R&J Drama/Art Projects

One of the final assignments for our Romeo & Juliet unit, before March Break, was to choose a drama or art project from the list. This included such things as drama interpretation of the play, or a scene or scenes (in 5 minutes!), fashion design (designing clothes or a charm bracelet for a character or characters), creating a rap or song about the play, or drawing a picture book or comic (among other choices). Students could also come up with their own option...as a pair of students did, making an animation of the Tybalt/Romeo fight (see below)

I know we were a bit pressed for time, but most students were able to come up with very interesting material and thus demonstrate knowledge of the play.



I also quite enjoyed the interpretative drama performance that put the story of R&J in Gingerbread land with unicorns, or the imaginative 'Juliet & Romeo' version, where everything was opposite...

Here are some photos of other R&J themed pieces: Facebook entries, costume design, and charm bracelets...

Showcasing Student Writing!

I am finally getting to this project, which has been on my mind for a while...an online class writing portfolio!

This is partly for parents, so they can see student work. I currently don't send home completed writings. Instead students keep all their writing in one book/folder, so they can notice progress and trends in their work over time. It's important to keep all this work, as part of the reflection process inherent in writing. This writing book will go home at the end of the year (but in the meantime, check out a few samples on the online portfolio!)

This is also for students, so they have a broader audience for their writing...it isn't just for the teacher, you know! Your parents, your peers, and other educators (who are, frankly, curious and intrigued by some of the projects we have been doing, like the gaming reviews!) might like to see what's going on, the different writing styles, opinions and approaches.

And knowing you will be 'published' for a wider audience is a great motivator!

This online portfolio is really no different than hanging class work in the hallway...though it allows parents and others easier access. They don't have to come to the school physically to view it!

Please note that I keep it quite private, however, in the sense that I only use student initials and I do not include grades or teacher comments. That is private to the individual. If parents would like to discuss the work on display in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Also please keep in mind that this is a work in progress...I do not yet have all students, or all examples, on the site. I will email parents once this is more conclusive.

I just wanted to explain and share the idea!

Regards,
Julie Johnson

Revised Due Dates

With the two snow days from last week, the skiing trip this week, and the assembly on Weds. morning (which eats into most of our literacy block), I've changed the due dates for the R&J projects. Hoping to have all projects and assignments completed for end of day Thursday but Friday will also do.

I would like all assignments handed in before March Break!

"The Mushroom is Bathazar!"

Yesterday we finished watching Gnomeo & Juliet and it was very interesting to hear student observations about this movie after having studied Romeo & Juliet and watched the 1996 film version of Romeo + Juliet.

Students made all kinds of fabulous comparisons! Some were obvious...the rival families are now red and blue garden gnomes, Tybalt is still an angry and vengeful Tybalt, 'Benny' is Benvolio, the street brawl scene is now a lawn mower race, the  ending is happier and no one dies!...

And then there were the subtler observations:

The frog is like the Nurse...
Instead of swords or guns they fight with lawn mowers...
The flamengo is like Friar Lawrence...
The cutting of the flower is like Mercutio being stabbed...
The mushroom is Bathazar, Romeo's loyal friend....

And many more...

Students were very observant and detailed in making comparisons between the two. Almost every scene brought a round of 'what does this represent', 'what part of the play is this', 'who is missing' and 'who is this character supposed to be?'. Great!

Afterwards, we read a movie review, discussing (and justifying) our own opinion of the movie in comparison to what this reviewer said. Students were (and are) encouraged to provide *very specific* details to support their reasoning, referencing examples/evidence from the film/play.

Students will soon be writing their own movie reviews, choosing either this one or the 1996 film starring Leonardo Di Caprio.

I look forward to reading these!

Back on Track!

Whew! Am I glad to be back! For those that don't know, I was ill for an entire week with a terrible stomach virus. Not only was this very unpleasant for me personally, but it delayed some of the Romeo & Juliet activities I wanted to get to!

My goal is still to have two assignments completed before March Break:

1. writing assignment (a movie review (click to download or view), that includes a comparison between the play and either Romeo + Juliet (1996),  Gnomio & Juliet, or West Side Story) GOOD COPY DUE WEDS MARCH 7th

2. a drama/art project which involves students demonstrating an understanding of the play (character, plot) through a project of their choice (such as creating a picture book, comic book, flipbook, dramatic interpretation, commercial, soundtrack, rap song...etc) (click here to download or view assignment options document) *please note, a project checklist will be provided to students in class  DUE MONDAY MARCH 5th for presentation

These are still on the agenda! But to make that happen, I have had to 'speed up' our approach to the play. This means we will not be able to do all the Character related Facebook entries I had hoped to do, or the closer words-in-context studies using Shakespeare in Bits. :(

Right now, we are focusing on completing our understanding of the play, by filling out our R&J question booklet (click to download or view). Next, we will be watching the various movies and looking at a variety of movie reviews (written by actual 'real life' reviewers) as preparation for writing our own reviews. Students should be choosing their drama/art project by this coming Monday! (and we'll be taking a look at some projects created at other schools or by other people, as evidenced on youtube...these are in the links sections in the sidebar!).

That should, hopefully, get us back on track!

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Romeo & Juliet Jeopardy Game!

We are now nearing the end of Act 1 in our study of Romeo & Juliet, reaching the point where Romeo & Juliet meet! To celebrate, I created a Jeopardy game (using this great site jeopardylabs.com) which we played in class today using the Smartboard. Students were divided into teams, and took turns choosing Jeopardy questions to win points. It was quite clear from this game that students really understand the play so far!

The categories were: Characters, Settings, Motivations, The Movie Version I, The Movie Version II.

As we read the play, we have been watching the 1996 Romeo + Juliet movie which is a modern adaptation using original Shakespearean language. It has been very interesting to see the differences between the original play and the movie, and to see how the director of that film has chosen to represent characters, setting, etc. The film is highly visual, and filled with symbolism. It is almost a 'visual poem' in and of itself.  Even the signs in the backgrounds have meaning, as explained in this blog post and this one.

We have also been discussing such deep matters as: innocence vs. corruption, isolation,  relationships within families, hatred and prejudice.  The play touches on these themes, and more. As does the film.

We will continue, getting into Act 2 next week!

Here is the link to the Jeopardy game.

If Romeo & Juliet were on Facebook...

Today we completed Act 1 Scene 1 of Romeo & Juliet using the fabulous software Shakespeare In Bits (SIB). We have now role played the street brawl scene (using SIB audio to guide us), explored some of the characters' qualities (Tybalt is NOT someone you want to have angry at you), and have written/drawn a quick summary of the scene's key points.

I also had students brainstorm what Romeo would write on his Facebook page at the end of Act 1 Scene 1. At this point, Romeo is moping about, depressed because the girl he loves (or thinks he loves?) doesn't love him back. (This is Rosaline, not Juliet. He hasn't met Juliet yet.)

Here are some suggested Facebook postings for Romeo at this point in time:

Love sucks!
My life is over. I will never find another love.
Why doesn't she love me?
I'm in love. My love doesn't want anything to do with me. What do I do?
Nobody loves me!
I am very confused and heart broken.


Several students also suggested that Romeo would post some sad song lyrics... Hmmm, I wonder which lyrics? We'll have to find him a suitable song! (Here's my suggestion! Let's figure out some others next week.)

We will be doing this Facebook role play often through out the play as a way to connect with the characters on a personal level and to succinctly summarize their point of view.  I will be putting them all in our hallway so that at a glance, as you walk by, you will be able to see their 'posts'...

Van Gogh Interpretation: ART

In one of our ART tasks, we created our own versions of Van Gogh's famous STARRY NIGHT painting. Students were to keep the feel of the original, but add their own interpretations.

These look really fantastic and are showcased in our hallway. I wanted to share them here! Everyone's in presented here, either right here on the blog or in one of the two videos.

The videos were created in animoto.com, where I have a free account to make 30 second videos. To fit them all into 30 secs, I created two different types of videos...which style do you like the best?

Romeo & Juliet Movies

Today a letter went home notifying parents and guardians of the movies we will be seeing. Please let me know if you did not receive this letter or if you have any questions.

The 3 movies we will be watching are:

Romeo + Juliet (1996) Rated PG-13
Gnomeo and Juliet (2011) Rated G
West Side Story (1961) Rated PG

These links go to the IMDB movie data base.

If there are any movies on this list that you do not want your child watching (such as Romeo + Juliet, which is rated PG 13) please let me know by MONDAY JANUARY 30 and I will make alternate arrangements. Also, if students find material in this particular movie uncomfortable (as it is rated PG-13 for "scenes of contemporary violence and some sensuality"),  I will have in place arrangements for them to leave and do a supervised activity elsewhere.

Students will be writing a movie review about one of these movies, comparing the movie to the original play as part of their review.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Mrs. Johnson

Media Literacy: Game Design

Today we started our game design unit and I must thank  fellow educator Kevin Hodgson for his ideas and his suggestion of using gamestarmechanic.com. This site is fantastic! Take a look at their intro video and I think you'll see why I like it so much!

I have created a page on this site that outlines in more detail the program and what we will be doing with it. (This page includes the full package handout, which in turn includes curriculum expectations and also my success criteria 'look fors', if you are intersted in seeing those.)

Today we started discussing the elements of game design, which include Space (the look of the game), Components (parts of the game, like enemies, avatars and blocks), Mechanics (actions, like jumping or collecting), Goals and Rules.

In addition to reviewing what makes a game good or bad (an idea we discussed already when we did game reviews), we took a preliminary look at some popular, classic arcade games (an idea I got from fellow teacher Kevin Hodgson!). We only had time today to for a quick look but in our next session,  students will be evaluating them (which ones are good or bad? why?) and also determining how the elements of game design are used in these games.

Then we will move into learning about gamestarmechanics and creating (and then evaluating) our own games.

This project involves both creative and instructional writing, and also advertising (persuasive writing) as students design their packaging and 'promote' their games (an idea for which I must thank fellow educator Jennifer Detrich, who is using gamestarmechanics in a social studies context).

Keep checking in as I will continue to document this process!

Also, if you are interested,  several educators (many from Ontario) have joined my gaming in ed wiki, where we are outlining many of these teaching ideas and applications. There are some very cool things happening in schools in terms of gaming! So please check it out!

Shakespeare Started!

Who is this fine fellow?!

Having finally gotten over a nasty virus, I am back in the classroom and we are now starting our Romeo & Juliet unit!

To start, we discovered a few things about the writer of R&J, William Shakespeare. As a class, we read the introductory paragraph on wikipedia on the Smartboard and as I read it, students practised taking jot notes (a very important skill!). Taking jot notes  means you have to focus in on the MOST IMPORTANT and relevant facts. You can't write down all the words I say/you read. You have to be selective and pick the ones that really matter.

Once they had collected some data, students had to choose their top 5.

I then condensed everyone's list into a main list. From that, students again narrowed it down to the top 5, top 3, and then the numero uno, number one main fact one should know about William Shakespeare.

For instance, if I had no idea who he was, what would you want to tell me? What is MOST IMPORTANT? What sums him up?

Most students were able to pull a main idea from all of the other data about who he married, how long he lived, where he lived, what plays he wrote, etc and selected this fact: that he is a POET AND PLAYWRIGHT. But only a few were able to select the even better option...which is that Shakespeare is considered ONE OF THE BEST PLAYWRIGHTS IN THE WORLD. He isn't just any ol' playwright, but one of THE BEST!  

As we read the play (we started the prologue today using Shakespeare in Bits on the smartboard) we will also be doing more research reading...that is, using our research skills, our ability to pull out main details, summarize key points, etc, by looking more closely at aspects of Shakespeares world...such as, The Globe Theater, Queen Elizabeth I, and the Elizabethan Age.

Welcome Back! Looking Forward...

Welcome back after the holidays everyone! I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable 2 weeks. We now have snow! So I expect the trip to Snow Valley will proceed as planned on Tuesday!

I know everyone is probably still feeling in 'holiday mode' but I'm hoping we'll all get back in the game quickly! This is the middle portion of the year, and it's important not to lose your focus!

If this were a hockey game, it'd be second period...if this were a Star Wars film, it'd be The Empire Strikes Back...You've got to keep focused so the Dark Side of the Force doesn't score a goal on your net...ooops, I've mixed up my analogies! Well, you get the idea!

Here are some of the things to look forward to over the coming weeks/months!

• reconnection and goal setting in the first week back
• creating a video game (with marketing tie ins) STARTS FRI!
• financial literacy (math-as-literacy project...real world money applications!)
• Romeo & Juliet using Shakespeare in Bits, of which our primary goal will be to read through the play in its entirety and understand it! Then we will be comparing the play to several movie variations (this will be your predominate writing task to write a movie review & answer the question: which movie best represents the play?). We will also be doing a variety of drama/art interpretations (here's the chance for those shadow plays and flip books!)
• more drama! more charades and tableaus and improv and the like...
• health discussions (stress, healthy eating)
• literacy centers and guided reading
• independent novel study #2
• Skeleton Creek read aloud (with discussion questions related to character, setting, plot (ie: predicting & foreshadowing))
• a continued emphasis on main idea with supporting details, using poems/videos etc...
• more discussion of careers, personal strengths, multiple intelligences, etc...

-and Other Stuff!

Looking forward to it and, as always, keep your eye on this blog to get the latest news!

Guest Student Blogger!

Sorry for the delay...I've been meaning to post this for awhile! I draw names out of a bucket to decide which lucky student will be our guest student blogger. This time  it is EC! This is her short news report on our Skype chat with Luke Navarro. Our focus in this task was to use the data from our skype interview and create a short news report. Students were asked to a) be as specific as possible, b) include all 5W and How, c) use a variety of sentences and d) use transition words, like first, next, then, finally, etc.


Luke Navarro Report by EC


Who is Luke Navarro? Luke Navarro is a game reviewer! 


On Tuesday, November 8, 2011, Luke and Mrs. Johnson's Gr. 7/8 class had an interview on Skype to talk about his job and he answered any questions we had.


First, he told us he doesn't get paid for his job. Then, he told us his hobbies besides gaming and reading are hiking, cooking and gardening. Finally, he told us that his favourite game right now is Skyrim.


It was awesome talking and hanging out with Luke Navarro!