Media Unit of Work

Hi 7DI,
Well done everyone for the great work on 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', you all threw yourselves into the drama activities and came away enjoying Shakespeare! Just as he would have wanted you to! Thank you to all students who prepared PPTs about 'Fairies' to show to the rest of the class. They were wonderful! You had researched well and had been very creative when designing the layout and look of your PPTs.

Our new Media Unit of Work will be really interesting. You are all experts in one way or another already. You shared lots of very knowledgeable ideas about the features of film as opposed to any other text. Our work on camera shots aand camera angles will show you just how mood and atmosphere is created in films.
Homework:
Complete between 6/9 camera shots on the Media worksheet. You can draw or find the relevant images on the internet to illustrate the camera shots/angles you have chosen.
DEADLINE:
Tuesday 12th July

Fairy Research for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Well done 7DI, your drama work exploring Puck was really good. We talked about how Shakespeare's audience were familiar with the idea of fairies. Many people also believed in witches. I want you to research fairies. Try to find any references about fairies during Shakespeare's time. Find out about Robin Goodfellow. Happy searching!
Deadline:
28th June, Tuesday
Stretch and Challenge:
Create a PPT about fairies to show to the class

Independent Research

Stretch and Challenge
The RSC-Royal Shakespeare Company have a very useful and interesting website that you can go to to find out more about A Midsummer Night's Dream:

www.rsc.org.uk/explore

Have a look at the pictures of past productions to get an idea of how other peole have staged the play. Explore the Midsummer Night's Dream site, there are useful quotations and summaries of the play. ENJOY!

Which description do you like the most?

Read these extracts from a selection of books and think about which one you like the most and why. Post an explanation of the reasons why you like your particular extract. Do comment on the writer's style and word choice.

Descriptions of Settings

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Extracts from- ‘The Sorting Hat’

Harry had never imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first-years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.

 Extracts from- ‘The Forbidden Forest’

The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness.

They walked past a mossy tree-stump. Harry could hear running water, there must be a stream somewhere close by.

They walked on through dense, dark trees.

They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the Forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick.

Star Lord  by Louise Lawrence

Animals sensed things, but Rhys sensed nothing out there in the dark and damp, only the raw cold making his teeth ache and his nose run, and it was cards he had in his pocket but no handkerchief. The mist was lifting. He could feel the mountains rising dark beyond the black buildings, and the torch light was pale and pathetic. The fowl houses were padlocked, the shed where they kept the sheep feed was bolted, and there was nothing around the yard and outhouses. Nothing but wisps of white mist and his own breath curling. He was about to go back in when he saw Blod by the paddock gate, her eyes watching him. The silence between them was very sharp and still and the darkness spread and waited.

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

To the east, the sky was wolf grey. Thunder growled. In the stormy light, the trees were brilliant green. Rain in the mountains, thought Torak numbly. Watch out for flash floods.

He’d grown up in this part of the forest. Every slope, every glade was familiar. In the valley to the west was Redwater: too shallow for canoes, but good fishing in the spring, when the salmon come up from the Sea. To the east, all the way to the edge of the Deep Forest, lay the vast sunlit woods where the prey grow fat in autumn, and berries and nuts are plentiful. To the south were the moors where reindeer eat moss in winter.

Torak left the glade and plunged back into shadows beneath the trees.

He looked down into a narrow gully through which ran a small, swift river. He recognised it: the Fastwater. Further west, he and Fa often camped in summer to gather lime bark for rope-masking; but this part looked unfamiliar. Then he realised why.

   Some time before, a flash flood had come roaring down from the mountains. The water had since subsided, leaving a mess of wet undergrowth and grass-strewn saplings.

Shadowmancer by G.P. Taylor

Thomas knew that none of the villagers would come near the cave until All Souls’ Day, for fear of the Hob. He hurried down the track and through the wood. It was a gentle slope to the beach. Soon the tree cover would break open and he would have a view of Baytown and the coast.

   Suddenly he heard the sound of scratching against wood, like the noise of a large animal sharpening its claws. It rasped and chaffed at the bark of a tree to his right, higher up the cliff. He looked but could see nothing. Thomas knew there were no wild dogs in these woods, yet the sound came again, this time from behind him and getting closer. Whatever it was moved from tree to tree and scratched each one as it went by. It was like the sound of a farm cat scratching for mice at the barn door, only this time it was a louder and far bigger animal.

Describing the Athenian woods in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Hi Year 7,
I was really pleased with your hard work during yesterday's English lesson. There was an excellent sharing of vocabulary/words which should prove very useful. Some of the sentences were particularly impressive because of the careful crafting.

Homework
 As you know, your homework is to write two descriptive paragraphs which set the scene for the Athenian woods in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

It is a 40 minute homework, some of you will complete one paragraph rather than two in that time but, do not worry I would rather have quality rather than quantity. Do use the features that we have discussed: a variety of sentences, carefully selected words, interesting adjectives, adverbs and verbs, images, alliteration and all the senses.

The homework deadline is Tuesday 14th June.

This homework will be good preparation for the descriptive paragraphs that we will do in class when we will describe the same setting but at a different time of day or during a different season or during different weather conditions.

Remind Yourselves

Please read the passage again to get good ideas. Look at the different sentence lengths and the punctuation. I really like - "taller, darker, and thicker". Can you write a similar pattern of three comparatives to describe part of the woodland scene? Look at the lovely verbs. Use your verbs wisely.

“They picked a way among the trees, and their ponies plodded along, carefully avoiding the many writhing and interlacing roots. There was no undergrowth. The ground was rising steadily, and as they went forward it seemed that the trees became taller, darker, and thicker.  There was no sound, except an occasional drip of moisture falling through still leaves. For a moment there was no whispering or movement among the branches; but they all got an uncomfortable feeling that they were being watched with disapproval, deepening to dislike and even enmity. The feeling steadily grew, until they found themselves looking up quickly, or glancing back over their shoulders, as if expected a sudden blow.”

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Dragons: Non-fiction Unit

Well done everyone for working so hard on the Dragon Unit. I really liked your descriptions of dragons. Our article for a science magazine is going well. Remember that you have to use some scientific words - look at our useful collection.
We looked at lots of different features in the 'Amazing Bats' article: alliteration, verbs, repetition, metaphor, rhetorical questions, facts, names of people, places and numbers, habitats and the name of their young.
As you are drafting your article make sure you use some of these features.
HMK: Complete the article on '' Sighting the Dragon' for a science magazine.


If you would like to read more articles about animals click here!

Welcome to your Year 7 English blog!

Welcome Year 7DI, parents and guardians,

This blog is a place where I can tell you what we have been doing in lessons, set homework and create links to extend your learning outside the classroom.

So far this term we have been doing the Inroductory Unit where we have looked at character descriptions and 'Killer Openings'. We have looked at the language choices a writer makes when constructing a character and have considered how different sentence lengths can be used for effect.

You have started as writers to make these choices yourselves and have made some excellent choices in terms of using a variety of sentences and carefully choosing the most appropriate language.

Your homework this week is to finish your 'Killer Opening' and hand it in on Tuesday 28th September. Remember to proof-read your work. Have you chosen really effective vocabulary and used a variety of sentences?

On a final note I would like to say how well you have adapted to being in Year 7 and how well you are working as a team.

WELL DONE!
Mrs McNamara