March on Washington

Note: This assignment is for students who were absent from class on Thursday!

While you were out, we discussed the “Prologue” chapter to the reading. What surprised you in reading this introduction? What are your own associations for the Civil Rights Movement? We also watched the following three clips in class, which you should make up at home with an internet connection.

Please shoot me a very brief email just to let me know that you were able to access the clips. Include a couple of short “takeaways” from the viewing (a question or connection, something you learned or that surprised you, etc).

The Eyes on the Prize videos are a great resource for American history research or just general interest, by the way – you can get whole episodes at the public library.

Caution: The PBS links don't seem totally stable. If you are taken to the main page of the episode, just click on the "Video" tab. If you are taken to the main page of the series, follow the links to the "Project 'C'" and "March on Washington" episodes -- you can go by episode or you can follow the links to the Video Index. But hopefully it'll take you where you need to go! Ugh!

Video #1: Project “C” in Birmingham
Click here to access the show’s video page and watch the short clip of Bull Connor(1:44m).

Video #2: The March on Washington
Click here to access the show’s video page; watch the first clip about getting ready for the March (3:08m).

Video #3: “I Have a Dream”
Click here to go to the American Rhetoric page on the speech popularly known as “I Have a Dream.” Scroll down to find the video version. Try to make the time to watch the entire speech; King’s oratory style is something you do not want to miss (17:02m).

Note: If you can't get the video from American Rhetoric (I could at school yesterday, but can't today ... argh) then just do a quick search on YouTube, or listen to the audio that is available.

Week of January 14th

Monday, Jan. 14th
• Snow Day!

Tuesday, Jan. 15th (H)
• Due: Be wrapping up work on literature circle projects.
• Class: Final research presentations.

Wednesday, Jan. 16th (F)
• Due: Literature circle projects. Let me know if you need special technology to present.
• Class: Presentation of trailers; viewing and discussion of projects.

Thursday, Jan. 17th (S)
• Due: Read “Prologue” from The Dream.
• Class: Historical context; Eyes on the Prize excerpt; viewing of speech. If you are out please see blog post (coming soon) for videos to watch.

Friday, Jan. 18th (U)
• Due: Reread and annotate the MLK speech in preparation for SOAPSTone analysis.
• Class: Log research papers; semester reflection. Work on SOAPSTone analysis.

Monday, Jan. 21st
• No school today.

Tuesday, Jan. 22nd (M)
• Class does not meet.

Wednesday, Jan. 23rd (T)
• Due: Finish SOAPSTone analysis. Read assigned chapter of The Dream. Identify and be prepared to discuss the most important and illuminating ideas from your chapter.
• Class: Presentation on rhetoric: canons, schemes, and tropes. Focused rhetorical analysis of MLK speech in small groups.

Schedule Change

We will finish our last three research presentations on Monday, which means the literature circle projects will be moved to Tuesday (seems to have been a popular decision!). If we have extra time on Monday I will donate it to the groups to touch base ... but I can't guarantee there will be much or any time to spare.

The literature circle projects will be included on third term grades. Please bring me your books/sticky notes/journals on Tuesday to be collected.

Thanks!

Week of January 7th

Note: The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University has a great explanation of the basic business letter here.

Monday, Jan. 7th (S)
• Due: Read and annotate second half of literature circle novel with 10 more sticky notes or dialectic journal entries.
• Class: Second literature circle discussion. Explanation of group project.

Tuesday, Jan. 8th (U)
• Due: Begin work on research paper letter, group project.
• Class: Group work on literature circle projects.

Wednesday, Jan. 9th (M)
• Class drops today. I’ll be thinking of you!

Thursday, Jan. 10th (T)
• Due: Be prepared for research presentation if you’ll be going today.
• Class: Research paper presentations.

Friday, Jan. 11th (W)
• Due: Research paper letter. Be prepared for presentation if you’ll be going today.
• Class: Research paper presentations.

Monday, Jan. 14th (H)
• Due: Literature circle projects.
• Class: Presentation of literature circle projects.

Presentations in Order

Just a reminder! This is the order we signed up (or were signed up) for research presentations:

• Henrietta
  
• Aaron
  
• Galen
  
• Daniel
  
• Dan
  
• Tim
  
• Alice
  
• Jeremy
  
• Emily
  
• Susannah
  
• Ben
  
• Michelle
  
• Eliza
  
• Jule
  
• Mary
  
• Stephanie
  
• Zoe
  
• Alisha

Looking forward to hearing about your projects!

Research Paper Presentation

Instructions for the research paper presentations are below. The rubric will include preparedness, visual, presentation skills, response to questions, and conventions. Click here to view the draft rubric. Please email me your slides before your presentation so that I can load them onto the computer and we don't waste class time; send a copy to yourself as well in case there are technical problems, or save them in your student folder.

You should plan a short presentation of your research – no more than five minutes – for the class. Begin by briefly discussing your initial interest in the subject; your early questions, hypotheses or opinions; what you expected to find. You might comment on the process: challenges, surprises, or breakthroughs in your research. Finally, give a synopsis of your findings, which might come in the form of an overview of arguments for and against a certain position, and share your recommendations and suggestions.

Create a few short slides to accompany your presentation. I recommend not going overboard with text, but make the slides visually interesting with any images or other graphics that will help you clarify your position. Bring some notes, but resist the temptation to read directly from a script.

Be prepared to answer a few friendly questions from your peers.

We will begin the oral defense presentations on Thursday, January 3rd.

Before we wrap all this up, you will also have the opportunity to write a letter to someone in the community – local, state, or national – to present your point of view on the topic. I’ll give you the details on that when we get back from the holidays, but you could start thinking about a potential audience.

Week of January 2nd

Wednesday, Jan. 2nd (W)
• Due: Read the first half of your lit circle pick.
• Class: Literature circle discussions.

Thursday, Jan. 3rd (H)
• Due: Prepare research paper presentation and keep reading your books.
• Class: Begin research paper presentations; wrap up Fitzgerald episode of Biography.

Friday, Jan. 4th (F)
• Due: Keep reading those books!
• Class: Continue research paper presentations.

Monday, Jan. 7th (S)
• Due: Finish reading your lit circle pick.
• Class: Literature circle discussions.