Term 2 / Week 11: A Mad Scheme! Paul Mees has the Last Word

Transport expert and educator, Paul Mees, sadly passed away less than a week after he made this video message to be played at the Trains not Toll Roads Campaign Launch on 13th June, 2013.

He was always a good speaker: easy to understand and direct - a straight talker. So have a listen - what are his reasons for describing the East West Tunnel as a Mad Scheme?




Some of the words he uses:

- the most expensive
- far more expensive than ....
- value for money
- benefit to cost ratio is.... for every $1 you get 50 cents back
- simply a waste of money
- alternatives: much higher returns on investment
- upgrading existing services so more people can choose rail to get to work
- Los Angeles chose an alternative path
- no money left for substantial projects for at least a generation
- transport policy has to move from roads to rail

Late breaking news: Julia Gillard's last speech as Prime Minister

On the second last sitting day of the Australian Parliament, the Labor Party voted in Kevin Rudd as Leader again. Julia Gillard was deposed from the position - she was ousted from the job.

You can read along with the transcript as she makes her resignation speech. Here is the video and transcript.

Term 2 / Week 10: Discussion - Tunnel or Train - putting it all together

As promised last Friday, here is a Dictation to help prepare your ideas for your Discussion text.



Note: - effect (n): The effects of climate change will be felt everywhere.
          - affect (v): Climate change affects the plants and animals living everywhere on planet Earth.

Listen to the text three times. Pause the recording to think and write. Check your writing and listen for full stops and paragraph breaks. When you can't improve your writing any more, you can check your work by looking at the Transcript here.

New resources

• Trains not Toll Roads Campaign - City of Yarra hub for the campaign
• Trains not Toll roads: Council opposes government - gives a good summary of both sides of the argument

Term 2 / week 6 - Dictation and some Practice with Prepositions

Write a Discussion on the topic of Graffiti

You can choose one of the following topics:

1. Graffiti should be legalised.
2. Graffitists should be put in jail.
3. Local councils are losing the battle to prevent graffiti.

Your introduction must include your opinion and some supporting sentences, based on experience or facts. This should be interesting enough to invite the reader to read more!

Use the Discussion Plan to start writing more arguments to support your view. Don't forget to discuss the Arguments AGAINST your view and what you think of them.

State law regarding Graffiti

The Victorian Graffiti Prevention Act 2007 recognises graffiti as a crime and acknowledges its potential severity through tough penalties. The offence of marking graffiti attracts maximum fines of more than $29,000 and up to two years imprisonment.

Under this Act, it is illegal in Victoria to:

• mark publicly visible graffiti on property without the owner’s consent
• sell spray paint to someone under the age of 18 unless they have proven it is needed for employment purposes
• possess a graffiti implement with the intention of marking unlawful graffiti
• possess, without lawful excuse, a spray paint can while on or adjacent to public transport property, or when trespassing
• advertise spray paint cans for sale, if the advertisement is likely and intended to incite or promote unlawful graffiti.

The Act outlines what councils can do to remove graffiti from private property and what police can do to investigate alleged graffiti offences.

 

Strategies to prevent graffiti

Which graffiti prevention strategy has been used in the construction of this tram stop shelter on the corner of Johnston Street and Nicholson Street?

Dictation: Graffiti or Street Art?

Here's a dictation to review our vocabulary and prepare to write a Discussion about Graffiti.


Listen to the text three times and check your writing. When you can't improve your writing any more, you can check your work by looking at the Transcript here.

Practice with Prepositions

Here's a review of work we did last term: maybe you have removed these Grammar worksheets from your folder to make space for new work. So, here is a slideshow for you to revise which preposition to use with particular verbs or adjectives.

You will need to click the Next button to check your answer and then go to the Next Slide.

Practice with prepositions from Jill Koppel

Term 2 / weeks 4 - 5: Graffiti - is it art or vandalism?

Have a look at the following slide show. For each photo, think about the following questions:

• What can you see? Describe the image.
• What is the context (location)?
• Does the art/ graffiti have any useful role or public benefit?

Write a Discussion text to persuade the readers to agree with your point of view.

 

Preparing to write a Discussion

Collect some photos of graffiti that you love (or hate) and share them with others in the class. 

Ask your friends and family for their views on graffiti.

Find out the local Council's policy on graffiti - the Department of Housing's policy on graffiti.
Do these organisations (or other organisations) have any effective strategies to prevent graffiti or remove graffiti?

 

Useful links

• Victorian government: Action on Graffiti policy
• Street art utopia- a blog with examples of interesting street art
• Do a Google Search: 'street art in Melbourne' images: do you recognise any of the images?
• 'Graffiti tags shadow the art above' - article from the Australian, 4 October 2012 
• Tips from City of Yarra on preventing graffiti and graffiti removal
• Locations of Public art projects in City of Yarra where graffiti artists have produced legal street art.
• City of Melbourne program for young people: Do Art not Tags

More images of Street art in Melbourne

Week 2 - 3: Arguments FOR and AGAINST

Dictation: should we ban mobiles from class?

Listen to the recording three times. You can pause it at any time to write as much as you can of what you hear. Leave a space for any word that you don't understand and try to spell words as well as you can.

Here is the text for the dictation - but don't look until you're absolutely sure you can't do any more!

Issue: should mobile phones be banned from the classroom?

• Use the WORKSHEET to list the arguments FOR and AGAINST young people taking mobile phones to class?
• Write sentences about each argument or point using the Plan your Discussion WORKSHEET.

Issue: should parents STOP driving their kids to school?

Have you noticed how much quieter the roads are during the school holidays?

Watch the video below and think about the arguments for and against driving you kids to school.

Steps in Planning your Discussion text

• Use the WORKSHEET to list the arguments FOR driving the kids and AGAINST driving the kids.
• Answer the QUESTION ITEMS about the video.
• Write sentences about each argument or point using the Plan your Discussion WORKSHEET.