Assessment for the DYO

You will be graded on a scale of 1 -4 (1= needs improvement, 2= approaching standards, 3=meets standards, 4= exceeds standards) on the following criteria:

1. Followed directions completed (project has all components)
2. Amount of information (how many sources - primary, secondard, print, internet)
3. Quality of information (relevance)
4. proper bibliography
5. Clarity of writing - (proofread and revised, understands the conventions of written English)
6. Reflection and statement of process (depth of understanding about the process of the project)
7. adhered to the time line and was able to manage time appropriately - work is turned in a timely fashion
8. conferenced with Ms. Sackstein prior to turning in work
9. Understands and uses the technology appropriately and creatively
10. Blog is attractive and creative looking

40-39 = A+
38-37 = A
36-35 = A-
34-33 = B+
32-31 = B
30-29 = B-
28-27 = C+
26-25 = C
24-23 = C-
22-21 = D+
20-19 = D
18-0 = F

DYO Assessment - Possible Standards addressed

ELA
· locate and use school and public library resources to acquire information.
· recognize that one text may generate multiple interpretations.
· preview informational texts, with guidance, to assess content & organization & select texts useful for the task
· identify the author's point of view, such as first-person narrator & omniscient narrator
· Use indexes to locate information and glossaries to define terms
· Clear concept of the main idea
· Engages the reader by establishing a context and developing reader interest.
· Support ideas with examples, definitions, analogies, and direct references to the text
· include relevant information and exclude irrelevant information.
· use paraphrase and quotation correctly.
· connect, compare, and contrast ideas and information from one or more sources.
· use graphics, such as graphs, charts, and diagrams, to enhance the communication of information.
· cite sources in footnotes and bibliography, using correct form, with assistance.
· Aware of varying writing styles and purposes. Writes in alignment with the genre specific task.
· Evaluate the validity and accuracy of information, ideas, themes, opinions, and experiences in text to:
· evaluate examples, details, or reasons used to support ideas
· identify propaganda, with assistance
· identify techniques used to persuade, such as emotional and ethical appeals, with assistance
· identify differing points of view in texts and presentations
· identify cultural and ethnic values and their impact on content
· identify multiple levels of meaning
· judge a text by using evaluative criteria from a variety of perspectives, such as literary and personal, with assistance.
· draw conclusions and make inferences on the basis of explicit and implied information
· Revise and improve early drafts by restructuring, correcting errors, and revising for clarity and effect.
· Evaluates and compares his/her own and other’s work with regard to different criteria and recognize the change in evaluations when different criteria are considered to be more important.
· Use standard English skillfully, applying established rules and conventions for presenting information and making use of a wide range of grammatical constructions and vocabulary to achieve an individual style that communicates effectively.


Social Studies

• History of the United States and New York Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.
• Important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions from New York State and United States history
• illustrate the connections and interactions of people and events across time and from a variety of perspectives.
• interpret the ideas, values and beliefs contained in the Declaration of Independence and the New York State Constitution and United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, and other important historical documents
• describe the reasons for periodizing history in different ways.Students investigate key turning points in New York State and United States history and explain why these events or developments are significant.

Major American History topics covered

Early Americans
Exploration
Early Colonization
13 original colonies
Building of a Nation
Revolutionary War
Declaration of Independence
Constitution
Articles of Confederation
Slavery
Manifest Destiny
Westward Expansion
Women's suffrage
Industrial Revolution
Acquisition of new lands
early American presidents
early Civil War - causes of
Maps - geography - 5 themes

Possible Genres for your final blog project

Journal entries

letters

timelines

1 act play

character profile

poem

essay

monologue

game

obituary

feature article

news article

advertisement

book review

experiment

map

descriptive paragraph (using sensory details)

political cartoon

cartoon

editorial or opinion piece

You should generate written drafts prior to posting... remember, you should always revise, revise, revise

Last project of the year - DYO - Choose your own adventure - It will be due on June 6th

It has been decided!

For your final project, you will be creating another blog... there was so much positive feedback, that I thought this format, would be a good opportunity for everyone.

There will be some different criteria - (an no official handout/assignment sheet) - this post will serve as that.

You will select a topic that we have covered this year that you have interest in and that you would like to learn more about. (the last few topics will be women's rights, manifest destiny and westward expansion, and the causes of the Civil War).

1. You will create a new blog and invite me to it
2. You will do some ou research with both primary and secondary sources (and create a bibliography) some of these sources will have to be print sources (not just internet sources)
3. You will be doing multi-genre style posts not just journal entries...
4. You will have to do at least 10 different posts of varying lengths
5. You will have some visual representations of your topic
6. You will have a glossary of important terms that you've come across in your research for your topic
7. You will work alone, by yourself, not with any friends, independently
8. You will NOT plagiarize... i.e. you will put all things in your own words and cite accordingly otherwise... use quotation marks when you borrow completely... (a good way to know if it is your idea or someone else's is to do a "brain dump" before you start... whatever is on the paper the first day is what you know everything else needs to be cited)
9. Make sure to give the reader a good idea of what your topic is about... why should we care?
10. You will have a reflection that talks about your experience... What did you learn? What challenges did you face? What would you do differently? What came easily? What are you most proud of?
11. You will also have a statement of process that will walk us through your process... How did you go about the project? What standards did you address? How would you grade yourself?

DUE JUNE 6, 2008

Reminders

On going assignments -
Poetry project due on Friday - yes, this Friday.

Independent reading with reading logs (to be kept in your reader's sourcebook). You should be keeping a record of your finished books - you should have 25 by the end of the school year.

Lit. cirlce books and blogs. Each group should have a blog where you discuss what you have read - specifically things that interest you and/or author's craft. Things that are confusing or cause for concern can and should be discussed too.

Check the blog daily.

Sonnets - help for the project

a sonnet is a 14 line poem with a particular rhyme scheme. There are 2 general kinds of sonnets that are popular: The Shakespearean Sonnet and the Petrarchan Sonnet. They are both 14 lines, but the way they are broken down is different.

The Shakespearean sonnet (the harder one of the two in my opinion)

3 - rhyming quatrains written in iambic pentameter (5 feet, 10 syllables)

1 rhyming couplet to end the poem.

The rhyme scheme is as follows: abab cdcd efef gg

The petrarchan sonnet is split into two stanzas: an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6)

The rhyme scheme is a b b a a b b a (octave)

sestet can be any of the following rhyme schemes:

c d c d c d

c d d c d c

c d e c d e

c d e c e d

c d c e d c

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/Writing-a-Sonnet.id-1748.html - This is a good site that is easy to follow.

I hope this helps... don't forget your reflection.

The project is due on Friday when we return, 5/2