In her spare time, she loves to read new books or short stories. She has many strategies to help improve your writing and reading. She hopes that this class will help improve your reading comprehension skill and your ability to analyze the text as well as improve your vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure. She is looking forwards to meeting everyone and sharing useful techniques to help improve your reading and writing skills.

Renee Qu

Renee Qu is a grade 9 student at Louis Riel school and she has an immense interest and passion in literature and writing! She personally enjoys writing in her spare time and also finds much enjoyment in reading and analyzing short stories. She is also a voracious reader and is very immersed in the world of words. She believes that the more one reads, the more learned one becomes on all of the different writing tools and stylistic angles that exist which is why she wants to teach and help all of you analyze the short stories that you will be going over in class. She hopes to spread the love and passion for reading and writing to all of you guys throughout the classes she teaches! She hopes to see you there!

Luke Xiu

Luke Xiu is a grade 9 student who attends the GATE program at Queen Elizabeth Highschool. He received near-perfect marks in junior high language arts and he is currently taking a grade 10-11 English course where he is analyzed and written essays on Romeo and Juliet and To kill a Mockingbird. He has a love for reading, some of the books he has read include: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell, Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari, and Hamlet by William Shakespeare, and he hopes to use his knowledge in reading and literature to help encourage you to be more interested in reading and improve your literature skills too. He looks forward to meeting you all soon!

Reading Plan:(October – December 2020)

Lesson 1: “The Piano” by Jesse Marino

Instructors: Anita & Vivian

Comprehension and Summary Work
- What is happening in the text?
- What questions do you have?
- What themes are presented?
- What key or essential ideas does the author explore
- Analysis
- What are the characteristics of pianos?
- Why did the author choose the piano as the protagonist of the story?
- What are the characteristics of the old house?
- How do the characteristics of the piano connect with those of the house?
- How do they differ?

Lesson 2: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Instructors: Cynthia & Renee

Brief summary
Main point
Theme
Guiding question for discussion○ Literary devices
Tone/mood
Syntax

Lesson 3: “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro

Instructors: Judy & Sandy

Pre-read before class
Brief discussion with students about plot and main events
In depth discussion on the different aspects of this short story
- Theme
- Symbolism
- Characters
- Plot
- Different literary devices
Homework: guiding questions or an essay

Lesson 4:“Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes

Instructors: Zerchee & Luke

In this lesson students will be contributing to class discussions individually and within groups to allow for a more personalized education as well as learn to analyze short stories and key concepts of literature analysis. Students will achieve this through the analysis of various texts and practicing their critical analysis and discussion skills. Through the analysis of this particular short story students will develop skills to analyze short stories, discuss the meaning behind it, and apply these skills to more complicated texts.

Warm up with discussion questions
Literature analysis on short story “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes
- Give background on author and history
- Analyze settings○ summarize key points
- Exploration on core themes and ideas
- Discussion points in class
- Identify character traits

Lesson 5: “A Moment in Troy” by Wislawa Szymborska

Instructors: Anita & Vivian

Mythical allusion and background
Summary and stanzas
Themes and main points throughout the poem
Poetic/literary devices and how they are used
Main message of the poem
Discussion and questions

Lesson 6: “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke

Instructors: Renee & Cynthia

Analyzation of My Papa’s Waltz
- Symbolism, Imagery, Deeper Meanings
Extended Metaphors/ Conceit
Stanzas in Poetry Different Types of Poems
- Ballads
- Haikus
- Blank verse
Rhymed Poetry, free verse, epics, narratives, pastoral poetry, sonnets, elegies, odes, limerick, lyrical, soliloquy, villanelle
What type of poem is My Papa’s Waltz?
Meter (In Poetry)
Iambic
Trochaic
What’s used in My Papa’s Waltz?

Lesson 7: “Musée des Beaux Arts” by W. H. Auden

Instructors: Judy & Sandy

Background and historical context of the poem
Discussion of the poem
Rhymes, Syntax, Diction, Voice, Structure of poem
Figurative language and literary devices
Content analysis
- Themes
- Myth of Icarus
- Painting Analysis
- etc.
Connection to the real world
End of class discussion

Lesson 8:” Ithaka” by C. P. Cavafy

Instructors: Zerchee and Luke

Background of author
Symbolisms
The significance of Ithaka
The use of metaphors
Core themes
Significance of Greek mythology in this context
Literary devices
Discussion points in class

Lesson 9:

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Instructor: Ryan Chen

Stephen Covey and 3 of his famous “7 Habits”
“Be proactive”, do what you can do, be prepare and positive
“Begin With the End in Mind”, set goal and manage potential
“Put First Things First”, focus on important not just urgent

Lesson 10:

Four of his famous “Seven Habits” and reflection