ACE & Guided Study: Johnny Bunko Ch 1-3

As you read through the book with your group, discuss the following questions. Someone in your group needs to take notes on the responses your group members give. Turn your notes in at the end of the class period.

Lesson One:

1. Do you have a plan? What is it? Who in your life has influenced it? 
2. Would discarding this plan help you—or hurt you? 

Lesson Two:

1. What are your strengths? 
2. How can you tell the difference between a weakness and something that just needs a little more effort? What has your schooling taught you about how to handle weaknesses? What about your family?

Lesson Three:

1. Diana advises Johnny that the most valuable people bring out the best in others. How does this apply in school? Describe a situation where a fellow student or teacher helped you in this way.

Great Books: 1984 and Human Rights

Orwell's 1984 and Human Rights

Using your understanding of two Articles from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and your reading of George Orwell's 1984, create a PowerPoint presentation that compares and contrasts Our World with Their World (of the novel). Your presentation should include the following elements.

1. Each of your Articles quoted exactly then paraphrased into your own clear language.
2. A description of an actual event that illustrates each Article (see online newspapers for current news: The Daily Herald, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Times, etc.). Cite your sources.
3. A minimum of two specific and distinct moments from 1984 - for each Article - that shows how that right is honored or violated by the Party. Cite page numbers.
4. An exact quotation from both Winston (and the narrator) and a Party member (O'Brien or others) that expresses the conflicting 1984 position on the issues raised by each of these articles (For example, if your issue is torture, you would quote Winston or the narrator on its negative aspects and O'Brien on positive reasons for using it). Cite page numbers
5. A poem or song lyric (your own original composition) that expresses a single character's feelings about each issue.
6. Annotated links to at least three other internet resources related to the specific issues of each of your two articles (as starting points consider Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, The Southern Poverty Law Center, and The Freedom Forum)

The elements listed here are in no particular order. How you organize them is up to you. Create an order that makes sense.

Design Requirements

• Do not cram too much text onto a single slide. Use a readable font and size.
• Consider designing your own background to meet your own needs instead of using a pre-made template. This background must contribute to the ease of reading and viewing your presentation.
• Use illustrations that add to our understanding of the issues raised by 1984 and your two Articles.
• Do not overuse movement effects. These should help to create an atmosphere and pace within your presentation and should contribute to our understanding of your issues.
• Do not use automatic timings for your slides.

Great Books: 1984 by George Orwell

Time for the last of this year's student picks. We read Anthem, we read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, now, lets read 1984 by George Orwell.

Written in 1948, 1984 is a vision of a totalitarian future, ruled by Big Brother, in which everything is strictly controlled, from history to individual thought. The novel was written in response to post-WWII politics, specifically communist and fascist governments.  Since this is our second dystopian novel, I expect you to have a strong working knowledge of the characteristics of dystopian literature.

Unit Vocabulary

• Thought Police – The Secret Police, correcting anti-party thought.
• Thought Crime – Thinking anti-party, anti-government thoughts
• Newspeak – The language of Oceania
• Groupthink – Thinking as a group to discourage creativity and individual responsibility.
• Doublethink – the ability to believe two contradictory things at a time.
• Ingoc – The Government of Oceania
• Inner Party/Outer Party – Those that are closest to Big Brother and those that are on the outside.
• Proles – Lower classes, segregated from the rest of the city. From the term proletariat.

Main Characters:
A two paragraph character analysis of these characters is due at the end of the unit.

• Winston Smith
• Julia
• O’Brian
• Mr. Charrington
• Big Brother

Great Books: Literary Elements in Kingdom Come

With Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross finally under our belts, it's time to prove what you learned about literary elements and devices used in the novel. 

Essay requirements:

• 5 paragraph minimum
• Must include a three part thesis statement. 
• Example1: "I believe Kingdom Come is a powerful novel because of the author's use of symbolism, foreshadowing, and dialogue."
• Example2: The author uses symbolism to create religious significance, emotional investment, and character depth. 
• Must discuss 1-3 literary techniques used in the novel. (Note above examples.) 
• Must re-state the thesis statement in the conclusion. 

Possible literary elements to choose from: 

• Onomatopoeia
• Narration
• Symbolism
• Point of View
• Genre
• Allegory
• Irony
• Theme
• Flashback
• Allusion 

After finishing your hand written rough draft you must get approval from me before moving on to your typed final draft. Make sure you spend time proofreading your final draft before turning it in. Read your essay out loud to help catch obvious mistakes. 

ACE and Guided Study: 4th 6wks Interview

Interview Assignment for Fourth Grading Period

Please interview someone in your field of interest.  It can be your mentor or someone else.  Include my two questions (see below) as well as at least five of your own.  Type up your interview.   

Questions Due Date: Friday Feb 3.  

Transcript Due date: Monday, Feb 13.

1.)   What training did you have to do the job that you do?

2.)   What advice do you have for me?

Add at least five questions of your own. (Due date above.)

Photo Source 

Great Books: Kingdom Come

This week we're finishing your superhero/villain presentations and starting on our newest read: Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross.

It's time to be excited.

As we read we are going to be talking a lot about power, corruption, and personal responsibility (among others.)  Assignments for this unit will include daily discussion, as well as a 5 paragraph essay for each of the 4 chapters in the book.

Unit Vocabulary:

Literary Terms

1. Allusion - an intentional reference to another literary work or piece of art that the reader should understand in order to make connections.
2. Symbol - a concrete or physical object that represents an abstract concept.
3. Allegory - a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor.
4. Imagery - a writer’s vivid descriptions that help readers visualize.
5. Theme - an abstraction that represents the central idea of the story.

Elements of Graphic Novels

1. Panels - squares or rectangles that contain a single scene
2. Gutters - space between panels
3. Dialog Balloons - contain communication between/among characters
4. Thought Balloons - contain a character’s thoughts
5. Captions - contain information about a scene or character
6. Sound Effects - visual sound clues, i.e. Wonk! Pow

Today we will also be going over general and background information on the Revelation of St. John, which plays an important roll in Kingdom Come. You will be required to have notes from this presentation in your notebook at the end of the grading period. 

Great Books: Of Heroes and Villains - Research and Presentation

Welcome back! I hope everyone had an awesome break and are now ready to dive into the new spring semester.

One of the things we need to do this semester is a big research paper, but before we get started with that, I thought we could dip our toes in and test the waters with a smaller research paper.

Think about this: a fellow student tells you today in class, and a meteor is going to hit some where in New Mexico, somewhere tonight. You head home and see, on the 5 o'clock news, the President of the United states joined by the worlds top scientists. He tells you that a meteor the size of a football field will hit in the Albuquerque area at approximately 8 in the evening.

Who are you more likely to believe? I'd say the President. Why? Because he is backed up with scientists, experts who probably know what they are talking about. Whereas the guy sitting next to you in class, probably doesn't do his homework, or even pay attention in class.

We trust information when that information is backed up by an expert source. This is the basic premise behind a research paper, you need to have solid facts, backed up by expert resources, in order to make your paper credible.

For this assignment you will be doing a mini research project on a super hero or villain. You will be required to find at least two credible sources, and you will present your information in a small speech. You will be able to use up to 4 note cards during your presentation, and you will turn in your note cards as well as a works cited page, documenting your resources.

Check out the rubric below with some information from OWL Perdue on how to cite internet resources, here (PDF) or look below.

ACE & Guided Study: Fall Final

Time is running out ladies and gentlemen, the year is halfway over and it's time to start thinking about finals.

I spoke with several of you about project ideas for your fall final, and you narrowed it down to three options you wanted to choose from. Check it out:

1. “Why Us” College Entrance Essay:

• According to College Board, there are two types of college entrance essay prompts, the “You” prompt, where the student shares about themselves and their life experience. There is also the “Why Us” prompt, in which the student outlines their career goals and why/how their school of choice will help them to attain those goals. Choose of the following essay prompts for your essay.
• “Tell us about yourself, your reasons for applying to __________ and your reasons for seeking a college education.” – University of San Francisco
• Describe your reasons for selecting __________ and your personal and professional goals and plans for after college.” – Loyola College MD
• We would like to know…what experiences have led you to your professional field and objective.” – Boston University

2. Leadership Qualities Essay:

• Analyze the leadership qualities of a business or world leader. For example you could choose Nelsen Mandela, Steve Jobs, or JK Rowling. Pick out 4-5 qualities that made that person successful, analyze these qualities and discuss why they are necessary/useful for success. Write a 5 page essay, double spaced, 12 pt font, Times New Roman, on your chosen topic. Your essay must include at least 3 sources, cited with MLA or APA documentation.

3. Resolving Conflict in the Workplace:

• Write a script for a 4-5 minute skit. You will be preforming this skit for the class on finals day. Your subject will be about resolving conflict in the workplace. Your skit should present the problem, a bad way to handle it, as well as a successful solution. Before choosing this project, please see me to get topic approval. You may work with a partner on this or you can fly solo if you wish.

If you have any questions about your final, or about the project/topic you have chosen, please see me. Don’t wait until the last minute!

All Projects will be due in class, on final’s day.

¡A rough draft of your project is due one week previous to the final deadline!

Check out the Rubric below, or download the PDF here (Adobe Reader needed).

Image Source: Link

Great Books: Fall Final

Here we are! Already the end of the Fall Semester and time to start thinking about Finals. I'm not a big fan of tests, so as usual, this semester you will be working on a project to show off your skills.

We've spent the past few weeks reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and we've focused on the following BIG Question: If we learn many important childhood lessons from books we read, and if Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is meant for kids and not adults, what is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland supposed to teach Victorian children?


We've had discussion, we've analyzed Dr. Seuss, and now it's time to show off what you know. Your final will be in two parts. In Part 1 you will be creating a children's book, complete with moral. In Part 2 you will be analyzing your book in an essay, much like we analyzed Dr. Seuss -- looking at characters, plot, imagery, overall message, and how that message is conveyed to the reader.

Remember the activity we did the other day, when I asked you what a picture book needed to be a good picture book? You came up with 7 categories and helped rank those categories in order of importance. Some of you have already guessed, but others may not have noticed that you were actually creating a rubric.


Check out the PDF below, or download it from here (Adobe Reader needed). Your essay will be due in class on Finals day, be prepared to present your project and discuss with the class.

Have fun!

Image Source:  Link

ACE & Guided Study: Independent Project Rubric

If you've been working on an independent project in the ACE or Guided Study class, you better make sure your familiar with this rubric. Be ready with your Action Plan, 'cause this is how you'll be graded.

Download PDF of the Independent Project Rubric here (Adobe Reader required), or see below.

All Classes: What's in a Name?

Ah, the age of the Internet. What bliss it is to have so much information at our fingertips! What joy to be able to do so much electronically! How green we are as we turn in assignments online, saving trees and wasted paper!

Hazzah!

When turning in work, even electronically, you still have to put your name and the title of the assignment at the top of the assignment. This is an important reminder and a lesson I am surprised many of you have forgotten. Without a name on your paper you will not receive credit.


Your paper heading should look something like this:

Name Date Class Period Title Of Assignment Example: Career Research Project

When using the DropitTO.me service or when emailing me an assignment, your file name should look something like this:

"Student Name - Assignment Name.doc"

I know you don't want to loose partial or whole credit on an assignment any more than I want to hunt for a name to match a paper. We can all wonder in the glory of electronic convenience and still manage to turn things in properly. Please don't forget to put your name on your assignment, both in the document/powerpoint/ect AND in the file name!

All Classes: Google Research Tips Infographic

Created by: HackCollege

Great Books: Alice Vocab and Character Assignment

In case you missed it, here is the vocab and character assignments from the Alice Unit.

Vocabulary: Keep Definitions in your notebook, a quiz will be given at the end of the novel.

1. Genre - A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.
2. Anthropomorphism - The attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object.
3. Allegory - A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
4. Parody - An imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.
5. Rhythm - A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.
6. Rhyme - Correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, esp. when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry.
7. Pun - A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.
8. Ubiquitous - Present, appearing, or found everywhere
9. Disingenuous - Not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does.
10. Pervasive - Spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people.

Characters: Character descriptions and analysis are due at the end of the unit and should have one paragraph for each character.

1. Alice
2. The White Rabbit
3. The Queen of Hearts
4. The Cheshire Cat
5. The Duchess 
6. The Mad Hatter

For your character analysis, consider the following questions:

Is the character well rounded? What motivates the characters actions? What are the items associated with the character, are they symbols of something greater? How does the character effect other characters in the book? Ect.

Great Books: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

Time to start a new text, so if you are absent today you will need to see me about getting your copy of the novel from the book room. Our new novel is another one of your selections: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and it's sequel, Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

The goal is to finish both texts by the end of the semester, so we're really going to have to move to make that happen.

Taking your comments from the last unit into consideration, we're going to be approaching this one a litter differently. Rather than doing a set of questions after each chapter, students will be responsible for coming up with 3 open-ended discussion questions for each day of reading. The plan is to read throughout the week and finish with discussion on Friday's (at this point your should have 6 discussion questions ready to share.) Yes you WILL be turning in your questions for a grade, and as always, your discussion participation will be graded as well.

Fortunately the Alice books are in the common domain, so there are free copies all over the internet. Check it out.

The Big Question we will be tackling in this unit is the following: If we learn many important childhood lessons from books we read, and if Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is meant for kids and not adults, what is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland supposed to teach Victorian children?

The Prezi we will be going over class today in embedded below. You will need to take notes, and you will need to include those notes in your notebook for the end of the 6wks.

Down the Rabbit Hole with Lewis Carroll on Prezi

Great Books: Minority Report

Greetings students! You were given the choice of one film this semester and you chose to watch it after out dystopian novel, Anthem by Ayn Rand. Here we go!

This week we will be watching Minotiry Report, directed by Steven Speilberg and starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell and Samantha Morton. The summary according to the Internet Movie Database:

In the future, criminals are caught before the crimes they commit, but one of the officers in the special unit is accused of one such crime and sets out to prove his innocence.

Sounds exciting. After watching the film you will be writing a short 5 paragraph essay on one of the following prompts:

1. How is this a dystopian film? What are the characteristics the film shares with the characteristics on our sheet?
2. What kind of dystopian control is used in the film? What are some examples of that control? Is it an effective way to controlling the people?
3. Who is the dystopian protagonist in the film? What are the dystopian characteristics they share with the characteristics on our list?
4. Compare the film with another dystopian story you know, either Anthem by Ayn Rand, or another of your choice. 

As you can probably tell, you will need the handout for "Dystopias: Definition and Characteristics" that we went over in class the other day. If you've lost your copy download the PDF here (Adobe Reader needed) or view the handout below.

Great Books: Anthem Essay Rubric and Help

By now you should have finished your essay outline and Zero Draft, you should also be well and truly ready to work on tweaking your Zero Draft into something more presentable. Lets take a look at what you need to accomplish with this essay and how it will be graded.

Download a PDF of the rubric here. (Adobe Reader required)

Lets look at Voice:

• Your paper should contain a strong sense of voice. I want to see that this paper is coming from you, I want to be able to see the way you think.
• Even though your essay needs to contain your voice, you aren't talking to your friends. Keep your audience in mind (me, your teacher, as well as the judges of the essay contest.) No chat speak, emoticons, and watch the grammar mistakes. 
• Keeping the audience in mind, remember this is an analysis essay, and should be written as such. It's important to remember to never use the word "I", "you", or "we". Do not refer to yourself or the reader at any time in the essay. If you get stuck try using the word "one" as in: "It makes one think." or say "the reader" instead of "you" as in: "The use of first person perspective really draws the reader into the story"

Lets talk Citations:

What is a Citation?

A citation is the tag that is placed is a direct quote from a book or short story, that is placed in academic writing. Citations and quotes are used in analysis essays to make connections between the reading, and the essayist's claims. For example, if I claim that the light bulb in Anthem is a symbol for knowledge, I had better include a quote and a citation to help the reader see that connection.

Why are Citation's important?

Citations and quotes help the reader understand the connections you are trying to make in your essay. They are especially important when you start pulling in other resources to back up your ideas. Citations let the reader know when you are using someone else's ideas, which is a really good idea in academic writing. If you don't give someone credit for their idea with a quote and a citation, then you are plagiarizing their ideas, and that will get you into a lot of trouble. 

What does a Citation look like?

For this essay, we're keeping things pretty simple, you are probably only going to be citing the novel, so your citations will look something like this:

"Quote" (Author Last Name, Page #)

"I am done with this monster 'We,' the word of serfdom, of plunder, of misery, falsehood and shame." (Rand, 97)

How many Citations and Quotes do I need?

There is no hard and fast rule, it really depends on what you are trying to say. For the beginners you should aim for at least 3 per page, OR 2 per body paragraph.

Guided Study & ACE - Career Research Project

Please copy the questions and type your answers in paragraph form. Please cite your source(s) of information. 

1. What is the median salary and salary range for professionals in your career interest?
2. List ten things that professionals in your career interest do at their job? (What do they do?)
3. What are some professions related to your career interest?
4. Research someone who is an expert in your career interest.  Write a short biography of that person.  Include what that person does for their job, what kind of background do they have, and other interesting information about that person?
5. How many people are employed in your field in the United States? (include your source of information)
6. What is the projected job growth in your field? (i.e. How many jobs will there be in the future compared to today?) (include your source of information?
7. What kind of education (B.S. or B.A., M.S or M.A., Ph.D?) do people in your career interest need?
8. What are some subjects students should study in high school and college to pursue this career?

ACE: Due Nov. 8rd

Guided Study: Due Nov. 9th

Great Books: Anthem Essay

This week we're starting essays for the Anthem Essay Contest, information below:

Topics - select ONE of the following three topics:

1. Why did Ayn Rand name her main characters "Prometheus" and "Gaea"? Compare the historical myths of Prometheus and Gaea to the lives of these two characters.
2. What does Equality finally understand about his society when the Council threatens to destroy his invention?
3. In the final chapter of Anthem, Prometheus writes that he now understands "why the best in me had been my sins and my transgressions; and why I had never felt guilt in my sins." What has Prometheus come to understand about himself? Why does his society regard the "best in him" as sinful?

Technical info:

• Essays must be between 600-1200 words long.
• Write your essay in 12 point font, Times New Roman, and double space
• You do not have to use any sources other than the novel, if you prefer. However, if you feel you need to use outside sources, let me know and I will work with you to make sure your research is properly cited. 
• This IS for a grade! (several actually)
• Outline: Due Oct. 17th 
• 0-Draft: Due Oct. 21st
• 1st Draft: Due Oct. 26th 
• Final Draft: Due Oct. 31st
• Did I mention there are prizes?
• FIRST PRIZE: $2,000
• 5 SECOND PRIZES: $500
• 10 THIRD PRIZES: $200
• 45 FINALISTS: $50
• 175 SEMIFINALISTS: $30

ACE: College and Career Vocabulary Extra Credit Assignment

Copy the following list of words into a Word Document. You may know some of these definitions already, look up the rest until you have defined each item. These terms will be useful to know as you pass from high school, to college, the job field, or the military.

1. Academic Elective
2. Admission/Application/Acceptance
3. Advanced Placement (AP®)
4. Apprenticeship
5. Associate’s Degree
6. Bachelor’s Degree
7. Career Pathway
8. College
9. Commission
10. Community and Technical College
11. Core Course
12. Cost of attendance
13. Degrees
14. Doctoral Degree
15. Electives
16. Enlist
17. Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
18. Extra-Curricular Activities
19. FAFSA
20. Fees
21. Financial Aid
22. Financial Need
23. Four-year colleges and universities
24. Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
25. Grade Point Averages (GPA)/Letter Grades
26. Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET)
27. Guidance Counselor/Academic Advisor
28. Higher Education
29. Journey-level Worker/Trade Professional
30. Lifelong Learning
31. Master’s Degrees
32. Merit-based Financial Aid
33. National Merit Scholarship
34. NM Bridge to Success Scholarship
35. NM Lottery Scholarship
36. Occupational Education
37. Officer Candidate Schools (OCS) or Officer Training Schools (OTS)
38. Open Admissions Policy
39. Private vocational colleges
40. Proprietary or for-profit schools
41. PSAT®
42. Public/Private Colleges
43. Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)
44. SAT I® and SAT II®
45. Transcript
46. Transfer of Credits
47. Tuition
48. Tutor
49. Undergraduate
50. University

ACE & Guided Study: College Research Project

Lets talk Colleges.

Research Project time folks, lets start thinking about what various colleges offer to students, what the costs are and what kind of programs are available for students to participate in. Check out the rubric below (we will be talking about this in class) and let me know if you have any questions. If you have lost the hard copy rubric I gave you in class, you can download the PDF here. (Adobe Reader required)

ACE Students: This project is due 9/30/11

Presentations will be on 10/3/11