It's the End of the World As We Know It

No, just joking.  And here's why.  Thanks to NASA we have a logical explanation as to why the world will not end today.  Enjoy!

A Pathway to Citizenship

Here's a great video about an empowered movement of young undocumented immigrants seeking a pathway to citizenship.  The accompanyying article is here. 

Please read and write an open response for next week. 

Mexicans in America

In preparation for our viewing of A Better Life,  here is an informative report that analyzes the magnitude and trend of migration flows between Mexico and the United States; the experiences and intentions of Mexican immigrants repatriated by U.S. immigration authorities; U.S. immigration enforcement patterns; conditions in Mexico and the U.S. that could affect immigration; and characteristics of Mexican-born immigrants in the U.S.

Questions for A Better Life

Please answer these questions in the comment section of the blog.

1. Do you feel the movie is authentic? Explain.

2. What is your impression of the film so far?

3. What are some of the contrasts and juxtapositions we see in the city landscape of Los Angeles?

4. Do you think their life is better in Los Angeles?

5. In the scene where a police officer asks Luis to remove his shirt to see his gang tattoos, what emotions were provoked for you? What is this behaviour an example of?

6. Luis' father, Carlos, is an illegal immigrant.  How is this problematic for Luis?

7. How does Carlos' attitude (towards his culture, towards his father) change throughout the movie?

8. Is Carlos similar to his father?

9. When Carlos asks his father, "why do all these poor people have kids? What's the point?" his father responds, "don't say that." Why does his father respond this way? What is he trying to teach his son?

10. In general, what have you learned about immigration in America through this film?

Seconda Media Homework for this week

Hello Seconda Media!

I know this blog is new for you, but I wanted to give you some instruction for this week.

For English:

1) Please complete all unit 13 workbook exercises.

2) For a grade, please write a 200-250 word play (pezzo teatrale). Please invent a new ending to A Tell-Tale Heart. Just like the play we read in class, be sure to use ADVERBS before every line so that that we understand how the characters are doing and saying things. If you are confused about how to write a scene from a play, use the play we read in class as your guide! Here's a short example of lines from a play:

Scene 3

A: (rudely) Move your chair! 

B: (patiently) Only if you say please.

A: (annoyingly) Fine! Pleeeease.

For Geography: please study all of your vocabulary and prepare for a written vocabulary quiz.

Thank you!

Prima Liceo - Homework for this week

Prima Liceo! 

While I am gone, please make sure to complete all unit two workbook activities. Please study any vocabulary we have covered since our last exam and prepare for a quiz and oral test on units one and two of New Headway. For Geography, I would like you use this website to search an Ellis Island passenger name (that is, an immigrant bound for America at the turn of the century).

http://www.ellisisland.org/search/passSearch.asp  

Try putting in your own last name! Write a 300-350 word diary entry from the perspective of that person. Pretend he/she is on the boat on the way over to America. Write about: where you're from, why you're coming to America, some of your hopes and fears, what you are going to do once you get there. 

Also, please read any material you have in your text on migration. Know that the following week we will have a written and oral test on population and migration.

Thank you!

Speaking of the Kurdish Nation...

In Geography, we've been discussing the Kurdish nation as a region that is seeking official recognition from neighboring countries Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey.  Just this morning, the New York Times put up an excellent article complete with graphics and photos on this very topic.  Take a look!

For example...

ROMEO AND JULIET PROJECT

Project Objectives:

·      To read and understand a Shakespeare play

·      To interpret and prepare a monologue or soliloquy

·      To practice your speaking and performance skills

·      To creatively interpret your monologue or soliloquy through a thoughtful video demonstrating your full grasp of the meaning of the monologue or soliloquy.

Project Outline:

·      Read Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. You may buy the English/Italian version if you like; however, you may read a free version through Google Books. Keep in mind, our goal is not to dissect or over-analyze the play.  You will be reading this at home on your own time.  It’s really for your enjoyment.  So have fun with it!

·      Choose a monologue or soliloquy you like from the play. I’ll help you as you go along to understand it’s specific meaning and to work on pronunciation and delivery.

·      Memorize the monologue/soliloquy.

·      Prepare your delivery of the monologue/soliloqy.

·      Deliver monologue/soliloquy in class and present your video interpretation. 

·      Projects are due on December 13th. 

Video Project:

·      Use a home camera to visually interpret your monologue. You must recite your monologue in the video, but memorization is not the major goal here. You should present your monologue in a way that creatively demonstrates your interpretation of it. You can put this video onto a usb key and we’ll make sure it works before you present.

Welcome Back!

Welcome Prima Liceo!
This year will be an exciting one for all of us.  I'd like you to get started by subscribing to the classroom blog so that you can comment on posts and participate in any blog activities. 

Make sure to check in every week for homework assignments and projects. 

Revised Infographic Calendar

Monday, March 19th:	Guiding Questions
Wednesday, March 21st:	Each student must bring two articles each regarding their topic.
Monday, March 26th:	Each student must bring their note-cards with information and statistics extracted from their articles.  Each student must have at least 10 note-cards.
Wednesday, March 28th:	Each student must bring the corrected versions of their note-cards to class. In class, you will exchange your information and decide which is best to include in your infographic.
Monday, April 2nd :	Rough draft/outline of infographic due.
Wednesday, April 18th:	·         Second draft of infographic due.  Bring your work to class! ·         Scheme of individual theme due/corrections of scheme due.  Group revisions of infographic due.
Monday, April 23rd:	First Draft of theme due.  Presentations begin.
Wednesday, April 26th:	Final infographic project due.
Monday, April 30th:	Final version of individual theme due.
Wednesday, May 2nd:	Infographic presentations begin.
Monday, May 7th:	·         Infographic presentations continue. ·         Presentation response forms due.  ·         Self-Assessment form due.

To Be Clear...

For the required essay (or theme), you must do the following:

• Equally divide your guiding questions into sections.  For example, if you have six guiding questions and three group members, each group member will be responsible to write a theme that combines the three guiding questions assigned to him.
• Research these questions in more depth.
• Write a clear theme that contains an introduction, body, and conclusion, organized in paragraphs. 
• You are responsible for both a first draft and a final draft.

For right now, don't worry about how to write the theme.  We will get to that later.  Just focus on divvying (dividing) up the questions and researching your assigned topics. 

Over the Easter break you are responsible for the research of your theme.

Re-post of Project Objectives

You should all have photocopy of this, but to be clear, here is the project's outline.  Be sure to read part two of the project which explains the objectives of your written theme. 

Group 1: BP Oil Spill of 2010

Group 2: Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster of 2011

Group 3: Nigeria and Oil

Information graphics or infographics are graphic, visual representations of data, information and knowledge.  They are useful because they communicate information quickly and efficiently.  However, creating an infographic is not particularly easy.  It takes time and well-researched data. 

Part I: The Infographics

Your overall goal is to take your topic and:

1.      Relay the basic “story” of the disaster/situation.

2.      Represent the public and government response to the disaster/situation.

3.      Look at the actions of the government and public over time; communicate outcomes and results.

Here is how we will approach this project:

1.      Research your topic.  Print out resources on your topic.  Articles from newspapers, magazines and political blogs are particularly great resources.  See a list of websites below.

2.      Choose the information and data you feel is most important to communicate on your infographic (the size of a poster).

3.      Compile that information on note cards. 

4.      Choose how to best represent that data. 

5.      If you realize you have too much information or too little information, adjust your data as you see fit.  Remember, you must always keep the data accurate and transparent.

6.      Create your infographic.

7.      Present your infographic to the class.

Part II: The Theme

Each group will present their infographic to the class.  Here is how you will break down the presentation:

1.      Divide the infographic into equal parts depending on the number of people in your group.  If there are three people in your group, then divide the infographic into three sections. 

2.      Groups will assign sections to members (with the help of the group leader). 

3.      Each member must write a theme of at least two pages, double-spaced on their particular topic including any appropriate historical, political, and data-based information. 

4.      The student must end his/her theme with a personal response, in which he/she expresses his/her opinion regarding the section discussed in the theme.  This must consist of at least one paragraph. 

Possible Newspapers, Magazines, Blogs and Sites

The New York Times

The Guardian

The Financial Times

BBC

National Geographic

PBS

Cool Infographics

Bloomberg

NPR

Most .gov websites (government websites)

Reuters

The Atlantic

The Economist

The New Yorker

Cool Infographics

EIA (US Energy Information Administration)

Brookings Institute

TED

Research Help for Nigeria Group

Here are some interesting articles. Note their sources.

BBC

New York Times

New York Times

YOU NEED TO

COMMENT!

Pick any post you like and write a(n appropriate) comment or question of your choice.  That way I know that you have a google account and that you are able to comment.

Thanks!

Some Great Resources

...from our friends at the New York Times.

BP Oil Spill Group: Interactive Oil Spill Tracker

Nigeria + Oil Group: Battered by Oil Slideshow

Japan's Earthquake + Nuclear Crisis: In the Wake of Disaster Slideshow

Great BBC Interview on...

The Shell oil spills of 2008 in Nigeria. Take a look and have a listen.

Shell Oil Spill Devestates Nigerians (2011)

The Good and the Bad of Kenya's First Oil Strike

Extracting Valuable Information from an Article

How to Extract Information from an Article

(15 minutes)

·         Read the article assigned to you.

·         Highlight important points as you read.

·         Make any necessary notes or ask any necessary questions in the margins of the article. 

(10 minutes)

·         Compare notes with your partners.

·         Discuss which bits of information are statistical and which bits are not.

·         Choose (with your group) what you feel are the most important bits of information and copy them onto note-cards.  Each bit of information should have a separate note card. 

·         Decide what question they best answer and write the number of that question at the top of the note card.  (For example, if your first question is “what is BP?” and your note card states that “BP, British Petroleum,  is an oil company that…”, you write 1 at the top of that note card because the information refers to question 1).

·         On the back of the note card write the date, the article’s title, and the source of the article.

(5 minutes)

·         Share what you feel is the most interesting bit of information with the class.

INFOGRAPHICS PROJECT CALENDAR!

 Yay!
 Prima Liceo Veicolare

 Ms. Aldigé

 Infographic Project Calendar

Monday, March 19th:	Guiding Questions
Wednesday, March 21st:	Each student must bring two articles each regarding their topic.
Monday, March 26th:	Each student must bring their note-cards with information and statistics extracted from their articles.  Each student must have at least 10 note-cards.
Wednesday, March 28th:	Each student must bring the corrected versions of their note-cards to class. In class, you will exchange your information and decide which is best to include in your infographic.
Monday, April 2nd :	Rough draft/outline of infographic due.
Wednesday, April 16th:	Rough draft of individual theme due.  Group revisions of infographic due.
Wednesday, April 18th:	Final draft of infographic due.
Monday, April 23rd:	Final draft of individual theme due.  Presentations begin.
Wednesday, April 26th:	Presentations continue.

Don't forget...

on Monday, you must have a list of at least five questions that will guide the process of researching and creating your infographic.  This is a big step in the process so take it seriously!
Also, I have created a new email for myself and for you so that I can share documents with you through Google.  I've already posted the documents necessary for the infographic project.

Speaking of the infographic project, here's a New York Times video piece on the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. 

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/03/10/world/asia/100000001415907/in-the-wake-of-disaster.html

We can work it out...

Thank you all again for a great class.  Let's start with a clean slate.  (That means no homework for English besides your vocabulary worksheet). 

So, just remember: 

So I realized...

...that I can't upload documents to Blogger.  This is not a fun fact for a teacher.  What I'll do from here on out is put up an announcement for the project/homework/assignment.  If you need a copy, just write me and I'll email it to you.  And with that, I'll leave you with a song I didn't get to show you today.  There are subtitles! The HD version is below. Share what you think.

The song I showed you all in class today:

I'd like a bit of INFO...GRAPHICS!

Whether we are watching TV, playing video games, checking our phone, or driving down the highway, we are constantly inundated with graphic information.  Your task for this project is to learn how to create graphic information.  It's not as easy as you might think.  Draw some circles, put some percentages down, maybe throw in a word or two...  Not so fast, Mister! It takes dedication and thoughtful research to successfully communicate a concept or story through graphics. So here it is: