Recounts, Shakespeare, and Stagecraft

The year 7 students have been learning about recounts. They have provided recounts of their own recent experiences and explored the unique features of a recount text. This has been the groundwork for their analysis and historical recount of the key events in Ernest Shackleton’s legendary Antarctic expedition aboard the Endurance in 1914. The year 7s are also honing their fact-finding skills in recounting the history of forestry in New Zealand.

Year 8 students have been following the adventures of the characters in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’: the comedic antics of the mechanicals and the bewildering effect the ruses of Oberon and Puck have on the young Athenians in the forest.

The year 9 students have been reading about the unfolding tragedy of ‘Othello’. They have been analysing the key characters in ‘Othello’: the motivations and manipulations of Iago and the nature of those close to him who are unsuspecting participants in his scheming.

Year 8 and 9 students have been investigating Shakespeare’s use of language – including verse and prose. They have also been analysing the elements that go into staging a play, such as the use of voice, body, movement and space. They have been practising using SEED paragraphs to show their understanding of the main ideas.