Almost there!

I've put out a song from Michael Jackson which says a lot:-


Here are the lyrics:-

No matter how hard
The task may seem
Don't give up our plans
Don't give up our dreams

No broken bridges
Can turn us around
'Cause what we're searchin' for
Will soon be found

Cause we're almost there
Just one more step
Cause we're almost there
Just one more step
Just one more step
Don't give up
'Cause we're almost all almost there
'Cause we're almost there

Although this was a love song you can apply it to school or whatever endeavour you undertake..

Today will be the oral presentations of your

English-speaking country project. (max. 5 minutes)

Good luck!

Write, write, write!

Today you will have the whole lesson to write your comparative essay about an aspect of life in an English speaking country...

Remember the example I gave you...
A comparison of what is typically Canadian compared with Sweden..

During the lesson I will talk to you one on one about the results of the national test and your projected final grade for English

Here is an extract from the Curriculum  (kursplan)
highlighting the key concepts for this activity

• Olika sätt att bearbeta egna framställningar för att variera, tydliggöra, precisera och anpassa dem efter deras syften.
• Muntliga och skriftliga berättelser, beskrivningar och instruktioner.
• Samtal och diskussioner samt argumentation.

Good luck!

English speaking country Project

You are going to do a project about an English-speaking country where you make a comparison with Sweden (A Comparative Essay). One subject should be covered eg education, nature / geography, fauna / flora, culture, festivals,  what makes a typical Englishman (Irishman) vs. a typical Swede. 

Here is a list of the countries which you can choose.

• Australia
• The Bahamas
• Belize
• Canada
• Ireland
• Jamaica
• New Zealand
• United Kingdom
• United States of America

Choose your country and topic

You have today and Friday to research and write your essay

I will give you a simple example so you can understand a little better

Project- English speaking country

Headings-

Introduction- Say what you have chosen and why..

English speaking country (Canada )

Main idea-What is “typically” Canadian and Swedish

Write the topics (Politeness, hockey, nature, maple syrup, road trips, huge area "humongous"- with a special word to describe it)

Comparison- Sweden
Ice hockey, the amazing outdoors and the Northern Lights are also typically Swedish.
However, instead of Maple Syrup we have "Falukorv", instead of politeness we are reserved/shy in relationships and instead of road trips Swedes have their favourite holiday destinations..

Conclusion- What is different and what is the same?
As we can see Canada and Sweden have a lot in common- the flora and fauna, geography and seasons.
However, some "typical" things are very different.
No maple syrup in Sweden; not politeness but shyness as a typical characteristic and not road trips but vacation trips.
There are more things which unite than separate Canadians and Swedes but they are still different people and a typical Swede could not be confused with a typical Canadian.

The task is made up of 2 parts:-

1. A text of 150-400 words with information about your topic and your comparison. You should:-

• write in paragraphs (you can use headings to help you)
• give your findings/opinions at the end
• state your sources

2. A 5 minute presentation on 29th May of your material and conclusions..

Here are the results of the Swedish jury!

Today we will watch the end of the film version of "Lord of the Flies"... We pick up the film directly after the murder of Simon..

Unfortunately we won't have time to go through the results of the national test today

Important to know that this year the national test
did not come up to the right level
See the following link...

That means that the result of the national test and your final grade may not match!!!

Next week we will launch directly into the preparations for the presentation about an English speaking country.

The presentations will be on the 29th May..

Lord of the flies

Today we are going to watch the 1990 film version of the book. It is a lot further from the original than the black and white film is.

What I want you to do is to write down 
10 differences from the film and the book and send them to me...

Do this on Wednesday after you have seen the end of the film

Just for reference here is the original 1963 film
which keeps very closely to the text of the book




I had hoped to give you the results of the national tests today but we will have to wait until next week..

Sorry..

Bye bye "Lord of the Flies"

Today we will finish off our novel "Lord of the Flies"

Ida will lead us in the last seminar about chapter 12 where the ending is both exciting and unexpected...

Afterwards there will be a quiz about the book. You can use your copies of the novels....

On Friday we will be watching a film and during this time I will call each one out for a few minutes to go through the results of the National Test

Important that you don't give up on the home straight!

5 weeks from today is the deadline for writing your grades.

In English that means doing the things which YOU have planned.

We have the planner on the latest blog entry..

1. Letter to myself in 10 years time... 

We write them and print them and put them in an envelope in "Excel's Archive" in a sealed envelope which says    "Not to be opened before 3rd May 2029"

So, please get writing. 

The idea of the letter is to imagine what you will be doing, where you will be living and with whom in 10 years from now...

But not today!!!!!!!!

TODAY we have the 2 final seminars for "Lord of the Flies" and the dramatic and tragic events of the end of the novel....

Alma and Ida will be leading the two seminars...