Tourism & Literacy week 2

We are practising our literacy skills with two activities this week.  Both of these have been smart-shared with you and you can find them in your ENA212 folder in your google drive.  You can view the same documents here:

ENA212 Table of Contents

ENA212 Interpreting Information

Term 4: Tourism & Literacy

Hello
I am really sorry that I am away.  I was sick for the last part of the holidays and I am still sick.

The next standard is about using literacy skills in a tourism context, reading websites, travel brochures, booking and understanding travel insurance, and generally being fabulous at going on holiday and organising for other people to have fabulous holidays.

Create a new folder within your ENA212 folder.  Call it "Term 4: tourism & literacy."  Inside that folder, create a document called "Tourism & Literacy." In that document make a table of what you know about international and domestic travel, what you want to know and then what you have learnt.  Make it look like the one below:

What I know about tourism, including specialist words:	What I want to know about tourism and travel (could be anything):	What I have learnt today about travel and tourism:

Some questions to help you (decide which column the questions or answers go in for you - it will be different for each person)?

1. What does 'tourism' mean?
2. What is 'travel insurance' and why is it recommended?
3. What is a 'visa'?
4. What is a 'passport' and why is it required?
5. What is a 'booking agent'?
6. What is a 'deposit'?
7. What is a 'destination'?
8. What is an 'airport transfer'?
9. What is the difference between an 'adventure tour' and a 'sightseeing' tour?
10. What is a target market?

Once you have organised the answers into the first column or the questions into the second column, then I want you to use the dictionary and your online research skills to check your answers, or to find out the answers.  Put the answers into the third column, and put links to the places where you found the answers in the third column as well.

The next stage is to have a look around the Lonely Planet website.  Once, this organisation was all about travel books, which you bought and then used to help you plan your travel.  Now it is web based and highly interactive.  Have an explore, and see what places you would like to go to, and why.  We will do more with the Lonely Planet website on Tuesday.

Make sure I can see work in each of your folders!!

Reading texts to show understanding of differing perspectives on a topic: TASK

US25073 version 3
Read texts to recognise differing points of view on a topic
Level 2, 3 credits

Purpose:  People credited with this unit standard are able to read texts to recognise differing points of view on a topic.

Draft due: Thursday 7 September

Final assignment due: Thursday 14 September
Student task

In this assignment you will  read a range of texts to recognise differing points of view on a topic. You will choose a topic which is controversial and find at least three different points of view on this topic. One point of view may be from a visual or audio text, the rest must be from a written text. The written texts may be from newspaper columnists, letters to the editor, editorials, pamphlets, web pages, information and publicity material.

You can choose your mode of presentation to show your understanding of the different texts on your chosen topic.  You can present your understanding:
As a written report OR
As a podcast OR
As a recorded interview OR
As a poster OR
As a slide show presentation

The text types may include: articles by newspaper columnists, letters to the editor, editorials, pamphlets, web pages, information and publicity material.

You need to find three different points of view on your chosen topic.  You must make sure that:

1.1           The topic being discussed is identified.

1.2           The purpose of the text is identified.

1.3           Key words and phrases are identified and explained.

1.4           Evidence is present that the text has been understood.

Range        main points, writer's point of view.

1.5           Reasons and/or examples given by the writer to support their viewpoint are identified.



Student exemplar - Achieved

The New Zealand Flag.

I chose to read about the arguments on the change of the New Zealand flag. There has been a lot of disagreement on the topic of changing the New Zealand flag and in order to investigate differing points of view, I have focused on the arguments for and against the change.

1.2 Introduces the topic and focus questions.

Andrew Little: John Key's flag has cost New Zealand $26m
The first article I read is about Andrew Little’s thoughts on how John Key dealt with the whole process of the flag change. At first he supported the idea of debating the issue but became annoyed that John Key rejected the recommendations made by all parties to have a simple yes on no referendum first and that John Key seemed not be acting in the best interests of New Zealanders. “It is your government, your flag, your constitution - not mine, and not Mr Key's”.  He also criticises the $26 million spent on deciding whether to change the flag when massive funding cuts have been made from health, road funding and regional growth, when unsolved crime is on the rise yet the police budget has been cut,  and when young families are struggling to buy their own home, educate their children, and live above the poverty line.

1.2 purpose of the text identified
1.4  Evidence is present that the text has been understood. Range: main points, writer's point of view.
1.5       Reasons and/or examples given by the writer to support their viewpoint are identified.



Andrew Little -Leader of the Labour party
Constitution - a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially arranged constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a state's rulers cannot cross, such as fundamental rights.

1.3 Key words and phrases are identified and explained.


A time and a place: We missed a chance to forge our own identity
My second text is an article about an Invercargill resident who is disappointed New Zealand voted for keeping the current flag. The purpose of the article is to share Keith’s viewpoint on why he thinks New Zealand should change the flag. "I am just so dead against it. We are our own country”. As a member of the RSA committee and an ex soldier, Keith admits he’s in the minority on this issue but supports his opinion but discussing that soldiers don’t fight for their flag, they fight for their country  and when he dies he certainly doesn’t want the Union Jack on his coffin.  He also thinks it would have been a good opportunity to ‘stick one to the Aussies’, because we could have made the change to our flag before they did, and we could have done it without becoming a republic. He thinks it’s time New Zealand stood for itself and that it doesn’t owe the United Kingdom anything.

Republic - a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.
RSA - Returned and Services' Association, often referred to as the Returned Services' Association. One of the largest voluntary welfare organisations in New Zealand and one of the oldest ex-service organisations in the world.
Union Jack - the nation flag of the United Kingdom.

John Key lists his reasons for a new flag
In my third text, the writer is reporting about our Prime Minister, John Key, who is listing his reasons for a new flag. The purpose of this text is for Key to share his viewpoints on why he thinks change is important and how it will benefit New Zealanders. He mentions that there has always been confusion between the New Zealand and the Australian flags, as they are so similar, and describes the many incidents where he has been photographed or placed by the Australian flag instead of the our one. He rebuts the RSA’s argument stating that, “Commonwealth graves for Kiwi soldiers were draped with the silver fern not the Union Jack”. He also thinks a new flag would better represent New Zealand and would like to see “overt patriotism” demonstrated in New Zealand, a bit like the pride we see in the USA during many events where stars and stripes dominate people’s attire and makeup, furniture, decorations, and even buildings.  A change of flag, from John Key’s point of view, will a create a new meaning to our country, making New Zealanders proud for our goods, services, peoples and our country. He feels that New Zealand needs to be celebrated for it’s incredible multi-cultural society and the next step as a nation is to take our story and our people to the world.

Overt - done or shown openly, plainly apparent.
Patriotism - devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty.
British Commonwealth -  comprises of 53 countries who pay allegiance to the British Crown.
Rebut - to rebut a statement is to offer clear evidence or reasoned argument against  it.
Conclusion
Having investigated differing perspectives about the change of the New Zealand Flag, I now understand why New Zealanders were so divided. I think the whole process was flawed, and that if John Key had followed the recommendations of other members of parliament and made the first referendum a simple ‘should we or shouldn’t we?’ we may have saved the millions of dollars of taxpayers money that was spent on getting to the point of not making the change anyway. If I were old enough to vote, and if I knew what I do now, I think I would have voted to keep the New Zealand flag that we have had since 1840.
Judgement/Evidence Statements
US 25073 Read texts to recognise differing points of view on a topic
1.1  I have identified a topic to research.
1.2  I have identified the purpose of the text
1.3  I have identified and explained key words and phrases
1.4  I have shown I understand the texts by presenting main points AND the writer’s point of view
1.5  I have used reasons and/or examples given by the writer which support their viewpoint.



Grade:   Achieved  /  Not achieved  Date:       Teacher:
Comment:  
All moderation notes are on the NZQA form, held in the dept google drive folder.
Student Declaration:
The work submitted for this assessment is my own


Signed:                     Date:  




Final Grade Awarded   Achieved  /  Not Achieved

Teacher:                            Date:


Student (signature to accept the grade):                        Date:

Summarising content and describing differing perspectives

Learning objective: To read and process texts showing differing perspectives on a topic.
Success criteria:
1. I can identify controversial topics.
2. I can read a range of texts on a controversial topic.
3. I can summarise the content and describe the perspective for each topic.

At the end of today's lesson, we will discuss how we can present our findings for assessment against US25073:

US25073: collecting controversial topics and resources

Today I had planned that we would use Pinterest to explore, collect and collate controversial topics.  But, Pinterest has not been whitelisted for students just yet, although I was assured it was done last Friday.

So instead, we will use padlet to do some initial exploring.

Putting our assignment together & exemplars

Learning objective: to combine our paragraphs on symbols, camera work, narration & music into a report.

Success criteria:
1. We can use the report format to our organise our learning.
2. We can use the report checklist to make sure we are thinking deeply (analysing) about the ideas and techniques in Slomo.
3. We can use the exemplars to help us make connections between Slomo and the wider world.


Today is our last lesson before the complete Slomo assignment is due on Monday 14 August.  We need to put our writing on the techniques in Slomo into a short report format. Everyone has lots of writing to put into their report. 

SLOMO REPORT

Introduction

Name of film and director.  Brief description of what the film is about and what important ideas the director develops in the film.  Identify four (or more) techniques which you are going to use to analyse the ideas in the film.

Film technique #1

Identify technique

Describe how it is used

Explain the effect

Analyse how the audience is invited to respond

Link to two  other techniques to show combined effect

Make sure your analysis shows understanding of the important ideas in the film

Film technique #2

Identify technique

Describe how it is used

Explain the effect

Analyse how the audience is invited to respond

Link to two  other techniques to show combined effect

Make sure your analysis shows understanding of the important ideas in the film

Film technique #3

Identify technique

Describe how it is used

Explain the effect

Analyse how the audience is invited to respond

Link to two  other techniques to show combined effect

Make sure your analysis shows understanding of the important ideas in the film

Film technique #4

Identify technique

Describe how it is used

Explain the effect

Analyse how the audience is invited to respond

Link to two  other techniques to show combined effect

Make sure your analysis shows understanding of the important ideas in the film

Conclusion

Explain what this film teaches you about life. Explain how it links to other films or experiences you have had and who you would recommend it to.
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Exemplars at each level to show you how you can analyse the ideas in Slomo and how the techniques are used to develop them:

AS91107 Close Viewing Exemplars

Making developed interpretations of meanings and effects (Achieved)

“Lighting is used to signal to the audience that the Joker has a lack of humanity. When he took his mask off and revealed himself in the bank robbery scene, the screen had a green tinge to it showing the audience that he had a lack of humanness to him in the way he looked with his green, greasy hair and in the way he acted without humanity to the hostages in the bank.”

Demonstrating understanding of how significant aspects of visual and/or oral text(s) work together to create meaning (Merit)

“In this first scene it focuses on a bank robbery. One aspect that stood out for me was the camera work. In this scene there is a close up of the Joker holding a clown mask. This mask was used to symbolize how the Joker has a hidden identity which is evil and twisted. The Joker maintains this hidden identity throughout the whole film. The fact that it was a clown mask emphasizes to the audience the idea that the Joker is chaotic and unpredictable just like a clown but with a twist as his chaotic, unpredictable actions are sinister rather than fun filled like a humorous clown. This creates insecurity in regards to the Jokers actions for the audience – we are wondering who he is going to hurt next. The mask shows the similarities between the Joker and modern day terrorists. For example both use masks or make-up to hide their identity to get away with brutal acts of crime.”

Demonstrating insightful and/or original understanding of significant aspects of texts (Excellence)

“The Batman represents everything that is good within in Gotham. The Joker represents everything that is evil within Gotham, and is the complete opposite to Batman. The Joker takes a less serious, less technical approach to crime and instead of using fancy gadgets and armour; he uses a simple knife and wears a purple suit. The Jokers presence at the party as he takes over the building symbolises the post 9/11 world we live in today. The Joker is comparable to modern day terrorists, as he has no concern for his, or anyone else’s safety or well being. The Batman represents the failing fight against modern day terrorism, as no matter how hard he tries, people are killed and taken hostage. The Batman can be compared to modern day governments, as he has the latest technology, seemingly unlimited funding and advanced intelligence, yet still loses the battle against the Joker who is ‘primitive’ and greatly disadvantaged in comparison.”

Voice over & narrative

Learning objective: to analyse the use of voice over & narrative in Slomo
Success criteria:
1. I can define key words
2. I can explain how the narration/voice over develops significant ideas in Slomo
3. I can analyse the emotional impact of the narration for the main character and for the audience

Do now:
Write definitions for the following words: voice over, narration, storytelling, perspective & emotional impact.

Next step:
1. Find three scenes in Slomo where the narration is important.
2. Screenshot three frames and insert into your document.
3. For each frame, describe what the narrator is saying and how (tone of voice).  Use quotes as well as paraphrasing.
4. For each frame, explain how the narration develops an important idea in the film.

Camera work: a check list for analysing a film

Learning objective: to analyse the use of camera work to show the transformation in John Kitchin's world view

Success criteria:
1. I can identify a wide range of camera techniques used in the film Slomo.
2. I can describe specific uses of specific camera techniques in the film Slomo
3. I can explain the effect of the technique for each specific example
4. I can analyse how the audience is invited to respond to specific examples of camera techniques

Checklist for writing about camera techniques

• Identify technique
• Describe how it is used
• Explain the effect
• Analyse how the audience is invited to respond
• Link to two techniques to show combined effect
• Make sure your analysis shows understanding of the important ideas in the film

Exemplar to help with analysing camera work:

Extreme close up of a roller blade.  It is upside down as the camera focuses on the blade as the skater's foot is lifted up in the air.  The effect of the roller blade being in the air without sight of the rest of the body is that the blade is like a bird, moving freely through the air.  The background also reinforces the idea of freedom, as it is a beautiful beach.  This invites us to think of being relaxed (the beach) and powerful (the blade moving through the air).

Another technique which reinforces the idea of freedom through a simple life is the music, which is slow and simple, just the sound of a triangle being struck.

Camera work in Slomo

Learning objective: to analyse the use of lighting to show the transformation in John Kitchin's world view
Success criteria:
1. I can identify a wide range of camera techniques used in the film Slomo.
2. I can describe specific uses of specific camera techniques in the film Slomo
3. I can explain the effect of the technique for each specific example
4. I can analyse how the audience is invited to respond to specific examples of camera techniques

Do now: make a list of all the camera techniques in Slomo.

This resource will help with identifying camera techniques.

Symbols & symbolism in Slomo

Learning objective: To analyse the use of symbols and symbolism in Slomo.
Success criteria:
1. We can describe three symbols in Slomo.
2. We can explain what each symbol tells us about John Kitchin's transformation.
3. We can make links between the symbols in Slomo and symbols in our own life.

Wednesday:
Checklist to help us analyse a film, focusing on the use of symbol:

1. Identify the symbol
2. Describe how it is used
3. Explain what it tells us about John Kitchin 
4. Analyse: what other techniques are used with it?
5. Analyse: how are we (the audience) invited to respond?
6. Analyse: what does it teach us?
7. Analyse: how does it link to other symbols in the film?

Analysing SLOMO

LO: To analyse the change in one man’s view of life in slowmo

SC: 1) We can describe the life the main character had before his change and after his change.

      2) We can explain how symbols are used to show a life falling apart.

      3) We can analyse the role of lighting in developing the idea of change and transformation.

The K Road Stories series

Learning objective: to analyse the message in a range of films
Success criteria:
1. We can identify aspects of a film
2. We can describe aspects in each film
3. We can analyse the message in each film

Yesterday, we looked at "Broke" and "A Load of Trouble" and made a table of notes on the aspects of film used to tell the story in "Broke."

Today we are working on paragraph responses to "Broke."
1. Describe the main character, using at least three specific examples from the film.
2. Explain how the main character changes as a result of the fight with the beggar.
3. Analyse: what is the message in this film, and how is it shown to us?

Fritters #2

Further activities on Fritters:
1. Look at the director's quote on the Fritters page (down below the actual film).  Read this carefully, and then paraphrase it.  "Paraphrase" means to understand the meaning of a quote and then express it in your own words.

2. Look closely at the opening scene in Fritters.  Write down exactly what the mother says to the boy. What tone of voice does the mother use with the boy at this point (e.g. soft, gentle, harsh, cross, frustrated)? Then describe what the boy does with his shoulders.  Note how far apart from each other they are during this conversation.  What does the big amount of space between them suggest about their relationship at this point?

3. How does the mother's voice change when she talks to her husband?  What clue is there that she is not about to spend more time with her son this evening?  What does she do with the door when she is on the phone?  What does this suggest about her priorities?

4. What does the camera do to show that the boy feels more and more alienated from his mother?

5. Describe what the boy is playing with.  What does this suggest about him?

6. What happens to the music when the boy (Claude) walks out onto the street?  Describe the type of music, and the instruments being used.  What does this music suggest about streetlife on K Road?

7. As Claude walks down the street, we only see his socks at first.  What do his socks tell us about him and why do they stand out from the other people walking around him?

8. I would describe Claude as being quite innocent in this film.  List the evidence you can find to support my idea about him being innocent.

9. When Claude sits down to eat his sushi, what is the building in the distance which is glowing blue?

10. What game is Claude playing when he sits down to eat his sushi?  What does it tells us about his imagination, and what he would really like to be doing?

11. What is the bag lady doing when we first see her, and why?  Describe her clothing, including her hairdo.

12. The bag lady says to Claude "Come over here little boy.  I won't hurt you."  Why do you think Claude goes over, even though he isn't sure if he should?

13. The bag lady tells a story about eating sushi.  Tell this story in your own words.  Do you think she wants to eat his sushi?  Why or why not?

14. Do you think the boy understands everything the bag lady says?  Give two examples of things she says that only an adult would understand.

15. What is the first thing Claude says to the bag lady?  What does it tell us about Claude's interests?

16. What does the boy help make with the bag lady?  Why do you think he likes this so much?

17. What is the liquid that the bag lady pours into the fritter mix?  What does this suggest about her ideas about children?

18. Describe the shot types used when the bag lady hands the fritter sandwich to Claude.  What does this emphasise about Claude?

19. When Claude and the bag lady say goodbye, some music comes on.  Listen carefully, and write down the lyrics you hear.  Then write a paragraph on the message in the lyrics and why you think it was used in this film.

Fritters

Yesterday we looked closely at the exemplars for the 2.10 close viewing assessment, and made connections between the exemplars and the work we have done on Day Trip.  The 3492 reports on Day Trip have all been submitted (unless you have an extension authorised) and we are now focusing on building our skills analysing other short films, in preparation for our assessment.

Today we are going to look at the short film Fritters and practise writing paragraphs about how the ideas are developed in this film.  We are building our skills to be more and more independent in our analysis of how ideas are developed in a film.

Wednesday: we have described what happens in Fritters, and now we are identifying a significant idea in Fritters.  We are sharing our significant ideas on this padlet.

Thursday: We are explaining how the significant idea is developed.  To do this, we need to choose specific scenes or specific techniques, and look at what the director has done to develop the idea.  We need to think about what we (the audience) is invited to think in each scene.

Day Trip 3492 report: the introduction

Introduction checklist:

• title of film
• director of film
• name of main character and the actor playing him
• two sentences describing what the film is about
• identify a significant idea which is developed in the film
• identify four topics which you will discuss which develop the significant idea in the film

Bringing our work together into report form

Learning objective: to create a report on the significant ideas in 'Day Trip,' with discussion of how verbal and visual techniques are used to create and develop ideas.
Success criteria:
1. I can collate my paragraph writing on 'Day Trip' into one place.
2. I can identify two visual and two verbal techniques which I have analysed  - and finish this if I haven't so far.
3. I can create a conclusion showing my understanding of the important messages (significant ideas) in 'Day Trip'.

Checklist:
Have you written about:
1. The hero cycle in 'Day Trip'
2. The opening scene
3. The dairy scene and the power of silence
4. The first tunnel scene
5. The second tunnel scene
6. The pub scene - taking his clothes off
7. The pub scene - making new friends
8. The final scene
9. The overall message (significant idea) in 'Day Trip'

Model paragraph:

• Describe the technique (with specific examples).
• Explain the effect of the technique (again, very specifically).
• Explain how this example and technique develop a significant idea.
• Explain how the audience is invited to respond.

Showing how film techniques are used to develop a significant idea

Learning objective: we are learning to analyse how film techniques are used to develop an idea.
Success criteria:
1. We can identify a significant idea
2. We can describe the film techniques used
3. We can analyse how the techniques develop the idea

We are now getting close to our film analysis assessment.  In the assessment, each student will identify one or more significant ideas in the film, and choose a scene to closely analyse how the idea is developed.

One idea we have agreed on in Day Trip is that in the first tunnel scene, Willy is disconnected and isolated from everyone around him.

We have identified the following techniques from the tunnel scene:

• shot types - close up
• slow motion
• music
• lighting
• acting - facial expression + gesture
• use of silence
• setting
• costume

We are now going to write paragraphs analysing how these techniques develop the idea of Willy's disconnection from the world around him.

Some useful sentence starters include:

(insert technique) is used to emphasise that....

I think the director chose this technique to focus our attention on...

The audience is invited to sympathise with...

The tunnel scenes compared

Early in the film, Willy goes through the tunnel from the train station out into Wellington itself, ready to catch the ferry.  On his way home, he goes back through the tunnel.  When we contrast the two journeys through the tunnel, we can see significant differences.

	Who do we see beside Willy?  How do they react to him?	What sounds are in the scene?  What effect do the sounds have?
Going through the tunnel the first time
Going through the tunnel the second time
Why has the director chosen to show Willy going through a tunnel, rather than outside? What is suggested about Willy’s relationship with the tohunga in the second tunnel scene?

Costume, colour & identity

Describe the way that costume and colour help create a distinct identity for the bowls players in the film 'Day Trip.'

Describe the way that costume and colour help create a distinct identity for the gang members in the film 'Day Trip.'

Each decision in a film is very deliberate.  Every movement, every prop and every piece of clothing is chosen for a specific reason.  This includes the choice to have a group of bowls players wearing their uniforms in the pub which Willy goes to.

Task: explain why you think the director has chosen to have a group of bowls players in the pub when Willy arrives.

Gather your ideas on this padlet.

"Day Trip" & the hero cycle

Hero cycle

Learning Objective: To apply the hero cycle to “Day Trip”

Success Criteria:

• I can describe the hero cycle and teach it to someone else

• I can map the events and ideas in “Day Trip” onto a hero cycle diagram
• I can explain how ”Day Trip” fits into the hero cycle and suggest why it is different in places

Resources which will help:

1. Matthew Winkler's explanation of the hero cycle:

2. The short film Day Trip by Zoe Mcintosh

Showing the development of a character over time

Willy (the main character) changes over time and one way we can see this is in the way he interacts with other people.

Option one: write three SEXY paragraphs.  For each paragraph, choose a location, describe how Willy interacts with people at this location and explain what this shows us about Willy at this moment.  Three suggested locations: dairy, pub, ganghouse

Option two: create a timeline of all the locations in "Day Trip" and underneath each location, describe how Willy interacts (or doesn't interact) with people.

Focus on main character (Willy)

In Day Trip, the main character has no name, and he never speaks.

Instead, he communicates by...

His identity comes from...


The effect of him never talking is....  [when you find evidence of him talking, explain what is going on there and what is important about that]

Day Trip: the dairy scene

Learning objective: We are learning to analyse the effect of the main character on the children and the dairy owner.
Success criteria:
1. We can describe the events in the dairy
2. We can explain the effect of the techniques used in the dairy scene
3. We can identify the director's purpose and evaluate her success

Comparing Level One & Two

Level One: Show understanding - develop ideas with supporting evidence
Level Two: Analyse - thinking more deeply about the director's purpose and the effect on the audience.  Linking several techniques together and discussing their effect.
Level Three: Respond critically

Day Trip & film techniques: building our toolkit

Learning objective: to write extended explanations of the role of lighting, mis-en-scene and symbolism in "Day Trip."

Lighting:

• the use of light and shade in a scene
• used to set the mood of a scene, e.g. bright light for happy scenes, and shade and darkness for scary or sad scenes.
• directional lighting puts a focus on a particular person or object
• can have a filter on the lens - green filter makes the scene unnatural-looking; pink filter makes the scene look gory

Click on to this padlet to write your ideas about the lighting in the opening scene of "Day Trip."

Film techniques

Today we are building our film techniques tool box.  Each student needs to read and view the very useful Empire resource: Film Studies 101: the 30 camera shots every film fan needs to know.  As you read the definitions and watch the examples, I then want you to make a table which has the shots you are confident to identify and explain in one column, and those you are not sure of in the other.

Shawshank: Andy arrives at the prison

Andy's arrival sets the scene for life in prison.  He confounds Red's predictions and costs him several packets of cigarettes.  Today we will look at how this scene establishes the roles of different characters.  We will also look at the contrast between Andy's dignity and the brutal, sub-human behaviour in the prison.

1. Props: costume: how is Andy dressed and how is his hair styled on the bus?  How is it noticeably different from the other new inmates?

2. What does the sound of the siren tell the inmates?  There is one more time when the siren is sounded, much later in the film.  Can you remember when it is?

3. What are Red and his friends doing as they watch the new inmates?  

4. What is Red's first impression of Andy?  Why do you think he forms that impression?

Term 1 week 8 learning

In week 8 most students were working on their second and third texts for their 2989 assessment.  It was great to see students making independent choices about their topics, questions and text choices.  I also saw lots of good work on summaries of the information relevant to the student's question and assessments of how useful, convincing and credible each text was.  Ka pai!

Some students were ready to start something new, and we began our work on Shawshank Redemption, classifying characters according to evidence of how evil or good each of six chosen characters are.

It's been great to have Nicole in our class for two lessons each week, encouraging and supporting students in their work.

Shawshank Redemption

This week we took a break from our reading skills work to watch a truly fantastic film: Shawshank Redemption.  This film shows incredible endurance in the face of corruption and bullying.  Today we will explore some of the important ideas in the film.  At the end of today's lesson, you may also have some more ideas of topics and questions you want to research for your 2989 reading skills assignment.

We will start with a quiz on the film.  Click here to play.

Then, I want you to create a continuum, ordering the characters according to how good or evil you think each one is.  You need to provide evidence to justify your decision.

How relevant is your text to your topic & question: three sections

For the 2989 assessment, we all need to decide how relevant our text is to our topic and question

using three key ideas:

1. Usefulness - how useful was the text to you for answering your question?  Give some specific examples.  e.g. My text was partly useful because it gave me a lot of information on the symptoms of depression, but I still don't know about the possible treatments (topic: depression, question: What are the symptoms and treatements for depression?)

2. Credibility - How reliable is this text?  Was it written by experts (if so, how can you tell?) of by someone blogging about their personal opinions?  Did it use statistics and graphs and examples to give thorough information?

3. Currency - How up-to-date is this text?  Can you tell when it was last revised?  How recent is the information in the text and how can you tell?

Reading skills: select, read & assess to gain information

This week we are practising our skills at selecting, reading and assessing texts.  I have created a page of prompts to help you identify your own topic and key question before you choose a text, and then questions to ask yourself before, during and after reading your text.

This year we are going to record our responses to the texts we read, both for our practice and for our actual assessment.  In the weekend I had a go at this process myself:

  If I can do it, so can you!

The Teenage Brain

Yesterday in our English lesson slot, we all went to a presentation by Nathan Mikaere-Wallis on the teenage brain.

1. Create a google doc called “The Teenage Brain”
2. Write everything you can remember about the presentation.
3. This link has an interview with Nathan about the same topic and some information on the key ideas below the interview.  Please either listen to the interview or read the information below (or both if you wish).
4. What did you find convincing about Nathan’s presentation?  Give specific examples as much as possible.
5. What unanswered questions do you have on the topic?
6. Design/create a poster which present Nathan’s ideas to teenagers.  Think about what the research says, and what you need to include to help teenagers read and think about the information on the poster.

Researching conflict in New Zealand history

Last week we watched part of two films on the 1981 Spring Bok tour.

Do now: Write down everything you can remember about the tour and the issues around it.  In your English folder, make a doc called "Reading skills" and then put today's date and the heading "The 1981 Spring Bok Tour in New Zealand"

Our learning goal is to gather our information from last week, to put it into words and to identify the next lot of information that we need to answer our big question:

What happened in the Hamilton game and why was it important?

Reflecting on Under the Bridge & protest preparation

Today we finished thinking and talking about 'Under the Bridge.'  We talked about what an ERO report is, how the decile system works and what we saw as the strengths and weaknesses of Papakura High from the film 'Under the Bridge.'

Then we started our introduction to the 1981 Spring Bok tour, with our first go at a neutral chair debate.  Tomorrow we will watch a film on the tour.  We made progress articulating our opinions and listening to others.  See you tomorrow!

Under the Bridge

As I am away today, we will put Smash Palace and the changes in New Zealand in the 1980s aside and look at a short film that I had planned to show you later in the term.

A. In your English folder, make a document called "Under the Bridge."  Write what you think a film called Under the Bridge might be about.  Use 5-7 sentences, with several ideas and supporting details.

B. Now you can watch the film Under the Bridge, either together on the big screen if the reliever has a laptop, or in groups on chromebooks.

After you have watched the film (30 minutes), discuss the following questions in groups.  You can either write your answers in a shared document, or create a screencastify recording of your discussion.

1. What did you think of the film?
2. How is Papakura High similar to Grey High?
3. How is Papakura High different to Grey High?
4. What do you think is special about our school (Grey High)?
5. What do you want to do this year to push yourself and achieve something which is special to you?
6. What do you think we can all do to make Grey High even more special, especially for people who find school difficult?

I look forward to hearing or reading your thoughts on Wednesday!

Reflecting on Smash Palace: thoughts, questions & issues

Our focus today is on Smash Palace.  To start, please add your thoughts and questions on the film to this padlet.

We will add our thoughts, and watch 1-2 key scenes again to further develop our discussion.

Then we will each write our own thoughts on the film, using specific examples from our discussion and notes today.

Learning objective: to develop ideas on the film Smash Palace, with supporting detail.
Success criteria:
1. We have all contributed to the padlet, and to listening to each other's thoughts respectfully.
2. We can identify at least two important issues in the film
3. We can explain what makes these ideas important in the film and in society then and today, using a range of supporting detail.

Welcome

Welcome to ENC212!  This year we are all about developing our literacy and communications skills through studying a range of New Zealand films, and reading texts on the topics we each find important or interesting in the films we watch.

We are starting with Smash Palace, a film which shocked New Zealanders when it was first released in the early 1980s.  This thoughtful review by Roger Ebert explores what makes this film powerful.

After watching the film, we will share our ideas on the film itself, and what seemed interesting or important or brutal in the film on this padlet.

From our discussion, we will move in week 3 to finding texts on the topics we pulled out of watching Smash Palace.  We will read a range of texts, answer some not-too-tricky questions and then grab some credits for our work.  Not bad aye?