Reading and Reflecting on newspaper articles
Dear students, it is important to read widely as doing so broadens our minds, increases our general knowledge, and widens our range of vocabulary. This year in particular, we are learning about discursive texts where we will discuss many issues related to our lives, and learn how to harness the power of words to communicate our ideas effectively and convince others.
Hence, our June holiday homework involves:
a) reading at least 3 newspaper articles on general issues ranging from domestic and international news, politics, science and technology, and social and moral issues.
b) reflecting meaningfully on those articles. You will be recording your spoken reflections in the form of audio files. The following template is provided as a start:
state the title of the article, who wrote it, when it was written, and in which newspaper.
summarise what the article is about (just a brief summary here, no opinions necessary yet)
share your opinion on the issue being discussed. Do you agree with the author? Is the issue something you can relate to? What new words / phrases have you come across? Has the article introduced you to new ideas or information? How has the article changed your perspective, or reinforced your existing ideas?
To put it simply, state, summarise, and share!
c) recording your reflections. You can use any recording device available to you, such as a handphone with voice or sound recording functions, a voice recorder or a computer with a microphone. Whatever your device, you should be able to output a sound file in either a .wav or .mp3 or any other common audio file format.
Once you have your audio file (you can combine your 3 reflections into one file), you must upload this file to your page on your class wikispaces account, so your teacher and classmates can access the file.
So, our 3 steps are READ, REFLECT and RECORD!
DEADLINE FOR UPLOADING OF AUDIO FILE TO YOUR PAGE IN YOUR CLASS WIKISPACES ACCOUNT : FIRST DAY OF TERM 3 (27 JUNE 2011)
Some useful tips when recording your response
If using a Windows PC with a microphone:
i) one software you can use is ‘Sound Recorder’, which is available on all PCs running the Windows operating software. You will need a microphone though for voice input. Most laptops have in-built microphones,
If using a Macintosh computer,
ii) you can use the Quicktime player application to record sound, or Garageband. Both these applications come free with Macintosh computers. Most modern macs have in-built microphones too.
If using a mobile phone,
iii) different mobile phone models may have different applications for recording audio. Please refer to your phone’s manual if unsure. You will need a method to transfer your audio file (most phones come supplied with a cable) to your computer though so you can upload your files to your wikispaces page.
if using a dedicated voice recorder,
iv) simply record the audio by pressing the record button, then once done, transfer the files to your computer for uploading.
If you’re feeling adventurous,
v) you could download ‘Audacity’, a free open source application that allows you to record, edit and output audio. This program works on the Windows, Macintosh and even Linux operating systems.
Remember the 3 steps for our holiday homework:
read
reflect (state, summarise & share)
record (and upload to your page on Wikispaces)
We do hope you continue to read the newspapers and make it part of your daily routine. Have a fun and meaningful term break!
Dear students, it is important to read widely as doing so broadens our minds, increases our general knowledge, and widens our range of vocabulary. This year in particular, we are learning about discursive texts where we will discuss many issues related to our lives, and learn how to harness the power of words to communicate our ideas effectively and convince others.
Hence, our June holiday homework involves:
a) reading at least 3 newspaper articles on general issues ranging from domestic and international news, politics, science and technology, and social and moral issues.
b) reflecting meaningfully on those articles. You will be recording your spoken reflections in the form of audio files. The following template is provided as a start:
- state the title of the article, who wrote it, when it was written, and in which newspaper.
- summarise what the article is about (just a brief summary here, no opinions necessary yet)
- share your opinion on the issue being discussed. Do you agree with the author? Is the issue something you can relate to? What new words / phrases have you come across? Has the article introduced you to new ideas or information? How has the article changed your perspective, or reinforced your existing ideas?
To put it simply, state, summarise, and share!c) recording your reflections. You can use any recording device available to you, such as a handphone with voice or sound recording functions, a voice recorder or a computer with a microphone. Whatever your device, you should be able to output a sound file in either a .wav or .mp3 or any other common audio file format.
Once you have your audio file (you can combine your 3 reflections into one file), you must upload this file to your page on your class wikispaces account, so your teacher and classmates can access the file.
So, our 3 steps are READ, REFLECT and RECORD!
DEADLINE FOR UPLOADING OF AUDIO FILE TO YOUR PAGE IN YOUR CLASS WIKISPACES ACCOUNT : FIRST DAY OF TERM 3 (27 JUNE 2011)
Some useful tips when recording your response
If using a Windows PC with a microphone:
i) one software you can use is ‘Sound Recorder’, which is available on all PCs running the Windows operating software. You will need a microphone though for voice input. Most laptops have in-built microphones,
If using a Macintosh computer,
ii) you can use the Quicktime player application to record sound, or Garageband. Both these applications come free with Macintosh computers. Most modern macs have in-built microphones too.
If using a mobile phone,
iii) different mobile phone models may have different applications for recording audio. Please refer to your phone’s manual if unsure. You will need a method to transfer your audio file (most phones come supplied with a cable) to your computer though so you can upload your files to your wikispaces page.
if using a dedicated voice recorder,
iv) simply record the audio by pressing the record button, then once done, transfer the files to your computer for uploading.
If you’re feeling adventurous,
v) you could download ‘Audacity’, a free open source application that allows you to record, edit and output audio. This program works on the Windows, Macintosh and even Linux operating systems.
Remember the 3 steps for our holiday homework:
We do hope you continue to read the newspapers and make it part of your daily routine. Have a fun and meaningful term break!