Higher Close Reading Revision (useful for S4 up!)

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Higher Holiday Homework

Here it is:

1. Two essays--one Poetry, one Drama (see below for question choices, which are written right above the embedded question papers)

2. Re-read both of your texts

3. Read TWO newspaper articles--see what you can spot in the way of techniques used, look up any vocab you're uncertain of, etc.

4. Have a fantastic (and SAFE) time tonight at the Social, and of course a wonderful break.

See you in January!

Higher Past Paper Drama Questions

Choose ONE of the following: 3, 7, 14.

Slideshare isn't behaving at the moment, so I can't embed, but I'll come back later to do it. Here's a link to Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/greensgalaxy/higher-drama-questions-2007-to-2010

Higher Past Paper Poetry Questions

Here are the questions.
Choose ONE from: 9, 12, 13

Higher poetry questions

View more documents from Mr Green

Holiday Homework...

... is coming! It will be published here, as well as on your individual class pages.  No excuses! You've been warned!

Impromptu S2 Winter Poem Competition

Congratulations to the following:

First Place

Erin and Jill

Second Place

Josh and Regan

Third Place

David and Arran

Special Mention

Isaac

NAB Resit dates

Resit dates for both Textual Analysis and Close Reading are as follows:

Int 1: Monday 19th December
Higher: Tuesday 20th December

Int 1 Essay Question Choices

Here they are, for those of you who missed them:

SECTION B—PROSE

Choose a novel or short story which deals with a crisis in a family or a community. Briefly say what happens in the story and then go on to show how the family or community deals with the crisis.

OR

Choose a novel or a short story or a piece of non-fiction or a group of prose texts which interested you because it deals with young people.
Say what happens to the young people and show how the writer helps you to understand the situation they are in.

S5/6 Prelims

Intermediate 1:
Thursday 19 January
Paper 1: 9:00-10:00am in MPH
Paper 2: 11:35am-12:20pm in MPH

Higher:
Monday 23 January
Paper 1: 9:00-10:45am in MPH
Paper 2: 11:35am-1:05pm in MPH

Revision areas and tips coming soon... do plan to work over the holidays!

Contact evening

As most of you will know, tonight's S5/6 Contact Evening has been postponed due to the weather. It has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, 14th December. Your appointments will remain the same. See me if there are any problems.

Homework reminders

S1: complete your mind map for FRIDAY

S2: complete your timeline and mind map/spider diagram for MONDAY

S4: complete your ghost story final redrafts for MONDAY. Bring your Philosophy materials on FRIDAY.

Intermediate 1: complete your Lord of the Flies essays for FRIDAY

Higher: your first Macbeth essays are overdue! Second essay is due MONDAY (the one you worked on today in class in groups).

Homework and so on...

For those of you who weren't in today, whether due to illness or prelims:

S3: we worked on topic sentences today. A great effort was made by Tent C in particular.

S4: today we worked on developing character (show, don't tell) using body language and extended description. We had a look at this site to help a little more with facial expression and realism.

Int 1: today, taking a break from Close Reading skills, we revised character in Lord of the Flies. Remember to bring your newspaper homework tomorrow!

Higher: today we went through the majority of Act 5, apart from the end of scene 9, and all of scene 1. Tomorrow we will be working on essay skills, to help you complete your first Macbeth essays. Those of you who haven't finished the pink Close Reading paper should do so for the end of the week.

email contact

Hello everyone,
Just a quick note to remind everyone that I have made the shift this term to using greensgalaxy@gmail.com as my primary contact. Please try to use this address, rather than the live.co.uk address you may have used in the past.
Thanks!
Mr Green

Nearly time to come back...

Hi everyone. I hope you have all had a very good holiday, and are ready to return. With that in mind, could I just remind you that you should check the posts below carefully to ensure you've completed your holiday homework.
Also, I've posted a new riddle.
See you all Tuesday,
Mr Green
PS Well done, Highers! Only one of you needs to resit your NAB!

S4 Holiday Homework

1. Read the rest of Woman in Black
2. Read Chapter 4 of Critical Thinking
3. Do 4.1 and 4.2

Have a great holiday!

Higher Holiday Homework

Read ALL of Macbeth
Update scene/character logs for all of Acts 2 and 3.

Test upon your return!

Int 1 Holiday Homework

Read all of Lord of the Flies
Answer all the questions (all the way up to Chapter 11--we will do 12 together when you come back)
TEST on your return--those who do not complete the homework WILL be reported to Mrs Reid.
 Have a great break, everyone! Looking forward to working with you on your essay skills when we return.

Attention S5 and S6!

Just a quick reminder to my Intermediate 1 class: your Textual Analysis NAB is on MONDAY.
To my Higher class: your NAB is on TUESDAY.
Be there!

Int 1 Homework

Read up to and INCLUDING chapter 5 of Lord of the Flies.

(This should be easy-peasy! You have all been reading for 15+ minutes each evening anyway, haven't you?)

Higher Homework

1. Read Act 2 of Macbeth (use No Fear Shakespeare if you need to!)
2. Bring in your book money

Due Monday 26th Sept.

New Riddle Posted

New riddle's up! See if you can solve it WITHOUT GOOGLING!

Thank you!

I haven't heard a final total yet, but it sounds like Dingwall Academy pupils and staff raised approximately £5000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust last Friday. I myself am very grateful to all who participated, and to those who gave so generously. Here are a few pictures of the event (PS I'm still waiting for someone to send me video footage! Links to YouTube etc are fine, too).

Int 1 Homework due Wednesday 21st

A reminder of the mini-essay question:

The question

Choose one character from the novel. Discuss your first impressions of that character, moving on to explore one or more points of interaction with one other character.
 Remember: Try to use PEE statements as far as possible, limiting your retelling of plot details to the bare minimum (i.e. just give the context, don't retell the story!).

Remember to use quotations to support your points.: Choose one character from the novel. Discuss your first impressions of that character, moving on to explore one or more points of interaction with one other character.

Thank you to those who have donated so far!

Thanks, everyone, and particularly to Arran, who had a go at text donating. Also, big thanks to Ian for his spectacular donation via the webpage! Sparkly Stars!

We still have a ways to go before tomorrow at lunchtime, so dig deep, everyone. I'll have an envelope available in my classroom for cash donations.

Remember: £200 is the target! Cough up, or I keep my hair on!

Click on 'Donate' to the left to use paypal or your bank card, or TEXT: TCTG50 £2 to 70070 (you can change the amount)

Hurry! Time is running out!

S1 Homework: Hercules!

Click on this link to read about the twelve labours of Hercules.

Read six of them for Friday, when we'll reassess the question 'what is a hero?'

New Riddle Posted (finally!)

I've finally posted a new riddle. Are you a riddle master? Can you figure out the answer? Send me an email, or tell me in person, if you think you have the solution.

Teenage Cancer Trust

As most of you know, I'm helping to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. If I raise enough money (over £200), I'll be having my head shaved on Rock Your Shades Day, September 16th.

Here are four ways you can donate to this great cause:

1. Click on the widget to the left (the 'donate' button)

2. Go to my donations page (you can use PayPal here): www.justgiving.com/mrgreen

3. Text your donation:  Text TCTG50 £1 to 70070 to sponsor me today for £1 (you can change the £1 to any amount you like). Texting is handled by www.justgiving.com--you can leave a message as well.

4. See me in school to sign my sponsorship sheet.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

More information on Rock Your Shades coming soon...

S1 Homework

Subscribe to the mailing list by the end of the week. If you need an email address, either use your school address or a free service such as gmail, Yahoo! or Hotmail.

Use the 'Get Updates by Email' section to do this (below the PunctuationFish on the left hand side of the page).

S4 Homework

Complete your 'My Philosopher' poster/factfile for Monday.

S3 Homework

Complete your short story, titled 'The Arrest'.
Due Monday.

Int 1 Homework

Complete your reflective essay for Monday (first draft).

Welcome back, everyone!

Good to see you all back again, and to welcome some new faces to both the school and my classes. Remember to sign up for the email updates (scroll down and look for the updates box on the left of the page).
Have a great year, everyone!

Int 1 Homework

Homework time!

Due tomorrow:

1. Sign up for email updates

2. In your own words, explain how the poem 'Telephone Conversation' makes you feel, and why.

Higher Homework

Do now!
Subscribe to alerts from Green's Galaxy. You can do this via the sign up box on the left.

Due tomorrow:Read 1.1 and 1.2 of Macbeth
 Due Thursday:Translate the Captain's speech on page 5 (lines 8-23) and page 7 (lines 34-42) into modern English. This must be your own work!

Don't know what to read?

I've been asking a lot of you what you're reading right now, or what you've read recently. The answers have been rather alarming, ranging from 'nothing--I never read' to 'I think I read a novel in my last English class...' to 'I only read the TV listings on Sky'. Now, that's not quite right, is it!? Some of you are reading, and you read a wide variety of things: magazines (of varying quality!), newspapers, websites, and of course books. ALL reading is good. For those of you aspiring to be excellent communicators, or wanting to achieve a great grade at Int 2, Higher and beyond, however, you really need to think about changing your reading habits. Start reading! Reading quality texts regularly (this means broadsheet newspapers, some magazines, and any good literature) helps in all sorts of ways--it's like secret learning which isn't as painful as a bad grammar lesson!

Why read? Consider this:

Prof. A.C. Grayling, in a review of ‘A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel’ that was published in Financial Times had said, "To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries." So true! Reading is really like taking a flight to high altitudes in pursuit of information and knowledge. It is a journey in search of enlightenment.

Have you asked yourself the question, "Why is reading important?" What was the answer that you got? I am sure your heart must have answered in favor of reading. Reading is like providing the mind with nourishment. Knowledge is the food for the mind and soul. Apart from giving us the basic information about the world around us, it also provides us with the food for thought. It encourages us to think. It increases our hunger for knowledge and our thirst to learn more.

During the ancient times, reading was limited to books. But today, it encompasses reading on the web. We have some very good sites providing their readers with authentic information. Reading from the Internet is an easy option for one and all. Reading from the web does not undermine the pleasure one can get from reading books.
Manali Oak

Here are a couple of links to whet your appetite:

1. Best Books 4 Teens
2. Goodreads

Remember, you should be reading a little (or more!) every day.

"Reading, like no other medium, can transform your life in a flash, and you never know which book, at which time in your life, might be the one that rocks your world and inspires you to grow in ways you never thought possible."
---Burke Hedges.

What are you reading?

To the guys, initially:

Just wondering... what are the lads reading? Read anything decent lately (and by lately, I mean, ever)?
Don't worry, I'll be asking the girls too!
Let me know--what magazines are you reading, what books, newspapers, websites, anything at all which you read. Either post a comment here below, or send me an email. Either is fine.

Magazine update

Interviews were held today for the post of Editors-in-Chief.

Congratulations to:

Frank F.
and
Lauren M.

A big thank you from myself and Miss O'Boyle to all those who gave it a go! You all did well, and we hope you learned something from the experience. We also hope that you will all participate in another part of the magazine, taking responsibility for a section which is also of interest to you. Remember, ALL the posts, right down to Staff Writers, are really very important.

We unfortunately ran out of time for Director interviews, so these will be held tomorrow at lunchtime.

We anticipate that Editorial and Managerial posts will be sorted out on Friday after school, between 2 and 3pm. Any problems, just come see me.

Once again, well done, everyone! We're really proud of you all for your maturity, enthusiasm and dedication.

Welcome back, S4

Welcome back. Get ready to begin preparations for moving on to Int 1, Int 2 and Higher!

Magazine Interviews

Following the group's decision, all posts will be subject to applications/interviews.

Interviews for

Editors-in-Chief and all Director posts

will take place at tomorrow's meeting. The results will be posted after lunch.

Interviews for

Section Editors
Graphics Editors
Design Editors
Copy Editors
Budget Manager
Advertising Manager
Marketing/Fundraising Manager
Distribution Chief

coming soon!

Best of luck, everyone! And don't worry, there are plenty more posts to go round, from Section Assistants to Photographers to Staff Designers.

Next magazine meeting

Thanks to all who turned out for the first meeting. The next meeting is next Wednesday, 1st of June. We'll make it a little later this time: 1:40 should do the trick. I'll be around from 1:30 for those of you who want to be there early.

At the meeting, we'll discuss lunchtime meeting(s) and how we will decide on roles.

See you there!

All you need is a little creative thinking and scientific knowhow!

Last week's riddle required a number of different skills. First, you needed to sift through the information in the riddle to determine what was important, and more importantly, what wasn't!

Here's the riddle:

A man walked into a cafe wearing a hat with fuchsia daisies on it. After ordering a strawberry and banana sandwich, he asked for a jug of cherry lemonade, an empty glass, a dinner plate, a match, and one quarter of a kiwi. After straightening his turquoise tie, and pouring the cherry lemonade onto the dinner plate, he said to George, the cafe owner, "If you can transport the cherry lemonade into the glass without touching or moving the plate, I will give you £173.54. You may use the kiwi and the match to do this."

George scratched his balding head, analysing the stranger before him. Minutes later, he walked away £173.54 richer.

How did George get the cherry lemonade into the glass?

This is just an overegged version of the 'lemon wedge, water and a match' riddle. The man's appearance, the £173.54, and indeed, even the cafe, are not important. The feat that George successfully attempted was all that was important, and the tools with which he did it. So the kiwi, match and glass were the important tools here.

First, George stuck the match into the kiwi, so that it would stand straight. Then he lit the match, and put it in the middle of the plate (still stuck in the kiwi). Then he placed the glass upside down over the match. As the flame used up the oxygen in the glass, it created a small vacuum, which sucked in the cherry lemonade through the space between the glass and the plate. Thus, George got the water into the glass without touching or moving the plate. The man with the crazy hat with fuchsia daisies couldn't pay for his strawberry and banana sandwich... so he had to wash dishes.

You can try this experiment at home with appropriate supervision. Want clearer instructions? Click here to learn how to transfer water using a lemon and a match.

Alternatively, here's a video:

School Magazine

Good with the stars? Fancy yourself an expert Agony Aunt or Uncle? Budding journalist? Control-freak editor?

All who are interested in being part of the creation of Dingwall Academy's school magazine should attend a short meeting at lunchtime in Room 202 on Wednesday, 25th May. All year groups invited.

My current S3-soon-to-be-S4: see you there!

Returning department materials (books & past papers)

Attention all S4/5/6!

Please return any copies of texts/past papers you have which belong to the department.

For most of you, this will be your copies of Lord of the Flies and Chaucer.

Thank you!

Another riddle tip...

The glass will not be filled in the usual way... it will be upside-down!

Riddle tip...

Read the riddle carefully. Try to decide what information is actually necessary to solve the problem... think scientifically...

Neil Gunn Writing Competition

Congratulations to all who took part!

Dingwall Academy pupils submitted poetry and prose to this competition, and they performed outstandingly, winning several prizes.

The theme was A Wrong Turning, inspired by:

"Our river took a wrong turning somewhere! But we haven't forgotten the source."

Highland River, Neil M Gunn

Our school's prizewinners:

1st Prize: Will Hoffman

2nd Prize: Katrina Gallacher and Anna Macrae

Highly commended: Freddie Mack, Samantha McNeil and Natalie Bushell

The awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, 14th June, in the Town House.

Once again, well done to all who entered!

S1 Talks

	Wednesday 18th	Thursday 19th
1	Lauren Maclean	Shaun
2	Kirsty	Trent
3	Rebekah	Ryan
4	Louise	Nathan
5	David	Jack
6	Rachael	Adam M
7	Cora	Holly
8		Johannes
9		Rachel
10		Lauren Murison
11		Adam J

S2 Talks

S2,
Your talks will take place between 31st May and 2nd June. Start thinking about your topics now! The best topics (for this talk!) are ones which you can already talk about, without much research. For this, think about any holidays you have been on, big events, such as music festivals, or issues which you have strong opinions about. Speak to your peers--they might have some good ideas to help you along!

S3 Talks

S3 Talks are now officially delayed until tomorrow. Check the S3 page for a reminder of when you are scheduled to do your talk. They will take place between tomorrow, 17th May, and Thursday, 19th May.

Missing posts

Apologies to the Higher candidates who posted their quotation work on the page over the last couple of days. For some reason, there are a number of missing posts, with the comments you provided, and I haven't received an explanation from Google/Blogger. The whole of Blogger appears to have gone down on Thursday night at some point, and it wasn't resurrected until sometime Friday. :(

Congratulations S4/5/6!

Well done, everyone!

Good luck for the rest of your exams.

higher Drama quotations

Similarly, post your drama quotations from this morning here.

Advanced Higher: another article

Introduction to "The General Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales

[The following is the text of a lecture delivered, in part, in English 200, Section 3, on October 5, 1998, by Ian Johnston, at Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC, Canada (now Vancouver Island University). This document is in the public domain, released October 1998, and may be used by anyone, in whole or in part, without permission and without charge, provided the source is acknowledged]

Check it out--either click on the title, or click here. I think you'll find it a useful summary.

Phantom Tollbooth Assignment

S2, your Phantom Tollbooth assignment is now posted on the S2 page.

Good Luck, S4!

Remember the times:

Standard Grade exams take place on Friday, 6th May, at the following times:

9:00-10:15am    Writing
10:35-11:25am   Reading (F)
1:00-1:50pm       Reading (G)

Remember also:
1. Turn up on time (EARLY is on time... rushing in at 9:00am on the dot is NOT!)
2. Bring 2 or 3 pens with you--blue or black
3. DON'T bring your phone or iPod
3. Remember all the 'tips' we covered in class
4. Relax! Breathe! Enjoy!

Advanced Higher Essay

AH chaps:

You are reminded that your essay in response to the question below is due tomorrow, 6th May:

“The most fascinating pilgrim is Geoffrey Chaucer himself...”
To what extent do you agree? With reference to GP and one or more tales, discuss Chaucer’s place as pilgrim and poet in the Canterbury Tales.

I look forward to your very capable responses.

Higher Essay Skills PowerPoints Posted

All Higher pupils should check the Higher webpage for the PowerPoints we used when we worked on essay skills. Any problems, let me know. They're all embedded via SlideShare, so if you have a free account there, they're downloadable.

Don't forget: you should be working hard on learning your quotations, and revising all texts right now!

Exam dates and times

Exams:
Standard Grade exams take place on 6th May, at the following times:
9:00-10:15am    Writing
10:35-11:25am   Reading (F)
1:00-1:50pm       Reading (G)

Advanced Higher, Higher and Intermediate 2 exams take place on Friday 13th May, at the following times:

Advanced Higher:  1:00-2:30pm

Higher:
9:00-10:45am Close Reading
11:05-12:35pm Critical Essay

Intermediate 2:
1:00-2:00pm Close Reading
2:20-3:50pm Critical Essay

What's on this term

S1: Underground to Canada- The story of Julilly and Liza, two courageous girls fleeing the harsh life of slavery. We will be completing the last few chapters of the novel, and writing a critical essay. We will then move on to study some more poetry, complete solo talks, and perhaps even a play...
S2: The Phantom Tollbooth- A great read (of course!), charting the adventures of Milo, a bored little boy, through the Tollbooth and on to the Kingdom of Wisdom. We have finished the book, so now will complete the Final Project. We will move on to studying drama, and completing solo talks before you move on to S3.
S3: Talks! (Reading and Writing), this Tuesday and Thursday, before returning to The Merchant of Venice, which we will complete before writing a critical essay dealing with the idea of the audience's sympathy towards Shylock. When we are finished this, you will be redrafting selected pieces for inclusion in your folio.
S4: Revision: Writing and Close Reading.
H: Revision: Beginning with more Lord of the Flies, then moving back across all the literature we have covered this year. Close Reading practice, too. You should be working on memorising your quotations now (and have a couple of essays to hand in!).
AH: Revision: all Chaucer, essay skills, writing under pressure (homework essay due Weds). Remember, due to holidays, we miss two lessons, so there's a lot to squeeze in!

Welcome back, everyone!

I hope you have had a refreshing Spring Break. Now it's time to get down to business: it's exam season!

S3 Prelims--26th April, 9-10:15am: Writing,  28th April, 11:40-12:30pm: Close Reading

S4--Study leave begins on 3rd May. SQA External exams: 6th May

Higher--Study leave begins on Thursday, 12th May. I am happy to run our usual double period, should you wish to come in for further revision. SQA External exams Friday, 13th May.

Advanced Higher--Study leave begins on 12th May. SQA External exam Friday, 13th May. Remember, your Creative Writing is to be handed in with the exam.

REMEMBER:
Before the exams: revise, revise, revise!
On the day:
1. Come on time (early!)
2. Bring spare blue/black pens (you must not write in pencil, or any other colour of ink)
3. Mobiles are NOT allowed AT ALL--leave it in your locker
4. GOOD LUCK! You'll do brilliantly!

Higher Holiday Homework

1. Choose one essay question from the Prose Fiction section below. Write the essay.
2. Choose one essay question from either the Poetry or Drama sections below. Write the essay.
3. Complete the quotes activity (if you've lost your sheet, look for it in earlier posts, or look on Slideshare)
4. Look at the Revision sheet you were given--use it!
5. Begin assembling a 'quote bank', revising all texts (Dulce, Fern Hill, Macbeth, Childhood, Lord of the Flies).

Higher prose fiction questions 2007 to 2010

View more documents from Mr Green

Higher drama questions 2007 to 2010

View more documents from Mr Green

Higher poetry questions

View more documents from Mr Green

Advanced Higher Holiday Homework

Reading

1.        See http://greensgalaxy.blogspot.com/p/advanced-higher.html for a detailed, clickable reading list. Yes, there’s a lot. Read it all. Digest it. Make notes. Highlight.

2.        Reread GP, PdP&T, NPT. Make more notes. Remember to work on further points of comparison and contrast in terms of poetics, structure, content, big ideas and themes, etc. Don’t forget that you can be examined on the contents of the General Prologue as well as the two tales! Make notes on each pilgrim, particularly noteworthy ‘characters’ like the Miller, Prioress, Monk, and Friar. Check that you have good notes on Pardoner and Parson too.

Writing

1.        Sculpt your own introductory paragraph which you will use in the exam as a preamble to any question.

2.        Choose one further question from your list of past questions (this is on the site too). Answer fully.

3.        One further essay question. To be posted on Green’s Galaxy by end of Friday 8^th April. Check it out when you are checking your reading list.

4.        Creative Writing: Polish, polish, polish your pieces! You may also draft completely new pieces, if you wish.

Any troubles over the holidays—just leave a comment on Green’s Galaxy, send an email to greensgalaxy@gmail.com , or tweet @greensgalaxy (I find out sooner when you’ve sent something in these ways).

Attention S3

A few points of business:

1. Pieces of work
ALL outstanding pieces of work must be submitted by Wednesday, 6 April. Check your bedrooms! In particular, there are a number of Merchant of Venice research pieces missing. Please also bring in your older jotters, as they contain important pieces of work for your folios...

Which leads me on to...

2. Folios!
All of you have had the opportunity to compile a full folio this year so far. We have completed no less than nine (wow!) 'folio-able' pieces, with two more on the way (Shylock's Journal and the Merchant of Venice critical essay) in the coming month. You will be choosing five of these pieces this May to redraft, label and formally place in your folio for consideration next January/February when we make the final decisions about your folios, including work completed June through December. This final folio is sent to the SQA in early 2012 for external marking.
3. Winners of the class 'top three' prizes will be announced Monday.

4. Reading Period
Our new reading period will take place every Thursday until we break for the summer--expect to do some work with your novels after the Easter Break. We'll also try to do some work with newspaper articles and other non-fiction texts.

S4 Talks

S4 talks will take place on Tuesday, 5th April. Last chance to boost your grade!

Lord of the Flies Revision

And here's the sheet you will use to structure your revision of the novel:

Lord of the Flies Revision

View more documents from Mr Green.

Higher Lord of the Flies Quote work

Here's the sheet you'll be using for work on quotations:

Lord of the flies quotes worksheet

View more documents from Mr Green.

Higher Work on Lord of the Flies

We've been working on Simon so far, and will finish up with him on Friday, all going well!
Today we also began working on the idea of the beast in the novel, using the sheet below:

Beast Worksheet

View more documents from Mr Green.

S2 'Who am I?' Poems

Here's the first of our class poems about characters in The Phantom Tollbooth. Can you guess who it is?

Who am i[1]

View more documents from Mr Green.

higher

Hi everyone,

Reuben says bumdibomdipopplehuhiiiiiiiiiiiii

I've received a number of your essays now, and will be looking through them asap, and emailing you back. If you emailed, check your email later today or tonight, as I'm going through as many as I can whilst taking care of Reuben, whose idea of fun is a bit different. Everyone cross your fingers for a long toddler nap so I can get some work done on your essays!

Keep up the good work!

What's on at the moment?

S1: Underground to Canada- The story of Julilly and Liza, two courageous girls fleeing the harsh life of slavery.
S2: The Phantom Tollbooth- A great read (of course!), charting the adventures of Milo, a bored little boy, through the Tollbooth and on to the Kingdom of Wisdom.
S3: Pre-prelims (Reading and Writing), before returning to The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, scene 1.
S4: Talk Preparation: either 'Heroes' or one issue dealt with in Freedom Writers.
H: Writing folios! Due 25th March: one discursive piece (argue/persuade) and one creative piece (personal reflective/short story).
AH: Chaucer: The Nun's Priest's Tale

On this day in history... March 21st

Here is an interesting site. It provides a snapshot of some of the important events around the world which happened on March 21st. It's an American site, so there's a bit of an emphasis on events in the US at times. Some examples, listed by year:

1349 - 3,000 Jews were killed in Black Death riots in Efurt Germany. (perhaps of interest to S3?)

1556 - Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake at Oxford after retracting the last of seven recantations that same day.

1851 - Emperor Tu Duc ordered that Christian priests be put to death.

1908 - A passenger was carried in a bi-plane for the first time by Henri Farman of France.

1918 - During World War I, the Germans launched the Somme Offensive.

1934 - A fire destroyed Hakodate, Japan, killing about 1,500.

1945 - During World War II, Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany.

1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced to the U.S. Olympic Team that they would not participate in the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow as a boycott against Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

1994 - Wayne Gretzky tied Gordie Howe's NHL record of 801 goals.

It's International Women's Day

A few informative links (there's an incredible amount available on the web, as usual... have a look round for yourselves! These are in no way the 'cream of the crop', nor do they represent my own point(s) of view, so caveat emptor, as usual):

International Women's Day 2011 Official Site

To celebrate International Women's Day, here is an extract on feminism from the Dictionary of Critical Theory, edited by Ian Buchanan. Please note that links in this extract are to the dictionary entries in Oxford Dictionaries Online.

Guardian article: International Women's Day reminds us why feminism must not lose its biteThe feminist movement is constantly changing, but it is an unfinished revolution. There is a long way yet to go

Janet Street Porter weighs in in the Daily Mail with Why don't celebs fight for women being ignored here in Britain?

S3 'Other side of the ducat...' Task

S3, your Bassanio/Jessica task is now on the S3 page.
Due date TBA--we will likely continue working on this in class time for the moment.

Not My Business Essay Guide

Not My Business Essay Guide

View more documents from Mr Green.

Higher reminder: NAB on Thursday!

Your Textual Analysis NAB is on Thursday.
Duncan will be doing the essay section of the Prelim.

Good luck--you'll all be fine! We have covered the skills you need to succeed in the texts we have studied this year so far.

WALL-E Peer Assessment Sheet

Wall e peer assessment

View more documents from Mr Green.

Sound of Thunder Essay Guide

Sound of Thunder Essay Guide

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Letter to Fin

Letter to Fin

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Merchant of Venice, Act 3, scene 1 Questions

Exploring 3.1

1. In this scene, Shylock's very first words give the impression of a man pushed beyond the limits. Earlier in the play (2.8), Salarino and Solanio have shown they have no sympathy for him. They call him things like 'villain', 'dog', and 'devil'.
How do you feel about Shylock's double loss? Use lines which show the following for your evidence: hurt, rage, complete loneliness.
Answer in PEE paragraphs where possible.
2. Do you think he cares more about losing the ducats or his daughter? Why? Which does he mention first?
3. Shylock is powerless to get either his daughter or his money back. Antonio, however, is in his power. Find his first mention of revenge.
4. Look at Shylock's speech on page 77 (lines 42 to 57). Here Shylock talks about how Jews are people too, that they are made in the same way as Christians. Do you find any sympathy for him at this point in the play? Is he right in his conclusion?
5. This scene has been described as the turning point of the play. How far do you agree with this? Why?

SQA Folio and External Exam dates

Folios:
Standard Grade 7th March
Higher and Intermediate 2 25th March

Exams:
Standard Grade exams take place on 6th May, at the following times:
9:00-10:15am    Writing
10:35-11:25am   Reading (F)
1:00-1:50pm       Reading (G)

Advanced Higher, Higher and Intermediate 2 exams take place on Friday 13th May, at the following times:

Advanced Higher:  1:00-2:30pm

Higher:
9:00-10:45am Close Reading
11:05-12:35pm Critical Essay

Intermediate 2:
1:00-2:00pm Close Reading
2:20-3:50pm Critical Essay

Higher--Don't forget to vote!

Higher class ONLY: vote for your two favourite poems in the poll at the bottom of the page.

NOTE: The list has changed--if you have voted, please vote again, as I had to remove the first poll in order to adjust the list of poems

Higher past papers--Poetry Questions

Here are the Poetry questions from 2007-2010.

Higher poetry questions

View more documents from Mr Green.

Higher Holiday Homework

Your homework: Read Lord of the Flies (from start to finish!).

After the holiday, we will be working on:

1. One or two poems on the theme of childhood
2. Close Reading skills
3. Essay skills
4. Lord of the Flies (this text will be addressed very quickly, although thoroughly, so ensure you attend!)

AH Holiday Homework

See your class page for the homework.

Higher Homework due 10th February

1. Complete your Poem Evaluation sheet.

2. PRINT IT OUT

3. BRING it with you, IN PRINTED FORM for Period 1 tomorrow.

Higher Homework due 9th February

A reminder:

Homework: 
9th February:

1. Find a poem which deals with the theme of childhood.
2. Make sure it's one you understand, or at least are very interested in.
3. Make a copy of it, and bring it in on Wednesday (these will be the basis of Thursday's activities, so it's very important you do this one on time--if you wish to bring yours in earlier, that's fine!).
4. Fill out the 'Evaluating your poem' worksheet as far as you can (I have booked the laptops for Wednesday, so you will have an opportunity to finish this then, but as we have no printer ink, you will not be able to print out your poem!)

Higher documents

Hi everyone,

Look at the Higher page, and you'll find a link which will take you to the 'Evaluating your poem' sheet on Google Docs, where you should not have to sign up or sign in at all to access/download. Thank you for the suggestion, Charlie.

Please let me know how it goes. I didn't have much luck embedding through Google Docs, so it may be that I will need to double-post worksheets in this way. If you want to download class notes etc (such as the Childhood ones, you'll have to get a Slideshare account, as I won't have time to double-upload everything).

In all likelihood, we will probably end up with either two Higher pages, or documents embedded in individual posts with tags in order to keep track of it all...

Any further ideas, please do let me know!

Higher test posting now available on Higher page

Update: comments box now there, give it a go!

Hi everyone,
The comment box doesn't seem to be working for anyone except S1 and Advanced Higher right now, so try it here for now.

S3 Page Updated

S3, check your webpage for a few hastily-found websites for research, and for notice of the journal-check. If you are doing, or planning to do, an online journal, then you should submit the address to me no later than 09 Feb (Wednesday).

AH Reminder

AH chaps: Remember that you have a slightly different schedule tomorrow with Mrs P. All of you should work in Room 214 while Mrs P. meets with you individually regarding your dissertations and writing. First appointment is with Ross, for half a period.

When you have something to say...

Then say it! Please do comment, but please also tell me who you are! You don't need to use your full name. Here are some examples:

George S2
Jemima 4.6
X. Smith 1D
PR 3.2 (if you are certain that your initials aren't the same as someone else's in the class).

Letting me know who you are, and which class you're in, helps me to respond more effectively to your comments and queries.

Thanks, everyone!

Higher Homework

Your homework has been posted on the Higher page. Notes included below the questions.
Due 31st January (Monday).

S2 Homework

S2: please check the S2 page for your homework!

S4 Homework up

Hello S4,
Your homework task, due tomorrow morning, is up in a fancy embedded post on your class page. Looking forward to some well-described dragons!

A few layout changes...

Hi everyone,

Still playing around with the layout of the site... hope you are beginning to find it useful. In particular, S1, S3 and Advanced Higher should be referring to their class pages for a reminder of what they should be doing right now. I have included the tasks (most of them!) that you are engaged with at the moment on these pages.

You will see a bar of 'tabs' above this post. Click on your class/level and you'll be taken to your page. Better than scrolling down.

Please do let me know what you think--if there's anything else you'd like to see added to the page, if it's easy/not easy to use/understand... etc.

Mr Green

S1 Captured Task

S1, your Captured task is on your class page. Check it out!

Neil Gunn Writing Competition (closing date 11 March!)

 

2010-2011 Neil Gunn writing competition

This biennial competition is organised by The Highland Council and The Neil Gunn Trust; the 2010-2011 competition, the eleventh, is now open and entries are invited. The lead judge is Scottish author Andrew Greig.

Theme for 2010-2011 : 'A Wrong Turning'

"Our river took a wrong turning somewhere! But we haven't forgotten the source."

Highland River, Neil M Gunn

Writers are invited to interpret this theme in any way they wish.  The piece of writing does not have to be set in Scotland; any international setting is welcome.

Sections

There are 4 separate sections of the competition.

• Adult prose (Narrative form)
• Adult poetry
• Secondary school (S3-6) poetry or prose
• Primary school (P5-7) poetry or prose

Each writer may submit only one entry per section. The adult sections are open to all writers worldwide. The schools competition is for Highland Council schools or schools abroad with direct links to Highland Council schools. School entrants must be in the named year group at the closing date.

Entry forms, rules and full information

The entry forms can be found at the link below, together with everything you need to know to enter this competition. Entry forms are also available from any Highland library.

Closing date and Prizegiving

The closing date for all sections of the competition is Friday 11 March 2011.  Winners will be notified as soon as possible and the award ceremony will be held in Inverness on 14 June 2011.

Entry fee

The entry fee for adults is £5 per entry; entry is free for school pupils.

Previous prize winning entries

The winning entries from the 2009 competition can be viewed (and in some cases heard being read by the authors) by visiting http://www.ambaile.org.uk/ and entering 'Neil Gunn competition' in the search box.

Contact

If you are a Dingwall Academy student, and you are interested in competing, contact your English teacher.

For further information please contact Charlotte MacArthur, Area Libraries Officer, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch Strathspey and Lochaber. Email charlotte.macarthur@highland.gov.uk or phone 01463 663828.

Link to the competition

Congratulations Shannon and Danielle for being the first Stars!

Well done to Shannon and Danielle, who navigated technospace to become the first followers of @greensgalaxy on twitter. This means they'll get instant updates when the site is updated.

Well done, S5/6!

You're all stars! Congratulations on getting through your Prelim. Feedback as soon as humanly possible. We are marking the Close Reading as a department, and the Critical Essays are marked by each class's teacher (that's 42 Higher and 4 Advanced Higher essays for me!).

Looking forward to seeing how well you were able to apply your learning to the questions.

Ideas!

As I mentioned earlier today, I'm really interested in hearing your ideas for this blog/space. Please leave a post below if you have such an idea, no matter how small it may seem!

Twitter, sorted.

You can find me on twitter now, as greensgalaxy. We'll see if this becomes a useful tool. At the moment, my email remains as: mrgreen@live.co.uk

Remember, post a comment with your ideas!

S1-Advanced Higher pages

You will find information on these pages about what units we're doing at the moment, what assessments are included, and often, links to helpful parts of the web. Just click on the year group/course you are in.