Goals and Inspiration

Welcome to this WebQuest! 

In this unit we will:

• Learn about inspirational people who have achieved amazing physical feats
• Learn about their mental process and how they trained to achieve their goals
• Apply these lessons to your own hobbies and study practices in order to achieve your own goals

Task

By the end of this unit you will have learned and researched inspiring people who have reached difficult physical and mental goals.

By the end of this WebQuest you will have created:

-> A 7-10 minute motivational and instructional movie for other students (group activity)

->An online blog which includes:

• A review of Touching the Void
• A profile of Takeru Kobayashi
• A profile of your own hero
• A formal email to your hero

By the end of this WebQuest you will have used the following resources:

• Webquest
• ICT – your phone or iPad for filming
• Editing software
• Your email program
• Wordpress or your own blogging program

Lesson 1 - Joe Simpson and Simon Yates

Discuss with your groups for 3 minutes, using the following prompts

• If I was in The Guiness Book of World Records, it would probably be for...
• In my free time, I really enjoy...
• The most dangerous thing I have ever done is...

In your group, who do you think is the most likely to get into the Guiness Book of World Records? Why?

We are going to watch a movie about Joe Simpson and Simon Yates who were the first and until now the only people to climb the mountain called Siula Grande in the Andes, in Peru.

For more information on the mountain, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siula_Grande

It was not easy to do!

In your groups, for 3 minutes, discuss the number of things which could go wrong during their jouney. 

The teacher will listen and write your ideas on the board. 

Read through this movie review about Touching the Void and tick off the number of things you guessed correctly about their journey. 

We are going to watch a clip from the movie for part of the journey, when the reach the peak and begin descending. 

For homework, on your blog, you start on your own reivew, using Roger Ebert's as an example. What film techniques draw you into the story?

Here's a list of documentary film techniques, written by Yahnke (2009) http://www.tc.umn.edu/~ryahnke/filmteach/My-Archive-of-Film-Notes/x-documentary-techniques.htm

Here's some advice on how to write a good film review from the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/creativewriting/movingimagesrev2.shtml

Lesson 2 - How to set a goal

So, Joe did survive this situation. We will now watch the second clip on how he made it out of the cravasse and back to the camp. 

During this journey, his goal changed from climbing the mountain to surviving. Describe how he travelled over the glacier back to camp. 

How could you apply this to your own life. 

For homework, on your blog, you should complete your movie review with a recommendation why people your age should watch this movie. 

Lesson 3 - Takeru Kobayashi

This man is an athlete, but his sport isn't in the Olympics. Try to guess his sport.

We are going to listen to his story. While listening make notes on the following topics, you will have to write this information into a blog post by the next lesson. 

• His training schedule
• His goals
• His mental and physical preparation
• Any key quotes you can remember
• What you can apply to your own life
• 100-200 words

Listen to the Freakanomics Podcast here.

Lesson 4  - Your own hero

Your task is to research someone who inspires you. You can either:

• Research a famous person you already know OR
• Research an area of interest for you, and who is the most sucessful person in this area

Your blog post about this person should include:

• A picture of them
• Details about their life (where and when were they born, grew up etc)
• What they have suceeded at 
• How they succeeded and outperformed other people
• What you would like to copy for your own life
• Include links to where you found the information, but you must summarise and paraphrase it into your own words and not copy and paste
• Be around 200 words

You will also write a formal 'open' letter to post on your blog, and email to this person, if they are still alive. 

This letter must

• Be formal, polite and respectful
• Say what you find very remarkable about this person
• Ask a question you would like advice on
• Use appropriate spacing and punctuation
• Ask for permission to post the reply on your blog
• Include a link to the posts you have written so far
• Be around 150 words

Lesson 5 and 6 - Filming a motivational video

By the end of Lesson 6, you and your group will have filmed a motivational video. 

In a group of 5, discuss the people you researched and what you found about them, and which characters are the most distinctive

In Lesson 5, you have to write a script for your video. 

Three people will act as a motivational hero. One person will act as 'a school student' and one person is the camera operator. 

Situation: The school student is overwhelmed by the task of sitting the end of year tests for English because he/she has problems writing an essay and would prefer to play football or play on the Internet (for example) than study. The other characters will give him some advice on how he can concentrate in school, study at home and take the test. 

This can be structured as in a mock-interview style or a documentary/mockumentary, but must be between 7-10 minutes only. 

In Lesson 6 you will film the video and edit it, if needed. By the end of the unit, you must submit the video and post it on your blog. 

• Here's some advice from Dawson on how to make a good documentary http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/cinematic-techniques.html 
• Here's some advice on how to structure an interview: 
• From experts at the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/skills/interviewing 
• and Columbia University http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/isaacs/edit/MencherIntv1.html 

After the unit...

After the unit is finished, you can continue to post on your blog. Create a page filled with people and ideas that motivate you in your journey through secondary school. You might recieve a reply to your 'open letter' you can summarise and post on your site, if you have permission. 

You can also read your classmate's blogs and re-post (with permission and credits) any information which inspires you. 

This unit required you to work individually to create your blog. Reflect on the following questions:

1. Do you have a clear goal for your studies?

2. Do you know how you will achieve these goals?

3. Was it easier to post on a blog than write the articles on paper?

4. Did you waste any time during the process?

5. Were you tempted to plagarise content during this unit?

6. Did you edit any posts after you published them?

Your teacher will return your work with corrections. Feel free to re-edit your blog with these corrections. 

This webquest was writen by Melissa Tait (2015) for the University of New England. 

Main Texts 

Dubner, S. J. (2014) A Better Way to Eat <podcast>. Retrieved on 23 May 2015 from http://freakonomics.com/2014/07/03/a-better-way-to-eat-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/ 

MacDonald, K. (2003) Touching the Void <film>. Film Four and UK FilmCouncil. 

NSW Syllabus Documents

NSW Board of Studies. (2012). Retrieved on 23 May 2015 from http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/english/english-k10/content-and-outcomes/

Images

Boyle, M. (2013) Takeru Kobayashi of Nagano, Japan celebrates his victory at Wing Bowl XX at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Friday February 3, 2012. Retrieved on 23 May 2015 from http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2012/02/wing_bowl_20_proves_historic_w.html 

Siula Grande. Retrieved on 23 May 2015 from: http://edsopinion.com/dvd-review-touching-the-void-a-descending-siula-grande/

This page includes information on an Introduction, Outcomes, Process (Teacher's Plan) Resources used and Outcomes and Content linked to the NSW Board of Studies criteria. 

Introduction

This lesson is for Stage 5, year 10 students looking ahead to attak the giant mountain which is their final years of study. While they need to study the classics and write essays, the NSW English Syllabus (2012) requires a large number of intertextual studies, including non-fiction texts (BOS 2012, p. 62). It also requires a large number of ICT compositions and intertextual studies. 

Outcomes

By this unit, students can:

• Publish a number of different text types on their own blog
• Express their interest in a motivational hero
• Apply this inspiration into a motivational video

Processes

Resources

See credits page for a fill list of resources used in this unit. 

Outcome and Content

(NSW Board of Studies English Syllabus) 

Outcomes and Content

EN5-2A: A student effectively uses and critically assesses a wide range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing a wide range of texts in different media and technologies

Develop and apply contextual knowledge:

• interpret, analyse and evaluate how different perspectives of issue, event, situation, individuals or groups are constructed to serve specific purposes in texts
• evaluate the ways film, websites and other multimedia texts use technology for different purposes, audiences and contexts to convey ideas and points of view  ICT
• understand the nature, scope and ethical use of digital technologies and apply this knowledge in their own composing and responding in digital media
• use a range of software, including word processing programs, confidently, flexibly and imaginatively to create, edit and publish texts, considering the identified purpose and the characteristics of the use
• http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/english/english-k10/content/911/

EN5-3B: A student selects and uses language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts, describing and explaining their effects on meaning

• Understand and apply knowledge of language forms and features
• evaluate techniques (eg contrast, exaggeration, juxtaposition or changing chronological order) used in spoken, written and visual texts to, for example, construct plot and create emotional responses 
• Refine vocabulary choices to discriminate between shades of meaning, with deliberate attention to the effect on audiences
• Understand how to use knowledge of the spelling system to spell unusual and technical words accurately, for example those based on uncommon greek and latin roots
• Understand how spelling is used creatively in texts for particular effects, for example characterisation and humour and to represent accents and styles of speech
• Understand how punctuation is used along with layout and font variations in constructing texts for different audiences and purposes
• Create literary texts with a sustained 'voice', selecting and adapting appropriate text structures, literary devices, language, auditory and visual structures and features for a specific purpose and intended audience
• Use organisation patterns, voice and language conventions to present a point of view on a subject, speaking clearly, coherently and with effect, using logic, imagery and rhetorical devices to engage audiences
• Compose and respond to a wide range of visual texts, eg picture books, graphic novels and films, using a range of appropriate techniques and metalanguage
• Use voice effects, eg tone, volume, pitch, pauses and change of pace, for specific effects such as arguing a point of view or attempting to persuade an audience to a course of action
• http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/english/english-k10/content/912/

EN5-4B: A student effectively transfers knowledge, skills and understanding of language concepts into new and different contexts.

• Creatively adapt texts into different forms, structures, modes and media for different purposes, audiences and contexts and explain the differences emerging as a result of such adaptations 
• Creatively transform a range of different types of texts, including their own, into new imaginative texts, experimenting with patterns, representations, intertextuality and appropriations 
• Use prediction, speculation, hypothesis and paraphrasing as strategies for accessing complex types of texts with unfamiliar ideas or structures
• Locate, select, synthesise and creatively use information, ideas and arguments from texts to compose new texts 
• Recognise different uses of visual texts, media and multimedia, including the internet, eg browsing the web to locate information, using the internet to communicate socially or professionally, watching a documentary to gain knowledge and/or pleasure
• http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/english/english-k10/content/913/