Mrs. Silveira's Class Blog

This is an important issue. Climate change may be one of the, if not the, most challenging issue of your generation. Respond to the questions below to begin our discussion.

1. What is your relationship with nature? What are some memorable moments you have experienced?

2. What do you know about climate change?

3. What are some important environmental issues we face today?

4. What is the link between science and nature? (Think history?)

5. Describe a object from nature near your home, or a memorable place in nature.

Humor is often difficult to identify and analyze in writing. Think of how you sometimes don’t understand the sarcasm in your friends’ texts and e-mails. In addition, humor is so subjective; what is funny to one person may not be funny to another. That said, you must try!

The two types of humor you must learn to recognize are irony and satire. There are three types of irony: dramatic, situational, and verbal. Dramatic irony can, but not always, add humor to plays. Verbal is good ol’ sarcasm, and situational is what happens. Satire must make a point. Think of political cartoons.

To begin, answer some of the following questions.

1. What is funny to you? What is your sense of humor?

2. Has your sense of humor ever been misunderstood? Explain.

3. Name a time when you used humor to your advantage.

4. How can writers/ speakers use humor to achieve different purposes? Give examples.

Visual communication is a universal phenomenon and a universal language. When we talk about a global society, the one language we all share is images. Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, use, appreciate, and create images and video using both conventional and 21st century media in ways that advance thinking, decision making, communication, and learning.

Visual Literacy is another essential component of 21^st Century Skills. Based on the idea that visual images are a language, visual literacy can be defined as the ability to understand and produce visual messages. This skill is becoming increasingly important as more and more information is acquired through non-print media (such as television, movies and the Internet). Therefore the ability to think critically about images becomes a crucial skill.

Create a FLICKR account:

First, think about the importance of photo sharing,

http://www.commoncraft.com/photosharing

Here are some sites to help you with setting up and navigating FLICKR

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9703620-2.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RqvKXgQc9w

Where will you get images? What can you use?

The Web is a rich source of images for all types of academic projects. In order to find images that support your work, it helps to use search engines that are designed to limit your search to images.

• Google Images
  You will generally need to use keywords to find images using search engines. Sometimes one general keyword will be sufficient [e.g., sunflower], but often you’ll need to be more specific in order to zero in on images that you need, perhaps by stringing several keywords together with a plus sign [e.g., sunflower + van Gogh]. If you are using a phrase, embed it in quotation marks [e.g., sunflower + "van Gogh painting"].
• Creative Commons Search Engine
  The best way to find images (music, video, etc.) that have only limited copyright is to use the Creative Commons Search Engine. This will allow you to find resources that you can use without getting permission from the author. Note: You may need to give credit to the author, agree not to use the resource for commercial purposes, and comply with other restrictions.
• Most of the media in these collections are in the public domain or are attached to generous copyright licensing:
  Copyright-Friendly and Copyleft Images and Sound (Mostly!) for Use in Multimedia Projects and Web PagesPublic Domain, Copyright Free, Open Source, and Student Use Images and MediaWikipedia: Public domain image resources

   

• Flickr
  Free video and photograph sharing, image hosting and linking, online photo albums.
• MorgueFile
  This morgue file contains free high resolution digital stock photography for either corporate or public use.
• Stock.XCHNG
  Collection of many high-quality photos taken by amateur photographers from around the world. The images displayed at the Stock Exchange are searchable in multiple ways and offer thumbnail views that are large enough to provide a good glimpse of what the shots contain.

Though you may not need to ask permission to use images from some sites, when using images for educational purposes, you must cite or attribute these images to their creators unless otherwise noted. If you see any copyright notices on these pages, read them for further instructions.

Assignment: Create an Annotated Political Cartoon that Epitomizes Satire

• Find a political cartoon or other visual image that demonstrates satire. 

• Upload it to your FLIKR account.

• Go to “Actions” and choose “add note.” Drag to an area on the image, type your note, and save.

• Your notes should show your analysis of the image and explain why it is satire.

• Send me the image’s html address.
• Example

Label Poster

Teenagers are often misunderstood or labeled. Create a glog that uses an image(s) of yourself as its focus, but also includes text. On a glog, you may also include resumes, music, video, etc. Follow all copyright laws and respect the privacy rights of other individuals. All content must be appropriate for school.

Here is the website you must use: http://www.glogster.com/

You will need to create a login.

Some creative commons sites:

http://creativecommons.org/

http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

http://freemusicarchive.org/curator/creative_commons

Look at the posters on pages 822, 824, 825, and 826. Then choose one of the following two assignments.

A)    Start with a negative label that others may call you. Then reverse the stereotype by asserting positive qualities about yourself.

B)    Create a glog that reaffirms your positive qualities. Make sure you have a clear argument; do not just paste words onto an image.

Consider the concepts in Chapter 14 of your text. I would like you to especially focus on the following:

• color
• placement of image(s)
• placement of text
• font
• size of font
• how you will direct focus visually
• syntax (fragments or sentences, for example)
• word choice

Your grade will be based on the clarity of your message as well as the multisensory appeal of your poster. All the visual, textual, and other elements should fit together, demonstrating thoughtful design.

Have Fun!!!

As we read the essays in this unit, I want you to think about and discuss the following guiding questions.

1. What does it mean to be an American?

2. How do minority writers distinguish their communities’ values from “mainstream” values? How do mixed-race authors define themselves?

3. How do writers incorporate specific historical events, such as wars or
scientific advances, into their texts? How do events shape identity? How does literature help us understand a specific period?

4.  How do writers use characters’ belongings, homes, and careers as symbols of
both heritage and values?

5. What techniques do writers use to show their identity  through writing (figurative language, tone, etc.)?

6. To what extent can people control who they are? What moves people toward alienation or greed or mental or emotional states or actions that destructive to themselves and their community? What creates heroes and people who stand up for their community?  In literature how does the development of a character help us to better understand human nature? This will be a synthesis question.

7. What motivates you to strive for a better life, to fight for positive change and to expand your sphere of obligation? (To be successful choosing this question you must find a way to relate what you read to what motivates you, what you believe in fighting for, to what positive change looks like and  how what you have learned  expands the sphere of people you care about)

8. What skills do you need to develop in order to have a satisfying and rewarding life under your control? How can you determine if something is true for you?

9. How does one develop the skills needed to communicate clearly with the world and gain a better understanding of yourself in the process. What do you need to understand about who we are as Americans in order to understand the world that you will be entering as an adult?

AND

WHO ARE YOU? WHAT MADE YOU THE PERSON YOU ARE?