Year 7-9 English
Term One
It’s been a wonderful term in English. The students have been working hard and so have the teachers. We have welcomed three new staff to the secondary team with Laura Heim teaching two classes in Year 7 English, Annette Spence in Year 8 and Michael Di Ciocco in Years 7, 8 and 9. I’m sure that Renee Short (Year 9) and Sam Goodman (7, 8 and 9) would agree that their new ideas and energy have made a real difference to the way we are teaching and how the students are learning. It’s great to have them on board.
Year 7 English
We have been studying the novel “Holes” and in a short term it has been quite a challenge to get through a 233 page book, but the kids have had a red hot crack at it. It’s the story of a brave, ethical boy punished for a crime he didn’t commit. It deals with themes like growing up, resilience, prejudice and friendship. Our students have been learning about how authors explore important ideas and having a go at doing it themselves. The key is to describe the thoughts and feelings of your characters. Thus, we have them all writing about something they all would have been through; a time when they have been blamed for something when it was not their fault. We have read stories full of evocative adjectives, vital verbs, astounding adverbs, sizzling similes and memorable metaphors.
Year 8 English
In year 8 we introduced a new novel called “Trash” which is a story set in the Philippines. The central characters are young adolescents living in dire poverty, eking out an existence by fossicking through refuse at a garbage dump. They make a discovery that leads them on a dangerous adventure. Our students have enjoyed this tale of poverty, corruption, hope and friendship. It has also given us teachers a new and entertaining text to help develop the logical processes and literacy skills of the kids. They have produced in depth analytical essays about the key ideas of the novel with some very interesting conclusions. It’s all about preparing our students to understand the complex messages that the world will throw at them.
Year 9 English
We have been studying film as text this term in Year 9 with a return to the entertaining and thought provoking film “I-Robot”. It has a great mix of action, special effects and deep philosophical insight into technology, free will and the very nature of existence. The students have lapped it up and their studies have been a mix of the analytical and creative. Our young thinkers have learned how to justify their opinions with detailed evidence and then turned their minds to creating their own science fiction narratives. They have written entertaining stories, using sci-fi settings and characters to explore key ideas like friendship, equality, bullying, acceptance and trust. We may even have some budding writers in our midst.
Term Two
In term 2 we have all been working on poetry with the students. It’s a great way to develop our students’ expressive skills.
Year 7 English
In Year 7 this term we have seen some great work from our students which has been on display around the pod for all to see. We started with the technical side of writing poetry learning about rhythm, meter and rhyme through simple poetic forms like haikus and limericks. By the end of the term the students were producing longer works with several verses. The focus was mainly on students using powerful adjectives and verbs to develop their vocabularies, grammatical expertise and of course their descriptive skills. Their poetry collections explored personal themes like family, pets, their favourite seasons and even serious matters like friendship, bullying and the difficulties of education.
Year 8 English
In year 8, the focus of the student poetry anthologies was their connections to community. Like the year sevens, the students worked hard at developing their descriptive skills. We began with the analysis of some famous poems like “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe and even a rap by Eminem called “The Monster”. It was a fun and interesting way into more complex poetic devices like literary allusion, similes, metaphors, personification, internal rhyme and poetic license, just to name a few. The students faced the challenge of presenting talks analysing the works of famous poets like Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe and even Shakespeare. We then moved onto their poetry anthologies where the year 8s produced some terrific narrative poems, haikus, cinquains and even sonnets. The boys and girls of year 8 worked hard to improve their analytical as well as creative skills.
Year 9 English
Like the year 8s, the year 9 boys and girls had to analyse poems but the challenge was just a little greater. We studied the book “Love Ghosts and Nose Hair” by Steven Herrick which explores themes of family, grief, death, romance and many more. The students had to do oral presentations comparing one of Herrick’s free verse poems with a poem or song lyrics of another writer that explored similar themes. This gave the kids a great opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of how description is used to explore deep ideas and complex issues. Unlike the year 7s and 8s, the year 9 poetry anthology had to explore global ideas that were important to our students. The year 9s produced some really thoughtful pieces on equality, world hunger, terrorism, war and even Donald Trump.
Term Three
It’s been another incredibly busy term for all our junior high school students. We have all been working hard to develop our literacy skills. Indeed, there have been a few times when our students have pointed out spelling and grammar mistakes on the board. A great sign for the kids but no so good for us. Hey, nobody’s perfect! We all make mistakes, just so long as we “PROOF-READ OUT LOUD!!!”
Year 7 English
This term our students have been learning all about Myths and Legends. It has been fascinating as usual, to ponder the reasons why ancient civilizations made up all the stories we know so well, and the stories that we don’t know so well, as well. In modern civilization we often forget how important stories are and we take them for granted. It’s always a pleasure to see the light in the kids’ eyes when they realise that this is the essence of culture! It’s how humankind have passed on its experiences, knowledge, discoveries and in fact, everything we know today. The kids had to investigate a myth, folktale or legend and write a report on its origins and purpose, as well as create their own story that explained a natural phenomenon or that taught a moral lesson. Our students have played a part in creating their own little slice of human culture!
Year 8 English
During Term 3 the Year 8s have been working on increasing their ability to both analyse and utilise persuasive language. The Year 8s began by dissecting various advertisements, learning exactly what techniques writers use to position a particular audience. From here students worked on creating their own advertisements. Many of the students elected to develop not only their English skills but also their digital literacy through the creation of radio advertisements via the computer program Audacity.
After working on creating their own advertisement students considered how persuasive writing could be used not only to sell a product, but also to convince a reader or listener to accept an idea. Students began to analyse language through editorials or opinion pieces on a variety of different contemporary issues.
Students also demonstrated their ability to write persuasively through utilising many of the persuasive techniques that they had learned throughout the term through the creation their own persuasive writing.
Through the refinement of these skills students are now better equipped to critically view different types of media and more accurately discern a speaker or writer’s agenda or intentions. They are also more able to reflect on how the language choices that they use can effect and influence others.
Year 9 English
The Year 9s broke up into their respective English electives this Semester giving them the opportunity to study specific areas of interest. There were two classes of Modern American Literature, one class of Sports Write and one class of Classic Literature.
In Term three the Classic Literature students learned how to explore text and important themes through their study of the novel ‘The Catcher in the Rye’. Our students really enjoyed the novel; we had some fascinating discussions about teenage alienation. It’s no surprise that our students identified with this narrative, even though it’s about an American adolescent in the 1950s. The protagonist of the story Holden Caulfield, faces many of the worries and problems that today’s teens do. No wonder it’s such a popular and enduring work. Our students did some really fine writing during the term. It’s always very gratifying to see our Lakes students growing into young intellectuals.
During Term 3 two English classes studied the elective Modern American Literature. This subject was focused around contemporary and impactful American works and the themes they contained. The text that formed the focus of Term 3 of Modern American Literature was ‘The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins. The students dissected the predominant ideas surrounding the novel such as; what a dystopia is, what makes us human and methods of control. At the end of the unit the students wrote a text response regarding ‘The Hunger Games’ which analysed the characters and themes of the novel.
Sports Write has been an energetic, loud, all-boys class dedicated to the pursuit of understanding literature through the lens of sport. We began the unit reading and writing a range of text types including reports, narratives and transactional texts. Speaking and listening was a big focus as well leading to the creation of some truly memorable commentating moments and informative presentations on a range of sports. The Olympics created an ideal opportunity to look at the hot topic of drugs in sport and we enjoyed combing the Herald Sun daily to collect a range of articles.
Term Four
Year 7 English
This term the Year 7s have been doing some film as text study, watching and analysing “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”. It’s great to see young minds learning all the different ways to make meaning and explore big ideas: shot types, camera angles, editing, music and much more. It’s also a great way for the students to follow on from their study of Myths and Legends and build on their knowledge with a story based on so many of the famous Greek myths that they probably read in Term 3.
Year 8 English
The Year 8s were also studying film as text with an exploration of the science fiction film, “The Maze Runner”. The students studied the way the film uses shot types, camera angles, music, editing and symbolism to explore the important ideas of change, growing up, responsibility, community and leadership. The boys and girls have had a good intellectual workout with both creative and analytical writing tasks. It’s been a fascinating study of a dystopian future. With climate change becoming more and more prominent this sort of future may not be so far-fetched. Well, let’s hope not.
Year 9 English
In Classic Literature we studied another American classic, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The students were surprised at what an enjoyable experience it was, although some of the language was challenging and it is quite long for Year 9s. The students explored the key themes of prejudice, justice, courage and integrity. We started doing some research on the life in the 1930s, moving to oral presentations comparing the book to the film, which is one of the very best cinematic adaptations of a novel. The kids finished by writing an essay for their exams, which was probably daunting beforehand, but we did a lot of preparation and many said that it was easier than they had expected. It was a fine way to finish a year of fun learning and hard work.
The two classes studying Modern American Literature considered two films in Term 4, “Life of Pi” directed by Ang Lee and “Big Fish” directed by Tim Burton. The students considered the importance of storytelling in developing relationships and also the dynamic between lies, exaggeration and the truth. After analysing these concepts the students were asked to write a comparative essay on the two films which considered the similarities and differences. After having written a comparative essay the students engaged in exam study and revision to prepare for their end of year English exam which was sat under strict test conditions.
In Term 4 the Sports Write class moved to a text study of the inspirational story of Jim Stynes’ “Walk Tall”. We discussed, debated and dissected the words of this great man and took on board many of his messages about hope, responsibility, choices and resilience. A final expository exam on the themes of the text and we were finished. Well done to all of the boys who have enjoyed this subject this semester, I believe the greatest lesson we have all learnt is that ‘Actions define character’….
