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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Student Self-Assessment of Work Habits (Strengths & Weaknesses) for Report Cards
Studies show that when students pause and evaluate themselves, their evaluation is more meaningful than those evaluations performed by teachers. Students take ownership over their own progress. Moreover, people are more likely to achieve their goals when they write them down. THREE-PAGE FULLY EDITABLE WORD DOCUMENT:Two-page self-evaluation tool (which can additionally be used for [student-]parent-teacher conferences).One-page self-evaluation tool (which can be used well for students to send ho
5th - 12th, Adult Education
English Language Arts, For All Subjects
Easy Introduction to Improv, Drama, & Drama Games - Substitute Friendly
Fun Start of Year Activities (Classroom & Relationship Building) and/or End of Year Fun! Substitute Friendly! This six-page pdf packet contains several activities you can use in your class to introduce drama to younger students, serve as an introduction to Improv (dramatic improvisation) to high school students, or keep in your substitute folder for when you arrive in a class with no lesson plans. Students of all ages will find these drama activities fun and engaging. Contained within are as f
6th - 12th
Art, Drama, English Language Arts
Jabberwocky: A Lesson in Sound Poetry
A fun way to explore diction and sound in poetry. Students first create their own version of the "Jabberwocky" poem using a Mad-Libs format, before having read the original. In the process, they also review grammar basics (parts of speech: noun, plural, adjective, verb) and poetic sound devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia). The students' poems, when compared and contrasted to Lewis Carroll's original poem, leads into a class discussion of how and why a poet selects the words s/he does and the
7th - 12th
English Language Arts, Grammar, Poetry
Sentence Fragments, Run-On Sentences, & Comma Splice (PowerPoint & Worksheets)
This package includes all that you will need to teach your students to understand, recognize, and eliminate Sentence Fragments, Run-On Sentences, and Comma Spices from their writing. It includes both PowerPoint presentation notes (with examples), as well as worksheet to handout to students, and a summative assessment quiz. Included in this Grammar Skills document are 46 editable PowerPoint slides, with step-by-step notes and examples of Sentence Fragments, Run-On Sentences, and Comma Splices, s
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
English Language Arts, Grammar, Writing
Colloquialisms, Slang, and Jargon: Knowing the Difference - PowerPoint
Oftentimes students (and let's face it, even many adults) do not know the difference between colloquialism, slang, and jargon. What words would be correctly called slang? Why does my teacher write "colloquial" in the margins of my essays? I have created this PowerPoint presentation to guide students through the distinctions by using cartoons, definitions, examples, and little "tricks" to demystify and illustrate the difference. This PowerPoint is made up of seventeen slides, but it would be
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
English Language Arts, Grammar, Writing
How to Write an Email: Two Lessons in Audience, Tone, and Format
So often I find that students do not know how to write appropriate emails to either their teachers or future employers. I developed these two lessons to focus and correct that in my students. This is a two-lesson product, twenty-seven pages in all. Part One is a two-page handout (PDF) and Part Two is an editable twenty-six-slide PowerPoint presentation. Both parts are described more fully below. (As it is a PDF and PowerPoint product, I have zipped the file.) PART ONE: This two-page handout
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
English Language Arts, Other (ELA), Writing
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
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
Short Story / Novel Pre- & Post-Reading Activities for "The Jade Peony"
This thirty-seven-page PowerPoint presentation along with a three-page PDF includes eight different Pre-Reading and Post-Reading Activities (Journaling, Discussing, and Formal Writing) for Wayson Choy's short story "The Jade Peony." For those teachers teaching the novel, The Jade Peony, this activity also work very well, indeed. Actually, it was originally designed when I taught the novel to my English 10/11 class. The major activity centres around issues of cultural hybridity, as brought out
8th - 12th, Adult Education
English Language Arts, Literature, Short Stories
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
Reading Comprehension of Texts & English Examination Preparation
Over 40 pages of Reading Comprehension Texts, Multiple-Choice Questions, Writing Prompts, Lesson Deliver Noes, and Student Writing Exemplars. I use this package with my Grade 10-12 English students (and select few English 9 classes). I select one text each week for 10 weeks. Students have 45 minutes to read, answer a handful of multiple-choice questions, and one paragraph written-response question. Not only do students' reading comprehension scores improve over the course of the 10 weeks, but
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Reading
William Blake's "The Tyger" (Tiger): Inquiry-Based Approach (Critical Reasoning)
The process of understanding and bringing meaning to poetry instills fear in many of our students. Oftentimes, when students merely look at a poem, they immediately decide they cannot understand it, even before they read through it once. This lesson uses the Inquiry-Based Learning model and critical thinking/reasoning skills. Students are first presented with a Wordle(TM) image (the jumbled words of the poem). Students are asked to spot any "word patterns" in the jumbled text of the poem. As
8th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
English Language Arts, Poetry
Engaging–How to Write Expository Paragraphs using TED-Ed's "Should We Eat Bugs?"
Entomophagy: Why Not Eat Bugs? This is a fun and engaging lesson that I have used numerous times for both regular junior English classes as well as ELL / ESL / EFL classes. The subject – eating bugs – is enough of a hook that students are simultaneously repelled and drawn in. This lesson is designed to be delivered over THREE DAYS (though often it extends beyond to four or five). Students practice various skills. First, they make PREDICTIONS and DISCUSS their thoughts accessing their PRIOR K
7th - 10th
Social Studies, Writing
Start of Year: Fun Memory Mnemonics Name Game: Learn Students' Names in One Day
This is an EASY, ENGAGING, and downright FUN activity for students and teachers alike. This activity can be used in the first week of class to quickly and easily learn students’ names, while you also learn a little about the students, too. In turn, students learn a bit about their teacher. It takes, at the very minimum, one full-class, but I always return to it for a day or two afterwards, to reinforce the learning of the study technique of "memory by association" and show students that practic
5th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
For All Subjects
Example How to Write a Literary Paragraph (using Budge Wilson's "The Metaphor")
How do you teach effective writing? You model it, of course! After teaching students the basic form of an effective literary paragraph, I have found that the act of writing often still remains mysterious to them, like a code they are quite unable to crack though they have the cypher lying in front of them. If, however, you demonstrate those tools by showing them examples of effective writing, using relevant and real-world texts, they can use the examples as models from which to hone their craft
9th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Short Stories, Writing, Writing-Essays
Full TP-CASTT Lesson for the poem "Sadie and Maud" by Gwendolyn Brooks
Includes both FULL POWERPOINT PRESENTATION and HANDOUTS for students. This product is a full TP-CASTT lesson for Gwendolyn Brook's poem, "Sadie and Maude" writing in 1945. Included here are 4 pages of students HANDOUTS and WORKSHEETS. To facilitate student-learning, also included, and to be alongside, is a fully editable 39-slide POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, which the teacher can use to guide students through an exemplar on how to approach and analyze poems. This lesson is scaffolded and designe
10th - 12th, Adult Education
English Language Arts, Literature, Poetry
"Eleanor Rigby" song/poem analysis: Wonderful accompaniment to OF MICE AND MEN
Students love to listen to music and analyze songs as poetry. While Paul McCartney wrote " Eleanor Rigby " back in the 1960s, most students are familiar with it, familiar with the Beatles — or *should becomes so! ;-) This is a fantastic song, and most students, once you go through it with them, end up loving it. I like it because I find it is versatile. I use this product in one of three ways: (1) When teaching Steinbeck's novella, _Of Mice and Men_, you can use this poem to more deeply expl
8th - 12th, Adult Education
Close Reading, Literature, Poetry
Analyzing Poetry Worksheet (Good for any poem!)
If you have no other plan for a poem, this worksheet is for you! If you want to provide a structured approach for your students to delve into and better understand (interpret and analyze) a poem, go no further! If you want to provide your students with thoughtful, thought-provoking ways to uncovering the meaning of poetry for themselves, you've come to the right place! :-D Contained herein is a three-page worksheet which has been set up to both be probative when it comes to encountering a poe
8th - 12th, Adult Education
English Language Arts, Poetry
Sentence Combining - Perfect for both Developing Writers and ESL Students
How do you get students to write more complex sentences? How do they learn to write more sophisticatedly? I say, break the skill down, and then practice, practice, practice! Here are fifteen different groups of four related ideas in the form of simple sentences. Students read the groupings and attempt to fashion them into one coherent and well-phrased sentence. Students review their responses, held up to other possible answers, and try to better their own writing. This is a skill, like an
7th - 12th
Grammar, Writing
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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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