Music Reflection

1. What have you enjoyed about music this year?

I enjoyed being able to work with my friends on projects and performances.

2. What has been your favourite task and why?

I liked the freedom of being able to write my own piece; lyrics and all.

3. Did you complete a class performance? How was it? 

Aron, Shanix, Daniel and I completed a class performance and performed an original song to the class. It went okay, the piece could have benefited from some more variation and development.

4. Is there anything you did not have the opportunity to do/learn?

No.

5. What would you like your music goal to be Term 1 2021?

I would like to get better at playing the guitar.

Composing Process

Tuesday 17th November

10 Music - Period 5.

What have you found challenging about the composing process?

I find that writing lyrics can sometimes be hard because I get writers block. A solution I found to this problem is to ask my fellow group members for help.

What have you composed so far? Are you happy with it?

We have written most of the lyrics. I am happy with the lyrics that our group has written.

Which part of your piece are you currently working on?

We have started work on a chord progression.

What is left to compose?

We need to finish off and polish up our second verse, and finish our chord progression.

What are your goals for your last two lessons before the performance?

We hope to finish our composition this period and use the rest of our time and practice together, in preparation for our performance in two lessons time.

2. Continue with composing, Continue with your composing process, you only have two lessons of composition time before we share our work.

 

Gymnastics

Today in gymnastics I completed:

- Completed the Achieved sequence for the beam

- Completed the Achieved sequence for the trampoline

- Tried out the parallel bars, floor mat, and horizontal bar

For my assessment I have chosen to complete sequences on:

- Horizontal bar (Achieved)

- Beam (Merit)

- Trampoline (Merit)

Reading Skills

 What is a Reading Skill?

Reading skills are skills used in order to gain meaning and knowledge from a piece of text.

Some examples of reading skills are vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluency. 

What is a Reading Strategy?

Reading strategies are strategies used by reading beginners to help them harvest information and knowledge and transform print to meaning.

Both reading skills & reading strategies are important to readers because they help develop imagination in learning readers, improve communication skills, and strengthens mental muscles.

Reading Techniques

Skimming. Skimming will help you grasp the general idea or gist of a text. 

Scanning. Scanning allows you to locate precise information.

Detailed reading. Detailed reading allows you to critically consider aspects of the text.

Revision reading.

https://www.monash.edu/

Acronym:

P - Predict

E - Evaluate

A - Annotate (Read Aloud)

R - Re-Read

S - Summarize

Character Chart

Challenges Chart	Katniss	Peeta	Rue	Seneca
Challenge Faced	Rue’s death	Duos rule revoked	Saving Katniss	Suicide pact
Character Reaction	Katniss puts Rue to rest using a bed of flowers and the three finger salute, a symbol of hope.	Peeta was prepared to let Katniss win, ending his own life in the process.	Rue helps Katniss by revealing the hive of tracker-jackers to her.	Seneca elects to allow both Katniss & Peeta to be joint victors of the 74th Annual hunger games.
Effect on Char	Katniss is distraught and mourns for Rue’s passing, as Rue reminds Katniss of her own younger sister, Primrose.	Peeta was surprised when Katniss decided to instead force the game-makers to let them win.	Rue and Katniss then become friends and help each other until Rue’s untimely demise.	Seneca is executed, locked in a room with a bowl of the poisonous berries that Katniss & Peeta threatened to take.

- What am I learning?

I am learning how to understand how characters are developed in a film.

- How does this show my learning?

This shows my understanding of character development by explaining how a character/s is portrayed using specific examples from the text.

- What am I wondering as a result of this learning?

I am wondering other ways that different characters developed in the Hunger Games.

Zeus Poster

 This is a poster about Zeus. He is the Roman god of thunder.

Hunger Games Setting Timeline

 

What am I learning?

I am learning to understand the importance of setting to a film

How does this work show my learning?

This work shows my learning because it uses examples from the text to explain the importance of settings.

What am I wondering as a result?

I am wondering if there are any other notable scenes used in movies, and what effects they had on the film/scene.

Know Your Place

To end the term in Social Studies, we started learning how to use Prezi and got introduced 

I never knew about the historical importance that Lyttleton had, or its purpose for early settlers. As an HHS student, I thought it was cool I thought that the way that Christchurch & Canterbury were named was very interesting, and I was very surprised when I found out. I wish there were more tasks about Hornby and our school's local area, as I think that info such as Hornby's history is more relevant to myself. 

Film Workshop #5 - Music

https://sites.google.com/hornby.school.nz/rc-learning-site-2020/courses/film-study

Major key - happy, energetic, upilifting

Minor key - sad, lathegartic, creepy, angry

Tempo - speed of the music- how fast/slow is the beat

Dynamics - volume- loud= forte, quiet = piano,

Crescendo - starts off quiet and gets louder, builds tension, intensity,

Diminuendo - starts loud then gets quiet, can be relaxing, make focus, bring down energy

Diegetic Sound - sounds that occur naturally

Non-diegetic Sound - music, or anything added to the scene

Song 1 - happy, energetic, major

Song 2 - sombre, relaxing,  minor

Reaping Day:

Major/Minor

Tempo - Fast/Moderate/Slow

Dynamics- Crescendo/Diminuendo/Static

Effect on the viewer - Hopeful, scared, anxious

Directors purpose - Puts us in the shoes of the children in District 12

Rue's Farewell:

What happens in the scene- Puts Rue to rest,  she died- was speared through the chest- we are not happy about this, mainly sad

Major/Minor

Tempo - Fast/Moderate/Slow

Dynamics- Crescendo/Diminuendo/Static

Effect on the viewer - depressed, sorrowful, melanchonic

Directors purpose - because someone just died, she was close with Katniss, Katniss is the main character, Katniss cares about because Rue is a child and reminds her of Prim.

In the scene where Rue dies, the technique of music is used effectively to show the theme of Hope & Rebellion. In this scene, we see Rue by Katniss put to rest after she is impaled with a spear by another tribute. The music used makes the audience feel depressed, sorrowful, and melancholoic through the use of minor chords, a slow tempo, and rising/falling dynamics. The purpose of this is to show the relationship between Katniss and Rue. They are friends and Katniss sees Rue like her younger sister Primrose. This worked well with the use of the three-finger-salute which is a symbol of hope from Katniss's district. This shows hope and rebellion because as a result of Katniss's actions, the people of District 11 start rioting against the Peace Keepers. 

Music Performance

 This term in music our topic was group performances. Shanix and I made a group and decided to perform What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. I played piano and Shanix played chords on guitar.

The performance reached a significant roadblock when Shanix broke his hand and was unable to play guitar for the performance. As I didn't really know the chords to the song, I had to figure out the chords to the first verse and then decided to only perform that.

It was challenging keeping my head cool under the pressure of improvising a piece with very little time left. I enjoyed practicing a song that I liked and doing it with Shanix too.

Film Workshop 4: Lighting & Colour

 

Atmosphere - The surrounding mood of a setting

Mood - An emotion or feeling

Location - A place/position

In the film the Hunger Games by Gary Ross, lighting is used effectively to show the difference between District 12 & the Capitol. In District 12, we see mainly brown, green, and grey. These are natural colours.  In the Capitol, we see artifical and & vibrant colours. This makes us understand that the Capitol has the privilege of modern lighting. The director did this to show the theme Rich vs Poor. The power of the Capitol, over District 12 is shown through the use of futuristic technology. The lack of opportunity in District 12 is highlighted through by their lack of modern technology. Lighting in each location can be compared to the possibliity of hope and rebellion in each setting.

Hunger Games Key Point Timeline

 

- What am I learning?

I am learning to analyse the plot of a film by explaining how the films plot is constructed to engage a viewer.

- How does this work show my learning?

My timeline features explanations of each scene and their importance in the plot.

- What am I wondering as a result of this learning?

I am wondering if all plots follow a traditional Freytag pyramid, as the Hunger Games does not seem to.

P.E. Reflection Week 8

Last week in P.E., we ran two split sports: Basketball & Netball.

Mrs Tafau ran two sports in two groups and separated the two, and gave each student a choice of which one they wanted to do. I tried both sports, Basketball on Monday & Wednesday, and Netball on Tuesday. I enjoyed basketball more. I think I was working at level 3 grade since I lead my netball team as centre, and encouraged a positive attitude in the gym.

Film Workshop #3 - Costumes

https://sites.google.com/hornby.school.nz/rc-learning-site-2020/courses/film-study

Picture 1 - The Reaping:

What is happening? - The people of District 12 are waiting to find out who will be reaped.

Describe - Faded from repeated clothing, mended. Outfits are old, worn, dark colours so coal doesn't damage the light colour, at reaping they are in their best clothes because they ar ebeing watched by the Capitol and other districts, dont want to look as poor as they are. Boys outfits- Button-up shirts, suspenders, trousers/shorts. Girls- dresses/skirts, length at knees but not longer. Hair is tidy. No accessories- can't afford, not practical.

Effect on the viewer - They are poor, not enough money for more than the basics. They want to be seen as equals, respectable, not as dirt coal miners; more than their jobs.

Directors purpose - To show the difference between the Capitol and the other districts, Capitol has wealth- privilege,- their clothing is nicer, access to better fabrics, more avaiable and can properly fitted

Techniques - camera angle- wide shot which shows lots of people crammed in, high angle shot which makes the subject seem weak and vulnerable; emphasises the power of the Capitol over the districts.

In the Reaping scene, costumes are used effectively to show theme of 'Rich vs Poor.' In this case, Rich vs Poor means the privileges afforded to those in Panem based on their district. This is demonstrated by the clothing worn by tne residents of Dsitrict 12 during the annual Reaping. The clothing is uniform-like, well-worn and bland in colour. The men wear button-up collar shirts and shorts/trousers whilst the girls wear skirts & dresses. These are examples of their best clothing which tells the viewer that District 12 are poor and limited to what they can access. This makes the audience think that although they are poor and can only afford the basics, they want to be seen as respectable in front of the Capitol and other districs, not just as coal miners. This was done to show the difference between the Capitol and other districts/the Capitol- the Capitol has wealth & privilege whilst the people of Panem's districts have to make do. This worked well with the use of camera angles. In this shot a high angle wide shot is used to make the people of District 12 are weaker and more vulnerable under the power of those in the Capitol. This can be juxtaposed to the use of costumes in the Capitol where we see rich vs poor through the extravagance and luxuries of the citizens costumes.

Picture 2 - Arrival in the Capitol:

What is happening? - The capitol residents are waiting for the tributes to arrive.

Describe - colourful, bright, immaculate, exotic, co-ordinated, variety. Women- dresses, different styles but on same bright colour palette. Men- suits, skirts, handbags. Accessories- dyed pets, headwear/hats, handbags/purses, gloves, jewellery, make-up, accessories are not limited to one gender e.g. men have long eyelashes

Effect on the viewer - They are wealthy; not poor, privilege- born into wealth and don't have to worry about reaping/working

Directors purpose - To highlight the luxuries of the Capitol. 

Techniques - Setting- light, modern architecure, stones metals, steel, fresh, new, futuristic.

In the arrival to the Capitol, costumes are used effectively to show the the theme of Rich vs Poor. We see this when Peeta and Katniss arrive in the Capitol and the train