May 29

ELA B10: May 29 Illustration activity…

  1. Draw some bloody hands! That’s right. Yesterday, in our reading, Macbeth and his wife have just performed their plotted murder of King Duncan, a guest in their home. While Macbeth’s initial reaction is one of shock, fear, and absolute guilt, his wife seems unphased by her part in the framing of the guards to make it seem they are the culprits. There are two lines to compare in that reading. While Macbeth weeps and denies that with all the water in the world’s oceans, he still could not wash the blood from his hands, metaphorically speaking. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth comes out, hands bloodied and stained, and laughs that just a “little” water will clear us of these deeds. Two different responses to their actions. Will they still feel the same later in the play? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
  2. Students were asked to draw hands held in front of them, imagining they are either Macbeth or Lady M, and looking down at them to imagine what those hands have just done. We’ll post them on the walls of the classroom. While one person asked if that doesn’t seem morbid to have bloody hands on the walls, my response is that we’re studying a Tragedy. They all die in the end. Let’s add some drama to our classroom!
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May 29

ELA B30: May 29 Shakespeare biography and different interpretations of Hamlet, the character…

  1. Youtube can be an incredible resource. (It can also tempt you into wasting hours on end, but I digress!) There are several clips on youtube highlighting famous parts of Hamlet, some of his more famous soliloques and such, but it also shows different interpretations of the play. One movie version featuring Kenneth Branagh had some dramatic scenes showing Hamlet’s torture in his situation, while the Mel Gibson version is more true to the costumes and scenery one would imagine from a Shakespeare play. You have to take a moment, though, to watch the Arnold Schwartzenegger version. Yes, even the grate Austrian has played Hamlet on the screen. It is good to get the sense that there is no “ONE” way to interpret Hamlet or any of Shakespeare’s works.
  2. The students seemed to enjoy (or tolerate, hard to say) a modern version of the play produced and posted on Youtube as a school project. It is very professionally filmed, though. It is humorous, modern in that it intertwines modern dialogue in with actually lines from the play, and puts a current-day spin on the surroundings. It was good to give the students some background to the play.

See some of the video clips below…

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May 28

MdSt 20: May 28 Dixie Chick documentary…

  1. Students began today with a reminder they have a written and online portion to their exam on Wednesday and Thursday.
  2. Before watching the video, we talked about the concept of it, that one member of the group made a comment against President Bush and suffered serious consequences from that, both personally and professionally. They were banned from corporate radio stations who were politically allied with the Bush administration and Republican ideology.Last week, a big debate was sparked after an on-air argument between Rosie O’donnell, a person who is anti-Bush and would like to see the President impeached, and Elizabeth Hasselbeck, a pro-Bush supporter and staunch Republican follower. The argument got so out of hand that producers of the show made the decision Not to go to commercial, costing them the loss of that advertising money, and they eventually even went so far as to split the screen to show each woman as they argued with the other, making for great ratings and great captivating television. We have talked about who owns the media, certain people having a centralized control over what is allowed in media, both in Canada and the United States. Rosie has since announced she will not return to the show. Do you think she made that decision on her own or do you think it was made for her? What are your thoughts?You watched this clip from the view, before watching the documentary, because we have talked about freedom of speech, in the media through newspapers, radio, tv, etc. Are we really free to say what we want? Is everyone equally free?

Watch the clip below ….

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May 28

ELA B30: May 28 Hamlet begins…

  1. Students started today with their narrative essays handed back.
  2. They were given a handout that introduces the play of Hamlet. We read through the traditions and culture of Elizabethan drama, which is the style of drama that existed when Shakespeare wrote his plays. We looked at the diarama that Mrs. Seifert’s class made last year of the Globe Theatre and also discussed the eight parts that make a character a tragic figure.
  3. Students copied out a character concept map that I drew on the board introducing each of the characters of the play and how they were all connected together. The characters with red hearts beside them are good, noble characters with caring qualities. The others are all foul players in the tragic events that come to be. It was also pointed out that two men are seeking revenge for the death of their fathers: Fortenbras and Hamlet. With two men seeking the same goal, we are able to compare how effective they are in that goal.
  4. We moved into the projector room to look at some popular culture takes on Shakespeare themes. Some beleive Shakespeare is like the Coca Cola of Literature, it is everywhere and a huge part of pop culture. Shakespeare’s saying are on beer shirts, in the Simpsons, in your music lyrics, alluded to in music videos and movies.. it is simply everywhere. So, we watched a few Hamlet clips on youtube. Enjoy!

See the clips below…

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May 28

ELA B10: May 28 Act 2 to read and answer questions…

  1. Students started by writing a few notes that were on the board to point out important parts of Act two.
  2. We began reading the first scene with me reading out the play parts and stopping to explain what its meaning is. I asked several questions of students to comprehend their understanding.
  3. We stopped at the end of each scene to answer the questions together. Some of the interesting things today was the reality that even after Macbeth told everyone the guards must have killed Duncan because they had his blood on them and the daggers, Banquo says they will gather when they have calmed down to discuss what has happened and seek out the culprit. Do you beleive he thought then that Macbeth had committed the murder? Why would he want to find out more about who actually did it when Macbeth said he had killed the culprits? It led to a good discussion.

Below is the Dagger scene with the great actor, Sir Ian McKellen.

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May 28

Hist 30: May 28 Notes / discussion Unit 4…

  1. We began the class by handing back Unit three exams to students to have a look through. Most were pleased by their effort.
  2. Students were then given back their question sheets from last week they completed after reading the handout titled “The Quiet Revolution”. We read through the questions together with students ellaborating on answers and asking questions of their own for clarification.
  3. Next, students were given the Unit Four typed notes. On the front page, they had to write four items that were demonstrated on the board. These four conceps basically summarize each of our units to date and show the progression of a similar theme, Canadian History, and how each unit relates and links to the next. This was meant to help students see the bigger picture and where in that picture Unit four begins.
  4. Next, we started reading through the notes with students listening carefully to fill in the missing answers. We had a good discussion about American aggression in wars, why they believe Canada has such a close relationship with our Southern neighbour, and whether we are in an equal relationship or a dominated one.
  5. We will continue with the discussion and notes tomorrow.

On a side note, I told the kids I would post this documentary on the blog. We discussed the idea that Canada is such a peaceful nation and only involved in peace-keeping in recent world wars. It is not always so well known, though, that Canada is a major arms manufacturer and creates a lot of the materials the Americans use in their warfare. For example, the now-famous Agent Orange that was used in the napalm that devestated the landscape and human lives in the Vietnam war was actually created by Canadian companies, not something Canada would like to see advertised. Do we have the right, still, to believe our hands are not dirty with blood from war?

Here is the documentary that compares the Napalm that has been banned by the Geneva Convention to the napalm the Americans used recently in the war in Iraq. (This new napalm is the exact same chemical formula but is missing one ingredient. The one, unfortunately, not missing is the oxidizing agent that feeds the chemical with oxygen to keep it burning through the flesh. Chemical warfare, happening today. What do you think? Necessary? Is the possible casualty loss worth the risk. Is the opportunity cost measured properly? (Ask me what opportunity cost means.) 😀

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/pT2suKBHhLQ" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

May 25

Hist 30: May 25 The video continues…

  1. Students continued watching a video that documents the history of Canada from the end of the Second World War into the reign of the Trudeau government. With the actual footage and audio of certain historic personalities available, since television was now available during these decades, the students seem very involved in the video. We will continue with questions and move into the notes for Unit four when we return on Monday.
May 25

MdSt 20: “Whitewashing” in media…

  1. Students started by composing a list on their handout of tv shows or movies that have minorities in them.
  2. Next, we looked at each of these shows and put an X beside the shows where the minorities are simply secondary characters or there for comic relief as opposed to being main characters. An example of this is Fez from That 70s Show or Appu from The Simpsons.
  3. We discussed the theory that mainstream media reflects only white people and by excluding minority or disabled groups of people we give an impression that they are not valued groups within our society.
  4. The handout had two readings attached. We began reading the first and will continue with the discussion on Monday.
  5. There is a Unit exam next week that will be staged in two parts. One part will be based on questions regarding all the handouts and discussions we have had in this unit. The other will be a choice from a few topics to research online and write an educated opinion on.
May 25

ELA B10: May 25 First person anguish…

  1. Students worked today on a short writing assignment. After having finished Act one of the play, students have just been witness to the agony and anguish Macbeth is going through in his struggle to decide whether or not to carry through with his murderous plot to kill King Duncan. The assignment is to either write from the perspective of Macbeth or his equally guilty wife.
    The assignment will be due to hand in on Wednesday.
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May 25

ELA B30: May 25 Animal Farm: the revolution is over…

  1. [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/cDYXwfZxJto" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]Students finished watching the movie today. They seemed to be quite engrossed in the efforts of the animals to fight for their freedom. One person said today that when we were reading the novel, the moment when the pigs came out of the farmhouse, walking on two legs, she got tingles down her spine. That’s a sign of a great story.
  2. Some who were missing yesterday were upset that they’ll have missed part of the movie. Lucky for you, the whole movie is on youtube with the animated version. It’s like an old Disney movie. How’s that for homework?

Here’s the first of the 8 videos on youtube.

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