Self Directed Learning for Creative Writing

WALT - Complete and write creative writing language features.

Step 1 - I am/am not ready to learn because...
I am ready to learn because I have all the things I need to enable my learning.

Step 2 - My Learning Goals are...
My learning goals are to be able to apply metaphor, hyperbole, pun, anaphora, chiasmus, epanalepsis, listing, antithesis, simile, personification, onomatopoeia, understatement and oxymoron to my writing.

Step 3 -  To engage in the connectivist learning process, I will need...
If I don't understand some of the creative writing languages features, I will ask my teacher to help or ask my classmate. Check the slide decks or search it up on google.

Language Features
Metaphor - Her heart was like cold ice.
Hyperbole - "I've waited for like a million years"
Pun - I am koalafied for running as a president.
Anaphora - Our lives will end. Our lives will come and go. Our lives are done.
Chiasmus - We need to be ready to learn and we need to learn to be ready.
Alliteration - Joshua jumped to the jungle.
Epanalepsis - The king is dead, long live the king.
Listing -  For the party, we needed to buy some chips, beers, juice, fizzy drinks and more snacks.
Antithesis - They went up; I went down
Simile - The kite flew like an eagle.
Personification - The tree was dancing like a ballerina in the wind.
Onomatopoeia - The sound of the rain hitting the roof went tippity tap.
Understatement - Imagine being in a desert. "It's a bit hot out"
Oxymoron - The word written on the green sign said stop.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IRh05QbAXL-FAj17g5XrSwrhS30A5xv4YAxc73IxN-E/edit?usp=sharing

Film Essay

Taya, a Filipino short film about a boy learning to play traditional Filipino games with his new friends. 

The film was made to show how the traditional Filipino games were connected to their reality. The producers of the short film showed us that these games, that many Filipino kids used to play, reflected our harsh reality. The two brilliant producers of this short film used, Dialogue, Steadicam shot, Cross-cutting and a Close up shot to show the meaning of the film. 

The use of Dialogue was used logically in this brief film. Their use of words and how they easily explained how the traditional Filipino games ties in with the kids’ reality were cleverly established. 

This is demonstrated at the beginning of the film where they foreshadowed that the short film was not going to be a lighthearted movie about a kids life. The used of Dialogue help me understood that there was going to be a deeper meaning to the film.  

The director did this to show us that words and how they are used can have a big impact on the film. 

This worked well with the film aspect, foreshadowing since they were able to hint about something happening. This technique can be juxtaposed with the foreshadowing of Tony Stark (Iron Man) dying. Since his death was foreshadowed before he even fought Thanos.

Another film aspect that was used in this film was a Steadicam shot. The use of this film aspect was smoothly placed. A Steadicam shot was used when the new kid and his group of friends ran out of their house. This shows the audience that the kids are carefree and don’t know much of what’s happening around their country. The purpose of this was to show that the kids are having a fun time being free and doing what they want to do with their friends.

The director did this to show how freedom felt like with these kids. Coinciding with this shot was the music that was used. The music that was used further foreshadowed that the short film was not gonna be a joyful kids film. This aspect can be compared to the shot where the kids were running away from the zombies, making the chase scene more intense.

Additionally, the film aspect of Cross-cutting was also used in this film. Cross-cutting was used to relate how the traditional Filipino games were almost identical to the bad circumstances occurring around them. This helped me realize that the actions that they are doing in the games they played, correlates to the stuff that protestors are doing. The purpose of this was to show that some situations can be similar to other situations. The director intelligently did this by showing the games, the kids are playing then Cross-cutting to protestors throwing rocks at the police. This worked well with the music in the background. It added the effect that what was happening in our society is very saddening and we had to resort to violence. This can be compared to the last scene where the camera cuts to the kids’ feet to show they were all running and were doing the same action at once.

The last film aspect that was utilised was a Close up shot. For example, they used this type of shot when the zombies, which was the kid’s imagination, were trying to break into the house. This makes the audience feel more frightened and grossed out at the zombies. The director did this to make the scene, even more, scarier than what it already is. Coinciding with this shot was a piece of intense music going on in the background. This shot can be compared to when the scene came up of the kids getting near the camera to show their interest using facial expressions.

The two producers of this film did an outstanding job producing the short Filipino film ‘Taya’. With the use of Dialogue, Steadicam, Cross-cutting and Close up shot, they made a wonderful film that showed how similar the games were to reality.

Creative Writing

5th of November 2019
WALT: Identify and recognise ideas for our 'Risk or Challenge' creative writing task, as well as the physical sensation associated with it.

Ideas for R or  C
- Camp activities (The 2 wire, solo, the swamp, blindfolded)
- Doing a shoey
- Sports (Competition, trials, tournament etc)
- Project K (Rock climbing, hiking)
- An abandoned house
- Being in the army
- Getting chased

Physical Sensations
- Sweat (Whole body, palms, feet, back, forehead, armpits, backside, nosed, lips, back of knees)
- Knees weak/shake
- Need to wee
- Heavy breathing
- Looking around a lot
- Walking back and forth
- Leg bounce/shaking
- Pins and needles
- Heart pounding/racing/bursting
- Butterflies in the stomach - blood drop - fluttering


We have finally arrived at our destination. My group and I have been walking for a few minutes to get to a small swamp as the camp councillor would say. It was more like a small lake or a pond to me, the area was surrounded by grass on one side and thick trees and bushes on the other. The chilly wind flew past my face freezing it. A few birds chirped by as they flew overhead us and a few grey clouds blocked the sun. We set our bags on the ground and we were given a simple task by our camp instructor.



That’s it. We were done for. One of the planks we used to cross the swamp has fallen off the pole and into the water. It was just a simple task to improve our teamwork capability. Get to the other side of the swamp with only two planks. ‘Dang, it’ I thought, I did not want to fall into the murky swamp water. The air was freezing cold that morning and the water was even worse. We were forced to squish in one of the planks, packed in one place like a can of sardines. I was placed on the edge of the plank, left foot hanging off of it barely touching the water.


It was bad enough that the cold wind was freezing my entire feet up but after a few minutes of standing on one foot, my whole leg was starting to shake. I couldn’t move my foot to get it in a more comfortable spot because in doing so I might move the plank. I heard the plank creak and thought that it was about to break and I felt really relieved that I was standing on one of the poles.


After a few seconds of looking like headless chickens, one of our group members finally came up with a good idea. Use the stick that he found on the way to the swamp. After a few tries and an attempt that gave me quite a fright. One of my group members finally succeeded and got the plank back.


After getting the plank back it was only the matter of succeeding to place the piece of wood in one the pole and getting to the other side. ‘Place it slowly and carefully’ a female group member said. A few seconds of lifting the plank up and setting it down we finally succeeded in getting the plank on the pole and were able to make it to the other side. A feeling of relief overtook me as my foot was placed onto the grass and I could hear some of my group members shout out in success.


After successfully making it to the other side our camp instructor told us to get the two plank to him. “You guys can walk around so you don’t have to cross the swamp but if you want you can,” he said. I sighed and picked up one of the planks and stepped into the water.

Movies and Books

Movies are better than books

Do you agree? Disagree? Or have points for both?

Plan

- Movies leave stuff out of the book

- Books give us a better understading of the story.

- Movies are more visually satisfying to watch

- Books gets you to use your imagination

- Books can be read whenever you want

- You don't have to read while watching

_________________________________________________________________________________

Books and movies are both great storytellers. They show us a whole new different world from what we have and it gets us engrossed in their stories. People would argue that movies are unquestionably better than books because it is more visually satisfying to watch but the two subjects have their own good points. For example, movies leave stuff out of the book and book gives us a better understanding of the story.

Movies are more visually satisfying to watch while books get us to use our imagination.

Movies such as the Harry Potter series, has scenes left out or characters removed and even characters personality changed. Sometimes movies are not able to explain the story as good as books. As I said before the Harry Potter book series has some of the characters left out of movies and some characters personality changed. 

 Ginny, Ron Weasley's younger sister, has her character changed a lot. In the movie, you kinda see her as a shy little girl but later on, she gets a little bit of confidence. They could have done a whole lot more with Ginny's character because compared to the book she is actually very capable and is able to handle herself.

Books are less convenient than movies. While watching a film you can basically do whatever you want. Movies are just more comfortable than reading a book and I get why people love watching a movie rather than reading a book. 

 You can eat or drink while watching movies but you can also do that while reading a book but it is slightly harder to do than sitting down and only have a bucket of popcorn in your hand.

 

Team Sports - Persuasive Writing - English

 Team sports are better than individual sports.

Which side I am in: For - Against -  Both 

Plan

- Team sports are more fun 

- It makes the game more competitive

- It tests your ability to work as a group

-Make friends and support each other

-Train with other people 

_________________________________________________________________________________

We can all agree that sports are much better if you're playing it with other people. The games that you play as a team like basketball is more fun. Also playing as a team makes the game more competitive and it tests your ability to work as a group.

Team sports like basketball, soccer, volleyball and many more is fun to watch or play. Unlike golf or tennis, watching the game is just so bland and boring. While many may disagree with me on that one, team sports are just leagues better. Watching the athletes work together, trying to beat the other team is just so exhilarating. Watching the players performing tricks in the court or them catching a ball from a yard away is just fun to watch.

The other point that makes team sports better than individual sports is that as a team there are many people playing. Watching them play and work together so well just shows us that they trained very hard to play that well. That's not to say that individual sports athletes don't work hard but as a team, it definitely makes the sport harder to execute. Making the sport more competitive is more entertaining to watch than to see two dudes or girls try and get the ball in a hole with a stick.

Sports are much better played with friends. It makes the game less of a competition and see it as a fun game to play.  

Volcano Project

Pick a well-known volcano in the world. where is it, what is its name, is it extinct, dormant or active?

Mount Mayon - Philippines - Active

What type of volcano is it? How are these types formed, include a diagram of what they look like?

Strato Volcano. Stratovolcanoes formed through explosive eruptions depositing materials near a central vent.
 

What are the types of rock formation around this volcano?

Igneous Rocks is formed around there like the rhyolite rock.
 

Plan your model. What are you going to make it out of, how will you make it erupt, what landscape will you paint it? 

We will put a bottle in the middle and wrap it in flour and use water to harden it. We will shape it like a stratovolcano. We will make it erupt using elephant's toothpaste. We will need hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate and also dish soap.

Build it! Record it erupting and share.

 

The South Island is better than The North Island (English Essay)

Is The South Island better than The North Island?

Which side I am in: For - Against -  Both 

Plan

- Some houses in the North Island cost more.

- More opportunities in the North Island.

- North Island roads are better organised.

- Cheaper houses in the south. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Is The South Island of New Zealand better than the North Island? I think that both of the islands have their own good qualities and it honestly just depends on peoples opinions. Peoples lifestyle can affect their opinion on what they think the better place to live in is. If someone was rich they would choose to live in the North Island because there are better opportunities there. Although that is not to say that the South Island isn't as great. 

As I said before peoples lifestyle affects the way they think and live their life. Also, if a person wants to achieve something (maybe they have a dream of opening a shop) it also comes into play. There are many variables on what a person may consider.  If the person had the money to start a small business, of course, they would start somewhere where they can be financially stable first before they move into the big leagues. 

 There are areas in the South Island which are cheaper than the North Island where they can set up a small shop/restaurant. Although if you were to start a bigger business (like a company) you could start it in the North Island. There are many talented people in the North Island looking for work and chances they can grab.

South Island has a much cheaper price on houses.