Wednesday - Period 1

CINDERELLA INC: Given the loss of a number of lessons recently (Long Weekend, Polding Walk, Staff Development Day) we will look at Christopher Anvil's short story, 'Cinderella Inc' through a reading and discussion. This story speculates on how we as a society view surgical attempts to create physical beauty. By the end of this story you should have recognised a number of familiar elements that occur in contemporary society and how Anvil has projected they may develop in the future. We will also look for the conventions of the science fiction genre as used by Anvil.

To finish the term you will compose a paragraph that explains how the word 'corruption' is relevant to your wider reading of Jeanne du Prau's 'The City of Ember'.  We will spend the final two lessons viewing the film adaptation in anticipation of our film study starting Term 3.

Tuesday - Period 4

With the benefit of our discussion and backchannelling around the ideas explored by Ray Bradbury in his short story, The Pedestrian, we will today look at the narrative elements and language employed in this story.

In particular, you will compose questions using the 'Questioning Circles' model to explore both the text and how this idea relates to the wider world.

Thursday - Period 1 & Monday Period 2

In these lessons you will participate in a small discussion group with Mrs Lans OR take part in a backchannelling discussion around Ray Bradbury's short story, The Pedestrian.

Transcripts of the backchannel sessions appear below:

Open publication - Free publishing - More bradbury

Open publication - Free publishing - More bradbury

Genre - Short Stories & Film

Our latest unit will be the study of short stories and film with a focus on genre.  As a revision of genre we will look at a range of movie trailers on Youtube and discuss the expectations we have of the film from the genre clues (conventions) they contain.

Tasks:

• Using Mindomo, Mindmeister, or Mind42, compose a mind map of the main genres and their features.  Embed this mind map on your Weebly.
• Select a movie trailer, embed it on your Weebly, and then list the genres it contains and the conventions used in the trailer that confirm those genres.

Thursday - Period 2

Today you will record a reading of your 'found poem'.  Remember that you need to consider the tone and pace of your reading so that it reflects the subject matter and content of your poem.

1. Use Audioboo to record your poem.
2. Copy the embed code for the recording before leaving Audioboo.
3. Create a sub-page on your Weebly using the title of your poem as the title of the page.
4. Slide a 'HTML code' button down to the page and then past into the box to insert your recording on the page.
5. Underneath the recording, type or copy the text of your poem.
6. Finally, add an image or two that is representative of ideas in your poem.

Weeks 1-3 Term 2

Since our return this terms our class schedule has been as follows:

27/04/11:  'Dulce Et Decorum Est' deconstruction continued
02/05/11:  'Dulce Et Decorum Est' response task
04/05/11:  NAPLAN practise writing task
05/05/11:  'Dulce Ed Decorum Est' response task continued
09/05/11:  NAPLAN revision and review
10/05/11:  NAPLAN Testing
11/05/11:  NAPLAN Testing
16/05/11:  Poetry Composition - Found Poem
18/05/11:  'War is Kind' - annotation, deconstruction and paragraph response

Wednesday - Period 4 & Thursday Period 1/Week 1 & 2 of Term 2

Today we will look at a famous poem by a famous war poet, Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen.  We will look at a few videos to provide us with Owen's personal and historical backgrounds.  The poem itself is effectively dramatised in the video below.

Post reading activities:

• Discussion of the poem's ideas and effectiveness
• Annotation and deconstruction of the poetic devices employed (refer to glossary and mind map for support)
• Completion of a deconstruction sheet
• Completion of a range of tasks to be completed both in your books and on your Weebly.

Monday - Period 5

'What Matters?' drafts due today.

To commence our study of war poetry you will construct a 'mini poetry book' and read silently to yourself.  Reflect on the ideas and messages of each poem and then decide which poem resonates with you.  Be prepared to discuss and justify your decision.  Annotation of one poem if time.

Thursday - Period 2

Today we will begin our poetry unit that will focus on 'Images of War'. We will revise poetic techniques and elements through a glossary and mind map that is to be glued in your book.

Following some focus activities and discussion you are asked to post a response to the Wallwisher wall below.  In our next lesson you will embed this completed wall on a new Weebly page.

Week 8 Lessons

As an extension of our study of documentaries, you will this week create your own documentary that presents the College in a favourable or negative light.  You should have completed the planning sheet on Monday that outlines your approach, will spend 1-2 lessons shooting video footage and taking still photographs, and the last lesson compiling your work in MovieMaker.

Completed documentaries need to be submitted on the school network.  You will compose a reflection statement on your Weebly that considers the learning experiences that this task has given you.

Your books need to be handed up in Wednesday's lesson for checking.

Monday - Period 2

Depending on your progress with last week's task, you will complete any or all of the following tasks today:

1. Completion of your written analysis of 'Men of Ore' on your Weebly.  This must be finished and published today.
2. Self-Assessment of your achievement of this task (see Mrs Lans for a sticker for your book).
3. Ensure the 'Contents Page' and all work that should be in your book is up to date.
4. Documentary Planning Sheet to be completed for your one minute documentary presenting the College from a positive or negative perspective.

Wednesday - Week 5 to Thursday - Week 6

Today you will commence your own deconstruction of a 1 minute sequence of the documentary 'Men of Ore'.  You are free to choose any one minute sequence that occurs after the 15 minute mark (already deconstructed in class).  View this sequence as many times as you need and make notes on the following:

1. the time mark of your chosen extract (eg. 16:34 - 17:39)
2. the content addressed during this extract
3. the film techniques employed -consider camera shots and angles, sound effects (diegetic and non-diegetic), lighting, soundtrack, archival footage/images, captions, editing (speed, aural bridge, transitions)
4. the effects achieved by the filmmaker in using these techniques, ie. what is the effect on the documentary audience (responder)

Refer to your 'Documentary Film Response Scaffold' to guide your deconstruction.  You can also discuss your thoughts with other students to clarify your ideas.  When you are ready, use the scaffold to guide your response that you will post on your Weebly.  Create a sub-page under the 'Non-fiction' tab called 'Men of Ore' and type your work there.

Tuesday - Period 4

Today we will continue with our deconstruction of the Australian Story documentary 'Men of Ore'.  You will see the first 15 minutes deconstructed for the techniques employed and the effect that each achieves for the documentary filmmaker.

Take a look at the 'Documentary Film Response Scaffold' in your books and familiarise yourself with the areas you need to address for your own deconstruction.

Thursday - Period 1

Here is the brainstorm completed in class following our viewing of 'Men of Ore'.  Any of these could become the  topic of your editorial for your assessment task.  Today you will receive some exemplars of editorials to guide you in terms of structure, language features and persuasive techniques.

In our lesson today we will begin to deconstruct the documentary in terms of filmic techniques and the effect they achieve on the responder.  Take note of the how a film sequence is deconstructed - you will be doing a sequence deconstruction on your own in the next few weeks.

Wednesday - Period 4

Today we will begin our viewing of an Australian Story documentary - 'Men of Ore'.  This is the story of the rescue team responsible for the retrieval of the trapped miners at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine in 2006.  Following our initial viewing we will consider the issues that arise in this documentary and brainstorm possible topics for the editoral assessment task.

If you wish to view the documentary at home, visit the Australian Story page on the ABC website.

Wednesday - Period 1 & Monday - Period 5

Today we will look at the DIY Doco website that is designed to assist your understanding of how to:

• identify the filmic techniques employed and their effect
• under the style and genres of documentary film texts
• respond to and analyse documentary texts.

In your exercise books you are to record key ideas under the headings:

1. Style & Genre
2. Elements of Documentary Storytelling

(Remember - when recording key ideas you need to record and summarise them concisely using words and phrases that will make sense to you later on.)

Assessment Task # 1 issued - Editorial composition (exposition).

Monday - Period 2 & Tuesday - Period 4

Today we will revise non-fiction by considering the following questions:

• What is non-fiction?
• What forms does non-fiction take?
• What is the purpose of non-fiction?
• Whose point of view is presented?
• What is the difference between fact and opinion?
• How do the following shape how we see things: one's attitude/perspective/outlook, knowledge, societal context, cultural background?

Using the information from your group discussion summarise your responses to these questions on your non-fiction Weebly page. 

Homework:  Create 2 QR codes using the QR code generator to the right.  One is for the URL of your Weebly, the other is the URL of your non-fiction Weebly page.  Glue in your English book.

Thursday - Period 1

Today we will set up individual Weebly accounts for your online work.

Subject Specific Terminology & Report Criteria issued and examined.

Wednesday - Period 4

This year you will use both an exercise book and a personal website to complete your work.  Your exercise book will contain handouts and things you need to refer back to at a later date.  Other work (written, visual, etc) will be composed and maintained on your own website.  This site will be an electronic portfolio of your best work.

So today's activities will include:

1. Expositional journalling (in preparation for NAPLAN later this year)
2. Establishing your exercise book
3. Establishing your website using Weebly. (Insufficient time - transferred to Thursday's lesson).

We will begin looking at Non fiction: Documentaries in our next lesson.

Monday - Period 5 (7/2/11)

In our first lesson we will attend to a few preliminary activities:

1. Spelling Assessment
2. Reading Comprehensions Assessment
3. Technology Survey

Please have your exercise book with you for our next lesson.