Your report must include the answers to the following questions:
What is your definition of a hero?
What essential qualities should a hero possess?
What would a person have to do to be considered a hero?
Which five people in your life do you think fit your criteria of a hero?
Questionnaire
Draw up a questionnaire consisting of 10 questions, the answers to which will give you insight into your candidates and help you determine the winner.
Make sure your questions are open ended, i.e. questions that cannot be answered by “yes” or “no”.
You may telephone, email or Skype your candidates if you can't interview them in person.
Please note that you may only choose 2 candidates from your class. The other 3 MUST be from another class / grade / outside the school.
Conclusion:
Your report must conclude by identifying which of your five candidates has won your MHS Hero Award:
What did you find out about your winner?
How has he / she positively impacted those around him / her?
Why is he / she so deserving of your award?
A report is a formal document and should be neatly presented in a folder or flip file. It must include a cover page, table of contents and a bibliography. You may include pictures / photos.
We encourage you to print out the MHS Hero Award Certificate and gave it to your hero:
The due date will be negotiated with your teacher.
Oral Presentation:
You will also give an oral report-back on your Hero project.
Your speech, which must be no less than 2 minutes, should contain the following information:
Your definition of a hero;
The essential qualities that your hero should possess;
What a person has to do to qualify as a hero.
You should then identify your five potential heroes and give biographical details on each.
You may list the ten questions that you asked them.
You need to reveal who your winner is and tell us:
How your winner has positively impacted society;
Why he / she is so deserving of your award.
You may include a PowerPoint Presentation as part of your report-back.
Prepare your oral for lessons 6-9.
Read the two short stories from your Homework Reader and complete the Report for homework. You WILL be examined on these short stories. Questions will relate to plot, characters and themes.
They paddle with staccato feet in powder-pools of sunlight, small blue busybodies (1) strutting like fat gentlemen with hands clasped under their swallowtail coats; and, as they stump about, (2) their heads like tiny hammers tap at imaginary nails in non-existent walls. Elusive ghosts of sunshine slither down the green gloss of their necks an instant, and are gone.
Summer hangs drugged from sky to earth in Limpid fathoms of silence: (3) only warm dark dimples of sound slide like slow bubbles from the contented throats.
(4) Raise a casual hand - with one quick gust they fountain into air.
Read the two short stories from your Homework Reader and complete the Report for homework. You WILL be examined on these short stories. Questions will relate to plot, characters and themes.
Your speech must be a minimum of 2 minutes long. If you do not make the 2 minute mark, you will be required to add content to your speech and do it again ... and again ... and again ... as many times as it take for you make 2 minutes.
You MUST make use of key cards which must fit snuggly into your hand. Marks will be deducted for no key cards!
Please note that this is a FORMAL speech aimed at your Educator, NOT your friends. Your register and behavior should be appropriate for an adult audience.
Be professional!
Read the two short stories from your Homework Reader and complete the Report for homework. You WILL be examined on these short stories. Questions will relate to plot, characters and themes.
The sea is a hungry dog. Giant and grey. He rolls on the beach all day. With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws.
Hour upon hour he gnaws the rumbling, tumbling stones, and 'Bones, bones, bones, bones!' the giant sea-dog moans, licking his greasy paws.
And when the night wind roars and the moon rocks in the stormy cloud, he bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs, shaking his wet sides over the cliffs, and howls and hallos long and loud.
But on quiet days in May or June, when even the grasses on the dune play no more their reedy tune, with his head between his paws he lies on the sandy shores,
What do we call it when this type of figure of speech continues throughout the poem?
Refer to line 1: How does a hungry dog behave? How does this correlate to the sea?
Refer to line 6: Identify the sound device.
Refer to line 7: What effect does the repetition of the word "bones" have?
Refer to line 13: Explain the image.
Refer to line 14: What two different sound devices are used?
Refer to line 18: Explain the image.
To what would YOU compare the sea? Come up with a suitable metaphor.
One of the themes of this poem is the beauty ofnature: In what recreational ways do you use nature? What health benefits does nature offer? How are you protecting the environment?
Answers:
[Insert answers]
Activity:
Write a poem about an aspect of nature that you particularly enjoy.
Read the two short stories from your Homework Reader and complete the Report for homework. You WILL be examined on these short stories. Questions will relate to plot, characters and themes.
Write a 100 word story - not a word more or less - according to the notes above, based on any of the following genres:
Action
Adventure
Comedy
Drama
Horror
Murder Mystery
Romance
Sci-Fi
Suspense
Western
PS. Just in case you think it's impossible to write such a short story, here's a 17 word horror story ...
The last man of Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.
PPS. Here is Mrs Claassen's 100 word story ...
"Hey wait, flip back to that channel quickly," she exclaimed. "I know that person!" The retired teacher stared at the TV, concentrating intently. "What was his name? Alan ... Anton ... Andrew? That's it - Andrew Dobster. Wow, look at him now!" She thought back to his time in her high school class. Nice looking boy. Strong personality. Charismatic. Gifted. "I always knew he'd go far in life," she said proudly. "Just to think, I taught someone famous!" She smiled fondly as she watched the CNN News footage of little Andrew Dobster. He was being led away, handcuffed, surrounded by armed police officers.
Read the two short stories from your Homework Reader and complete the Report for homework. You WILL be examined on these short stories. Questions will relate to plot, characters and themes.
Read the two short stories from your Homework Reader and complete the Report for homework. You WILL be examined on these short stories. Questions will relate to plot, characters and themes.
What does it mean if something is described as being "beyond belief"?
Why is it painful for Lisa to remember the last time she was there?
Where exactly is "there"?
Quote four words that tell us indicate to us how much James really loved his bride.
Provide an antonym for "irresistable".
Why was it necessary for them to compromise on the issue of children?
Why is "(two girls and a boy of course)" contained in brackets?
What does it mean to "drive a wedge" between something?
Explain the term: "quickie divorce".
What does it mean if something is "beyond repair"?
What is incongruous about the setting and her feelings?
Who is "the man" who watches her from the edge of the palm trees?
Why does the author not identify him straight away?
What is the singular of "women"?
Using you OWN words, explain what attracted "the man" to Lisa.
The author states that Lisa "felt strangely calm" about his presence. Why is this strange?
What is the significance of only having felt the "instant spark of connection" only once before?
Fix the following sentence fragment: First pleasantries, their hotels, the quality of the food and friendliness of the locals.
What is the singular of "pleasantries"?
What is the plural of "quality"?
How could you tell that they were attracted to each other?
Rewrite the following sentence in the future tense: She told him of things that had been locked deep inside her.
Rewrite the following sentence in direct speech: At the funeral she had refused to stand next to her husband and the next day she had left him.
What is "hadn't" a contraction of?
What is the present and future tense of "was"?
What was the cause of Lisa's sadness?
Why did she withdraw from James?
Fix the following sentence fragment: Not wanting to recover from the pain she felt - that would have been a betrayal of her son.
How did James feel about what had happened? Quote to substantiate your answer.
To which part of speech do the following words belong: She felt the unbearable burden begin to lift from her.
Provide a synonym for "renew".
What twist is revealed in the last paragraph?
What do you think happens to them next?
Vocabulary:
Complete the "Return to Paradise" Word Search.
Answers:
[Insert answers]
Complete the "Return to Paradise" Word Search.
Read the two short stories from your Homework Reader and complete the Report for homework. You WILL be examined on these short stories. Questions will relate to plot, characters and themes.
Identify and explain all the underlined figures of speech.
Vocabulary:
Complete "The Bike" Word Search.
Answers:
[Insert answers]
Complete the "The Bike" Word Search.
Read the two short stories from your Homework Reader and complete the Report for homework. You WILL be examined on these short stories. Questions will relate to plot, characters and themes.
A symbol is an object, action or idea that represents something other than itself, often of a more abstract nature.
Identify the following symbols:
Authors and poets often use symbols to add layers of meaning to the text. For example, colours are often used symbolically:
Red: blood, passion, emotion, danger, daring
Black: death, evil
White: innocence, purity, enlightenment
Green: inexperience, hope, new life
Yellow: rotting, heat, decay
Blue: cool, calm, peaceful
So ... to dress a female character in red implies something about her!
Nature and the weather can also be used symbolically:
Spring: birth, new beginning
Summer: maturity, knowledge
Autumn: decline, growing old, nearing death
Winter: death, sleep, hibernation, stagnation
So ... in Shakespeare's MacBeth, darkness symbolically covers the earth the day after MacBeth kills King Duncan: "The clock says it's daytime, but dark night is strangling the sun".
To learn more about symbolism, complete the following comprehension:
Draw these symbols in your book and explain what they symbolise, and why you have chosen them.
Read the two short stories from your Homework Reader and complete the Report for homework. You WILL be examined on these short stories. Questions will relate to plot, characters and themes.
Read through the poem and determine, for yourself, what the poem is about. Discuss.
Questions:
Which figure of speech features prominently in this poem?
Name three human qualities that are given to the wind?
Which attribute of the wind does stanza 1 deal with?
Quote two words from the poem that indicates that the wind picked up suddenly.
Which attribute of the wind does stanza 2 deal with?
How is the mood of the third stanza different from the first two stanzas?
Which weather phenomenon would you say the poem is describing?
One of the themes of this poem is the power of nature : Destructive weather phenomena are referred to as ‘acts of God’. Do you think that is a fair descriptor? In what way is God responsible for the devastation that comes from tsunamis, earthquakes, etc?
Answers:
[Insert answers]
Activity:
Form groups of ± 6 learners. Choose a city anywhere in the world and prepare a 30 second weather forecast for it. You must cover the following topics:
An introduction to your chosen city
Weather patterns for the day
Temperatures for the day
Forecast for the week
Use the following types of symbols as part of your presentation:
Make your presentation as fun and creative as possible!
PS. You may make a video forecast at home and play it in class, if you'd like.
Read the two short stories from your Homework Reader and complete the Report for homework. You WILL be examined on these short stories. Questions will relate to plot, characters and themes.
