Tuesday 31 May 2011

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.

Thursday 26 May 2011

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!

Wednesday 25 May 2011

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:

Monday 23 May 2011

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!

Thursday 19 May 2011

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!

Neil Gunn Writing Competition

Wednesday 18 May 2011

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

Tuesday 17 May 2011

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!

Monday 16 May 2011

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.

Saturday 14 May 2011

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.

Thursday 12 May 2011

Wednesday 11 May 2011

Advanced Higher: another article

[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.

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Thursday 5 May 2011

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!