LITERATURE AND LITERACY
Poetry Slam
On August 14, students from different year levels attended a session with Luka Lesson, a well-known poetry slammer and hip hop artist. First, he performed two of his pieces, each different from the other. We were then asked to do a few writing activities to get our creative juices flowing. He led us through the activities, asking us to write about different things until finally, we were told to create a ten line poem about one of our topics. Once we wrote our poem, we were asked to shout, whisper and sing it out loud.
Luka Lesson had a different way of doing things, and was brimming with unique ideas and inspiration. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and was engaged while watching. When people presented at the end, everyone’s poems were exciting and distinctive and the whole group appreciated them greatly. The atmosphere in the group was supportive and everyone was eager to learn.
It was a brilliant experience and even those who don’t like poetry enjoyed it thoroughly. Luka Lesson provided an introduction to poetry which was exciting and different.
Evvie Ranogajec and Skye Laing
Year 9
Macbeth
All year 11 English students attended a Bell Shakespeare production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at the Playhouse Theatre on Friday 22 August. We arrived to find ourselves sitting in the stalls closest to the stage, right amongst the action. To begin with we all wondered what the actors were doing, sitting watching us, while we waited for the performance to start.
This was a modern representation of the play and we were totally enthralled to watch the characters come to life on stage. The witches were sinister, Lady Macbeth conniving and Macbeth totally besotted with the power bestowed on him. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the actors as they changed and adapted roles on the stage. This was an outstanding interpretation and performance of one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. I'm sure that all the year 11s now have a better understanding of the play and its central theme of power.
Calli Varoussiadis
Literacy/English Leading Teacher
Hamlet
On the afternoon of Sunday 24 August, the Year 11 Literature class watched a screening of Hamlet at the Astor theatre. The four hour version of Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 interpretation of Hamlet provided a deeper insight into Shakespeare’s writing and society during the Elizabethan era. It was also the perfect extension to the study of Shakespeare that we had been undertaking in class. Our viewing of Hamlet was an enlightening, one off opportunity and we feel privileged to have been able to experience the film at the Astor theatre before its closure next year.
Grace Bocquet and Arabella Watson
Year 11
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Monday 25 August. 7F. Melbourne Writers' Festival. A day of excitement and exhaustion. Jam packed in a writer’s workshop with Alice Pung, then an interview with Jackie French . Our class started the day with a smile because we were excited and ended the day with a smile because we had so much fun!
Camelia Horner 7F
The highlight of my day was the Inky Awards. There were a list of books with many different genres such as contemporary realism , drama, romance and dystopian fiction. The judges had over 100 books to read from which to choose 20, making the long and short list. They had a pop quiz where winners could get a free book!
Emerald Ho 7F
Overall, I really enjoyed the Melbourne Writers' Festival. I liked the Inky Awards and saw that some of my favourite books were on the long list. I'm really glad they made these book awards because teens get to choose the books and the people who judged the books were also teens.
Jennifer Truong 7F
Literacy Week
The English Learning Area recently focused on promoting literacy across the school during National Literacy Week 25 -31 August. There were a number of activities and competitions including: writing and designing a Graphic Novel, writing 50 word short stories to create a Wall of Stories, a Mystery Book Competition where teachers and their favourite novels were matched, a Word of the Day and a visit to the Melbourne Writers' Festival.
At the same time, all teachers across all learning areas made literacy a focus through the use of reading material, a focus on words and ensuring that literacy was a clear intent of their lessons.
Lots of fun was had and prizes were given to all winners!
Calli Varoussiadis
Literacy/English Leading Teacher
