drvan
218 Followers
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
About the store
I have over 20 years teaching experience in high schools, adult ed, university and private tutoring. I have also taught at learning centres for middle school and high school-aged students.
My background is in English Language Arts and Art History, incorporating cultural studies and literary theory. Like many English teachers, I teach short stories, novels, Shakespeare, poetry, grammar, essay writing, media studies, and career preparation and planning.
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The Princess Bride: Film Study Using Short Story Terminology (Great End of Year)
GREAT END-OF-YEAR REVIEW ACTIVITY. This movie reviews short story terminology with sound educational value and provides a fun way to re-engage learners at the end of the school year, the start of the new year, or directly before or after holidays. (And let's face it: The Princess Bride, is one of the best and most beloved films of all time.) GREAT STARTER TO A SHORT STORY UNIT (terms review) This seven-page pdf document contains three different activities for a film study of The Princess Br
7th - 12th
English Language Arts, Literature, Short Stories
Speech Assignment / Oral Presentation - PEER-FEEDBACK FORM
This is a great way to keep the audience engaged in student-presentations, but also allow the audience to provide meaningful feedback to students. What did they do well? What does the audience want to see more of? How many times did they unknowingly say "Ummm," "Ahhhh," or "So..." Contained herein: The same form with very slight modifications: One for "Oral Presentations" and the other for "Speech Assignment." Each of those, however, has two formats: One per page (usually I use this for the
7th - 12th
English Language Arts, Social Studies, Speaking & Listening
How to Integrate Quotations in Your Writing (Handouts & Worksheet)
Integration of Quotations: Students often just drop full sentence quotations into their writing. Many have difficulty using fully integrated quotations in their writing because they have not been taught in a formal way with models. This handout goes to change that. I have included various guidelines and examples and have laid them out in a two page handout for students as a quick-reference for how to use integrated quotations effectively. (NOTE: This handout, while formatted by me, contains
9th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Writing-Essays
"Gentlemen, Your Verdict" Pre- & Post-Reading Activities & Writing Prompts
This product contains activities for Michael Bruce's short story, "Gentleman, Your Verdict."
Specifically:
Three anticipatory set activities for setting students thinking about the themes in the story. (1) Engaging class discussion where most everyone will have and opinion they will want to share; (2) Group activity; (3) Four journaling or class debate topics.
I have also included a famous morality thought-experiment, used in many psychology classes. This provides teacher background to mora
8th - 12th, Adult Education
English Language Arts, Literature, Short Stories
Formal versus Informal Writing
This resource is both for Formal vs. Informal Language, as well as Sophisticated Language. In a two-page handout that explains how to write formally, or more specifically, how to recognize and eliminate informal diction from writing. In a table format, informal writing is labelled and exemplified, a more formal (replacement) wording is provided, and (most importantly) a brief explanation as to why is provided. This is a great two-page reference guide for students to use all year. I give it to
8th - 12th
English Language Arts, Grammar, Writing
Five Paragraph Essay Planner (Graphic Organizer) Using the P.E.E.L. method
This resource comes in two versions: a three-page or five-page GRAPHIC ORGANIZER for the standard Five-Paragraph Essay. (Both the three and the five-page versions are included here, of course.) Also included is a helpful one-page handout for students to get started on HOW TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE INTRODUCTION (which includes two examples of essay introductions on two different topics). I have found that after teaching the P.E.E. or P.E.E.L. method of literary analysis essay writing, student-writ
9th - 12th
English Language Arts, Writing, Writing-Essays
Practice Writing Extended Metaphors (Similes & Metaphors) (Creative Writing)
This is a six-page product that gives students various ways to access (and then create) Extended Metaphors (and Similes). It starts with a quick and easy, one-page worksheet to kickstart students in their creative writing. There are seventeen metaphor stems which students have to fill out (e.g., Freedom is _____________.) After completing the worksheet, students share with a partner, but also choose their favourite three as the basis for writing extended metaphors (e.g., Freedom is a summer'
7th - 12th
Creative Writing, English Language Arts, Poetry
An Easy Guide: "How to Write a Literary (Analysis) Paragraph" with Quiz
This is a six-page step-by-step PDF document that contains everything you need to set your students on the "write" track to writing an effective literary (analysis) paragraph. PAGE ONE: Handout including the 11 tips, tricks, and "rules" of writing a literary paragraph PAGE TWO: A Student Writing Checklist to ensure students write in accordance with the conventions of writing about literature. PAGE THREE: A Student-Teacher "Contract" to keep students accountable to their writing and avoid turning
9th - 12th
English Language Arts, Writing, Writing-Essays
Generic Movie Analysis Using Short Story Terms & More — Great for Substitutes!
It is important, I believe, to keep students accountable when purposefully watching a film in class. These worksheets are meant to do just that. These worksheets are generic enough to be used for any film, but also has students apply what they know from short story terminology onto a movie's storytelling structure. They promote active viewing, as students need to think about how the elements of fiction. While each page is unique, they can be used all together for a film-response booklet, or i
8th - 12th
Drama, English Language Arts, Short Stories
Welcome to Grade 8 - How to Prepare & What to Expect from High School
This is a 26-slide Google Slides Presentation and one-page Accompanying Handout on "How to Be Successful in High School." The presentation template is fully editable, allowing you to tailor it to your school and include photos and information as desired. The presentation provides a useful format to guide the structure of your presentation, whether you go into Grade 7 elementary classrooms at the end of the year (as I do), or when you welcome in the new batch of Grade 8s in September. In my
7th - 8th
School Counseling
"The Eagle" by Alfred Lord Tennyson (poetry analysis worksheet)
This attractively, uncluttered seven-page document is a quick and easy way to get your students looking for SOUND DEVICES, IMAGERY and more in a short, seemingly simple, but jam-packed poem. Students are presented with Tennyson's "The Eagle" (a six-line poem), and asked to locate the sound devices and other literary devices. Each line has at least two devices so there are lots for them to explore and discuss. Further, students will learn (or review) what PERSONIFICATION is, and there are four
7th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Poetry
The Greatest Canadian (Research Presentation)—Celebrates Canada's 155th in 2022
Great Start to the Year Activity! Celebrate Canada's 151st Birthday through this critical thinking and evaluating research task: "My Canadian Is Better Than Your Canadian." Students come up with their own criteria in selecting The Greatest Canadian. Students will research, present, and try to persuade their classmates that "My Canadian is Better Than Your Canadian" and should win out over the others as "The Greatest Canadian." The project culminates in a persuasive presentation, and then afte
8th - 12th
Canadian History, English Language Arts, Social Studies
Cast Away - Engaging Movie Supplement - Short Story Worksheets & Viewing Quiz
GREAT START OR YEAR-END ACTIVITY. Cast Away is a great movie to ease students into back-to-school, and review short story terminology from last year with sound educational value for teachers! Also a GREAT STARTER OR ENDING TO A SHORT STORY UNIT (literary terms review) SHORT STORY / LITERARY TERMS COVERED IN THIS DOCUMENT: - Protagonist - Exposition - Setting (Time, Place, Weather Conditions, Social Circumstances) - Inciting Incident - Conflict - Person vs. Nature/Environment - Person vs. Self
8th - 12th
English Language Arts, Literature, Short Stories
Year-Round Current Events Oral Presentations: Perfect for ELL, English & Socials
This product is perfect for any Socials class, especially ELL/ESL, where students select and present a news story that is important to them and share it with the class. In doing so, students take ownership over their own learning. I have also found this a great way for students to engage in current events at a local, provincial/state, federal level, and even an international level.
This activity also allows the rest of the class to interact with the topic, as well, as they get to ask question
7th - 12th, Adult Education
Social Studies, Speaking & Listening
Short Story Analyst: 3 Interpretative Exercises for any Short Story or Novel
Perfect for any short story or an entire Short Story unit (or Independent Novel Study). This is a eight-page .pdf document, designed to have students get the most out of reading, thinking and writing about short stories or novels. There are three different and extensive exercises presented in this document. In my classroom, I have students respond to only one of the three exercise sections for any given short story. Each section can be easily repeated, but it gives you the option of having at
8th - 12th
English Language Arts, Literature, Short Stories
Chrysalids: Connecting the novel to popular culture song by Danny Michel
This is a 16-page .pdf document for a 60-minute lesson for John Wyndham's novel, The Chrysalids. The lesson makes connections between the novel and popular culture. Specifically, how Danny Michel's song, "If God's On Your Side (Then Who's On Mine?)" [Canadian content] connects to notions of religious intolerance in the novel. This 16-page .pdf document contains the following: -A detailed lesson plan for a 60-minute lesson, including extension activities and possible homework assignment. -Eight
9th - 12th, Adult Education
English Language Arts, Literature, Poetry
Also included in: The Ultimate Chrysalids Bundle (Ten Resources In One)
Junior and Senior English - Short Story Terms Sheet with Senior Quiz
When starting a short story / narrative unit, I provide my students with these terms so that we can discuss the literature with a common vocabulary. Each term has a short, but clear and distinct definition (and many include examples, as well). Short Story Terms covered: ENGLISH 8, 9, & 10:CHARACTER (protagonist, antagonist, dynamic, static, round and flat)CHARACTERIZATION (direct, indirect)CONFLICT (person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. society, person vs. environment, person vs. sup
7th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
English Language Arts, Reading, Short Stories
Poetry Jumble Activity: "The Farmer and the Queen" by Shel Silverstein
This is a fun and engaging group (or individual) poetry activity for students to explore and play with how poetry is created. They will work on how sounds go together, how rhymes work, and how rhythm patterns are established. Contained herein are a variety of activities, all based off of Shel Silverstein’s poem, “The Farmer and the Queen” from his classic, Where the Sidewalk Ends. In these activities, students solve either (a) jumbled lines of poetry, or (b) missing words, by analyzing poetic
4th - 9th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Poetry
Note-Taking Template
*If you download this resource, kindly take a moment to offer a quick and brief rating of it. It is much appreciated* I use this note-taking template for research assignments/projects, when watching videos, certain in-class lectures, or when I assign various pages of a (Social Studies) text. Students use the prescribed structure to better learn how to take notes, organize their thoughts and idea, as well as their overall studying skills. While I created it (based off of the RAP method for not
6th - 9th
English Language Arts, Reading Strategies, Social Studies
Fantastic Four: Vocabulary / Terminology Worksheets (& 6 mini-quizzes)
These FANTASTIC FOUR vocabulary worksheets (in PDF format) are a great way to go over any terminology that your students need to know. I use them for literary and poetic terms, though they can be cross-curricular. Rather than giving students a list of 40+ words, I break it down into the Fantastic Four: Whether four terms each day, or each week, we work through the vocabulary in bite-sized chunks. This allows for review as students create their own study notes (a valuable skill onto itself, of co
7th - 12th
English Language Arts, Vocabulary
Showing 1-20 of 37 results
About the store
Experience
I have over 20 years teaching experience in high schools, adult ed, university and private tutoring. I have also taught at learning centres for middle school and high school-aged students.
My background is in English Language Arts and Art History, incorporating cultural studies and literary theory. Like many English teachers, I teach short stories, novels, Shakespeare, poetry, grammar, essay writing, media studies, and career preparation and planning.
Teaching style
My philosophy of education centres on interdisciplinary studies and the development of critical reasoning skills. I believe that as modern life becomes increasingly complex and interconnected the need to teach how all subject areas interact is ever more important. As such, I habitually infuse my lessons with visual and popular culture, demonstrating how the material is relevant to students’ lives and thereby making it more accessible. Similarly, I contextualize the source material to its socio-political milieu to facilitate learning while students uncover how a text’s meaning changes over time.
Awards & shining teacher moments
Outstanding Teaching Practicum Award
My own education history
B.Ed., B.A., and M.Ed in School Counselling.
Additional biographical information
I'm a nineteenth-century boy, stuck in a twenty-first-century body.
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