Giftedness from an Indigenous Perspective

A book was published in March of this year which brings together a selection of articles on "Giftedness from an Indigenous Perspective". The book is edited by Wilma Vialle. You can download a free copy of the book from the Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented (AAEGT) website.

I'm going to be using the blog a while to keep track of resources for the gifted. I've just been informed that:

The Australian Gifted Education Research, Resource and Information Centre (GERRIC) has a series of professional development modules that are freely available to anyone wishing to upskill in gifted education. The modules look at understanding giftedness, identification, social and emotional development, underachievement, curriculum differentiation and developing programmes and provisions.

Hemispheres. Kay McKenzie Cooke

Kay McKenzie Cooke recites her poem Hemispheres for Channel 9.

Tuwhare/short text

There are a few online resources for Hone Tuwhare:

• His official web site
• His page at the NZ Book Council
• His biography at the Poetry International Web
• An NZ Herald story on Hone after his death

The StudyIt site is a good resource for studying and practicing for 'Read short poetic text.'

This year's wonderhub

Welcome back!

This year, I'll be blogging a lot more frequently on Wonderhub. I'll be posting more sites of interest for students. As well as posting homework assignments and links to resources I'll try to provide links to items of interest. (Who knows--perhaps they will find their way into your reading logs.)

Interested in clouds? Here at the Cloud Appreciation website is a whole flock of poems about clouds.

Formal writing resources

Dear students

Formal writing requires you to do a little writing before the exam. Remember the basics:

• Read the question carefully
• Consider your audience
• Adopt an appropriate tone
• Have a clear structure (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion)
  
• Provide evidence to support your view
• Plan your answer
• Have topic sentences in your paragraphs
  
• Never be offensive
  

Study It has a good web page here to help you revise.

Senior revision resources.

If you are looking for mock exam questions or reports on what examiners are seeking then a good place to go is the page NZQA website linking to resources for all external exams in English.

Level two students go here for mock exams, etc.

Level one students go here for mock exams, etc.

Don't forget that commercial study guides are available for nearly all NCEA subjects at most bookstores.

Bibme

Are you looking for an online tool to help you compile a bibliography? Try Bibme. For English papers, select the MLA (Modern Language Association) format.

All students remember that Term Four is a big one on this blog. We start to focus on revision and I make an extra effort to try to post to the Hub at least once a week this term with revision related links.

Seven tips for creative writers

These tips aren't totally original. I've picked them up form here and there. They have worked for me and I use them all the time.


One: Keep a notebook. Record your thoughts, snippets of conversation, images, dreams, unusual words, etc. A notebook is essential.


Two: Set yourself a realistic writing goal for each day. How much time can you spend each day writing your poem, you play, or short story? Set yourself a realistic goal: better ten minutes a day than an hour on Saturday. (I have a minimum of half an hour although sometimes I reduce this when work gets too heavy. I never reduce it to less than 20 minutes. I have to write at least twenty minutes a day. When I have more time I write a lot more). Don't just talk about it: do the writing.


Three: Read as a writer. Want to be a poet? Then read poetry. Want to write horror fiction? Then read horror stories (Anthony Horowitz is good!) When you read, read as a writer. What does the writer do? How does the writer build tension, create atmosphere, write dialogue? Very careful reading can transform your writing.


Four: Consider your audience. Writers write for readers. Our notebook is for exploring our feelings and for finding our ideas and inspirations. But if we want to write for others then we must consider the reader. What is the reader getting out of our writing? Thinking about audience also involves publication: are you blogging your poems or stories or do you want them to go in a magazine? (If so, read the magazine!) Try to find others who are also interested in writing.


Five: Edit your work. Writing is re-writing. When you finish a poem or story, you finish the first draft. You have to go back and polish the draft and then check all the spelling and punctuation so you don't look stupid. While you're doing this you may want to change lines and cut something out. (All lot of good writing is hacking and burning your first draft). I generally go through six to ten versions of a poem.


Six: Let it sit. Unless there's a deadline put it away and have a look in a few weeks (or months). I get so caught up in my writing I can't really be objective about it unless I've left it alone for a while. It really pays to follow this rule. Some people just write and blog nowadays but I think there's a lot to be said for letting it sit.


Seven: Accept rejection and take criticism. Don't pout. Keep at it. Ask yourself what you have learnt from the criticism. If you really want to be a writer than you handle rejections and criticism. Brush yourself off and try again. And don't feel shy about trying a second opinion. Just keep your faith in yourself.

Research: Language of advertising

Dear Students

Your research for 2.8 is due at the end of the first week of term three.
Your task to conduct research on the langauge of advertising.
A copy of the research task is available for you to download here.

Scholarship: modernism

On Monday we'll be discussing modernism. Here are some links to texts to read (please don't cite Wikipedia in your essays--but it's still a useful tool!).
Ezra Pound

IN A STATION OF THE METRO

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals on a wet, black bough.

T.S. Eliot. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

T.S. Eliot. The Waste Land.


Duchamp. LHOOQ

Wikipedia on:

Marcel Ducamp.

Woolf's To the Lighthouse.

Resources for Deliver a speech: level 1

There's a variety of resources over at Studyit for English 1.7 Deliver an Oral Presentation in a Formal Setting.

Pop over to Studyit now for the Achievement Criteria, tips on Content, general tips on public speaking, and links to external sites offering advice on speeches and debating.

The Microsoft Word version of the assessment task 'Unaccustomed as I am' is available here.

Please remember that all speeches must be ready by the first Wednesday of term two. Don't forget to think about using a visual aid, remember to use cue cards (unless you have a good memory) and don't read from a piece of paper. Make it interesting and informative.