This is our integrated schedule for all assignments
Remember, everything is laid out in more detail in our other pages. This is just a dumping ground to give you a big picture of what's due and when each week, but the links take you to the videos, pages or files I want you to access:
1st week of April
Monday April 1
period 1/2 - we are going to watch this video and this one and this one and potentially this one (and if time, some alternative examples such as this and this,) and discuss the components of a successful pitch. We will create a rubric to guide your production efforts and time permitting, we will begin our speech skills preparations
periods 5/6 -
Tuesday April 2 - Speech practice
Wednesday April 3 - may be used for kit constructions. I will check with STEM teachers
Thursday April 4 - Speech practice
Friday April 5 - kit constructions
Monday April 1
period 1/2 - we are going to watch this video and this one and this one and potentially this one (and if time, some alternative examples such as this and this,) and discuss the components of a successful pitch. We will create a rubric to guide your production efforts and time permitting, we will begin our speech skills preparations
periods 5/6 -
Tuesday April 2 - Speech practice
- the beginning of each class will begin with an activity to help teach extemp. speech,
- the middle (longer) section will be dedicated to you practicing giving speeches within your teams, filming your attempts, and then sending me those speeches by email (I will post these on the Weebly pages for you to review),
- and then we will close with more skills-related activities
Wednesday April 3 - may be used for kit constructions. I will check with STEM teachers
Thursday April 4 - Speech practice
- the beginning of each class will begin with an activity to help teach extemp. speech,
- the middle (longer) section will be dedicated to you practicing giving speeches within your teams, filming your attempts, and then sending me those speeches by email (I will post these on the Weebly pages for you to review),
- and then we will close with more skills-related activities
Friday April 5 - kit constructions
Week 10
Over the weekend (March 9 & 10):
A. Complete your KWL. You should already have the first two columns finished, so we are now going to boil down all of your summaries of learning and place those into the 3rd column - the “what have I Learned” column.
I would like you to place into your chart a one to two sentence clear, factual explanation of each of our assessment documents. Remember to concentrate on the Who, What, Where, When, and Why factors. You are going to use this chart to help write your history assessment essay. Submit a copy to me via email.
B. Also, write a one page response to this prompt: The goal of the 3rd quarter was to help you begin and finish an IB style assessment for both Literature and History. We conducted several different types of learning activities - on note-taking, document analysis, character development, compare and contrast, essay writing, peer feedback and reflection. Our overall goal was to help you think critically, organize your thoughts more effectively, and read for comprehension. Obviously, we did not conduct a true project; rather, we tried something call "challenge-based learning."
Please give me feedback on the aspects of this unit that you found useful,
on the areas for improvement (and suggestions) should a challenge like this happen again,
and how you felt overall about this challenge now that we are coming to an end - do you feel more or less successful, and do you feel you learned anything meaningful?
Mon Night, Mar 11 - we are starting to construct the history assessment. The prompt is explained here, and i'm also including it below.
"You have a choice of essay questions you can respond to for this assignment. They are:
1. Is Hannar Arendt correct in her assessment of the similarity of totalitarian regimes? Analyze Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia for your answer.
2. What best explains the origin and nature of totalitarian regimes? How do they arise and sustain themselves
3. What are the experiences of living in a totalitarian society? What are the effects on people? Include material from our fiction as well as history studies.
"Choose 1 and respond to it in a two-to-three page essay. Your requirements for this essay are the following:
Choose an essay topic, then create a schematic of your argument and submit it to Tumblr. I am asking to you to identify the problem, consider constraints and criteria, brainstorm solutions and then create a rough sketch of the argument and evidence you will pursue. You can put this schematic together from a variety of work you have already completed - previous charts, diagrams, etc.
Tues Night, Mar 12 - From your schematic, create a rough draft of your actual argument and submit it to Tumblr. I will place these rough drafts on the Weebly during class on Wednesday. This needs to be more than an outline or a list of bullet points. It should be an actual draft of your essay
Wed Night, Mar 13 - read each other’s rough drafts and make your 2nd draft and post it to Tumblr
Thurs Night, Mar 14 - write your finished draft
Fri, Mar 15 - finished draft is due and submitted to Tumblr by 12 noon.
Over the weekend (March 9 & 10):
A. Complete your KWL. You should already have the first two columns finished, so we are now going to boil down all of your summaries of learning and place those into the 3rd column - the “what have I Learned” column.
I would like you to place into your chart a one to two sentence clear, factual explanation of each of our assessment documents. Remember to concentrate on the Who, What, Where, When, and Why factors. You are going to use this chart to help write your history assessment essay. Submit a copy to me via email.
B. Also, write a one page response to this prompt: The goal of the 3rd quarter was to help you begin and finish an IB style assessment for both Literature and History. We conducted several different types of learning activities - on note-taking, document analysis, character development, compare and contrast, essay writing, peer feedback and reflection. Our overall goal was to help you think critically, organize your thoughts more effectively, and read for comprehension. Obviously, we did not conduct a true project; rather, we tried something call "challenge-based learning."
Please give me feedback on the aspects of this unit that you found useful,
on the areas for improvement (and suggestions) should a challenge like this happen again,
and how you felt overall about this challenge now that we are coming to an end - do you feel more or less successful, and do you feel you learned anything meaningful?
Mon Night, Mar 11 - we are starting to construct the history assessment. The prompt is explained here, and i'm also including it below.
"You have a choice of essay questions you can respond to for this assignment. They are:
1. Is Hannar Arendt correct in her assessment of the similarity of totalitarian regimes? Analyze Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia for your answer.
2. What best explains the origin and nature of totalitarian regimes? How do they arise and sustain themselves
3. What are the experiences of living in a totalitarian society? What are the effects on people? Include material from our fiction as well as history studies.
"Choose 1 and respond to it in a two-to-three page essay. Your requirements for this essay are the following:
- "You must refer to 6 documents at minimum. You can refer to the specific document in the sentence itself, you may use parenthetical citation, or footnotes to name the document.
- "It must contain a thesis, and the structure of the essay must explain the thesis, using evidence and analysis. In other words, do not write a list of document explanations, document by document.
- "The thesis must respond directly to the question.
- "You must follow the schedule of tasks for this essay."
Choose an essay topic, then create a schematic of your argument and submit it to Tumblr. I am asking to you to identify the problem, consider constraints and criteria, brainstorm solutions and then create a rough sketch of the argument and evidence you will pursue. You can put this schematic together from a variety of work you have already completed - previous charts, diagrams, etc.
Tues Night, Mar 12 - From your schematic, create a rough draft of your actual argument and submit it to Tumblr. I will place these rough drafts on the Weebly during class on Wednesday. This needs to be more than an outline or a list of bullet points. It should be an actual draft of your essay
Wed Night, Mar 13 - read each other’s rough drafts and make your 2nd draft and post it to Tumblr
Thurs Night, Mar 14 - write your finished draft
Fri, Mar 15 - finished draft is due and submitted to Tumblr by 12 noon.
Week 9
Over the weekend (March 2nd & 3rd) - watch these videos on the Purges and the Gulag (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). Be prepared to discuss them Monday morning. Make sure to bring your copy of 1984.
Also, create a summary of learning blog for two documents from this page. Remember, I am asking you to give me factual information that you now know about these documents.
Monday Night, Mar 4 - Read in Feed up to and including chapter . We will begin constructing the final one-page essay of the unit, which is to compare and contrast Feed and 1984 w/r/t to this question: Why does each novel end the way it does? If you want to go back and revisit 1984, check this page for your thoughts about that question.
Tuesday Night, Mar 5 - Watch this video on Soviet foreign policy, the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the start of WWII and create a mind-web or summary of the information for use in class on Wednesday
Wednesday Night, Mar 6 - finish the novel Feed and read the author's note in the back. Today, you will write the final one-page essay based on your notes from Tuesday's activity.
Fri, Mar 8 - Aquaponics Kickstarter - meet in Kaneko's Room
Over the weekend (March 2nd & 3rd) - watch these videos on the Purges and the Gulag (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). Be prepared to discuss them Monday morning. Make sure to bring your copy of 1984.
Also, create a summary of learning blog for two documents from this page. Remember, I am asking you to give me factual information that you now know about these documents.
Monday Night, Mar 4 - Read in Feed up to and including chapter . We will begin constructing the final one-page essay of the unit, which is to compare and contrast Feed and 1984 w/r/t to this question: Why does each novel end the way it does? If you want to go back and revisit 1984, check this page for your thoughts about that question.
Tuesday Night, Mar 5 - Watch this video on Soviet foreign policy, the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the start of WWII and create a mind-web or summary of the information for use in class on Wednesday
Wednesday Night, Mar 6 - finish the novel Feed and read the author's note in the back. Today, you will write the final one-page essay based on your notes from Tuesday's activity.
Fri, Mar 8 - Aquaponics Kickstarter - meet in Kaneko's Room
Week 8
Over the weekend (Feb 23-24) - Watch these 3 videos (1 covers how Stalin rose to power after Lenin's death, 2 covers Stalin's economic policies, 3 discusses the horrifying toll on the population of the Soviet Union) on the rise of Stalin & and his “5 year plans.” Secondly, if you did not get this done during class, peer critique 3 one page essays at this link and use this form (pdf version) to provide your critique. You may critique essays from either the 9As or 9Bs regardless of which section you are in. Email me your 3 responses as separate attachments.
Monday Night, Feb 25 - Read in Feed up through AND INCLUDING “Our Duty to the Party” (page 202 on my Kindle edition)
Write a Tumblr post in which you tell me specifically which changes you would make to your one-page on essay on Control in Feed and 1984. Respond to my voice memo critique and those of your classmates (found here). Do not just say "change spelling". Identify the specific changes you would make by rewriting your thesis, or re-explaining who and or what is in control in Feed, or explaining how you would restructure your paragraphs. If you do a good enough job here you WON'T have to rewrite the one page paper.
-in Tuesday's class we will draft a schematic for a one page essay - comparing the main characters from Feed and 1984. Are they heroes? Are they likable?
Tuesday Night, Feb 26 - Watch this video on Soviet propaganda and create a mind-web or other form of summary of the main points. Make sure for this one you have a sentence that summarizes the entirety of your summary.
Wednesday Night, Feb 27 - Read in Feed up through AND INCLUDING “76.3%” (pages 207-244 in my Kindle edition)
-in class on Thursday we will write a one page essay - comparing the main characters from Feed and 1984 Are they heroes? Are they likable?
Fri, Mar 1 - Aquaponics Kickstarter
Week 7
Over the LOONG Weekend, - Read up to and including “The Dimples and Delgacy” in Feed. Do a Summary of Learning Blog in which you talk about 3 to 4 documents that you know understand better from this (the Assessment) page. What do you now know about these documents that you did not know before?
Tuesday Night (Feb 19) - Watch this podcast about the Russian Revolution. Create a Mind-Web or Summary for use in class on Wednesday. At some point before Thursday's class, go to this page (http://mpx9spring.weebly.com/2/post/2013/02/control-in-1984-and-feed-the-schematic.html) and choose three "schematics" and offer opinions on your Tumblr blog as to your classmates' success in constructing a useful blueprint for their answer - consider the structure and paragraph topics, the problem they are solving for, or even the information they provide. Note the order of the images as I have listed them when you make your comments.
Wednesday Night, Feb 20 - Read up to and including “Nudging Again” in Feed. In Thursday's class, we are going to work on a one-page write up on the prompt: "What is the comparison with the “problem” seen in 1984 and Feed - how is society “dystopic”?
Fri, Feb 22 - TBA
Week 6: Back in the USSR! You don't know how lucky you are...
Over weekend (Feb 9-10) - make sure you bring your copies of Feed AND 1984 to class for Monday, Feb 11. We will be doing a formal exercise (similar to the first day we looked at 1984) in which you and a partner discuss the main characters, the setting, and the tone of Feed as compared to 1984.
Monday Night, Feb 11 - 9As, read in Feed up through and including "The Moon is in the House of Boring." 9Bs, watch my two videos on the Communist Manifesto (here and here) AND/OR the Crash Course video on Capitalism and Socialism and create a mind-web or other summary of the main ideas. My videos try to give you a more thorough explanation of Communism according to what I think are more important, but with lower production values, and you know all about the Crash Course video style...
Tuesday Night, Feb 12 - 9As, Watch my two videos on the Communist Manifesto (here and here) AND/OR the Crash Course video on Capitalism and Socialism and create a mind-web or other summary of the main ideas. My videos try to give you a more thorough explanation of Communism according to what I think are more important, but with lower production values, and you know all about the Crash Course video style...
9Bs, read in Feed up through and including "The Moon is in the House of Boring."
Wednesday Night, Feb 13 - read up through and including “Salad Days with Sneeze Guard” in Feed. In class, you will compose a one-page “essay” that performs a comparison between Feed and 1984 in terms of the setting, the character and the mood.
Fri, Feb 15 - no school
Week 5 Homework. Hammer time!
Over the weekend (Feb 2-3) Watch this video about Hitler's Foreign Policy and create a mind-web or summary of the main ideas.
Also, do you Summary of Learning blog by addressing AT LEAST TWO of the Assessment docs on this page and telling me what you know about these documents - the creator of the document, the meaning of the document, and how it relates to the question of totalitarianism. Use some of the student summaries I have posted from your previous work as examples if you are still confused.
Monday Night, Feb 5 - Read in 1984 up to page 260 (end at the beginning of section III - right after the quote, “Everyone knows what is in room 101.”)
Tuesday Night, Feb 6 - watch these videos (part 1, part 2) on the Nazi propaganda program and one of the following videos (video 1, video 2, video 3) which all contain actual examples of Nazi era propaganda, taken mostly from the movie Triumph of the Will. If you didn't turn in your mind-web for Monday, do one tonite for these videos.
Wednesday Night, Feb 7 - Finish the book
Thursday Night, Feb 8 - Finish your summary without words project in the Weinberg. We need to figure out how to string all your movie components together... Any ideas?
Over the weekend (Feb 2-3) Watch this video about Hitler's Foreign Policy and create a mind-web or summary of the main ideas.
Also, do you Summary of Learning blog by addressing AT LEAST TWO of the Assessment docs on this page and telling me what you know about these documents - the creator of the document, the meaning of the document, and how it relates to the question of totalitarianism. Use some of the student summaries I have posted from your previous work as examples if you are still confused.
Monday Night, Feb 5 - Read in 1984 up to page 260 (end at the beginning of section III - right after the quote, “Everyone knows what is in room 101.”)
Tuesday Night, Feb 6 - watch these videos (part 1, part 2) on the Nazi propaganda program and one of the following videos (video 1, video 2, video 3) which all contain actual examples of Nazi era propaganda, taken mostly from the movie Triumph of the Will. If you didn't turn in your mind-web for Monday, do one tonite for these videos.
Wednesday Night, Feb 7 - Finish the book
Thursday Night, Feb 8 - Finish your summary without words project in the Weinberg. We need to figure out how to string all your movie components together... Any ideas?
Week 4 Homework. NAZI Time!
Over the weekend (January 26-27):
1a. I need you to watch this short version of Hitler's rise to power here. It is a vodcast I created. You will also create a mind-web or other summary, focusing on the key points from the video, and submit this to me by the beginning of class Monday, Jan 28. This may be as a tumblr post, as an email or as a paper copy.
If you have the interest, it is well worth your efforts to watch the longer two-part series here and here, as it contains the same info, but has much higher production value, including rare colorized footage of the era, and some pretty amazing footage that I've never seen before.1b. Your must then create a one page mind-web (of my vod-cast, not the extra ones I mentioned above) that introduces the main concepts - not all the little details - but the main concepts and big ideas that this speaker thinks is important to know about the war. You may do this mind-web as a Paper document, an Inspiration or MindMeister pdf, a Notability pdf, or a hard copy, freehanded and on paper.
2. You must also write your summary of learning blog for Tumblr. Take a look at the documents on our assessments page and think about how much more you have learned about them - which aspects of the documents are clearer now, what new insights have you gained about them? Check the student summaries page on our weebly site to see examples of what we did last week.
Monday Night (January 28),
1. read up to page 201 in 1984 (from the beginning of section IX up to but not including the part that begins with "Chapter 1: Ignorance is strength).
2. Write a short blog post giving me a clear proposal of how you would rather show your understanding of the documents, and what the final product would like. If you want to keep doing document analysis, tell me so.
Tuesday Night (January 29): I want you to watch these 3 videos here, here, and here, which will give you the flavor of living in Germany during Hitler's Regime, and also the attitudes of both German residents AND foreign visitors, many of whom initially regarded Hitler as a model of effective leadership. Note: The 2nd and 3rd videos intersperse history with live acting.
Wednesday Night (January 30): read up to page 224 in 1984 (finish Book 2)
Thursday Night (January 31): Watch these 2 videos here and here on Nazi Policies. If you never did your mind-web from earlier in the week, I suggest doing it on these videos and turning it in on Friday.
Over the weekend (January 26-27):
1a. I need you to watch this short version of Hitler's rise to power here. It is a vodcast I created. You will also create a mind-web or other summary, focusing on the key points from the video, and submit this to me by the beginning of class Monday, Jan 28. This may be as a tumblr post, as an email or as a paper copy.
If you have the interest, it is well worth your efforts to watch the longer two-part series here and here, as it contains the same info, but has much higher production value, including rare colorized footage of the era, and some pretty amazing footage that I've never seen before.1b. Your must then create a one page mind-web (of my vod-cast, not the extra ones I mentioned above) that introduces the main concepts - not all the little details - but the main concepts and big ideas that this speaker thinks is important to know about the war. You may do this mind-web as a Paper document, an Inspiration or MindMeister pdf, a Notability pdf, or a hard copy, freehanded and on paper.
2. You must also write your summary of learning blog for Tumblr. Take a look at the documents on our assessments page and think about how much more you have learned about them - which aspects of the documents are clearer now, what new insights have you gained about them? Check the student summaries page on our weebly site to see examples of what we did last week.
Monday Night (January 28),
1. read up to page 201 in 1984 (from the beginning of section IX up to but not including the part that begins with "Chapter 1: Ignorance is strength).
2. Write a short blog post giving me a clear proposal of how you would rather show your understanding of the documents, and what the final product would like. If you want to keep doing document analysis, tell me so.
Tuesday Night (January 29): I want you to watch these 3 videos here, here, and here, which will give you the flavor of living in Germany during Hitler's Regime, and also the attitudes of both German residents AND foreign visitors, many of whom initially regarded Hitler as a model of effective leadership. Note: The 2nd and 3rd videos intersperse history with live acting.
Wednesday Night (January 30): read up to page 224 in 1984 (finish Book 2)
Thursday Night (January 31): Watch these 2 videos here and here on Nazi Policies. If you never did your mind-web from earlier in the week, I suggest doing it on these videos and turning it in on Friday.
Week 3
Over the weekend (Jan 19-21): - watch these videos on the Treaty of Versailles. They will walk you through the Versailles Treaty, which featured the US, France, Britain, and Italy trying to figure out how to deal with the losers of the war - but mostly Germany - while ensuring such a war never happened again. Pay close attention to the goals of, and pressures on, the conference participants at the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.
The first video ends with the question- what will happen to Germany? The second video, the sequel, explains what happened to Germany, despite Wilson's best efforts
Wilson's efforts to achieve world peace failed rather spectacularly, if you know about World War II, but he also failed to convince his own country, the US, to go along with his dreams for reorganizing the world. This video explains what happened (start watching from the 5 minute mark)
Your homework is to create a one page mind-web that introduces the main concepts - not all the little details - but the main concepts and big ideas that these videos suggest is important to know about the Treaty that ended the war. You may do this mind-web as a Paper document, an Inspiration or MindMeister pdf, a Notability pdf, or a hard copy, freehanded and on paper. As you watch, pay close attention to the goals of, and pressures on, the conference participants at the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.
Tuesday Night, Jan 22 - read in 1984 to page 159 for class on Wednesday
Wednesday Night, Jan 23 - watch these two videos below before coming to class on Thursday. The first video is a continuation of the one above, which ends the story of Woodrow Wilson, and then the second video takes us through the after effects of the war on the veterans who fought in it. They will be emotionally or viscerally hard to watch, a little.
Thursday Night, Jan 24 - read up to page 179 in 1984 for class discussion on Friday
Week 2
Over the weekend, watch "the US enters the war" (which explains why and how the US enters the war, but the stress is on the way the US gov't reorganized itself to fight the war "properly") for Monday's classes, AND write your "what do I know now" blog entry (This can be done as a standard non-fiction journal entry, or as a creative writing assignment.) It summarizes major take-aways from the week that you can start applying to the assessment documents we reviewed last Monday, and ideas that you can start entering into column three of the KeWL chart.
Monday night (Jan 14): have read to page 104 (to the beginning of Book 2) in 1984
Tuesday night (Jan 15): watch "How the war ends" for Wednesday's class and develop a one page mind-web that introduces the main concepts - not all the little details - but the main concepts and big ideas that this speaker thinks is important to know about the war. You may do this mind-web as a Paper document, an Inspiration or MindMeister pdf, a Notability pdf, or a hard copy, freehanded and on paper.
Wednesday night (Jan 16): - have read up to page 126 (up to but not including chapter 3 in Book 2) in 1984
Thursday night (Jan 17): - Google Time! Spend some time finding a topic you would like to research and present on for the 4th quarter! We will use class time on Friday to write your summary of learning for the week, leaving you time on the weekend to develop your researching and teaching ideas.
Your weekly written tasks are:
- one 1 page mind-web that introduces the main concepts - not all the little details - but the main concepts and big ideas that this speaker thinks is important to know about the war. You may do this mind-web as a Paper document, an Inspiration or MindMeister pdf, a Notability pdf, or a hard copy, freehanded and on paper. This is assigned for Tuesday Night.
- Tumblr Blog summaries of our discussions from Tuesday and Thursday
- over the weekend, your "what do I know now" blog entry (This can be done as a standard non-fiction journal entry, or as a creative writing assignment.)
- entering notes into your KeWL chart (from the week's discussion)
Week 1
Mon, Jan 7 - I will introduce the history assessment documents and conduct our KWL - your preparation for today is to have watched the first vodcast on the page labeled “History Resources Through WWI” (concerning imperialism.)
Monday, Jan 7 Night's HW - For class on Tuesday on January 8, you need to have watched the posted video. Your homework is to create a one page mind-web that introduces the main concepts - not all the little details - but the main concepts and big ideas that this speaker thinks is important to know about the war. You may do this mind-web as a Paper document, an Inspiration or MindMeister pdf, a Notability pdf, or a hard copy, freehanded and on paper. Also: Bring 1984 to class. We will, together, read the first 5 - 10 pages. We will then discuss the basics - the setting, problem, character, tone
Tuesday, Jan 8 Night's HW : Before coming to class Wednesday, watch these videos, which are specifically about the origins of WWI: part one and part two.
Wednesday, Jan 9 Night's HW: for Thursday's class, have read up to page 48 (up to but not including section V) in 1984.
Thursday, Jan 10 Night's HW: -for Friday's class, watch these 2 War Combat videos: One and Two (watch as much of this second video as you like - it is much longer than I wanted but is all I could find. ten minutes is okay):
Your weekly written tasks are:
- one 1 page mind-web that introduces the main concepts - not all the little details - but the main concepts and big ideas that this speaker thinks is important to know about the war. You may do this mind-web as a Paper document, an Inspiration or MindMeister pdf, a Notability pdf, or a hard copy, freehanded and on paper.
- Tumblr Blog summaries of our discussions from Tuesday and Thursday
- over the weekend, your "what do I know now" blog entry (This can be done as a standard non-fiction journal entry, or as a creative writing assignment.)
- entering notes into your KeWL chart (from Monday’s discussion)