Tuesday, October 11, 2011

En 8: Wednesday, 12 Oct

Go to Snow Goose Newspaper Assignment Lesson to view a video that gives some background information to your first end-of-unit assignment.  Your teacher will give you an assignment handout and help you through the pre-writing stage of this activity.  The newspaper activity is designed to give you a chance to show your creative side as well as to give you some autonomy (freedom) in demonstrating your learning.

I don't know if you will have access to computers, but this would be an assignment where computers would allow you to give a more polished finished product.  Even if you hand write your piece, though, you will still be able to write in newspaper-style columns, and add photos, illustrations, maps or other graphic elements.  Think about things like headlines and font sizes.  Those of you who are into history or research can use this as a way to depart from the fiction aspect of the unit, and learn more of the factual aspects of this topic; perhaps you will add a real quotation from Winston Churchill - or perhaps you will create a fictional one!  Of course, you can also investigate some of the "deeper" elements we discussed, such as symbolism.

Enjoy.

En 11: Tues, 11 Oct Entry 2

Here is a copy of the assignment for Act One. 

En 12: Tuesday, 11 Oct

Well, I know we had a poetry activity planned, however, since I am unable to get around this week, I've decided to transition to a novel unit so you will be able to work more independently.  1984 is one of the great novels of the 20th century and just as relevant today in our era of post-911 security concerns as it was in the post-WW2 Soviet era.  I hope you enjoy the novel; we may pair it with another novel for comparison/contrast: A Brave New World  and The Handmaid's Tale are possible choices.  We may choose to go another direction too; I want to leave it a little open to see where things progress in terms of flow and interest.
As you read, think about big ideas that may be thematic.

As you start the novel, pay attention to the setting - even the opening sentence hints that this is a strange world - take time to notice the imagery.  Hint: words are important to Orwell - note how he uses them like a paintbrush.

Monday, October 10, 2011

En 11: Macbeth Lesson, Tuesday, 11 Oct

Go to the link http://bit.ly/q8wcFd to see a demonstration of how to complete the Act One quotations activity.  These quotations are the ones that will be on your upcoming test.

SS 11 Map Lesson: Tuesday, 11 October, 2011

Let's try something new.  Click on the link  1914 Map Lesson      to view a ten-minute lesson on the map of Europe in 1914.  I've used ScreenFlow to create a narrated PowerPoint slide show.  You should, at some point, pause the video to hand-draw your own copy of the map using rectangles in the way I did.  By the end of this exercise, you should have mastered the four signpost states and some of the other countries we discuss or you read about.