Final Exam Details

Part I (60 minutes):

• Vocabulary lists 16-21
• Grammar: commonly confused words, commas & semicolons, and writing norms.
• Character ID: Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, and Canterbury Tales

Part II (60 minutes):

SSR Project
The second semester SSR project will be an informal book club style chat. You will be sharing your SSR book(s) with your fellow classmates while relaxing and eating a dish inspired by your book. You will share your reflections and observations about what you have read with your group. My hope is that your conversations will expose your group to a book that they would not otherwise know about. The objective of this presentation is to provide students with possible choices for free reading books over the summer. 

 

This project consists of 4 parts:

1.     The Passage: Hook your group members! Choose an exciting, interesting or descriptive passage to read to your group. The passage should be long enough (at least half a page in length) to reveal something interesting about a situation in the story (element of the plot) or provide insight into a main character.

2.     Visually Stimulating: A picture is worth a thousand words! Create a small 8x11 (size of a piece of computer paper) poster with the title of the book, the author, and at least one symbol incorporated into your collage or drawing. This poster should be creative and colorful! I am looking to see that you have invested time, energy and effort into this visual.

3.     Honest Reaction: Is this book worth reading? Write an 8-12 sentence reflection on your book. This reflection should focus on your reaction to the book. Are you enjoying this book? Why or Why not? Do you connect with the subject of the book or with a character in the book? What was your favorite part of the book? Why? Would you recommend this book to a classmate? Why or why not? What type of reader would enjoy this book?

4.     The Perfect Dish: This book makes me crave… Choose a type of food, dish or beverage that you think goes nicely with this particular book and bring it in to share. Is there a scene that involves a particular type of food? Are the characters from a distinct cultural background that specializes in a particular type of food? Is your story sad or emotionally draining and therefore results in cravings for “comfort food”? Is your book a teen-read where the character is addicted to pizza or popcorn flavored jellybeans? Is your action adventure taking place on a climb to Mt. Everest where the characters only have access to Cliff Bars or freeze dried meals? Look at the details in your book and come up with something creative to share with your group of ~5 students. Write a 4-6 sentence explanation of how this food goes with your book. 

Rubric Breakdown:

•      10points- Reading passage/overall group conversation.
•      15 points- Quality of Visual.
•      15 points- Quality of Reflection/Critique.
•      10 points- Food and explanation of why you chose the particular food or drink.
•      10 points- Quality of your participation in your group.

Homework 12/12

Monday is your day to celebrate your Canned Food Drive victory! Feel free to bring in food, drinks, and games!

If you did not participate in the Collaborize Classroom debate, please do so!

Once you have engaged in the Collaborize debate, log into your StudySync account and write a formal argument paragraph answering the question: Is torture ever justified? 

• Please follow the format exactly as you will be assessed on the quality of your writing and your formatting. 
• Provide 5 peer reviews. You will also receive credit for the quality of your peer reviews. 

*Embed your digital story into your class Google Presentation:

• Click on your class name
• Find the slide with your name on it
• Ptolemy
• Aristotle 
• Copernicus
• Click "Insert" and select "video" and choose "URL"
• Copy and paste the URL of your YouTube video into the window.
• Make sure your video is Public (not private). To change this click your name at the top right and select "Video manager" in your YouTube account. You will see a locked symbol if your video is private. Click the symbol and change to Public. 
• Please title your slide with the name of your original tale. 

Agenda 12/12

I. Create your digital story with iMovie:

1. Sign into your email and download all of your photos of your artwork to the desk top of your computer. 
2. Download your MP3 audio file onto your desktop. 
3. Find iMovie icon and open the application. If you don't see the iMovie star, click the Finder (blue face) and search for iMovie in your "Applications."
4. You will drag and drop your pictures into the correct order and drag your audio into your iMovie. 
5. Once you have all your images in your iMovie in the correct order, you can play with special effects. Click on each image and click the cog symbol to crop pictures, add the "Ken Burns" effect which adds movement to still photos. 

6. You will need to change the length of time each picture so it matches the length of your audio file. Remember the images we see should match the content of your story too. The default is 4 seconds per image, but you can change this to any amount of time. That said, you don't want your viewer staring at the same images for an extended period of time unless your images are extremely intricate.

7. When you are done creating your iMovie, click "Share" at the top of your screen and select YouTube. You will host this movie on your YouTube channel which you have as part of your Gmail account. 

8. The sign in for your YouTube channel should be the same as your Gmail account. When you export, keep in mind that the larger size and higher quality films will take longer to process. If you have plenty of time, then opt for a higher quality. If you are short on time, opt for a lower quality. 

II. Collaborize Classroom - Post your response to the debate topic and reply thoughtfully to at least 2 peers building on ideas shared, respectfully offering another option, asking questions or complimenting strong points made. 

Homework 12/10

Watch Vocabulary 21 and take Cornell notes.

Complete all the artwork for your digital story. Email yourself the digital pictures of your art and the audio reading of your story.  We will put the pieces together on Thursday and there will be NO time to complete these final details.


*Important: SSR Project is postponed to the second hour of our two hour final exam.

Sustained Silent Reading Book Club Chat (60 Points)

Combining good food, good conversation and good literature!

The second semester SSR project will be an informal book club style chat. You will be sharing your SSR book(s) with your fellow classmates while relaxing and eating a dish inspired by your book. You will share your reflections and observations about what you have read with your group. My hope is that your conversations will expose your group to a book that they would not otherwise know about. The objective of this presentation is to provide students with possible choices for free reading books over the summer. 

This project consists of 4 parts:

1.     The Passage: Hook your group members! Choose an exciting, interesting or descriptive passage to read to your group. The passage should be long enough (at least half a page in length) to reveal something interesting about a situation in the story (element of the plot) or provide insight into a main character.

2.     Visually Stimulating: A picture is worth a thousand words! Create a small 8x11 (size of a piece of computer paper) poster with the title of the book, the author, and at least one symbol incorporated into your collage or drawing. This poster should be creative and colorful! I am looking to see that you have invested time, energy and effort into this visual.

3.     Honest Reaction: Is this book worth reading? Write an 8-12 sentence reflection on your book. This reflection should focus on your reaction to the book. Are you enjoying this book? Why or Why not? Do you connect with the subject of the book or with a character in the book? What was your favorite part of the book? Why? Would you recommend this book to a classmate? Why or why not? What type of reader would enjoy this book?

4.     The Perfect Dish: This book makes me crave… Choose a type of food, dish or beverage that you think goes nicely with this particular book and bring it in to share. Is there a scene that involves a particular type of food? Are the characters from a distinct cultural background that specializes in a particular type of food? Is your story sad or emotionally draining and therefore results in cravings for “comfort food”? Is your book a teen-read where the character is addicted to pizza or popcorn flavored jellybeans? Is your action adventure taking place on a climb to Mt. Everest where the characters only have access to Cliff Bars or freeze dried meals? Look at the details in your book and come up with something creative to share with your group of ~5 students. Write a 4-6 sentence explanation of how this food goes with your book. 

Rubric Breakdown:

•      10points- Reading passage/overall group conversation.
•      15 points- Quality of Visual.
•      15 points- Quality of Reflection/Critique.
•      10 points- Food and explanation of why you chose the particular food or drink.
•      10 points- Quality of your participation in your group.

Agenda 12/10

Finish editing and revising your Lord of the Flies essay on Google docs.

Finish creating art for digital story, capture in digital form with camera and record the audio version of your original story. Email all pics and your audio to yourself by Thursday morning. *Important: We will be putting the digital stories together on Thursday in the computer lab!

SSR project will be the second half of your final exam.

Sustained Silent Reading Book Club Chat (60 Points)

Combining good food, good conversation and good literature!

The second semester SSR project will be an informal book club style chat. You will be sharing your SSR book(s) with your fellow classmates while relaxing and eating a dish inspired by your book. You will share your reflections and observations about what you have read with your group. My hope is that your conversations will expose your group to a book that they would not otherwise know about. The objective of this presentation is to provide students with possible choices for free reading books over the summer. 

This project consists of 4 parts:

1.     The Passage: Hook your group members! Choose an exciting, interesting or descriptive passage to read to your group. The passage should be long enough (at least half a page in length) to reveal something interesting about a situation in the story (element of the plot) or provide insight into a main character.

2.     Visually Stimulating: A picture is worth a thousand words! Create a small 8x11 (size of a piece of computer paper) poster with the title of the book, the author, and at least one symbol incorporated into your collage or drawing. This poster should be creative and colorful! I am looking to see that you have invested time, energy and effort into this visual.

3.     Honest Reaction: Is this book worth reading? Write an 8-12 sentence reflection on your book. This reflection should focus on your reaction to the book. Are you enjoying this book? Why or Why not? Do you connect with the subject of the book or with a character in the book? What was your favorite part of the book? Why? Would you recommend this book to a classmate? Why or why not? What type of reader would enjoy this book?

4.     The Perfect Dish: This book makes me crave… Choose a type of food, dish or beverage that you think goes nicely with this particular book and bring it in to share. Is there a scene that involves a particular type of food? Are the characters from a distinct cultural background that specializes in a particular type of food? Is your story sad or emotionally draining and therefore results in cravings for “comfort food”? Is your book a teen-read where the character is addicted to pizza or popcorn flavored jellybeans? Is your action adventure taking place on a climb to Mt. Everest where the characters only have access to Cliff Bars or freeze dried meals? Look at the details in your book and come up with something creative to share with your group of ~5 students. Write a 4-6 sentence explanation of how this food goes with your book. 

Rubric Breakdown:

•      10points- Reading passage/overall group conversation.
•      15 points- Quality of Visual.
•      15 points- Quality of Reflection/Critique.
•      10 points- Food and explanation of why you chose the particular food or drink.
•      10 points- Quality of your participation in your group.

Homework 12/6

Write lines 100-150 (last section) of your original tale and continue to work on the art for your digital story. 

• Label your lines in multiples of 5. For example at the end of line five type the number 5, at the end of line ten type the number 10, and so on.
• Like Chaucer, you need to write in rhyming couplets. Every two lines must rhyme, but you can fudge with words that sound similar and are not true rhyming words just as Chaucer did. 
• Please use the plot outline you used in class to stay "on track."

Click here to view the details of the torture device assignment. Remember, we can learn a lot about a society, time period and human nature from both the crimes committed and the punishments used as a consequence. 

Homework 12/4

36 hours until...
 the CANNED FOOD DRIVE is officially over! 

Dig deep Luminescent. 
Let's finish this!!!

*This is approximately how many cans we need. 

Write lines 50-100 in your original tale (rhyming couplets).

Begin to prepare your visuals - draw pictures, paint, cut out collage items - for your digital story. *IMPORTANT: You do not need to redraw characters and scene elements multiple times. You can create one paper character for each person in your tale and design props for the setting (trees, clouds, buildings, etc.) and just move them around the paper. Take pictures of each scene before you move them for the next scene. This could be a huge time saver and create and interesting result as you will be able to capture more pictures while spending less time creating the artwork.

Agenda 12/4

Vocabulary 20 Quiz --> Click here to take the exam!

Type your Lord of the Flies essay making edits.

Homework 12/2

4 DAYS Left Until the End of the Canned Food Drive!!!

Finish reading and annotating "The Nun's Priest's Tale."

Study for vocabulary 20 Quiz on Wednesday.

Write lines 1-50 of your original tale:

• Start a Google doc and title it --> Class name - Last Name - Original Tale. 
• Remember this is a poem and should not be written in paragraphs.
• Label your lines in multiples of 5. For example at the end of line five type the number 5, at the end of line ten type the number 10, and so on.
• Like Chaucer, you need to write in rhyming couplets. Every two lines must rhyme, but you can fudge with words that sound similar and are not true rhyming words just as Chaucer did. 
• Please use the plot outline you used in class to stay "on track."

Click here to view the details of the torture device assignment. Remember, we can learn a lot about a society, time period and human nature from both the crimes committed and the punishments used as a consequence. 

Agenda 12/2

Plot outline - use this to sketch out a plot for your original tale!