Tuesday, October 5, 2010

The Medici: The Godfathers of the Renaissance

Some would characterize the Medici family as if they were the mafia.  Define mafia and decide whether or not the Medici can and should be described as mafiosa.  Use evidence to support your argument.


Period 2

Justin
Vidya
Tong
Helena
Sarah
Rahul
Sun Hae
Kane


Althea
Min
Se Jin
Berk
Kaitlyn
Tara
Wai Ho



Aidan
John
Joonatan
Mitsu
Sarah
Bianca
Jaelyn
Shu Mei


Rik
Karan
Aaiz
Nazihah
Do Hyun
Lachlan
Karthik
Grant 

Period 8

Yuna
Anh
Bryna
Yi
Fabian
Riana
Daniel
Ayla
Ji Woo

Erik
Natalie
Yoo Joon
Cassidy
Laura H.
Mihir
Amy
Young Min

Sal
Hyo Won
Sophia
June
Yi Khai
Jonas
Leo
Ni

David
Nabilah
Ibrahim
Ganesh
Evan
Hisham
KL
Laura W.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Brunelleschi's Activity Blog

Virtuosity: a technical skill, fluency or style brought about by special knowledge of or interest in art or craftsmanship

Creative leadership: showing people the way though imagination and originality

Courage: the ability to do something in the face of fear, danger and/or disapproval

Risk-taking: taking actions that may have undesired or unpleasant results, but at the same time provide an opportunity for a positive outcome

The story of Brunelleschi's dome is one of human ambition achieved through virtuosity, creative leadership, imagination, courage and risk-taking.  Consider these various characteristics and discuss which one you believe most prompted Brunelleschi to succeed in the construction of his masterpiece.  Further, consider the following essential question as it relates to Brunelleschi and the construction of the dome, "How do the actions and decisions of people effect change?"

Thursday, September 2, 2010

My favourite short story from our unit.

Responding to the essential question:  What makes a good story?

When choosing a favourite I decided to choose the story that had the most emotional impact for me.  The Sniper wasn't a new story for me because I had read it before, but this time it meant so much more.  In looking at the history of Ireland and seeing how cause and effect related to the Irish Civil war I was so interested in really understanding why it came to be that brother fought brother in Ireland during that war when I had always thought that England was just Ireland's enemy.  The effect of the sniper learning that his enemy was his brother was more profound for me this time.  I was so impressed with O'Flaherty's use of suspense in the rising action and shock at the end of the story to get his message across.

I also loved seeing you guys pretend to shoot each other in our history activity we did with Ms. Snively's class.