Middle School Specialists
English
We began this term by exploring witchcraft and the context of the play by researching and exploring what life was like in Elizabethan England. It is vital when reading Macbeth that we adapt our modern day view of witches and the supernatural, to understand how the characters of ‘the three witches’ would have been perceived by both the characters in the play and the audience of the period. The students explored this in great detail and completed a variety of tasks in which they used the information and learning obtained to imagine what life was like.
We then explored the language used in Elizabethan England and within Shakespeare’s plays. Our aim was to become familiar with both the meaning and the pronunciation of the, often rather complex, words used in Shakespeare’s plays. We began by playing a word game using a Shakespearian insult generator. The students had lots of fun trying to articulate the rather humorous insults of the day and, in doing so, developed their skills when pronouncing the complex text.
This all led to reading the text and ‘bringing it to life’ via some extremely entertaining role plays. The students used both the original Shakespearian language, along with their own modern day interpretations to perform several scenes from the play; portraying characters ranging from the three weird sisters to the powerful and controlling Lady Macbeth. In addition to thoroughly enjoying the tasks, the students were really able to consolidate their learning of the language characters, themes and context through these entertaining role plays.
Music
Students in Year 8 have been exploring the world of sound and music technology this term, as well as learning how to manage their own schedule to become true, independent learners. At the start of the spring term, the students began to explore the world of sound effects, jingles and background music, along with the effect they could have on the meaning, emotion and impact of a radio advertisement.
Students were set the challenge of creating a radio advertisement to sell a real or imaginary product. Throughout the process, they were taught different composing techniques, as well as performing and musical technology skills such as recording, using microphones and sound editing.
We first looked at the musical tools used in writing a jingle and had a lot of fun creating memorable jingles for our products using the chords, melodies and techniques we had discovered in class. Upon completion, we went on to explore the world of sound effects and the Foley Technique. Students used digital recorders to capture many different sounds and employed Audacity, a sound editing software, to mix sounds, add effects and edit. Students then recorded the narrations and composed background music to reflect the activity in the advertisement, developing the compositional skills needed to associate musical techniques with these actions.
Lastly, students used Audacity to balance all their sounds and create their final edit. Each advertising group managed the entire project, and students were responsible for organizing their time and tracking their progress. We concluded the project by having a grand showcase of all their work, listening to the radio advertisements created in Year 8 and discussing the successes and areas for improvement.
Geography
This term our Year 9 geographers studied the ‘Fashion and Geography’ unit of work. They have learned about the impacts of globalization and the influence of Transnational Companies (TNC’s). In this lesson our geographers completed the ‘Stitching Saris’ trading game. Each member of the class was given a specific role; family member, cost of living collector, market place manager, brand-owner and bank manager. The objective of the game was to make as much money as possible for your family or institution.
Once the game reached a conclusion we reflected carefully upon the task. As an outcome of the lesson, the students had a greater understanding of some of the factors that keep hard working people poor in less economically developed countries.