NOVEL APPROACH

1/26/2022

Yesterday, we started the second phase of the Novel Approach. Students will complete a picture book package with the entire class while practicing their use of the reading strategies to synthesis and evaluate the text from 'When I was 8.' Students are building on their reading abilities. Students are continuing to work on their essay writing. They have learned about the 5 paragraph essay structure, have brainstormed ideas for their topics and body paragraphs, and have started on their intro and body paragraphs. The writing process will revolve around the 6 traits of good writing.

IMPORTANT:
1.) CHURCHILL FORMS: Return blue forms as soon as possible. Only 2 more forms need to be handed in.

LEARNING/PLANNER:

1.) READING: Read for 30 min and log.

2.) WRITING: Complete body paragraphs on outline for tomorrow.

3.) MATH: No HW.

4.) LA/NOVEL APPROACH:

Complete visible thinking on 'When I was 8'
Write a paragraph on the BIG IDEA (DO IT ON THE PAR)

5.) POST A RESPONSE:

LEARNING INTENTION: I can write a unique paragraph on what I think the 'BIG IDEA' is about 'When I was Eight'. (Write a written response on what you think the author's message is)
SUCCESS CRITERIA:
1.) Paragraph format: intro/body/conclusion
2.) Givens: spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, and capitals
3.) EVIDENCE/SUPPORT: Include at least 2-3 examples from the story and your visible thinking. These supporting points must be ones that helped you get to the big idea of the story.
4.) SELF-ASSESSMENT: Check for the above criteria.
5.) PEER-ASSESSMENT: Give one student feedback based on the above criteria.
6.) REVISIONS: Edit/revise based on the self/peer assessment and feedback.

VIDEO LINKS:
When I was Eight

Jeremy

1/26/2022 03:12:41 pm

1st

Kevin

1/26/2022 03:12:42 pm

1st

Kevin

1/26/2022 03:14:55 pm

Damn 1 second behind alright

Jeremy

1/26/2022 03:19:42 pm

lol

Kevin

1/26/2022 03:15:26 pm

2nd

Melissa

1/26/2022 03:18:57 pm

Three

Hayden

1/26/2022 03:45:21 pm

404

Sam

1/26/2022 04:35:29 pm

Big idea

I think the big idea is even if you have A bad year or a bad day you can still appreciate your life and never give up in your life and you still might be successful. There will always be successful moments in life and unsuccessful moments in life.
1st supporting point it helped me when it said in the book “I thought a great happiness inside that I dared not show”.
2nd supporting point I used connections like when it said in the book “I knew how to keep the sled dogs quiet well father snuck up on Caribou and to Bring the team to him after a kill this reminds me when my dad was little and he used to do this kind of stuff at my cabin with his dad it kinda helped me in my Big idea to not give up.
3rd supporting point I also used another connection. “ and when the sun awoke again. It help me by giving me the line there will always be successful moments in life and unsuccessful moments in life.
That is my big idea.

Bebe

1/26/2022 04:47:18 pm

Paragraph format...

Sam

1/26/2022 04:36:22 pm

I think I met The criteria.

Bebe

1/26/2022 04:45:06 pm

Mr. Hong recently told us to read this book and asked us for the big idea, well here is what I think the big idea is. I think the big idea is about when Olemaun was 8 years old she wanted to go to school at the start is to learn how to read the outsiders' books, but she didn't even need the school to teach her how to read, she learned English by herself. In the end she wanted to prove to others that she could read. My first evidence is on page one of the printed copy, "But I did not know how to read the outsiders' books. It was not enough to hear them from my older sister, Rosie. I longed to read them for myself". In this paragraph it showed that she really wanted to know how to read by herself but in the next paragraph it said "Although I begged like a hungry dog after scraps, Father would not let me go to the outsider's school, like Rosie." which means that she want to go to school, to learn how to read. My second evidence is on page two on the top, "I studied each letter of the alphabet before wiping it from the board. I looked at the labels on cleaning supplies and sounded out the words. I even studied the writing beneath pictures in the hall." This proves that the teachers didn't even teach her how to read in the classes so she was learning English off of everyday objects. Last but not least after all the torture she has gone through her goal was to prove to the nun and her classmates that she can read, "I opened the book, nervousness swelling in my throat. I looked at the words and began slowly, twisting my tongue around the consonants and forming my mouth around the vowels." and after she read the page "I felt a great happiness inside that I dared not show." Olemaun finally proved to the nun and the classmates that she could read so she felt happy. And these are the reason why I chose this big idea.

Bebe

1/26/2022 04:46:38 pm

I think I met the criteria.

Trevor

1/26/2022 07:30:49 pm

Peer feedback: Good Job

Rhea

1/26/2022 07:43:26 pm

@Bebe - Nice work! This is so detailed!

FEEDBACK: For all transitions and dependent clauses at the start of a sentence (e.g. "in the end," and "Last but not least,"), don't forget to add a comma.

ASH

1/26/2022 07:55:37 pm

@Bebe- Good job!

FEEDBACK: You have some grammar mistakes overall you did a great job!

Shawn

1/26/2022 06:08:41 pm

5th

Trevor

1/26/2022 06:27:16 pm

100000000000587678488770992233234355768888940013434th

Kai

1/26/2022 06:32:53 pm

76832657896318160754810568176578356786546158765846764761876761873648067167408637805678168716765761389671546986598136467658367478146716876584684658716487167548164654691681964987765756761475810863434681888068068600861375556314431434373147341734153415145475456736578165254356456873605056783418058413673160743643581604613876175830648561756784651386508567385678436508756783650764716574675638465065473678164857636508346756198560874169870657962985649457th

Shawn

1/26/2022 07:17:35 pm

Kai

1/26/2022 07:58:00 pm

The big idea of When I was Eight is that Olemaun persevered through many unfair treatments and hardships the nun at the Residential School had her do. She was determined, clever, and brave. When the nun locked her in the dark basement, instead of crying, Olemaun calmed herself down by closing her eyes and imagining her father was there. She started to spell her Inuit name and homeland. She turned a scary situation into an opportunity to learn. She used every task as a chance to learn. She used what she saw in everyday life, like the whiteboard and cleaning supplies to learn the alphabet. The story took a turn when she was given a pair of red stockings, which were only worn by clowns. Olemaun decided to burn them to ashes. When the nun asked her where the stockings were, she set her jaw and stood up to the evil nun even though she was terrified of the nun (“Her angry black eyes raised goosebumps on the back of my shaved neck, but she could not make me cry.”) When the nun tried to make Olemaun feel small and insignificant by giving her a book for older kids to read, she worked her way through each word and “by the second paragraph, she confidently sliced through the words without a single moment of hesitation.”

Vernice

1/26/2022 08:37:53 pm

@Kai- Good bid idea
Feedback: Check the givens

Trevor

1/26/2022 06:49:28 pm

994323434349999433434434349943434323996999920938478929012938476547382909866288483383646472647336327732749999999999999768326578963181607548105562345665545768176578356786546158765846764761876761873648067167408637805678168716765761389671546986598133424344646765836747814671685676547234765846846587164871675481646546916819649877657543567754434367614758108634346818880680686008616765673755675556314431434373147341734153415145475456736578165254356456873605056783418058413634232434731607436435342343438160461387663644646317583064856175678465343243413865085673856784334434365087567432434323836507647165746756384650654736781648576365083463434375619856087416987065796298564943343335654334334324324337th

Jeremy

1/26/2022 07:07:06 pm

I think the big idea for the book when I was eight was. If you work hard enough to get something you want, you will one day get it. Even if all odds are against you. I think this is the big idea because. First of all, she was being treated really bad by everyone at the residential school and even when she wasn't being taught how to read or speak English she learned by herself. Second, she always wanted to learn how to read and I knew this because she said "I longed to read them for myself."(when she said "them" she meant the books", and this was why she went to the residential school. This is what I think the big idea is.

Jeremy

1/26/2022 07:08:14 pm

Self-assessment: I forgot to add in the hook.

Shawn

1/26/2022 07:18:25 pm

You forgot to close the bracket at the end

Trevor

1/26/2022 07:17:52 pm

I think the big idea of this book " When I Was Eight" is about trying made us stop and think about how important it is to appreciate the little things, especially when life is difficult.

Trevor

1/26/2022 07:18:47 pm

Self Assessment : Add more details

Shawn

1/26/2022 07:18:58 pm

Use better paragraph structure

Jeremy

1/26/2022 07:22:07 pm

Peer-Feedback: You didn't add the evidence/support for your big idea.

Jeremy-(Revised)

1/26/2022 07:18:54 pm

Today we used the reading strategy's to find what the big idea for the book "When I was eight". I thought the big idea was. If you work hard enough to get something you want, you will one day get it, and even if all odds are against you. I think this is the big idea because. First of all, she was being treated really bad by the other students and some of the nuns at the residential school ,and even when she wasn't being taught how to read and speak English she learned herself. Second, she always wanted to learn how to read and I knew this because she said "I longed to read them for myself."(when she said "them" she meant the books"), and this was why she went to the residential school in the first place. This is what I think the big idea is.

Jeremy

1/26/2022 07:20:00 pm

I think I have met the criteria and all the requirements.

Jayden

1/26/2022 07:26:06 pm

@Jeremy
Change it to This is what the big idea is. exclude I and think

Jeremy-(Revised 3)

1/26/2022 08:12:43 pm

Jeremy

1/26/2022 08:13:23 pm

I mean revised 2.

Trevor ( REVISED )

1/26/2022 07:28:14 pm

I think the big idea of this book " When I Was Eight" is about trying made us stop and think about how important it is to appreciate the little things, especially when life is difficult. The story is about, a young girl named Olemaun who wants nothing more than to learn to read, and begged her father to let her go to school. Unfortunately, school was nothing like she thought of, instead it was one of those residential schools. When she arrived, a nun gave her a haircut and some clothing. Then, the nuns made rules about speaking their own language are not allowed, and make them feel bad about their culture. Soon later, the nun who had cut her hair was her teacher, she made her read when she never ever learned to read, the nun gave her a punishment for the rest of the class. The nuns keep on giving Olemaun extra chores as a part of education. Olemaun did not give up and continue to learn new words. After days and days, Olemaun finally learned how to read. The nun asked her to read and she confidently read through all the words and felt of pride. This story has taught many things on how history before was and that to appreciate the little things that we have.

Gen

1/26/2022 10:38:06 pm

@Trevor
I like your big idea!
Feedback : you have some grammar errors. Try to fix it
GOOD JOB!

Rhea

1/26/2022 07:33:57 pm

Cultural genocide. Abuse. Tragedy. All of these words describe the horrendous acts that were committed in the residential schools. When I Was Eight, a book that was recently read by Division two, narrates just that. After completing visible thinking on this story, the Big Idea that I came up with is how this book emphasizes the terrifying things that were done throughout the history of residential schools. To start with, one point that stuck out to me was, “A black-cloaked nun cut my hair. I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor.” From my background knowledge, I know that hair is a crucial part of the Indigenous culture; it is paramount that one’s hair is kept long. Therefore, because the nun cut Olemaun’s hair short, I can infer that the purpose of this was to completely annihilate the Indigenous people’s culture. Furthermore, I think that the Big Idea is about petrifying residential schools by observing the ways the nuns treated Olemaun. Especially with the revengeful and malicious way the nun wanted to humiliate Olemaun when demanding her to read, I can tell that they wanted to hurt the Indigenous children’s feelings and “cut them down to size”. To those older girls that were already brainwashed by the nuns, they were taught to hate Olemaun for who she was. Finally, I noticed how the whole book revolved around reading English. From my background knowledge, I have heard that the children at the residential schools were prohibited from speaking their Mother Tongue, and the only language they could speak was English. This told me about how the residential schools were intended to make the children forget about their Indigenous language. Instead, the nuns wished to assimilate the Indigenous into the Catholic culture, where they read English. In conclusion, through this analysis, I have come to conclude that When I Was Eight’s purpose is to talk about the horrible things that happened in the residential schools.

Rhea

1/26/2022 07:41:30 pm

@I can change some wordings and elaborate a bit more on my sentences.

Cultural genocide. Abuse. Tragedy. All of these words describe the horrendous acts that were committed in the residential schools that happened in the 19th and 20th centuries. When I Was Eight, a book that was recently read by Division one, narrates just that. After completing visible thinking on this story and sorting through the text to find text evidence, the Big Idea that I came up with is how this book emphasizes the terrifying things that were done throughout the history of residential schools. To start with, one point that stuck out to me was, “A black-cloaked nun cut my hair. I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor.” From my background knowledge, I know that hair is a crucial part of the Indigenous culture; it is paramount that one’s hair is to be kept long. Therefore, because the nun cut Olemaun’s hair short, I can infer that the purpose of this was to completely annihilate the Indigenous people’s culture. Furthermore, I think that the Big Idea is about petrifying residential schools because I observed the ways the nuns treated Olemaun. Especially with the revengeful and malicious way the nun wanted to humiliate Olemaun when demanding her to read, I can tell that they wanted to hurt the Indigenous children’s feelings and “cut them down to size”, as stated in the book. To those older girls that were already brainwashed by the nuns, they were taught to hate Olemaun for who she was, and to those who were not yet ruined from their religion, they were abused and hurt until they finally relented into forgetting their family. Finally, I noticed how the whole book revolved around reading English. From my background knowledge, I have heard that the children at the residential schools were prohibited from speaking their Mother Tongue, and the only language they could speak was English. This told me about how the residential schools were intended to make the children forget about their Indigenous language. Instead, the nuns wished to assimilate the Indigenous into the Catholic culture, where they read English. Through this analysis, I have come to conclude that When I Was Eight’s purpose is to talk about the horrible things that happened in the residential schools.

Kai

1/26/2022 08:10:47 pm

Rhea, your paragraph uses a great amount of descriptive words to make the paragraph very informative and colourful.

Crystal

1/26/2022 08:48:21 pm

@Rhea - This is a great big idea and you have really good supporting points.
FEEDBACK: For you conclusion sentence, maybe you could say "...come to conclude that the purpose of When I was Eight is to talk about...in residential schools.", just to make it sound a little more smooth?

Crystal

1/26/2022 08:48:39 pm

your*

Rhea (Revised)

1/26/2022 10:39:58 pm

Cultural genocide. Abuse. Tragedy. All of these words describe the horrendous acts that were committed in the residential schools that happened in the 19th and 20th centuries. When I Was Eight, a book that was recently read by Division one, narrates just that. After completing visible thinking on this story and sorting through the text to find text evidence, the Big Idea that I came up with is how this book emphasizes the terrifying things that were done throughout the history of residential schools. To start with, one point that stuck out to me was, “A black-cloaked nun cut my hair. I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor.” From my background knowledge, I know that hair is a crucial part of the Indigenous culture; it is paramount that one’s hair is to be kept long. Therefore, because the nun cut Olemaun’s hair short, I can infer that the purpose of this was to completely annihilate the Indigenous people’s culture. Furthermore, I think that the Big Idea is about petrifying residential schools because I observed the ways the nuns treated Olemaun. Especially with the revengeful and malicious way the nun wanted to humiliate Olemaun when demanding her to read, I can tell that they wanted to hurt the Indigenous children’s feelings and “cut them down to size”, as stated in the book. To those older girls that were already brainwashed by the nuns, they were taught to hate Olemaun for who she was, and to those who were not yet ruined from their religion, they were abused and hurt until they finally relented into forgetting their family. Finally, I noticed how the whole book revolved around reading English. From my background knowledge, I have heard that the children at the residential schools were prohibited from speaking their Mother Tongue, and the only language they could speak was English. This told me about how the residential schools were intended to make the children forget about their Indigenous language. Instead, the nuns wished to assimilate the Indigenous into the Catholic culture, where they read English. Through this analysis, I have come to conclude that purpose of When I Was Eight is to talk about the horrible things that happened in the residential schools.

ASH

1/26/2022 07:47:21 pm

Today we read a book called "When I Was Eight". The big idea is that Indigenous children were mistreated, bullied, blasphemy and etc. Also, to think positive no matter what happens. This is what I think the big idea is.

WORDS HARD TO UNDERSTAND

Blasphemy- Disrespect a religion
(Blas-fe-me)

ASH

1/26/2022 07:50:38 pm

SELF ASSESMENT: I think I shouldn't type "and etc."

ASH

1/26/2022 07:57:09 pm

also check the GIVENS

Winna

1/26/2022 08:39:10 pm

@Ashleigh, nice job!
Feedback: You should try to add supporting details

Rhea

1/26/2022 07:49:01 pm

@Mr. Hong What does "Complete body paragraphs on outline for tomorrow" mean? Do we finish our body paragraphs?

ASH

1/26/2022 07:51:22 pm

@Rhea- I think so

Jayden

1/26/2022 07:49:08 pm

Mr. Hong putted up a video-book about When I Was Eight. The purpose of reading this book is to find the big idea of When I Was Eight.

I think the big idea would be that Olemaun was trying to make some friends and study to read outsiders novel at a school as she doesn’t know how to read the novel, and she thought it wasn’t a residential school. I have some proof why the big idea was to make friends and to read outsiders novel.

I know that she might be trying to make friends because a lot of Indigenous people wanted to go to that school and Indigenous is Olemaun’s culture. In the story before the school paragraph there were no sentences about Olemaun making friends and playing with them.

Another proof why she wanted to make friends and to study on reading is because she needed to study, and she wanted to learn more about reading novels. She did study by herself with her family and she wants to prove the class that she is a bookworm if she studied enough.

These were 2 proof/evidence that support the idea why she wanted to go to the school and after reading more, I found out that the school was actually a trap for her that she wouldn’t see her family in a long time but the nuns still kind of taught her about reading sometimes but even if she learned she was mistreated she still escaped and kept these things that she learned in her head.

In conclusion my felling after the big idea part was bad because falling for a trap could be painful as if you couldn’t see you family in a long time it would be really sad.

Jayden

1/26/2022 07:51:21 pm

But before the trap in school part in the book my feeling on the big idea (studying) was good as you could study and learn more and as you study you may be more relieved and excited.

Mr. HONG

1/26/2022 08:08:34 pm

@ Everyone - Sorry everyone! There is no writing homework for today other than completing one body paragraph. This can be in point form if you want. I updated the website before I canceled today’s writing lesson.

Rhea

1/26/2022 09:23:59 pm

OK, thank you!

Brendan

1/26/2022 08:09:31 pm

"When I Was Eight". This a relatively broad phrase that could have many different meanings for different people. A book our class read today has this exact phrase as the title and it was about the events an eight year old Inuit girl experienced that year. By utilizing every reading strategy in the Novel approach, I was able to synthesize and evaluate the text and form my interpretation of what the Big Idea was. Wait no more, here is my Big Idea for the story "When I Was Eight". My Big Idea is split into two sections starting from Olemaun's point of view. Firstly, I think the Big Idea of the book is that if you preserver through obstacles in your life and always try your best no matter how difficult it becomes, then you'll eventually reach the goal you've been aiming for. Additionally, stand for what you believe in by not allowing others to discourage you with their words and actions. There are multiple examples in the text to back this up. To start, Olemaun didn't feel defeated when she was humiliated when her teacher made her spend the rest of the class with her nose in the corner. Instead, she decided to study letters on the board and read the labels on the cleaning supplies by sounding out the words. I infer that she was even more motivated to learn to read because she wanted to prove to everyone and herself that she could do it. The text evidence is when Olemaun said "she could not wear my determination". Secondly, towards the beginning of the story, Olemaun said this "but my name is Olemaun, the stubborn stone that sharpens the half-moon ulu knife used by our women" implying that she was stubborn. However, her opinion changed at the end of the book as she then said "I was brave, clever, and as unyielding as the strong stone that sharpens an ulu. This means she went from thinking that the "stone" was stubborn to thinking it is actually strong, just like her. She believed in herself much more after she was able to read. Furthermore, I also think the Big Idea is about not treating others well just because they have a different religion and/or ethinicity than you. In the text, the nun cut Olemaun's hair, which is a big part of her culture. I made a connection to the Orange Shirt Day Story because the girl in that story also had the same thing happen to her in the residential school. Olemaun was also discriminated against because she had to do extra chores "as part of her education". That's obvious a lie. The teachers thought that she couldn't do the same thing as everyone else because she was an Inuit. To summarize, I think the Big Idea of "When I Was Eight" is to try your best and to not discriminate against others. What do you think the Big Idea is?

Brendan

1/29/2022 06:19:43 pm

Self Assessment: I can change a few wordings.

"When I Was Eight". This a relatively broad phrase that could have many different meanings for different people. This exact phrase is the title of a book our class read today and it’s about the events an eight year old Inuit girl experienced that year. By utilizing every reading strategy in the Novel approach, I was able to synthesize and evaluate the text and form my interpretation of what the Big Idea was. Wait no more, here is my Big Idea for the story "When I Was Eight". My Big Idea is split into two parts. Firstly, I think the part of the Big Idea is that if you preserver through obstacles in your life and always try your best no matter how difficult it becomes, then you'll eventually reach the goal you've been aiming for. Additionally, stand for what you believe in by not allowing others to discourage you with their words and actions. There are multiple examples in the text to back this up. To start, Olemaun didn't feel defeated when she was humiliated when her teacher made her spend the rest of the class with her nose in the corner. Instead, she decided to study letters on the board and read the labels on the cleaning supplies by sounding out the words. I infer that she was even more motivated to learn to read because she wanted to prove to everyone and herself that she could do it. The text evidence is when Olemaun said "she could not wear my determination". Secondly, towards the beginning of the story, Olemaun said this "but my name is Olemaun, the stubborn stone that sharpens the half-moon ulu knife used by our women" implying that she was stubborn. However, her opinion changed at the end of the book as she then said "I was brave, clever, and as unyielding as the strong stone that sharpens an ulu. This means she went from thinking that the "stone" was stubborn to thinking it is actually strong, just like her. She believed in herself much more after she was able to read. Furthermore, I also think the Big Idea is about not treating others unfairly (discriminating) just because they have a different religion and/or ethinicity than you. In the text, the nun cut Olemaun's hair, which is a big part of her culture. I made a connection to the Orange Shirt Day Story because the girl in that story also had the same thing happen to her in the residential school. Olemaun was also discriminated against because she had to do extra chores "as part of her education". That's obvious a lie. The teachers thought that she couldn't do the same thing as everyone else because she was an Inuit. To summarize, I think the Big Idea of "When I Was Eight" is to try your best and to not discriminate against others. What do you think the Big Idea of the story is?

REVISED

Crystal

1/26/2022 08:21:10 pm

Senator Murray Sinclair once said, "We should never forget. It's part of who we are as a nation. And this nation must never forget what it once did to its most vulnerable people." What he is saying is that residential schools have ripped apart the Indigenous people, and although this country has improved a lot, we will never forget what it did to these people. In the story, 'When I was Eight', Olemaun is desperate to go to the outsiders' school like her older sister, Rosie. But as soon as she started attending this school, she realized why her father did not want her to go. I think the big idea of this story is that we need to be aware of cultural genocide, and that residential schools have teared down so many children. When Olemaun said, "I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor," I connected it to my background knowledge. I know that the Indigenous people think that their hair represents them and their culture, and they treasure their hair deeply. They are known for keeping their hair long, so when the nun cut Olemaun's hair, she probably felt as if a part of her was taken away, just like most of her culture. Furthermore, when Olemaun said, "A scream built in my chest, but I held it in," it made me think of how every single child must have felt this as they arrived at the residential schools. Although some of them were already tricked into liking these schools, majority of the children hated it. It's like they have this unimaginable anger boiling inside them, but there was no way in letting that frustration out. In addition, Olemaun was a very brave and confident girl who wasn't afraid to stand up for herself in front of the nuns, but many of the children were tormented to the point where they couldn't even get the courage to speak. Finally, I know that residential schools were known for separating or tearing away family and culture. This includes gender. They isolated the girls from the boys, even if they were siblings, who most likel never got to say goodbye or see each other again. Every single Indigenous child was torn away from their culture, including their language, their clothing, their appearance, and even their name. The nuns were so obsessed with tearing these Indigenous children's self-image away and changing them into people who they wanted to work with, and not letting there be a community with unique and different people. From my background knowledge, I know that when the children who survived the residential schools came back home, their own family didn't even recognize them due to how much they changed in the schools, including not being able to speak their mother language. So, because of this, we need to be aware and attentive of our history. In conclusion, the big idea I came up with is that we need to realize what residential schools did to the Indigenous people, and that it's a serious topic that we need to always keep in mind.

Crystal

1/26/2022 08:30:30 pm

Self-assessment - I should check my grammar and wordings.

Crystal (Revised)

1/26/2022 08:39:14 pm

Senator Murray Sinclair once said, "We should never forget. It's part of who we are as a nation. And this nation must never forget what it once did to its most vulnerable people." What he is saying is that residential schools have ripped apart the Indigenous people, and although this country has improved a lot, we should never forget what it did to the First Nations people. In the story 'When I was Eight', Olemaun is desperate to go to the outsiders' school like her older sister, Rosie. But as soon as she started attending this school, she realized why her father did not want her to go. After reading this story, I think the big idea is that we need to be aware of cultural genocide, and that residential schools have teared down so many children. When Olemaun said, "A black-cloaked nun cut my hair. I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor," I connected it to my background knowledge. I know that the Indigenous people think that their hair represents them and their culture, and they treasure it deeply. They are known for keeping their hair long, so when the nun cut Olemaun's hair, she probably felt as if a part of her was taken away, just like most of her culture. Furthermore, when Olemaun said, "A scream built in my chest, but I held it in," it made me think of how every single child must have felt this as they went to the residential schools. Although some of them were already tricked into liking these schools, majority of the children hated it. It's like they have this unimaginable anger boiling inside them, but there was no way in letting that frustration out. In addition, Olemaun was a very brave and confident girl who wasn't afraid to stand up for herself in front of the nuns, but many of the children were tormented to the point where they didn't even have the courage to speak. Finally, I know that residential schools were known for separating or tearing away family and culture, including gender. They isolated the girls from the boys, even if they were siblings, who most likely never got to say goodbye or see each other again. Every single Indigenous child was torn away from their culture, including their language, their clothing, their appearance, and even their name. Olemaun's name was changed to Margaret by one of the nuns, as her name was too 'Indigenous'. The nuns were so obsessed with tearing these Indigenous children's self-image away and changing them into people who they wanted to see, and not letting there be a community with unique and different people. Again, from my background knowledge, I know that when the children who survived the residential schools came back home, their own family didn't even recognize them due to how much they changed in the schools, including not being able to speak their mother language. So, because of this, we need to be aware and attentive of our history. 'When I was Eight' is such a powerful book, and it allows you to feel the emotions and feelings that the main character went through, making it a great story. In conclusion, the big idea I came up with is that we need to realize what residential schools did to the Indigenous people, and that it's a serious topic that we need to always keep in mind.

Winna

1/26/2022 08:26:04 pm

Winna

1/26/2022 08:37:13 pm

The BIG IDEA of When I Was Eight…
The big idea is How Olemaun bravely and cleverly stood against the mean and rude nun. She’s like what her name stands for-the strong and stubborn stone that sharpens the half-moon ulu knife.Supporting example one is she burnt her old red stockings. The mean nun saw it and told her to wear it back on, but she said she can’t, so the nun told everyone to try to find the red stockings. Nobody could find them, because they were a pile of ashes. Then, she was given new grey and thick stockings. That was very clever and quick thinking. Supporting sentence two is how brave she is for standing up against the nun. She burned her red stockings, went into the basement to get a cabbage even though probably no one would, she didn’t scream when the door of the basement was shut. She even called back names to an older girl than she is. The nun told her to read for the second time to try to cut down Olemaun by size, she didnt do as good for the first paragraph, but she did awesome on her second paragraph confidently. Supporting example three is about why she is unyielding like the Olemaun stone. Unyielding equals and means stubborn. She never gave up her hopes. The nun couldn’t even wear out her determination after so many chores. The nun was scary and mean, but the nun couldn’t make her cry. This is basically why she is very clever, very brave and very unyielding.

What I changed: I added some more examples of why she’s brave and I added a supporting example for why she is unyielding.

I met the criteria and the requirements.

Gen

1/26/2022 10:43:01 pm

@Winna
Wow great job Winna I love your bid idea!
Feedback: you missed the punctuations check your punctuations!
Overall: Good Job I'm really impressed, keep it up!

ASH

1/26/2022 08:32:07 pm

Today Mr. Hong read us a book called "When I Was Eight" . The big idea that if you don't know at least try and you would be better at it. To start off, going to residential schools is torture, children were dying to go home to meet their friends and family. The sentence " I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor" This really pushed my thinking that it was about residential schools. My second sentence is " "The nun constantly gave me extra chores "as part of my education" she said. for this sentence I felt that the nun is wrong because doing chores is hand work and education is brain work. Thirdly and last sentence for me is when she said " Behind the teacher's desk sat the nun who had cut my hair" This started to make me think about myself because if I was her I would be mad that she is my teacher cut my hair. This what I think the big idea is.

Kevin

1/27/2022 11:44:22 am

@Ash- Try to put a conclusion that wraps up everything and check givens.

Vernice

1/26/2022 08:35:31 pm

I bet you have read When I Was Eight multiple times, but do you know the bid idea of this powerful story? I presume the big idea is to find your own ways to deal with people who discriminate against your heritage and culture. Firstly, I made a connection that pushed my thinking. I know in Indigenous cultures women's braids represent their heritage, cultures, and memories. The part Olemaun said, "I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor." She felt naked because as her braids fell to the ground, she had to abandon her culture and be forced into another religion. Secondly, I visualized her father standing right behind her, giving her the courage to fight back with the nuns. "His proud smile made me stronger, so I worked through the names of my distant home," she felt. She grew more powerful as she spelled words from her far away home. Furthermore, at the end of the story, I made an inference from the nun's tone. "Sit down, Margaret(Olemaun)," she said. The nun's tone was frustrating. From the tone, I inferred that the nun was displeased by her fluent English. Fight for yourselves when someone discriminates against your ethnic background.

Ella

1/26/2022 08:45:24 pm

@Vernice
Feedback- Check the GIVENS.

Ella

1/26/2022 08:43:33 pm

I think the big idea for "When I Was Eight " is what the residential schools did to indigenous families and the indigenous childrens.
First is "A black-cloaked nun cut my hair. I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor." I had a connection that is from a book a person shouldn't cut an indigenous person hair.
Second is when the nun took Olemaun's name away and gave her a new one. I have again another connection from my teacher before. she said the nuns wanted indigenous children to learn english instead and forget their own language.
Last they the nun constantly gave her chores as part of her education. I think that the is not being fare to the indigenous because she is not teaching her things to learn but instead giving her chores to do.
Also I have a connection to the points. the connection I have is to a book named "I Am Not A Number."
I think the authors message is telling us that the indigenous families have lots many people throughout the process with the indigenous.

Ella

1/26/2022 08:46:16 pm

Self assessment- I should check the givens and change my format.

Ella

1/26/2022 08:52:10 pm

I think the big idea for "When I Was Eight " is what the residential schools did to indigenous families and the indigenous children. First is "A black-cloaked nun cut my hair. I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor." I had a connection that is from a book a person should not cut an indigenous person hair. Second is when the nun took Olemaun's name away and gave her a new one. I have another connection again from my teacher before. she said the nuns wanted indigenous children to learn English instead and forget their own language. Last, they the nun constantly gave her chores as part of her education. I think that the is not being fare to the indigenous because she is not teaching her things to learn but instead giving her chores to do. Also, I have a connection to the points. The connection I have is to a book named "I Am Not a Number." The author's message is telling us that the indigenous families have lots many people throughout the process with the indigenous.

Caroline

1/26/2022 09:52:38 pm

@Ella- I like your paragraph and Big Idea!

Feedback: You have an extra "they" when you talk about the nun giving her chores as education, and have spelling mistakes. You are also missing a hook.

Other than that, great job!

Shawn

1/26/2022 08:52:22 pm

Today Mr. Hong read/played a book called "When I Was 8".
The book was about a girl name Olemaun who went to residential school. The intention was to educate people about what happened in residential schools a few decades ago.
However, I interpreted that as long as you try hard and apply yourself, you can accomplish what you want to. The text evidence of this is when Olemaun "opened the book....I looked at the words and began slowly, twisting my tongue around the consonants and forming my mouth around vowels. By the second paragraph I confidently sliced through the words without a single moment of hesitation". This shows that Olemaun had improved from knowing little English to knowing how to read a book.

I have checked the criteria.

I feel like this is probably the longest par I've wrote.

Beth

1/27/2022 05:57:53 pm

@Shawn - I like how you supported your Big Idea and were concise.

FEEDBACK: Please check the Givens.

Matthew

1/26/2022 08:56:24 pm

unfair, discrimination, terror, all of these connect to the the same thing racism.
Racism is one of the key factors to this book when I was eight your probably wondering what is this so called book and what's it about well I will be telling you just that. The book when i was eight is about the horror and tragedies that would happen in the residential school before in the 80's to 90's. Well that's not just it this is a personal story about this girl named Oluman, this girl went through terrible times in this residential schools but this how it started off. when Oluman was a young girl she would always want to go to school because she wanted to read just like her big sister. Oluman grew up at this place called banks island, on this island they would have to hunt for food in the cold snow. Anyways she would want to read like her sister for ages because her sister would always read her this book this book was called alice in wonderland this book stood out to Oluman and she always wanted to read it he self so she begged and begged her dad and so eventually her dad let her go to school. The first thing that happened was she was greeted by a scary nun this nun cut her hair off Oluman was devastated after that she was forced to go to church and pray. after that they would go and eat crappy food like cabbage soup and porridge. After that she was greeted by a nice nun this nice nun led her to a class and then she left so the angry nun could teach her she was mad, then the older girls put there hands up so she did to and the nun picked her to embarrass her the nun told her to read she was confused she had never read in her life the other girls were giggling she was very embarrassed, then came dinner for dinner she had cabbage soup while eating dinner she was planning to escape she scurried down the hall way but was stoped by the nun she said that there were dishes to be cleaned once she was done she mutterd i could have been learning to read the nun was mad because of this so she said go fetch me a cabbage so she went down to the basement to go get one but the nun shut the door leaving no light for Oluman to see she was about to cry but felt her fathers presents so she felt coarage so she tryed to spell her name o-l-o-m- she was stopped by the nun she squeezed by her to get to her room, when she got to her room all the other girls were exited because they all got new stockings so Oluman was exited so she held out here arms waiting for her new stocking she got her stockings all though they were red the nun was cackling will all the other girls started calling her fatty legs. After she went to bed when she woke up she went to the furnace with a good idea she burnt her stockings to ashes later that day the nun was furiose because she didnt have her stockings so she made all the girls search up and down to find those stockings but they couldnt cause they were gone nothing could tear her down. The next day she was told to read so she tryed her hardest trying to sound out the words and she did it Oluman could read in was a mericle. THE END. now i will be explaing my thoughts on the big idea of the book. I think the autor is trying to explain to us the horror and tromma of the kids that were stripped of there culture in the residential school. Now you know my bid idea of the book and what the book was about.

Matthew

1/26/2022 08:57:43 pm

PERSONAL FEEDBACK: i have to check my grammar and spelling.

Matthew

1/26/2022 08:59:54 pm

unfair, discrimination, terror, all of these connect to the the same thing racism.
Racism is one of the key factors to this book when I was eight you are probably wondering what is this so called book and what's it about well I will be telling you just that. The book when i was eight is about the horror and tragedies that would happen in the residential school before in the 80's to 90's. Well that's not just it this is a personal story about this girl named Oluman, this girl went through terrible times in this residential schools but this how it started off. when Oluman was a young girl she would always want to go to school because she wanted to read just like her big sister. Oluman grew up at this place called banks island, on this island they would have to hunt for food in the cold snow. Anyways she would want to read like her sister for ages because her sister would always read her this book this book was called alice in wonderland this book stood out to Oluman and she always wanted to read it he self so she begged and begged her dad and so eventually her dad let her go to school. The first thing that happened was she was greeted by a scary nun this nun cut her hair off Oluman was devastated after that she was forced to go to church and pray. after that they would go and eat crappy food like cabbage soup and porridge. After that she was greeted by a nice nun this nice nun led her to a class and then she left so the angry nun could teach her she was mad, then the older girls put there hands up so she did to and the nun picked her to embarrass her the nun told her to read she was confused she had never read in her life the other girls were giggling she was very embarrassed, then came dinner for dinner she had cabbage soup while eating dinner she was planning to escape she hurried down the hallway but was stopped by the nun she said that there were dishes to be cleaned once she was done she muttered i could have been learning to read the nun was mad because of this so she said go fetch me a cabbage so she went down to the basement to go get one but the nun shut the door leaving no light for Oluman to see she was about to cry but felt her fathers presents so she felt courage so she tried to spell her name o-l-o-m- she was stopped by the nun she squeezed by her to get to her room, when she got to her room all the other girls were excited because they all got new stockings so Oluman was exited so she held out here arms waiting for her new stocking she got her stockings all though they were red the nun was cackling will all the other girls started calling her fatty legs. After she went to bed when she woke up she went to the furnace with a good idea she burnt her stockings to ashes later that day the nun was furious because she didn't have her stockings so she made all the girls search up and down to find those stockings but they couldn't cause they were gone nothing could tear her down. The next day she was told to read so she tried her hardest trying to sound out the words and she did it Oluman could read in was a mericle. THE END. now i will be explaining my thoughts on the big idea of the book. I think the author is trying to explain to us the horror and trauma of the kids that were stripped of their culture in the residential school. Now you know my bid idea of the book and what the book was about.

Shawn

1/26/2022 09:05:30 pm

Lol that's a huge paragraph.

𝔽𝔼𝔼𝔻𝔹𝔸ℂ𝕂:

Your topic sentence should be capitalized.
You spelt Olemaun wrong.
You have a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes in the last few sentences.
Do a better job clearly explaining.

Matthew

1/26/2022 09:02:56 pm

REVISED 3:

unfair, discrimination, terror, all of these connect to the the same thing racism.
Racism is one of the key factors to this book when I was eight you are probably wondering what is this so called book and what's it about well I will be telling you just that. The book when i was eight is about the horror and tragedies that would happen in the residential school before in the 80's to 90's. Well that's not just it this is a personal story about this girl named Oluman, this girl went through terrible times in this residential schools but this how it started off. when Oluman was a young girl she would always want to go to school because she wanted to read just like her big sister. Oluman grew up at this place called banks island, on this island they would have to hunt for food in the cold snow. Anyways she would want to read like her sister for ages because her sister would always read her this book this book was called alice in wonderland this book stood out to Oluman and she always wanted to read it he self so she begged and begged her dad and so eventually her dad let her go to school. The first thing that happened was she was greeted by a scary nun this nun cut her hair off Oluman was devastated after that she was forced to go to church and pray. after that they would go and eat crappy food like cabbage soup and porridge. After that she was greeted by a nice nun this nice nun led her to a class and then she left so the angry nun could teach her she was mad, then the older girls put there hands up so she did to and the nun picked her to embarrass her the nun told her to read she was confused she had never read in her life the other girls were giggling she was very embarrassed, then came dinner for dinner she had cabbage soup while eating dinner she was planning to escape she hurried down the hallway but was stopped by the nun she said that there were dishes to be cleaned once she was done she muttered i could have been learning to read the nun was mad because of this so she said go fetch me a cabbage so she went down to the basement to go get one but the nun shut the door leaving no light for Oluman to see she was about to cry but felt her fathers presents so she felt courage so she tried to spell her name o-l-o-m- she was stopped by the nun she squeezed by her to get to her room, when she got to her room all the other girls were excited because they all got new stockings so Oluman was exited so she held out here arms waiting for her new stocking she got her stockings all though they were red the nun was cackling will all the other girls started calling her fatty legs. After she went to bed when she woke up she went to the furnace with a good idea she burnt her stockings to ashes later that day the nun was furious because she didn't have her stockings so she made all the girls search up and down to find those stockings but they couldn't cause they were gone nothing could tear her down. The next day she was told to read so she tried her hardest trying to sound out the words and she did it Oluman could read in was a mericle. THE END. now i will be explaining my thoughts on the big idea of the book. I think the author is trying to explain to us the horror and trauma of the kids that were stripped of their culture in the residential school because it clearly shows the chores they were forced to do in the story and the torture they went through like when she was forced to clean pots and pans of when she was locked in the basement. Now you know my big idea of the book and what the book was about.

Oriana

1/26/2022 09:15:43 pm

@Matthew - Great paragraph!
FEEDBACK: The very first word in your paragraph needs to be capitalized. "Unfair," rather than "unfair."
FEEDBACK 2: It's not "Oluman," it's actually "Olemaun."
But, overall, good job.

Oriana

1/26/2022 09:10:33 pm

"I knew many things when I was eight." This is the very first sentence of the picture book we read in class, "When I Was Eight." In this book, it follows the main character Olemaun and her experience of residential schools. She longs to go to the "outsiders'" school, so she can learn to read, but after arriving, she realizes how horrible the school truly is, and why her father did not wish to send her there. My view on what the big idea is, is split in two parts. Firstly, no matter the circumstances, never give up and keep trying. To support this, we can see how Olemaun never gives up on learning how to read, despite her chores and punishments. For example, "But though my muscles ached from the hard work, and I could barely keep my eyes open, she could not wear out my determination." This explains that even though Olemaun was tired from the chores she was given, she didn't let her determination die out, and kept going and pushing. Another example is "I used every task as an opportunity to learn new words." This shows that even in the worst position, she made use of the things she was given, in this case, chores. My second big idea is about residential schools, how horrible it was, and the impact it had on Indigenous people. To support this, here is my text evidence. "A black-cloaked nun cut my hair. I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor." From what I know (my background knowledge) hair is special to Indigenous people. It is sacred and significant to them about who they are as individuals, family, and a community. Having long hair represents a strong cultural identity to the Indigenous people. With this, I understood why Olemaun felt naked without her hair. She felt stripped of something that was special to her, and something that was a great importance to her. Also, "a scream built in my chest, but I held it in." This made me realize how terrified she must have been. It made me wonder if all the children were scared and terrified. She wanted to scream, but she didn't. She was scared but she held all of that in. It really made me think about how horrible this must've been for them. My final point is that, I know from personal knowledge what happened at the residential schools, and how terrible it was. They were stripped of their culture, identity, language, and forced to adapt to a new one. Whether they liked it or not. They were taken away from their families and brought to an unknown place and tortured. Some punishments included getting whipped, beaten, humiliated, and different types of abuse. While some did get to go home for the summer, some never left. And when some of them returned, they couldn't speak their own language, their mother tongue. They couldn't communicate with their families, and they felt like they didn't belong anywhere. These are what I think the big ideas were. This story really helped me think more about residential schools, but also gave a good message on not giving up.

Oriana

1/26/2022 09:19:58 pm

Self-assessment: I need to add some commas, and I forgot to add a few words in the beginning.

"I knew many things when I was eight." This is the very first sentence of the picture book we read in class, called "When I Was Eight." In this book, it follows the main character Olemaun and her experience of residential schools. She longs to go to the "outsiders'" school, so she can learn to read, but after arriving, she realizes how horrible the school truly is, and why her father did not wish to send her there. My view on what the big idea is, is split in two parts. Firstly, no matter the circumstances, never give up and keep trying. To support this, we can see how Olemaun never gives up on learning how to read, despite her chores and punishments. For example, "But though my muscles ached from the hard work, and I could barely keep my eyes open, she could not wear out my determination." This explains that even though Olemaun was tired from the chores she was given, she didn't let her determination die out, and kept going and pushing. Another example is "I used every task as an opportunity to learn new words." This shows that even in the worst position, she made use of the things she was given, in this case, chores. My second big idea is about residential schools, how horrible it was, and the impact it had on Indigenous people. To support this, here is my text evidence. "A black-cloaked nun cut my hair. I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor." From what I know, (my background knowledge) hair is special to Indigenous people. It is sacred and significant to them about who they are as individuals, family, and a community. Having long hair represents a strong cultural identity to the Indigenous people. With this, I understood why Olemaun felt naked without her hair. She felt stripped of something that was special to her, and something that was a great importance to her. Also, "a scream built in my chest, but I held it in." This made me realize how terrified she must have been. It made me wonder if all the children were scared and terrified. She wanted to scream, but she didn't. She was scared but she held all of that in. It really made me think about how horrible this must've been for them. My final point is that, I know from personal knowledge what happened at the residential schools, and how terrible it was. They were stripped of their culture, identity, language, and forced to adapt to a new one. Whether they liked it or not. They were taken away from their families and brought to an unknown place and tortured. Some punishments included getting whipped, beaten, humiliated, and different types of abuse. While some did get to go home for the summer, some never left. And when some of them returned, they couldn't speak their own language, their mother tongue. They couldn't communicate with their families, and they felt like they didn't belong anywhere. These are what I think the big ideas were. This story really helped me think more about residential schools, but also gave a good message on not giving up.

Caroline

1/26/2022 09:46:32 pm

Residential schools were a terrible part of Canada's history. In the book we read today in class, "When I Was Eight" It talks about a girl named Olemaun/Margaret and her experience in one of those schools. Our class had to do visible thinking with the text of this book and find our own Big Ideas. I think the Big Idea is that no matter how hard it is, you can reach your goal and get through hard things if you are determined, and that the residential schools were actually very horrible. I think the author, (who is the girl in the book) wanted to share her story about residential schools in order to educate people more on the topic. Firstly, one of the many examples from the story that shows how bad residential schools were was "A black cloaked nun cut my hair. I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor." We know this is extremely cruel to do, especially to an Indigenous person because their hair represents their identity and heritage, and if you cut it off you are basically stripping them of their culture. Imagine having something so important to you, that represents you, and just having it be taken away. Another example of one of my Big Ideas is "I scurried up the stairs. but she slammed the door shutting out all light. I pulled the handle. It was locked. A scream built in my chest, but I held it in." This is an example of how the nuns purposefully humiliated the students and abused them. Most of the nuns from what I've heard, didn't really seem to care. Most of them were catholic, and what they were doing didn't seem very God-like. Lastly, an example from the book that shows how you can reach your goal even when it's hard is: "I used every opportunity to learn new words." In this case Margaret's goal was to learn how to read. Even though it was hard she finally learned by working hard. I think reading also helped her escape from her reality of the residential school. In conclusion, I think the Big Idea of the book is to educate people on residential schools and that you can reach your goals and get through hard times by being determined.

Caroline

1/26/2022 09:55:21 pm

Self-Assessment: I have an unnecessary capital at the beginning, and I also need some commas

Caroline (Revised)

1/26/2022 09:58:02 pm

Residential schools were a terrible part of Canada's history. In the book we read today in class, "When I Was Eight", it talks about a girl named Olemaun/Margaret and her experience in one of those schools. Our class had to do visible thinking with the text of this book and find our own Big Ideas. I think the Big Idea is that no matter how hard it is, you can reach your goal and get through hard things if you are determined, and that the residential schools were actually very horrible. I think the author, (who is the girl in the book) wanted to share her story about residential schools in order to educate people more on the topic. Firstly, one of the many examples from the story that shows how bad residential schools were, was "A black cloaked nun cut my hair. I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor." We know this is extremely cruel to do, especially to an Indigenous person, because their hair represents their identity and heritage, and if you cut it off you are basically stripping them of their culture. Imagine having something so important to you, that represents you, and just having it be taken away. Another example of one of my Big Ideas is "I scurried up the stairs. but she slammed the door shutting out all light. I pulled the handle. It was locked. A scream built in my chest, but I held it in." This is an example of how the nuns purposefully humiliated the students and abused them. Most of the nuns from what I've heard, didn't really seem to care. Most of them were catholic, and what they were doing didn't seem very God-like. Lastly, an example from the book that shows how you can reach your goal even when it's hard is: "I used every opportunity to learn new words." In this case Margaret's goal was to learn how to read. Even though it was hard she finally learned by working hard. I think reading also helped her escape from her reality of the residential school. In conclusion, I think the Big Idea of the book is to educate people on residential schools and that you can reach your goals and get through hard times by being determined

Kevin

1/26/2022 10:01:58 pm

Have you ever heard of the story "when I was eight"? Today our class read the book "when I was eight". We read the book many times, the book is about an Inuit girl, Olemaun, and what happened when she was eight, as you can infer from the title. By using the reading strategies I've learned during the Novel approach, I can synthesize and evaluate the text evidence to find out what I think the big idea is. I think there are 2 big ideas or 2 parts of the big idea the author is trying to tell us. The first big idea is that what you think of something might not always be what it is. To support my big idea, Olemaun always wanted to go to the residential school, her sister learned how to read there gave her a book but she can't read it. Her dad didn't want her to go to school and she wondered why. But one time when they went to trade with the outsiders, his dad reluctantly left her at their school. When she got to school, a black-cloaked nun cut her hair short and gave her small and uncomfortable clothes to wear. The nuns constantly gave her chores and said it was part of her education, mentioned anything about reading. After many days had passed, a nun lead her to a classroom and they were finally going to read. She thought she was going to read but instead of learning, she spent the rest of the day with her nose in the corner because she couldn't read. These are examples of what you think might not always be what it is. Olemaun thought she was going to learn how to read but that's not the case. I think the second big idea is that we need to be aware of cultural genocide and respect other people's cultures. The part where the story says "I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor" really stands out to me. From my background knowledge, I know that their hair is a really important part of the indigenous culture, so they keep their hair long. I think the author is trying to describe that their hair is part of them, and you feel like you lost part of yourself. That's what I think the big idea of the story is, what do you think your big idea is?

Gen

1/26/2022 10:32:18 pm

Fears are just in our mind. Anything bad happens to you, there's always a way to solve it, you just need patience for it. Patience is one of the keys to success. Failing is one of the best lectures to succeed. Even though you go through hard times, keep fighting. People who bully you is the person who’s jealous for being who you are. They think that making fun of people is a good thing and just judging them outside. Remember before you judge someone you need to know what the things they’ve been through before judging them cause you don’t have any idea what are the things they been through. When people try to control to you and trying to make you bad. I don’t know why people judge before knowing the person first.
Don’t let anyone change be who you are. How hard we try and practice will always result good. This shows me that any tragedy or any challenges in your life always have a way to solve it! How hard they try to destroy you always believe in yourself.
Olemaun (Margaret) told us her experience in residential school.
Residential school tries to forget our language and our traditions.
When the part when she said “black cloaked nun cut my hair i felt naked as my braids fell to the floor.” it hurts me a lot because a lot of kids have to go through that and they have to forget their tradition i felt sad because forgetting our tradition is one of discrimination. I remember when Justin Trudeau said “ Canada has some very, very dark histories, from internments to turning away the St. Louis and the Komagata Maru, but none is darker than our abject failure to respect rights, the spirit and intent of the original treaties with First Nations, Métis Nation, and Inuit peoples. We have to transform that relationship. See her father doesn’t want to take her to residential school because he knows what’s gonna happen there and he doesn’t want to hurt his daughter, because her daughter doesn’t know what is it like in residential school. It shows me that our parents know what’s good for us that’s why our parents always lectured us is to learn the right thing. But our parents are not always right they make mistakes to like us. Being stubborn is resulting bad.
So before judging someone you should know them first.

Gen

1/26/2022 10:43:22 pm

SELF ASSESSMENT- I should check my grammars and my punctuations Fears are just in our mind. Anything bad happens to you, there's always a way to solve it, you just need patience for it. Patience is one of the keys to success. Failing is one of the best lectures to succeed. Even though you go through hard times, keep fighting. People who bully you are jealous of who you are. They think that making fun of people is a good thing and just judging them outside. Remember before you judge someone you need to know what the things they’ve been through before judging them cause you don’t have any idea what are the things they've been through. When people try to control you and try to make you bad. I don’t know why people judge before knowing the person first.
Don’t let anyone change who you are. How hard we try and practice will always result in good results. This shows me that any tragedy or any challenges in your life always have a way to solve it! How hard they try to destroy you always believe in yourself.
Olemaun (Margaret) told us her experience in residential school.
Residential school tries to forget our language and our traditions.
When she said “black cloaked nun cut my hair I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor.” it hurts me a lot because a lot of kids have to go through that and they have to forget their tradition i felt sad because forgetting our tradition is one of discrimination. I remember when Justin Trudeau said “ Canada has some very, very dark histories, from internments to turning away the St. Louis and the Komagata Maru, but none is darker than our abject failure to respect rights, the spirit and intent of the original treaties with First Nations, Métis Nation, and Inuit peoples. We have to transform that relationship. Her father doesn’t want to take her to residential school because he knows what’s gonna happen there and he doesn’t want to hurt his daughter, because her daughter doesn’t know what it is like in residential school. It shows me that our parents know what’s good for us. That's why our parents always lectured us to learn the right thing. But our parents are not always right, they make mistakes to like us. Being stubborn is bad.
So before judging someone you should know them first.

I have met the success criteria.

Winna

1/31/2022 10:23:28 am

Good job!
@Genesis-
FEEDBACK1: (Cause) can be (because)
FEEDBACK2: You can create a conclusion
FEEDBACK3: State your 3 supporting examples

Dillon

1/26/2022 11:47:58 pm

In Canada the way indigenous people are put into residential schools became a sad history, now we are having orange shirt days and other events to show sorry of treating first Nations badly. Today in school we read the book <<When I Was Eight>>, the book is about a girl called Olemaun is sent to residential school. The main idea of this book is actually not about treating people the same. I think the book is more about letting us be brave like Olemaun and Alice. We should be brave and stand out for ourselves in front of unfair. I thought of this big idea because in the story Olemaun stay brave and proved herself that she could read in front of the nuns. I think we should really become the way Olemaun keep herself strong. It is showing that you are not a person that could be bullied or treated unfairly.

Brendan

1/29/2022 06:11:53 pm

@Dillion- Great Big Idea

FEEDBACK: Check the GIVENS. There are a few punctuation mistakes in your paragraph.

Mais

1/27/2022 12:02:15 am

I think the big idea for the picture book 'When I was 8" was to make us understand the struggles and torture indigenous cultured and religion people were dealing with back then. As a muslim, I can relate to this in a few ways from seeing racist videos and hearing stories. Being forced to do things that you do not like isn't a good way to help a child grow. Olemaun seemed like she hated the people more then the place. In the book, the nuns cut Olemauns hair and forced her to change her name to Margret, and from the expression on Olemauns face in the picture , she did not seem happed to get her hair and name taken away. If you didn't know, hair in indigenous culture is known as memories, so I am sure Olemauns losing her hair made her feel very anxious and sad. In the book, Olemaun said "I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor" and I connect to this because I would have felt naked if my head scarf was pulled off too.

Maya

1/27/2022 06:55:14 am

Positive attitude can keep you strong just like Olemaun. Yesterday in class, we got to read a picture book called “When I was 8”. The book is about a little girl who really wants to go to school like her big sister Rosie. Soon she realizes she’s going to school but once she gets inside the school she notices things that aren’t actually part of school. So, after a kind of short summary of what the book is about it leads us to our big idea. In the story when the nun cut off her hair and Olemaun said “I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor” I think what Olemaun meant by that was that she felt as if she lost all of her strength and power because that is what it means to some indigenous cultures and for some it might mean memories. But just because the nun cut off her braids it doesn’t mean it wore out all her determination and strength. Next, when Olemaun said “on our aching knees” I felt sad that they had to be put in this place where they thought they could learn and read but instead they had to do chores and get treated horribly. Later in the book when the nun sent her down to go get cabbage and when she got it and ran up the stairs and the nun slammed the door in her face I thought to myself how brutal can these people be? Just because she doesn’t know English, or she’s indigenous doesn’t change the fact you should be brutal to anyone. So after showing some of my evidence we can move onto the big idea. In conclusion, I think that the big idea is that Olemaun is a very brave and young little girl that wouldn’t give up her determination and strength even after what the nuns did to her and what some of the children had done to her. I also think that another part of the big idea is that she wasn’t giving up in some mean and abusive place she was gonna keep going no matter how many dishes she had to scrub or how much laundry and cleaning she had to do she would never give up. So in the end thats what I think my big idea is.

Maya

1/27/2022 11:23:40 am

Self - assessment : when I said “ The book is about a little girl who really wants to go to school “ I think I should have put “about a little girl named Olemaun”
Positive attitude can keep you strong just like Olemaun. Yesterday in class, we got to read a picture book called “When I was 8”. The book is about a little girl named Olemaun who really wants to go to school like her big sister Rosie. Soon she realizes she’s going to school but once she gets inside the school she notices things that aren’t actually part of school. So, after a kind of short summary of what the book is about it leads us to our big idea. In the story when the nun cut off her hair and Olemaun said “I felt naked as my braids fell to the floor” I think what Olemaun meant by that was that she felt as if she lost all of her strength and power because that is what it means to some indigenous cultures and for some it might mean memories. But just because the nun cut off her braids it doesn’t mean it wore out all her determination and strength. Next, when Olemaun said “on our aching knees” I felt sad that they had to be put in this place where they thought they could learn and read but instead they had to do chores and get treated horribly. Later in the book when the nun sent her down to go get cabbage and when she got it and ran up the stairs and the nun slammed the door in her face I thought to myself how brutal can these people be? Just because she doesn’t know English, or she’s indigenous doesn’t change the fact you should be brutal to anyone. So after showing some of my evidence we can move onto the big idea. In conclusion, I think that the big idea is that Olemaun is a very brave and young little girl that wouldn’t give up her determination and strength even after what the nuns did to her and what some of the children had done to her. I also think that another part of the big idea is that she wasn’t giving up in some mean and abusive place she was gonna keep going no matter how many dishes she had to scrub or how much laundry and cleaning she had to do she would never give up. So in the end thats what I think my big idea is.

Oriana

1/27/2022 09:29:02 am

PAR POLICE
Crystal: Complete
Rhea: Complete
Me: Complete
Brendan: Missing self assessment, peer feedback, and revised version
Jeremy: Complete

Melissa

1/27/2022 10:26:40 am

Olemaun had to experience possibly the worst things when she was only 8 years old. Olemaun is a girl that enjoys reading and learning, she begged her parents if she could go to the school like her half-sister Rosie. Although, Rosie has went to the residential school, she wouldn’t share anything about it with Olemaun. Even her mother, and father wouldn’t allow her to go to help out with the smaller children’s, and was jealous of Olemauns opportunity to read. Finally, she got into the residential school. But…it wasn’t anything like she thought it would be like. The school had mean nuns. Instead of giving her a good education, they made her do extra chores instead telling her that it was “apart” of her “education”. (I’ll continue this later)

ASH (PAR POLICE)

1/27/2022 11:26:46 am

MY TABLE

Me: Complete
Rachel: Incomplete you can do

ASH

1/27/2022 11:28:11 am

Sorry I accidentally clicked submit

ASH (PAR POLICE)

1/27/2022 11:36:55 am

MY TABLE

ME: Complete
Rachel: Incomplete but you can do your par when you get home.
Maya: Peer- assessment
Kevin: Incomplete

*Rachel And Kevin do you Par*

ASH

1/27/2022 11:38:07 am

*Rachel and Kevin do your par*

ASH

1/27/2022 11:39:33 am

*Rachel and Kevin do your PAR.*

ASH

1/31/2022 10:22:11 am

Rachel and Kevin please do your PAR

Gen

1/27/2022 11:52:21 am

[PAR POLICE] MY TABLE
Winna: Completed
Matthew: Completed
Trevor: Completed
Me: Completed

Trevor

1/27/2022 11:52:29 am

1st

Beth

1/27/2022 05:52:59 pm

War, slavery, dictatorship. These are only a few issues that have happened around the world. But, one that Canada has been trying to reconcile for is the residential schools. After all of this, the new generations need to learn about the tragedy that the Indigenous peoples have been through. Books have been written, movies filmed. One of these books is called "When I Was Eight." It is about a girl named Olemaun, sent to a residential school thinking she is finally going to be able to read, but only to realize that she has been sent there to be a slave. After using the Novel Approach, I feel that the message that the authors are trying to send is quite important; Though you may suffer through work and struggle, like Olemaun, you must keep yourself motivated and persevere through it. Without doing this, you cannot overcome your struggles and fears. Olemaun was sent to a residential school at only eight years old, yet every time she was shoved to the ground, she got back up. Finally, from her efforts and positive mindset, she learned to read. The story highlights some of the troubles that Olemaun went through on her way to reading, but in the end, she overcame her problem and earned what she worked for; the ability to read.

Comments are closed.

NOVEL APPROACH

About Us

Archives

Categories

Mr. Hong's Web 2.0 Tools