I’m glad to see all of you after the long holiday.  I hope you had a good time and had lots of fun and adventures.  Now, it’s time to get back to work and become serious about learning once again.

There are a lot of changes in Term 2.  I’ve already talked about how we are changing the Reading class from reading one novel each term to doing a variety of reading and writing activities each week.  We will alternate text books from week to week.   One week, we will be working from Way Ahead – Pupil’s Book 5.  This is the book that Teacher Mal uses for his English Grammar lessons.  My lessons will complement and expand on what Teacher Mal is doing; we will work on the “Reading for Fun” sections for each Unit in the book.

The weeks were aren’t using Way Ahead, we will work from a brand-new book called Writing Composition 5.  The book is full of fun activities to do while we are learning to read and write better.  Teacher Robyn also assures me that there will be a third student book coming later in the term which deals with poetry.  So, we will be learning to read (and write) many different types of texts – from informational material to short stories to poetry to advertising and many others.  I think the new course outline is much better than when we’d just read one book for the entire term – it will give more variety for the teacher and never become routine for the kids.  The only real problem will be trying to fit everything into one 50-minute lesson per classroom each week!

We will start our lessons in these books at the start of Week 2 because Week 1 is so short (and we have Halloween on Friday!).  For those P4 classes I do see this week (P4/Star on Thursday and – maybe – P4/Green on Friday), we will just talk about the new format for Reading and I’ll read something aloud to the kids if there’s enough time. 

There will be changes in the other English classes as well but I’ll let Teacher Mal tell you about those in his own way.  While you were on holiday, we also reviewed different textbooks that MIGHT replace the Way Ahead series.  We may get those later in Term 2 but they probably won’t be used in the classes until next school year. 

I will also have new rules for the classroom, especially for P4/Red.  We have a new rewards & consequences system that we will start.  For example, students who are good in class – do something above what they are already supposed to do – will receive a “tick” and when they receive three “ticks” they will get a star.  A certain number of stars will earn the student some time of reward.  These might include a “good job” letter home or special class privileges.  Students who misbehave in class will receive “cards” – a yellow card will be given as a first warning, a red card for the second warning.  If the student acts poorly a third time they will receive a “consequence.”  These will fit the behavior and will be fair.  Most situations where a consequence will need to be given can be dealt with in the classroom without involving administration staff or parents.  Many teacher assign “lines” which I never felt did much good.  Nor do I believe in sending a student to the hallway (after all, I can’t see what he or she is doing if I send them outside).  One of the things I plan to assign as a consequence is for the offending student to write a letter to the teacher (me!) telling what they did, why they did it and what they can do to improve their behavior.  These letters will need to be taken home and signed by a parent before being returned to me.  For more serious incidents, they will need to be signed by Teacher Mike in HR.  If another student is involved, the kids will need to write letters of apology to each other.   Of course, all behavior – both good and bad – will be recorded in the classroom log (which I’ll make available in the classroom for all to read at any time).

Finally, teachers will be presenting their Term 2 Thursday Clubs to the students this week.  I always change my club each term.  In the past, I’ve done Community Service Club, Cartoon Club, Documentary Film Club, Photo Safari Club, and UNO Club.  I’ve always avoided doing a Reading Club because I spend so much time each week reading with the students.  But I think this term the time is right for Teacher Mark’s Reading Club.  I’m thinking about calling it the Read & Relax Club because I won’t allow any school-related books.  The kids will need to bring their own “fun” English-language books from home (comic books will not be allowed – we want “real” text-based books, preferably fiction).  They will not be allowed to talk at all during the club time (except, perhaps, to say: “Teacher Mark, this book is really good.  You’ve got to read it!”) and anyone who doesn’t follow this simple rule will be asked to leave.  To contribute to a relaxing atmosphere I’m thinking of playing soothing music during the club.  I’m an old rock & roller but I’ve found that I tend to read better if light jazz or classical music is playing in the background. 

Another idea relating to this Reading Club is to have a stockpile of my own books on-hand for any kids who forget to bring a book each week.  I have a large collection of children’s picture books and young adult novels that is growing rapidly (thanks to the Scholastic Book Club and a better selection at B2S).  I can loan these books to students but will now require a deposit against damage.  I’ve had bad luck with P3 students mishandling my books over the past year – I like to take care of my things and become distressed if a book suddenly looks twenty years old after being “read” by a kid for only 30 minutes or so.  At any rate, I feel that if a student has to pay a little money up front they will pay more attention to how they handle the book while they are reading it.  If the book is returned in good condition, I’ll return one hundred percent of the deposit.  If a page is torn, written on, or other mutilation is present then I’ll deduct accordingly.

I am also thinking about limiting my Read & Relax Club to just P5 and P6 students.  This is because sometimes I need a break from the P4 kids since I see them in the classroom every day of every week!  Of course, I love all of my P4 students so I wouldn’t want to exclude them from something I did.  Oh, what to do?  You’ll find out on Thursday…

Again, welcome back.  We are going to have a great time!

We will be using the same course books (Way Ahead Pupil’s Book) as Teacher Mal uses for his English Grammar classes.  Also, we will have a brand-new Writing textbook. 

I am really looking forward to teaching the new curriculum and I think the kids will find it interesting and a lot of fun.  For now, I will be spending a fair amount of my holiday writing new lesson plans…

See you at the end of October!

Did you know that Roald Dahl’s birthday is the 13th of September?  He was born way back in 1916.  Every year, children around the world (and a great many grownups, too!) celebrate Roald Dahl Day with games, quizzes, parties, and by reading his books.   It’s easy for me to to remember his birthday because it’s my daughter’s birthday, too (she’ll turn one year old on 13 September 2010).

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was published in America the year before I was born – way back in 1964.  That’s almost forty-six years ago!  The drawings in that very first edition were by a man named Joseph Schindelman.  The two original covers (one hardcover, the other for the paperback) looked like this:

The book was made into a movie in 1971.  It was called Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and starred Gene Wilder.  I first saw this movie when I was a young boy living in Texas; the thing that I remember most are the Oompa Loompas with the orange skin and green hair.  I still like the first version of the movie better than the one made five years ago with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka.  The poster for the original movie looked like this:

The very next year (1972), Roald Dahl published a new book that continued the story of Charlie Bucket.  It was called Charlie and the Glass Elevator.  He also started to write a third “Charlie” book (Charlie in the White House) but quit after writing only one chapter.

In 1973, Roald Dahl re-wrote parts of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  In the original book, the Oompa Loompa were described as African pygmies (small, weak people) who are paid in cacao beans, sing war-like songs, and let themselves be experimented on like laboratory animals.  Many people didn’t like this; they thought it was racist.  The movie had already made some changes so Roald Dahl changed the book, too.  For one thing, the place the Oompa Loompas came from was changed from Africa to the imaginary Loompaland.  Even the money was changed (from pre-decimal to decimal currency).  Joseph Schindelman made new drawings for the new edition.  This was the cover:

The first edition illustrated by a different artist – Michael Foreman – was published in paperback in 1985.  Here are a few of the covers published in the next few years before Quentin Blake began drawing the pictures:

The best-known illustrations for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, indeed for all of Roald Dahl’s books (and for many other authors as well!) have been drawn by Quentin Blake since 1998.  I’ve collected a bunch of his Chocolate Factory covers:

The Complete Adventures of Charlie and Mr. Willy Wonka – published in 2001 – contains both Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Glass Elevator:

A couple of new covers for the 40th anniversary of the original book in 2004:

Some really cool special editions (my favorite is the slipcase boxed edition):

Here are a couple of different covers from Norway (the country where Roald Dahl was born):

The cover on the left is from France, the one on the right is in Spanish:

And the covers from Russia and Thailand are a lot different:

When Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was originally written, it included an extra chapter.  It was removed during the editing of the book and featured a character called Miranda Piker and a candy called Spotty Powder.  This “lost chapter” wasn’t published until 23 July 2005 in The Times of London.  It was later included in a book called Spotty Powder and Other Splendiferous Secrets:

Also in 2005, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was made into a movie for a second time.  Roald Dahl had hated the 1971 original and refused to let Charlie and the Glass Elevator be filmed.  He died in 1990 and the following year Warner Bros. began talking with his family about a new movie.  They finally gave their permission in 1998 with his widow, Liccy, and his daughter, Lucy, being given total artistic control.  They were even given final say on the choices of actors, directors, and writers.  Martin Scorsese was involved for a short while and possible actors talked about to play Willy Wonka included Nicholas Cage, Michael Keaton, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey. In the end, Tim Burton was hired to direct the movie and he brought along his friends Johnny Depp to star and Danny Elfman to write the music.  New editions of the book were published to help promote the movie:

Finally, here is the cover of the new Willy Wonka’s Whipplecrumptious Annual for 2011 which was published today:

How many different covers for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory can you find?  Teacher Mark would love to see more!

This term, we will be reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.  We’re truly going to immerse ourselves in a world of fantasy by following the adventures of Charlie Bucket as he explores Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

Along the way, we’ll discover fun facts about chocolate and even come up with ideas for new candy bars (did you know that there is a REAL Wonka Chocolate Company?).  You’ll come to appreciate the often clever and witty sayings that Willy Wonka speaks in the story (most of them have hidden meanings).  I will encourage you to look for and read other books written by Roald Dahl – he’s written some great ones including James and the Giant Peach, The BFG, The Witches, and Matilda.  We’ll fall in love with the drawings of artist Quentin Blake who illustrates all of Roald Dahl’s books (plus many more!). 

Most of all, we’re going to have a lot of fun this term!  You might even find your own Golden Ticket…