Enhance Your Vocabulary

The more VOCABULARY you know the better you will do in all academic areas.  More specifically, for tests such as the SAY and HSPA, knowing advanced vocabulary will make a big impact on your scores.  Visit the following sites to help you improve your vocabulary:

• Vocabulary Workshop: http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary/games.cfm?level=B
• Free Rice: http://www.freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1442
• Spell City: http://www.spellingcity.com/

Rap Poetry

This week we read poetry by the Africa-American poets Langston Hughes and Dr. Maya Angelo.  Poetry can also be found in music.  Lyrics (the words of a song) are poetry combined with music.  Rap music is a form of modern poetry. Many rap artists have been inspired by the same life challenges that Langston Hughes and Dr. Angelo write about in their poems.  In the following activity you will compare the poems we read in class with two classic rap songs....

Assignment:

1.       View the following videos and reflect on the theme and messages of the poems

a.       Poem: Mother to Son by: Langston Hughes

                                                               i.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xNJoUIhB9E&feature=related

b.      Poem: Still I Rise by: Dr. Maya Angelou

                                                               i.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j5w6IgJbTE

                                                              ii.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP1t61XvF-g&feature=related

2.       View the following rap videos and reflect on the theme and messages of the lyrics

a.       Keep Ya Head Up by: TuPac

                                                               i.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V0cfqqRYSs&feature=related

                                                              ii.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfXwmDGJAB8&feature=related

b.      Momma Said Knock You Out by: L L Cool J.

                                                               i.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbW3AmaVPgk

                                                              ii.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimZj8HW0Kg&ob=av2e

3.       Choose one poem and one rap song to compare. 

4.       In an open-ended paragraph explain the reason for your choice.  Also, write about the similarities and differences of between the poem and rap song you choose.

Books…the original movies!!

Daphne du Maurier was the original creator of the suspenseful story The Birds.  In The Birds Daphne Du Maurier uses descriptive scenes that create mystery and suspense for the reader.  Many writers and movie directors have used Daphne du Maurier’s writings as inspiration to create their own suspenseful stories and movies.

Assignment:

·        Watch the following youtube videos from two different movies that were inspired by story The Birds.

·        For each youtube video write a paragraph comparing how the movie is similar to the story The Birds in creating suspense for the audience.

1^st YouTube Video = Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvDpuIdY5WU

·         Write a paragraph comparing The Birds movie with the The Birds story.  How are they similar in creating suspense?  Provide examples.

2^nd YouTube Video = M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J_RYC0htIg&feature=related

·         Write a paragraph comparing the Sings movie with the The Birds story.  How are they similar in creating suspense?  Provide examples.

If you want to know more about the original story The Birds…click here:

http://www.enotes.com/birds

News Media

Sensational News Media is the type of news that we should not take seriously.  It is crated for entertainment.  Serious News is the news we need to pay attention too, the news that is important to society. 

Check out the list of news sites bellow.  Which sites are sensational news?  Which are serious news?  Can you see the difference? 

 

·         www.cnn.com 

·         www.msnbc.com

·         www.bbc.co.uk

·         www.nytimes.com

·         www.cbsnews.com

·         www.abc.net.au

·         http://www.people.com/people/

·         www.newsweek.com

·         http://www.huffingtonpost.com/weird-news/

·         http://www.sfgate.com/news/weird/