November 23rd

Students should bring an artifact related to the setting of their literature circle books to class on Tuesday. The artifact could be anything that will help them describe the setting of the book and give more information about how the setting may have influenced the story. Examples: newspaper articles, photographs, biographies of political leaders, a short history of the country, etc. The artifact will count as a homework grade and contribute to a small group project grade.

Students were also given the rubric for their individual project related to the literature circle books. This project will be presented in class on Tuesday, December 1st for periods 1, 2, and 4, and on Wednesday, December 2nd for periods 6 and 7.

Individual Project:
A multimedia text set is a collection of books, films, photographs, art, music, etc., focused on a common theme or idea. For this project students will create a multimedia text set for the book you are reading in your literature circle (Parrot in the Oven, Before We Were Free, When I Was Puerto Rican, Esperanza Rising, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, etc). You should choose a theme from the book and find other texts and media that relate to this theme. You might include a song, poem, or photograph that reminds you of the book. You may create a PowerPoint presentation or a collage of images and representations of the texts you are using. Each student must submit a one page written explanation of why he or she chose the texts and media which were included in the text set, and give a 2-4 minute presentation to the class. You will be graded according to the rubric below.

Rubric:
Creativity
1 completed with no creativity
2 completed with very little creativity
3 completed with some creativity
4 completed with creativity
5 completed with a great deal of creativity

Media/Text Connections
1 included no other resources
2 included one other resource
3 included two other resources
4 included three other resources
5 included four other resources

Explanation of Connections
1 gives no explanation
2 gives little explanation
3 gives some explanation
4 gives adequate explanation
5 gives complete/thorough explanation

Write-up (Mechanics)
1 filled with mistakes, no editing
2 many mistakes, little editing
3 few mistakes, some editing
4 adequate grammar/spelling/organization
5 perfect grammar/spelling/organization

Write-up (Length)
1 less than one paragraph
2 less than one page, only one paragraph
3 less than one page, only 2 paragraphs
4 one page, 3 paragraphs
5 one page, 4 paragraphs

Presentation
1 unclear, no preparation, less than 2 minutes
2 very little information/preparation, less than 2 min.
3 some information and preparation, 2-4 minutes long
4 interesting/clear/well-prepared, 2-4 minutes long
5 very interesting/clear, obvious preparation, 2-4 min.

30 points total

Monday, November 11th

The first round of DC-BAS testing will be Tuesday and Thursday, and there is no school on Wednesday.

6th and 7th periods should be prepared to meet with their literature circles on Tuesday.

1st, 2nd, and 4th periods should be prepared to meet on Thursday.