During the week of 6/15 - 6/19, students spent three days in the school's Mac computer lab learning and using the Mac program Garageband. If you haven't heard of Garageband before, it's a music-making computer program made by Apple that allows the user to choose from hundreds of different instrument loops to create original compositions. The beauty of the program is that no musical experience or knowledge is necessary in order to have fun with Garageband.Prior to our work in the computer lab, students listened to clips of instrumental music and determined that factors such as tempo, types of instruments used, and volume of the music helped determine the mood of the musical selection. After they spent a period and a half learning some of the basic functions of Garageband and experimenting with the seemingly countless number of loops, students used this program to create a soundtrack for one of four different poems that I provided. The key was that the short soundtrack they created had to convey a mood similar to that of the poem they selected.
If you have a Mac computer at home, you most likely have Garageband. Ask your child to introduce you to the program. It can be addicting!
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Friday was the last day that students on Team 7-1 had a normal class schedule, so in English class the students completed some activities in which they reflected on the work they completed this year. They gave me feedback on which of the year's activities were helpful and enjoyable for them, and they completed reflection forms about their strengths, things they wish they had done better, and most proud accomplishments in English class.
Returned Assignments
Three graded assignments were returned this week. All of the following assignments are part of your child's Quarter 4 grade.
- a 25-point Person of the Year oral presentation scoring rubric
- a 15-point poem
- a 14-point poetry analysis assessment
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