ESL Grade 8- Emotive Language in Movies.

Above are some words that could be used to make an audience feel the emotion of "Misery". Do I know what all of these words mean? Yes. Did I know what all of these words meant when I was in Grade 8? No! That is why it is important to use a dictionary to help you understand the meanings of words which you may not know when doing this assignment.

Assignment:

1.) Last class, I asked you the question: "What emotion do you want the audience to feel when they watch your documentary?", and you wrote your answers in a Google Doc. Now take a look at your answers.

2.) Next, go online and find 3 words that you feel would show this emotion in your movie. If you don't know what they mean, LOOK THEM UP! Write these words with your emotions in the Google Doc.

3.) Using Flickr.com/Creative Commons to search, find one picture for each of your 3 words that shows what the word means. This is when it will be very important to UNDERSTAND the meanings of the words that you picked, so if you haven't looked them up in a dictionary yet, do it now! Download and save each picture.

*Remember to make sure that the picture is OK to use (Search only Creative Commons, and if it says "All Rights Reserved", it is NOT OK to use the image. If it says "Some Rights Reserved", it is OK).

** Remember also to copy the URL for each picture that you use (this is the address of the page in the address bar at the top of the screen- just highlight and copy the whole thing). Then, paste the URL next to the correct word on the Google Doc for this project. I've put an example in the Google Doc, as well.

*** Please remember that each picture you choose must be appropriate for school!

4.) Using Picnik.com, upload each picture that you chose and make a slide of it. To make a slide you, will need to:

-Edit (any way you like)

- Create- This is where you add text (see Text in the menu bar between Effects and Stickers). Your text should be simple: Just the word that the picture shows. Make sure that the font color and style matches the mood of the picture (so if your picture is a dark room that shows "gloomy", you would not want to pick a funny font and make the color of the font pink!).

-Save and share. This will create the slide of your picture. Make sure that you are saving them! Here is an example slide that I made for the word "suffering":

So, you should end up with 3 slides with pictures and the words which they represent.

Good luck and have fun!

Storyboarding with Storybird- Grades 6 & 7

Storybird Quick Tour from Storybird on Vimeo.

We are talking about making storyboards in class. We have gone over what storyboards are (they are a plan that you make before you actually write a story, and has the order in which things happen), and why we write them (so that you don't get stuck or mess up while you are writing your story, and so that you make sure to include everything that is important).

Now, I want you to practice making a storyboard using a website called Storybird. Storybird is a great site for making storyboards because it has amazing artwork that you can use, and there is a very large selection of pictures. In this post, I have included a video explaining how to use Storybird. Please be sure to watch it if you have any problems, or just if you want to be sure that you understand the tasks assigned.

Here are your tasks for this assignment:

Step 1: Go to the Storybird.com and sign up for an account (be sure to follow ALL of the steps, including checking your email and clicking on the link in order to finish signing up).

Step 2: Create a storyboard:
a.) Click on Create
b.) Choose the artwork with which you want to make your story
c.) Click on "Start a Storyboard"
d.) Make a storyboard that has 15 pages. This storyboard should have pictures ONLY and have NO WORDS.
* Your goal is to create a story that people can understand even though there are no words explaining what is happening. This means that your pictures should be good for the story which you are telling , and the order of things that happen should be clear.

Step 3: Add scene descriptions to each page of your storyboard.

Scene descriptions are very brief. They should be 1-3 sentences that tell what is going on in a scene without giving many details!


Here is an example storyboard that I made on Storybird:

The Magic Flowers by mrsraisdana on Storybird
Please look at this example if you are not sure what a scene description looks like, or how long it should be.

Good luck and have fun!

Grade 8 Unit Overview- The Power of Words

In order to save trees and become as paperless as possible, I will be posting your Assessment Overviews here on the blog. You can read it below, download it or even print it out (if you really need to. Otherwise, let’s save a tree!).

Grade 8 ESL Cover Sheet- Power of Words Copy

This will be stored in the category Assessment Overview Grade 8, if you need to find it in the future.

Grade 7 Unit Overview- Spoken Words

In order to save trees and become as paperless as possible, I will be posting your Assessment Overviews here on the blog. You can read it below, download it or even print it out (if you really need to. Otherwise, let's save a tree!).

Grade 7 ESL Cover Sheet- Spoken Words

This will be stored in the category Assessment Overview Grade 7, if you need to find it in the future.

Grade 6 Unit Overview- Spoken Words

In order to save trees and become as paperless as possible, I will be posting your Assessment Overviews here on the blog. You can read it below, download it or even print it out (if you really need to. Otherwise, let's save a tree!).


Grade 6 ESL Cover Sheet- Spoken Words

This will be stored in the category Assessment Overview Grade 6, if you need to find it in the future.

Why Do We Tell Stories?

Hello, grades 6 & 7! Today we are going to continue with our storytelling unit. Yesterday, we heard examples of dull vs. interesting stories, and we discussed what makes storytelling boring or exciting.

Today, I'd first like you to watch this video about storytelling:




Then I want you to think about the answers to the question: Why do we tell stories?

Using all of this information, I now want you to do the following tasks:

1.) Think of some of your favorite fairy tales, movies and/or stories from your culture.

2.) Write a paragraph describing these, answering the questions:
- Why do you like them so much?
- Which ones does everybody know?
- What is it about them that makes them fun to listen to?

3.) Copy your paragraph and paste it AS A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG POST. If you do not remember how to do this, please ask me or another student in the class for help.

Good luck and have fun!

Let's Learn Wordle!

Wordle is a fun little tool that you can use with any type of text. It takes text and creates a "word cloud" with it. Here is an example that I made using the poem "Homework Machine" by Shel Silverstein:



The Homework Machine, oh the Homework Machine,
Most perfect contraption that's ever been seen.
Just put in your homework, then drop in a dime,
Snap on the switch, and in ten seconds' time,
Your homework comes out, quick and clean as can be.
Here it is--"nine plus four?" and the answer is "three."
Three?
Oh me . . .
I guess it's not as perfect
As I thought it would be.

So, here is your class task:

1.) Find a poem that you really like. It has to be appropriate for class, and must be at least 10 lines long, but aside from that, you can choose any poem that you like.

2.) Go to Wordle.net and create a word cloud out of your poem by copying and pasting the text.

3.) Take a screen shot of your Wordle (apple + shift + 4, then be sure to select all of the image. When you are ready to take the picture, let go of the mouse).

4.) up load your Wordle into your post, then paste in the regular version of your poem. DO NOT forget to put the title and author of the poem first.

5.) Next, write a reflection about the poem. Describe the reasons why you like it, and what you think it is about. For example, I would not just say that "Homework Machine" is about a homework machine; I would say that it is about not doing things the easy way, because often when we try to get out of doing something (or when we try to do it as quickly and easily as possible), the outcome is not what we want or need. It's better to put in the time and effort in order to have a positive result.

This reflection should be in two separate paragraphs in the post.

6.) Post everything to your blog (Word cloud, poem, and reflection).

7.) Lastly, read the poems and reflections of two other people, and write a meaningful comment for each one.

Have fun!

Poetry Month Kickoff!

April is Poetry Month, so let's start a mini-unit on poetry in ESL class. As our starting assignment, we are going to write an illustrated poem. All students were given a list of 20 words, and told to choose 10. Now write a poem using these 10 words; the poems can be about anything and don't have to rhyme. Next, students will find a picture that they feel illustrates their poem, and add it to their blog post.

When everyone is finished, students will read the poems of all of their classmates, and comment on two.

Here is mine:

(The words that I chose were: Difficult, Educational, Love, Ridiculous, Strong, Peaceful, Knowledge, Crazy, Laughter, and Homework)



A peaceful class
can quickly turn
crazy and ridiculous
when something educational
leads to laughter,
such as asking students
if they love to do homework.
It can be difficult
to get back on track,
but in the end,
their strong desire for knowledge
will always win.

Something to think about...

Here is a very popular new video that has come out from the people who made the video "The Story of Stuff". Since it talks about bottled water, I thought that it would be an appropriate addition to our unit about water and the environment. Your tasks include the following:

1.) Watch the entire video, "The Story of Bottled Water". Please keep in mind that you do not need to agree with the content of the video. You are more than welcome to agree or disagree with it, but I thought that it would be something interesting to get you thinking.

2.) Write TWO comments about your reaction to the video while you watched it. This should be done on your blog in a new post.

3.) Write TWO questions that came into your head either as you watched the video, or after you had finished watching it. These can be written along with your two comments, just be sure to separate and label them appropriately.

4.) Go onto other students' blog pages and read their comments and questions. Respond to TWO comments, and answer at least ONE question.