Well done 7D!

Well done 7D! You have completed your first year of high school! I would just like to say that it has been a pleasure to teach you and I have been very proud of some of the work that has been produced this year - some of which is evident on your pupil Blogs. Please take a moment to show the folks at home what you have got up to on here, as there is some wonderful work going on.

Have a fantastic (and safe) summer holiday!

Mr Howard =)

Spelling fun! (Maybe...)

The below poem is taken from poet Michael Rosen's Blog and expresses some of the frustrations many have with English - the complexity and non-conformity of the English language when it comes to spelling!

No wonder the English language is so very difficult to learn.
I sometimes wonder how we manage to communicate at all!

We’ll begin with a box and the plural is boxes.
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.

The one fowl is a goose but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may found a lone mouse or a whole set of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?

If I speak of a foot and you show me your feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why should not the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural wouldn’t be hose.
And the plural of cat is cats and not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say Mother, we never say Methren,

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine she, shis and shim,

So English, I fancy you will all agree,
Is the funniest language you ever did see.

ANON

Some more Freaks!

Great stuff, keep them coming!

Mr Howard =)

Cirque Du Freak new additions

Some fab work from Abbi and Jessica, well done! Very well thought out new additions to the Cirque Du Freak.

HOMEWORK REMINDER

This is a reminder of the tasks I asked for, for homework. A number of you still have not done it so it is important that these are done asap considering the amount of time you have had =(
More importantly, a big well done to those who are completely up to date, they are great!

1. Ensure all 10 poems are pasted or typed into your Blog with accompanying pictures and a line a out why you have chosen the open or why you like it.

2. Comment on at least 10 pupils' Bligs on poems that you like the sound of. Do not just say that you like it, say why. I want to see you use some English words like 'simile' (like or as), 'metaphor' and 'personification' as this will be showing me and other English teachers who see this that you know what you are talking about. Standard English please, not online speak!

3. Transform one of your poems into a short story, retelling the events of the poem in a piece of writing that shows off your use of high level VCOP skills - amazing Vocabulary, terrific Connectives, outstanding Openers and impressive punctuation - this is to written in Microsoft Word and then pasted into your Blog. Whatever you have done at the end of the lesson must be posted as a Blog Post for me to see and for you to finish.

Olympic poems: Superlatives

Exciting times! My Olympic table tennis tickets came =) In the spirit of all things Olympics, here is an Olympic themed poem found in a book of Olympic poems by Brian Moses and Roger Stevens - found here at Amazon. This poem is called Superlatives and talks about the qualities that you need to succeed - do you think they are the qualities mentioned in the first two stanzas or those in the final stanza? Something to think about maybe.

Superlatives

You must be the biggest, the boldest, the best
Superlatives are what you need
If you want Olympic gold
If your dream is to succeed

Highest, furthest, fastest, longest
It's what champions are for
Quickest, hardest, toughest, strongest
Tune your mind to more, more, more

Hungriest, meanest, leanest, keenest
But you can win in other ways
Friendliest, fairest, funkiest, kindest
Better ways to spend your days?

(Teacher's note: What are superlatives?

When we use adjectives, we can make comparisons. We can say: that flower is big, but this one is bigger. By adding 'er' we are comparing. We can also add 'est' to the end of the adjective; this is known as the superlative.)

STORY HOMEWORK: There are still several 7D pupils whose stories have not yet been uploaded - those who have not done it WILL be spending a lunchtime doing it so it is in your best interest to get it done asap!

Final note: Well done for Adam for his performance in the Quiz - the panda will be making its way to you very shortly!!

Competition Time 7D: Win a PANDA

Yep, the pupil who guesses the most correct answers to the Closeup Picture Quiz below will win one of the Edinburgh pandas... well a smaller cuddly toy version anyway.

You can reply to this Blogpost with your answers or you can write them down and give them to me in class sometime this week if you don't want to 'aid the competition' ;-)

Good luck!

P.S. Have just enjoyed reading your Poems-Into-Stories blogposts, keep up the good work! If you have yet to do so, GET ON IT!

Mr Howard =)