Hiya Ms. T
We are all missing you! you were are good luck charm. Now you've gone they have filtered both blogs. I don't know if the Stanmiester knows about this but we will tell him. I am soooooo annoyed with the useless school you have left! But on the plus side I hope you are great, We are all fine... Except Jodie but we all knew she was going senile (LOL) But please tell FVS to sort there lives out and get there a**** into gear
Luv you Ms T. ... Oh and rest of the class!
Ashley
xxxxx
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Memories...
Hello to you all
I'm waiting for a copy of the novel to arrive - it may take a while, but in the meantime, I'm going to try to remember some of the key elements.
One of the things I remember asking the group to consider is some of the main themes; memory and perception. Consider whose eyes you are seeing things through, and whether or not that changes the reader's perception. Consider the childlike ideals and ideas and whether we can or cannot trust the narrative voice.
Look closely at some of the language - key words, phrases and recollections and what they say about the narrator. Also consider the contrast between him narrating in the present and of the past and differences.
Focus on the key scenes between the two lead characters and consider the status of each of them. It may be worth doing an 'emotion graph' or something like that to look at their relationship. Do this for several key points during the novel (along the horizontal axis - can't remember the maths term for that), and you can chart how their relationship evolves and use it to analyse why.
Also the politics of friendship - the nuances and subtleties of how quickly things change.
I found a website which has a very basic scheme of work on it which is actually for students a lot younger (I don't think it's appropriate for younger students actually), but that may get you thinking. Go to http://www.heinemann.co.uk/shared/Resources/NonSecure/00000001/Spies.pdf
to have a look.
Going back to themes, look at this list, and consider them as you work through the novel:
Englishness, Deception/betrayal, Power, Memory, Friendship, Identity (national, family etc), Male identity,Perception/how we interpret the world, Conformity/individuality,Innocence and experience, Bullying, Sexual awakening, Storytelling/fantasy,Childhood, Belonging, The class system, Making sense of the past, Language and meaning, Alienation/dislocation, The role and place of women.
I hope this is enough to be going on with. Lots of people tend to think of this book as a bit 'ploddy' and dull, but I think it's definitely a case of scratch beneath the surface and it gets a lot more interesting.
Take care - let me know if this is ok.
Miss T
I'm waiting for a copy of the novel to arrive - it may take a while, but in the meantime, I'm going to try to remember some of the key elements.
One of the things I remember asking the group to consider is some of the main themes; memory and perception. Consider whose eyes you are seeing things through, and whether or not that changes the reader's perception. Consider the childlike ideals and ideas and whether we can or cannot trust the narrative voice.
Look closely at some of the language - key words, phrases and recollections and what they say about the narrator. Also consider the contrast between him narrating in the present and of the past and differences.
Focus on the key scenes between the two lead characters and consider the status of each of them. It may be worth doing an 'emotion graph' or something like that to look at their relationship. Do this for several key points during the novel (along the horizontal axis - can't remember the maths term for that), and you can chart how their relationship evolves and use it to analyse why.
Also the politics of friendship - the nuances and subtleties of how quickly things change.
I found a website which has a very basic scheme of work on it which is actually for students a lot younger (I don't think it's appropriate for younger students actually), but that may get you thinking. Go to http://www.heinemann.co.uk/shared/Resources/NonSecure/00000001/Spies.pdf
to have a look.
Going back to themes, look at this list, and consider them as you work through the novel:
Englishness, Deception/betrayal, Power, Memory, Friendship, Identity (national, family etc), Male identity,Perception/how we interpret the world, Conformity/individuality,Innocence and experience, Bullying, Sexual awakening, Storytelling/fantasy,Childhood, Belonging, The class system, Making sense of the past, Language and meaning, Alienation/dislocation, The role and place of women.
I hope this is enough to be going on with. Lots of people tend to think of this book as a bit 'ploddy' and dull, but I think it's definitely a case of scratch beneath the surface and it gets a lot more interesting.
Take care - let me know if this is ok.
Miss T
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Only me......
Hello you lovely(?) lot, Miss T here
Well, finally I get to see what you've all been up to!!!
I have just spent a bit of time reading over this well-designed blog and think you need to concentrate more on the content than the colours. Ha ha.
Why am I here? Because you're worth it of course. I'm going to keep an e-eye on you all, and see how you're getting on with the novel. You may even find that I make the odd comment, suggestion or raise a question or two. You may have already found that there aren't too many resources on Spies, as it's such a new book to the syllabus, but never fear, I took copies of everything I used when teaching it last year, (in fact it was my scheme of work, so I was entitled to those copies!) so will use that I think.
Anyway, I'm going to sign off now. You poor people are at school at the moment, and I'm not - my half term holiday is this week, so I'm enjoying some rest and relaxation. Everything is hunky-dory at this end, life is good. Just so you know, I'm more likely to access the blog in the evenings, as believe it or not I have little time in the day as I have a job of work to do. Let me know how you all are. Be happy.
Miss T x
Well, finally I get to see what you've all been up to!!!
I have just spent a bit of time reading over this well-designed blog and think you need to concentrate more on the content than the colours. Ha ha.
Why am I here? Because you're worth it of course. I'm going to keep an e-eye on you all, and see how you're getting on with the novel. You may even find that I make the odd comment, suggestion or raise a question or two. You may have already found that there aren't too many resources on Spies, as it's such a new book to the syllabus, but never fear, I took copies of everything I used when teaching it last year, (in fact it was my scheme of work, so I was entitled to those copies!) so will use that I think.
Anyway, I'm going to sign off now. You poor people are at school at the moment, and I'm not - my half term holiday is this week, so I'm enjoying some rest and relaxation. Everything is hunky-dory at this end, life is good. Just so you know, I'm more likely to access the blog in the evenings, as believe it or not I have little time in the day as I have a job of work to do. Let me know how you all are. Be happy.
Miss T x
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