Christmas greetings

Here is a Christmas greeting from your corespondents!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmP3acmWcy0&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3YNuuVmOfHafOM56Y1lk6zqy8it2PO1Xeh8gWPZtuvdUk34NMoLEvVrAE

We had arranged for them to do a Christmas video for you and we will be shooting a New Year's greeting to send to them the first week back! Start thinking of ideas!

Animation apps and things

Here is a list of good, free apps for iphones and android users.

I recommend that you do a quick test with the app you choose before shooting all your scenes and realizing at the end that there is a problem.

For example, try shooting a movement of 10 images and save that as a scene. Then do a second sequence of 10 images and save that as a scene. Then see what you need to do to connect the separate scenes and add sound.
I can't be more specific than that because each app is a bit different, but from what I have seen and tested, they are very intuitive and easy to use.

Look at each of the apps to decide which one you want to use.

for iphone users:

iStopMotion 3

Considered the best free stop motion for iphone

LookSee Animator

Recommended for the ease in connecting separate films

StopMotion Recorder

Simple but great.

For android:

Animator DV 

really great and here are two tutorials (paper and video):

http://animatordv.com/download_free.php

video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c70Ou4nPyw0

Animation Studio by Sean Brakefield

Considered an excellent app

ENJOY!

Student's list of correspondents

Here it is!

Jade Blanc	Barták Daniel 17 Date of birth 31. 7. 2001 Telephonenumber +420 732 587 038 E-mail address of the studentdaniel.bart@seznam.cz
Ambre Boyer	BlankaHorackova 17 Date of birth 1.6.2001 Telephonenumber +420 606 793 896 E-mail address of the studentblaninka.horackova@gmail.com
Mado Carniello	Barbora Seifertová 17 Date of birth 18.5.2001 Telephonenumber 728801529 E-mailaddress of the student bara111987@seznam.cz
Marie Chaverot	Eliska Doskocilova Date of birth 31.8.2000 Telephonenumber 604985174 E-mail address of the studentdoskocilova.eliska@seznam.cz
Lucie Cheneau	David Pesek 17 Date of birth 14.8.2001 Telephone number 776886172 E-mail address of the student dada.pesek@seznam.cz
Alive Chivé	Zuzana Morávková 17 Date of birth 18.2.2001 Telephonenumber 736438389 E-mail address of the studentmoravzuzana@gmail.com
Pauline Cuirot	Lucie Zimova 17 Date of birth 26.12.2000 Telephonenumber 774070371 E-mail address of the studentluzimova@gmail.com
Emma d'Hoine	Lenka Dolanska Date of birth 2.1.2001 Telephonenumber 702515449 E-mail address of the studentdolanska.lenka.1@seznam.cz
Noemi Delaporte	Michal Schejbal 17 Date of birth 31. 12. 2000 Telephonenumber 731 966 233 E-mail address of the studentmichales.schejbales@gmail.com
Alix Demouveaux	Kristýna Spurnova 17 Date of birth 12.8. 2001 Telephonenumber +420 773 218 947 E-mail address of the studentkristy.nkas@centrum.com
Maeva Doisneau	Bily Ludek 17  Telephonenumber 773629970 E-mail address of the studentludasino@seznam.com
Cathy Dransart	Markéta Lichtenberkova 18 23.10.2000 Telephonenumber 732524123 m.lichtenberkova@gamail.com
Manon Escalant	Eva Capkova 18 Date of birth 19.12.2000 Telephonenumber +420734363622 E-mail address of the studentevacapkova1@seznam.com
Zoe Framery	Lucie Benešová 17 Date of birth 13.2.2001 Telephonenumber 702 069 882 E-mail address of thestudentluciebenesova11@gmail.com
Ambre Jobard	Anezka Dostalova 17 Telephonenumber 739 683 778 E-mail address of the studentAha350@seznam.cz
Cassandra Lambert	Gabriela Spoustová 17 Telephonenumber 721936872 E-mail address of thestudentg.spoustova01@seznam.cz
Agathe Lavigne	Robert Vovk 17  Date of birth 05.01.2001 Telephonenumber 606 256 026 E-mail address of the studentrobert.vovk@seznam.cz
Elisa LenainViera	Jaroslav Kavina 17 Date of birth 13.11.2000 Telephonenumber 778051687 E-mail address of the studentjaroslavkavina@seznam.cz
Diana Oidsalu	Aneta Lienertová 18 Telephone number 774339283 E-mail address of the student anetka.lienertova@gmail.com
Arthur Raulier	Cap Jonas Age 17 Date of birth 3. 3. 2001 Telephonenumber 731072434 E-mail address of the studentjonas114@email.cz
Lola Thebault	Juliana Slavickova 17 Date of birth 18.5.2001 Telephonenumber 723568088 E-mail address of the student slavickova5. jul@seznam.cz
Luce Valade	Kristýna Podešvová 17 Date of birth 4.7.2001 Telephone number 735 969 532 E-mail address of the student kristynapodesvova@seznam.cz
AnaelleVoorneveld	Jiri Unzeitig 17 Date of birth 15.3.2001 Telephonenumber 604 777 407 E-mail address of the studentJurin19@seznam.cz

Lise Sevin	Eliska Hrnova 18 Date of birth 24.11. 2000 Telephonenumber 731 197 281 E-mail address of the studentElantony.hron@gmail.com
Virginie	Adam Sindlar 18 Date of birth 29.8.2000 Telephonenumber 739686128 E-mail address of the studentadamsindelar2000@gmail.com
Chloé Izquierdo	Nela Kosnarova 17 Date of birth 17.12.2000 Telephonenumber +420 733 266 858 E-mail address of the studentnelkosnarova@seznam.cz

logbook guide

The logbook

You must keep a logbook, which consists of writing about your working process at home for this class. To begin, this will consist in writing about your reading and your reflections about reading.

When we have finished The Cowards, your logbook will be about research and project building.

To help you begin your logbook, I am giving you the questions that we use in the reading club to help readers keep a reading logbook. You should begin to appropriate the questions so that when you read you naturally answer these questions.

After each time you read write down all of your thoughts about the book.

Write or draw everything that comes to you.

To begin more easily you can begin with these phrases:

Today, I read the passage in which...

I ask myself...

If I was...

I think...

I believe...

I find...

I would like to know...

I imagine...

I looked for...

The images that stay with me are...

The words that come back to me are...

What surprises me is...

What I don't understand is...

What I find shocking is...

It makes me think of...

You can add drawings, maps, sketches, photos that you took because your reading inspired you to take them...

You can recopy segments that you particularly enjoyed.

At the beginning of each entry you need to write the date and the pages read.

Remember, you need to write ½ an A4 page per week (or an A5 page).

Link to Prague video

One last post for the night:

Here is a link that our teaching correspondent sent us about Prague.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ffxGB2j9ADo

The city that the school is in is called Vysoké Myoto. Here is the school web page:
https://gvmyto.edupage.org/blog5/?bid=blog5&lang=cz

 Many students live in the neighboring town of Litomysl. Here is a link for images of that city:
http://www.czechtourism.com/t/litomysl/

Enjoy!

The Cowards link and character list

For our new classmates, here is a link to the novel that we are studying, The Cowards by Josef Skvorecky.

http://www.rect.muni.cz/summerschool/New_Europe/Preliminary_readings/The%20Cowards%3B%20Penguin%20Modern%20Classic%3B%20Josef%20Skvorecky/

Reread the first chapter entitled "Friday, May 4, 1945".

It is 34 pages long. Write down vocabulary that you don't know in your vocabulary book.

To help you with the character names (since they are very unusual to us) here is a list:

Protagonist - Danny Smiricky

Boys in the band with Danny:

Benno – fat and lazy

Venca

Fonda

Lexa

Haryk

Jindra

Others:

Irena – The love of Danny’s life

Zdenek

Helena – Benno’s girlfriend

Lucie – Haryk’s girlfriend

Dr. Sabata – a respected town figure and a leader in the negotiations for the peaceful retreat of the Germans out of Kostelec

Cemelik – acting Colonel of the Czech Army in Kostelec

the youth resistance

Prema – a central figure in the Kostelec resistance

Vahar

Perlik

Jerry

Prochazka

Vasek Vostal

BendaKocandrle

Berty – son of a local photographer, and a photographer himself

Answer questions 1-4 as best as you can, and we will discuss the chapter next week.

Materials list, project and expectations

MATERIALS:

1 48 page notebook or a binder with plastic sheet protectors → for work in class

1 48 page notebook or a binder with plastic sheet protectors → logbook for work at home

1 alphabetic notebook → vocabulary

TOPICS:

1968 as a transnational social and political movement

visions of the place of the human in the world

PROJECTS:

This class is an exchange based class. You will be asked to produce multiple digital projects based on the documents you will study. The goal of this is for you to teach your correspondents in the Czech Republic what you have learned about their history and culture. They will be doing the same, creating digital documents about your history and culture.

You will:

read, discuss and create a short films in groups about The Cowards

Watch, discuss and create short films about The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and The Hand

Study, discuss and create recordings about the visual poems of Kolar

Study, discuss and create digital explanations about Revue K

The projects will be sent to your correspondents and presented for Journéees Portes Ouvertes in April and during the “Semaine des Langues” in May

EXPECTATIONS:

1/ logbook: You must write a half a page each week.You will explain; your research, the websites, the difficulties encountered, new concepts you are exposed to, what you have learned, the process of putting together your presentations...

The logbook will be collected and graded throughout the year.

2/ vocabulary book: You are expected to write all the words that you encounter that are relevant to the project you are working on that are new to you. In addition I will be giving lists of relevant words that you must enter into your vocabulary book.

The vocabulary book will be collected and graded throughout the year.

3/ class notebook: You will keep a class notebook for in-class lessons and discussions.

4/ Language: You are expected to speak English in class. Although it is certainly easier to express yourself in French, the classroom is English only.

In-class English is graded (quantity not quality).

5/ Presentations: Presentations are to be memorized. You may have a small card with keywords if necessary.

Presentations must be done on-time. Late presentations will be penalized.

6/ Attendance: You are expected to be in class each week. Any absence must be justified. If you are absent for an evaluation or presentation, you have one week to make it up.

7/ Digital work: You will have assignments that are turned in via email. The expectations are the same: you must send them by the deadline, otherwise they will be considered late.

This is my email address: alexisbuckley45@gmail.com

Reading comprehension questions for "The Cowards"

Here are 15 questions to help you understand the text more clearly.
To help your understanding, make a list of the names of the characters in the story.

Please answer questions 1-3 during the summer. We will answer the rest after we meet. 

The Cowards

1a/ Fill in the blanks with words from this list:

expository, descriptive, persuasive, narrative, immediate, irrelevant, repetitive

Škvorecký's prose is mostly _____________________and ______________________.

This style of writing is interspersed with introspective passages in which Danny thinks in long sentences.

1b/This represents:

a) the movement of his mind from one related thought to another.

b) his inability to concentrate

c) being trapped in his reality and the present moment.

1c/ Justify with an example from the text.

2/ What is the protagonist’s name and approximate age ? Justify with quotes and the page numbers

3/ What motivates Danny in his actions?

4/ What do the final days of the war force Danny to confront within himself?

5/ Danny is generally pretty condescending about girls. Reread pg 248 – 250, from “'So long...” to “I uncrossed my legs and straightened up.” How does this passage help us understand Danny and his attitude towards Irena?

6/ Reread pages 67 from “Her eyes looked terrified” to pg 69 “Behind him stood two guys with sub-machine guns”. How does Danny view himself? How does Danny imagine how others see him? How does he see the German soldiers? How does this help us understand the German soldiers?

7/ Jazz is a main theme of The Cowards. (To help put this into context, jazz music originated in New Orleans at the start of the 20^th century. It is the blend of African rhythms with European instruments on American soil. The music is played in an expressive way, as an "extension" of the human voice.) What does this theme communicate in the book?

8/ Reread pages 136 – 139 from “We stopped talking...” to “But then memories always were”. What does this passage evoke?

9/ Reread pg 345 – 347 from “The guy started talking...” to “...one dumb celebration to the next”. What do we learn about Danny's vision of himself? What does the brass band symbolize?

10/ Reread pg 347 – 349, from “'Right' said Prema...” to “...'Let's go,' he said”. What has happened to Danny? What does this tell the reader about Danny's view of the past, the present and the future?

11/ Reread pg from “The street was shady...” to pg 406 “Seeing off the Englishmen”. What does Danny's conversation with Siddell help the reader understand about the view of communists from the two points of view, English and Czech?

Why does he cry?

12/ The red supergiant star Betelgeuse is cited on the following pages; pg 266, pg 271, pg 347, pg 356, pg 386. Write down a quote from the page that you think shows the link between Danny and the star, then explain what you think the link is.

13/ The final passage of the novel on pg 412-413 occur while Danny is playing the saxophone. What does this help the reader understand about Danny, about youth, and about the end of the war?

After reading the novel reread the preface and answer these questions.

Author’s preface

14/ Škvorecký talks about “Hans Christian Anderson-truths of youth”. What do you think he means?

15/ Škvoreckýsays “...that if we have real respect for something, we express it best in art by absolute realism, ‘harsh realism...” What do you think he means?

If you have any questions please contact me.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

I have asked you to watch this film for class.

In order to make access easier for you I am providing a link to watch the film.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being deals treats multiple topics and philosophical questions during a time when Czechoslovakia was occupied by Russian armies.

As you watch note:

1/ What topics are treated

2/ What the three main characters; Sabina, Thomas and Serena are associated with.

3/ What is the personal impact on the protagonists when the Soviet Tanks invade?

Click on the link below to watch

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E90_hSMoOrFELOvNdf_au7-W6X7Ui_zL/view?usp=sharing

Art

Any work of art that lives was created out of the very substance of its times. The artist did not build it himself. The work describes the sufferings, love and dreams of his friends.
                                        - ROMAIN ROLLAND

Hello!

Hello future 1ère Euro HG.

This is our shared digital platform to share work and keep up to date on what is going on in class.

A blog allows each one of us to post and respond to other posts, but in order to do this I MUST have your email address. Please click on the "comments" option below and write your name and email so that I can include you as an author in preparation for next year. You will receive an invitation from me to become an author on this blog during the week before school begins again in September. You MUST respond to it so that you can become an author on the blog, and not be limited to commenting on the posts written by others.

If you have any questions, or if you do not receive an invitation, write to me at this address:
alexisbuckley45@gmail.com

Have a great summer and enjoy the book, film and essay that that you must read. They are great!