Blog Entry#6

Right now we start the unit dealing with Shakespeare. We just finished learning about the theater were Shakespeare held most of his plays. This theater was called "The Globe". My First impression of the theater was that it was nice for the year it was built. I liked the way the roof was open so you could they natural light to stage the plays. I also like the roof over the stage because it had a nice picture of the heavens on it. I would defiantly like to go and see a play at the Globe Theater. If I were to go and see a play at The Globe I would like to sit in the Lords Room. I would like to sit their because you have the best view of the whole theater and you can see the action of the play almost as if you were in it. I also would like to sit in the Lords Room because you get to actual seat and also it would not smell as bad because you be sitting above everyone. I have learned a lot of interesting about the globe theater like how it only cost 1 penny to get into the standing area. I also learned that the theater smelled really bad and also learned that there were no female actors, so young males played girl parts.

Entry # 6

Reflect on your experience with the novel October Sky How effective do you think the activities and schedule were for this unit? How does it compare with other novel studies you have done? Do you think you gained more from this type of study? Why or why not?

My experience throughout the novel October Sky was an enlightening one. I thought that all the activities and assignments were very effective in helping you understand the novel better. Also having a schedule for the unit help you know what was to be done and when it was to be done. The schedule helped you make time to do homework and reading.  We did various activities throughout the novel. We did 10 journal entries, a science fair which was are final project, a character sketch assignment, we went in groups and summarized chapters 10-15, and we wrote a final essay. We did different assignments with groups, which I found helpful to get other peoples point of views and ideas of the novel.  The only problems that I personally had with group work was that some people did anything and the others were stuck with their responsibilities and the people who didn't do anything still got a mark. This novel studies was not that different from other studies that we have done in the past because their was group, journals, and reading. I gained from this type of studies because we got to worked in groups and help each other with understanding the novel.

Charater sketch assignment

We a reading the novel October Sky currently right now in English. Their are many different character that you learn about in throughout the novel. For my character sketch assignment, I chose Jim. Jim is the older brother of Sonny Hickman. Him and Sonny go to the same school, Big Creek High School. Jim is a very big football star at their school. Jim state throughout the character was a very Minor role, he is in various sections but is not throughout the novel.

There are many different physical traits that help you get a picture of him in your head. Jim was big and tall, he had golden hair with a peroxide curl at the front, and he was well dressed. Jim relationship with others varied with different people. He was a ladies man with the girls, and had many different friends. He was very close with his father. Him and his brother, Sonny weren't very close. Jim was always picking fights with him or calling him name like "little sister".

I think Jim was included in the novel to help understand the Hickman family. He showed that Sonny was not very well treated by him and others. He Also showed that his dad was more proud of him than he was of Sonny. I think he was also put in the novel because he was Sonny brother and was a part of his life.

Blog #5- September 29

As a young adult I find having friends helps you deal with the every day struggles life. They can help you in many different ways, like with: homework, other friends, parents, relationship, losing a family member and much more. There were many different references in the novel October Sky about friends. For example the Rocket boys helped Sonny fulfil his dream of building a rocket. But sometimes friends can not be the best people in the world. They can sometimes talk behide your back. But true friends stay with you through thick and thin. You can always tell who your true friends are because they dont judge you and are your friend for your personality. My friend are there for me when I am having a bad day and even when having I am good day.

Blog #3- Photo essays

Image 5:http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/PF/PF_971780~Changing-Seasons-Posters.jpg

Image 4:http://www.childsafetyaustralia.com.au/children/bullying/images/bully.gif

Image 3: http://www.cybernation.com/images/success/dreams_moon.gif

Image 2:http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bridgeporttxhistorical.org/Images/Coal%2520Mines/Singleton%2520Coal%2520Mine.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bridgeporttxhistorical.org/Pages/Bridgeport%2520Coal%2520Mines.html&h=567&w=1024&sz=90&hl=en&start=24&um=1&usg=__kzc_N_G4eQhEwgBUO5vRbrU_rNg=&tbnid=f1qFC6ZbgLvdsM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcoal%252Bmines%26start%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26rlz%3D1T4ADBF_enCA262CA264%26sa%3DN

Image 1:http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/features/family.jpg

A photo essay is an essay that consists of photos that tell a story or create different emotions for the viewer. A photo essay can either consists of only of photos, or can have photos and small captions underneath the photos. The essay can be viewed in a certain order or can be viewed in a random order that is decide by the viewer. An photo essay usually is about a certain topic that is chosen by the author. There are many different ways of viewing and creating a photo essay. Some example are: an article in a magazine of a newspaper, a book or novel, a web page, an art show or a slide show.

Blog#2- September 16 2008

Currently in English 10-1 we are doing a novel study unit and we are reading the novel "October Sky". We have already done two assignments for the novel and have read up to chapter 8. It has been a little hard try to keep up with the assignments and reading, but I have a few personal strategies to help me stay on top of my work. I am hoping to get marks higher than 80 and be able to hand in assignment that a completed and well done.

My first strategy is try to get my assignments and homework done during class time and get my reading done at home or on my personal time. I can do this by doing two things, not talk to my neighbours in class, and not getting distracted with the TV when I am reading my novel at home. My second strategy is to do my work the night it is assigned to prevent myself from handing work in late and poorly done. My final strategy is do my best on all assignment so I can try and achieve the mark I would like.

From using these strategies I can hopefully receive the mark that I would like for myself. Just from doing my assignments, and reading assigned chapters it will help me stay focused and motivated to keep my mark up and will help me with understanding the novel better. Hopefully I will continue to use these strategies to help me this semester and future semesters.

ELA letter- September 15 2008

The first semester has just ended. I have learned so much different knowledge about English this past semester. I have learned about new topics like Shakespeare, and older topics like grammar, spelling, and writing. At first the semester started off a little rocky because of all the timetable change. We had to started class a week later than everyone else, so we didn't get to watch the movie "Jaws".

We started this year reading the novel "October Sky". While reading the novel we did weekly blog entry's and small assignments dealing with different subjects such as, character development, character sketching, paragraph structure, and the conflict.

After we finished reading the novel we did a short unit about film study. We learned many different topics and how to analyze a film. For this unit we watch "October Sky". Then after we were done the movie and the novel we had to write a unit exam from the beginning part of the year. It consisted of a essay and reading comprehension questions.

The next unit we did was Shakespeare. We learned about his different plays and his life. The play that we read was " A Midsummer Night's Dream". We got to read the play in various different ways, such as: class reading, performing different scene's, and in groups. Mr. Musto, the student teacher taught us that unit. While reading Shakespeare we did weekly blog entry's.

The last unit that we worked on was about the media. We learned about different things in the media unit, such as: media concepts, scripts, image analysis, poetry, and song analysis. We work on different project throughout the unit and did weekly blog entry's. Some of the small projects we work on were: scripts writing, film study, imagery, poetry analysis and song analysis. At the end of this unit we wrote a unit exam.

The last thing we had to do for the semester was review for the Final exam. I was a test containing to parts A and B. It was worth 30 percent of or overall final mark. It consisted of comprehension questions and a essay.

Thoughtout the semester we worked on many different topics, but there was 5 topics that always were apart of the class. The first topic was about exploring our idea further, which helped us with writing paragraph and blogs. Another topic was to learn how to comprehend different piece of literature and other multimedia pieces, which helps us a lot in the final exam. We learned how to manage our idea and information which helped us stay on task and more organized. How to create multimedia texts and make them more clear to us and others, which help us communicate and express our thoughts throughout the semester. The final topic was about respecting and supporting others which helped us work in groups easier.

The past semester dealt with variety of topics. We worked on blog entry's and journal entry's and did silent reading every Fridays class. This English class has help me with spelling, grammar, and reading comprehension. My final mark for this class was a 85 percent.