Bookworms. I don't even like the word. Still, it applies to me - I have been one as far back as I can remember and I cannot imagine life otherwise. The truth is that very few things match the pleasure of a good book and the joys, the knowledge it gives you. Don't tell me you don't have time to read. Don't tell me book lovers hide in books and forget to live; comfortable with second-hand experiences. Book lovers live a thousand lives, they write a thousand books, they travel in time and space. Book lovers are scary. They know so much, they have seen the depths of human souls, they have seen the light and touched the darkness, they have an understanding of things other people will never have.

"A good book should leave you slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it."
William Styron

Sunday, 1 June 2014

Funeral blues, W. H. Auden


Based on the poem below by W. H. Auden the students created a visual presentation that was displayed on the school grounds.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.


Work by Maria Beatriz and Filipa Pizarro

Neighbours by Benjamin Zephaniah





Here's the poem the students read and made into the video below.



Totally like whatever you know? by Taylor Mali

After reading the poem the students recorded their own voices and used the audio for a short video. Later on they decided to create a similar poem in Portuguese criticizing the way teens speak in their country.






Tipo bué de swag só que não

Não sei se já reparaste, mas, tipo
Perdeu a pica toda falar como se, sabes,
Soubesses o que tás a dizer..
Ou acreditares nessas cenas que acabaste de dizer..
Porque um gajo nem nota o que diz..
E, tipo, ya, fica mal, mas a gente tá tipo..
LOL quero lá saber..

Mas, tipo, esta cena fica bué mal..
A gente pensa que a falar com bué SWAG..
Mas no fim, é fatelas.. Toda a gente consegue ver..
Mas eu nao sou o primeiro a dizê-lo,
E apesar de falar da mesma maneira..
Sei que está errado.. E que fica mal..
Por isso peeps.. Acordem... Essa cena já passou..
Mas, olha, se curtes, continua, LOL, importo-me bué..
Só que não.


Work by Eduardo Afonso and Ali El-Zein

The British by Benjamin Zephaniah

The poem can be found here.

And this is the video with the whole recipe!



Work by Mariana Quina

The book of life based on a poem by Hilaire Belloc






http://issuu.com/anasoraia1235/docs/the_book_of_life.docx

Work by Ana Paula and Ana Soraia

Dreams by Langston Hughes






Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow. 






Work by Ana Paula and Ana Soraia

Poison tree by William Blake


After reading the poem, here's a short video.


Work by Rafaela Barata

Definition by May Sarton



Short video on this poem by May Sarton.


Work by Maria Inês Rito and Ana Vilela

The wife of Bafa, by Patience Abgabi

The students read the poem and tried to impersonate the character in a video.





Work by Maria Inês Rito and Ana Vilela

Tuesday, 27 May 2014

Back in business

And here we are again, after one year full of good intentions to do something more, but never quite up to it. Still, our reading project is very much alive and here we are showing you what these great kids have been doing. This year we decided to tackle poetry. Not easy, I know, but the kids loved it and there was some amazing work going on.
I'll be posting the poems each group was working on and, whenever possible, the ideas / activities that were developed.
Hope you enjoy it!