Friday, March 16, 2012

News of the Week assignment

1. Read this story about gun safety laws, written after a third child was shot by a gun due in large part to the carelessness of adults.

2. Go on to the comments section. Read the comments, leave a comment.

3. Email your comment to me at Michael.Ko@highlineschools.org.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

OBJECTIVE: Inform yourself about the issue of high school dropouts.

Your task today is to skim through the Gates Foundation report on high school dropouts, called “The Silent Epidemic.”

Read the Executive Summary
Read "Consequences of our Nation's Low Graduation Rates" (page 2)
Read "Who is Dropping Out" (page 2-3)

At the end of the period, you will have one essential question that expresses your interest in one area of the dropout problem. For example, it could be:

Why do so many Hispanic and black students drop out of school? or
What can we do about unmotivated students? or
How can we make school more relatable/relevant to students?

Eventually, you will answer your own question. You will find readings that relate to your topic. You will read those readings. Then you will present your findings to the rest of class. The goal is to have an informed opinion about the issue of high school dropouts in the U.S.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Documentary Modes - Resources

Standards:
Students will analyze mass media for bias and use of persuasive tecniques and evaluate their impact (Communications GLE. 1.2.2)

Documentary Mode = The characteristics and traits that separate each of the different types of documentaries.

The ones we will be studying in class, and the styles that you will be choosing from, include:

Poetic/Avante Garde
Expository
Observational/”Fly on the Wall”
Cinema Verite/French Realism
Reflexive/Interactive
Performative
Participatory

Here are some resources for you to put together your informational sheets that you will share with the rest of your class.

You need to create a 1/4-1/2 page handout in language that you and your classmates can understand. It must include:

- a definition of your documentary mode
- characteristics, traits and elements of your documentary mode
- some examples from TV and movies that use your documentary mode

When you're done, attach it to an email and send it to michael.ko@highlineschools.org.

We will also present our work to our classmates.

Documentary Modes

Bowling for Columbine Study Guide (see page 3)

Wikipedia

Good summarization of a few more modes

Cinema Verite

More Cinema Verite

Good slideshow with definitions (scroll through to find info on expository, poetic, observational, performative, participatory, and reflexive modes)

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Pit Bulls

Standards:
1. Theme - Students will demonstrate understanding of theme in non-fiction readings (Reading GLE 2.1.3)
2. Students will comprehend important information through summarization (Reading GLE 2.1.7)
3. Students will cite evidence and specific details to support their conclusions (Reading GLE 2.1.7)
4. Students will make inferences (predictions/assumptions/educated guesses) based on the readings (Reading GLE 2.1.5)

You must read:
1. Washington State Dangerous Dog Laws Please pay specific attention to 16.08.100.

2. Pit Bulls on Wikipedia (Read only "American Pit Bull Terrier" "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2000)" and "Legislation")

Then choose 3 of the following 4 stories to summarize:
Story #1 - Jogger in Chicago loses foot after being attacked by pit bulls

Story #2 - Pit Bulls: Natural Born Killer or Misunderstood Companion?

Story #3 - A lonely life if you love a pit bull

Story #4 - The Michael Vick/Pit Bull story *After playing six years in the NFL, he served 21 months in jail for his part in operating a pit bull ring. Now he is back in the NFL.


Remember, summaries include three elements:
1) Main idea or author's main message
2) 3-5 supporting details (specifically from the text)
3) Final thought/Commentary - New thinking/your opinion

If you need an example of an acceptable summary, please look in your portfolios at the ONLINE SHOPPING EXEMPLAR. You should all have one.

Your THREE summaries are due Monday at the end of class. We will then have a QUIZ/ discussion preparation day on Tuesday.

On our block day next week (Wednesday for Period 3 and Thursday for Period 6), we will have a Socratic Seminar called "Pit Bulls: Killer Dogs or Just Misunderstood?"

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Period 3 and 6 - technology reading

Hello.
Please read the following article. Summarize it with a main idea, 3-5 supporting details and a final thought/conclusion. Due at the end of the period.

The story is about Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide because she was bullied online.

ARTICLE

Standards:
Comprehend important ideas through summarization.
Cite evidence to support your conclusions.

Period 1 and 5 - action sequence assignment

Read the following article about how to put together a car chase action sequence.

Car Chase

Read the article, examine the car chase shots.

Draw out your own CAR CHASE SEQUENCE in a storyboard.

Turn that it at the end of the period.

Here are some examples of good storyboards here.