Class+Activities

Genocide: a disturbing reality
Genocide is an ugly word. For most, it is a word to ignore; the idea unimaginable. Yet genocide is a reoccurring nightmare that plagues our history -old and recent. During the next few classes, you will perform various activities with the goal in mind of creating preventative measures against genocide from occurring in Colombia. Do not scoff! Do you think the people of Rwanda every thought that such an ugly possibility lay in their futures before it actually happened? Attempt to uncover the causes of past genocides, discuss the common social environment existing before genocidal attacks break out and imagine ways to prevent genocide from happening to us or anyone else for that matter. Let's put an end to genocide.

You will be given step by step instructions in class. Attempt to perform your tasks as quickly as possible. They are not difficult but they must be completed in order to proceed towards our ultimate goal.



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Preping for the Big One!
Since PSATs are just around the corner, it is high time we get started on actually testing you on your abilities.

Instructions:

Step 1) Divide up into groups of 4 Step 2) Do the work listed under your center. For example, if you are group 1, you begin work on CENTER I. You will only be given 30 minutes at each center. Regardless of how far you get, you will have to stop after 30 minutes and move to the next center. People on CENTER I move to CENTER II, people on CENTER II move to CENTER III and so on.

No delays, no breaks, no whining. Good luck!

They will access the collegeboard.org website to go through a series of SAT-based exercises that practice sentence correction and sentence completion.
 * ** Date ** || ** CLASS ** ||||||||  ||
 * || ** 10th ** || ** CENTER I **
 * Use the online free collegeboard.org SAT prep exercises. ** || ** CENTER II **
 * Use actual SAT prep booklets to practice Reading and Writing Strategies. ** || ** CENTER III **
 * SAT Vocabulary ** || ** CENTER IV **
 * General Vocabulary from Literature Sections ** ||
 * ** Day 1: 10-05 ** ||  || Students sit individually but in a circle (they will help each other out by discussing possible answers).

As they`re working, they will create a list of the unknown words found in the exercises for further research

At the end, they will e-mail their results to the teacher for co-evaluation. || In pairs, students will practice with an official PSAT booklet as they look and analyze the instructions and format of the test.

They are prompted to time each other and complete the reading and writing sections. Pairs are allowed to help each other and answer in their journals.

The teacher will monitor the progress and be available for assistance. || Groups of 3 will be given SAT vocabulary booklets. Each student will write ten sentences containing the SAT vocabulary words as they show the definition in context.

After they`re finished, they will rotate the papers as the other students will try to figure out the meanings of those words.

The teacher will monitor the progress and check for accuracy. || Students watch the video on pyramids as they take notes about ancient Egyptian pyramids. They will read the article on Ancient Egypt and answer the questions. They will be graded on their note-taking ability and reading comprehension.


 * @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qlSOi4IgCI **


 * http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/external/read_write_think/ancient_egypt.pd ** ||

African Tales - Reading and Sharing:
The idea here is that you read a few short stories and then share what you have learned with your fellow classmates. This will allow you to become very familiar with the stories you read and help others learn from you -this works both ways; you may learn something from someone else as well.

Here is the list of stories:

a) The Lion Awakens b) Life in Benin c) Tribal Scars d) The Vote e) My Country

Each group has been assigned 2 stories to read. For example, if you were assigned stories 'a' and 'b', you would begin by reading and learning everything about "The Lion Awakens' and 'Life in Benin.' Once you have done this successfully, you will share your knowledge with other students. This will save you and your classmates time since you will not have to read all five stories.

Detailed instructions: Step 1) Go to the title page of your story. Step 2) Make a prediction about the story from the title and the illustration you find on the first page Step 3) Skim through the story and pick out about 10 vocabulary words. You should find the definitions for these words Step 4) Create a small cardboard that contains images you think belong with the story. Later, fill it in with information about your predictions. Focus on theme, plot and character traits of the major character. Step 5) Compare and contrast your prediction with what you found out from reading the story. don't worry if you are not close -that's not the point of the exercise. Anyway, for the most part, I bet you make very solid predictions.

The second round (story you need to read) is done solo. That means you were supposed to go home and read the second story on your own and do the entire exercise once again. However, this time, you do not need to present your work on a cardboard paper. This time you could present using multimedia like PowerPoint or other online tools like Prezi. It's up to you.

Good luck and have fun!

Writing Expository Essays (competency 2 -writing)
This is a two part activity

You and your team are responsible to write up a draft of an expository essay. Your subject matter is the themes shared among tales about giants. Do such tales share similar ethical challenges? This part is due at the end of the second class today.
 * PART A: (worth 100%)**


 * Instructions:**
 * Step 1)** List 3 stories about giants that share a common theme and ethical scenario (5%)
 * Step 2)** Using plot diagrams and character charts, determine the common characteristics of the three stories you have selected (15%). Here is an example of a character chart:
 * Title of Tale || Characteristics || Synopsis, Theme and Ethics ||
 * Example: Jack and the Beanstalk || * Gigantic
 * Humanoid
 * Cannibal
 * Greedy and cruel
 * Special skill: can smell humans
 * Weakness: falls asleep whenever the harp sings || A cruel giant has terrorized and impoverished a village. In addition, the giant has stolen its prize possession, a magical golden harp which is part female. The hero tricks the giant out of his treasure and kills the giant during his escape.

Theme: Good versus evil

Ethics: Evil will always be undone by goodness ||
 * Step 3)** Determine which style of expository essay you want to use -see pages 69-108 of your grammar textbook. You may change this later on without losing any marks. (5%)
 * Step 4)** Write an outline. It must include a topic sentence + 3 supportive details + a conclusion. Each person on your team must have a copy! (25%)
 * Step 5)** Write a draft. This needs to be done individually. It should also be no more than a page double spaced. (10%)
 * Step 6)** Re-write the draft neat enough so your partners can read it. Share your work with your partners for peer review. (10%)
 * Step 7)** Write a third draft with corrections from peers. **Hand in your work!** (30%)
 * Step 6)** Re-write the draft neat enough so your partners can read it. Share your work with your partners for peer review. (10%)
 * Step 7)** Write a third draft with corrections from peers. **Hand in your work!** (30%)

You will produce a final product in one of the following 3 ways: i) you can hand in a final draft using traditional methods such as pen and paper or print. Your final draft must be well written, on a clean sheet of paper and be double spaced (2.0 spacing if you use Word). ii) you can create a graphic essay like a comic book. Again, work and words must be clear, in English and grammatically correct. You can do this by hand or electronically. iii) you can express your essay orally. You should have queue cards to help guide you during your oral presentation. You will be responsible for clearly expressing yourself using one of the expository approaches described in your grammar textbook.
 * PART B: (worth 100% following writing rubric)**

Hand in part B no later than Friday afternoon. Late entries will lose 10% per day. If I do not receive anything by the end of the following week you will receive 30% for the activity.