Day two in the computer lab

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I'm staying home sick today. The sub should take you to the lab to work. Here's what I want you to accomplish:

Figure out, for every item in your bundle, WHERE it will come from, WHO will find it, WHEN they will have it by. For instance, if Moby Dick and Great Expectations and Middlemarch and The Brothers Karamazov are in your bundle, you might say this:

Moby Dick, already put on hold in the library by Dave; he'll pick it up tomorrow after school.

Great Expectations, Suzy has it at her house. Already lying on her bed.

Middlemarch. Jimbo downloaded it off gutenberg.org last night. 

Brothers Karamazov: Dilly's picking up a copy at Barnes and Noble this weekend.

Post your list of who's doing what IN ONE COMMENT to this post. 

My expectation is that when I come back on Monday you will already be well entrenched into the discovery process.

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Groups:

Braaaaaaaains

Ben MR

Jasmine

Michelle

Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Film

Kazaria

Tenzin

Brenda

Cinderella

Shanti

Miranda

Mariela 

Mëtalheads

Ari 

Hannah 

Anna

It's Called, uh, Memory

Riley

Jonah

Liessel

Infinite Universe

Michael 

Ben VS

Simon

Romero's Zombies

Peter

Duncan

Niels

Dangerous Children
Heather
Brie 
Elia

?????????

Mayo

Ben C

Malik

?????????

Nicholas

Caspar

William

Themed Bundles of Joy

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Behold: http://themedassignment.blogspot.com/

For the rest of the year, this is what we'll be doing. I've signed this computer lab up for the entire week. It is ours. We don't have to be here every day, but we can be.

Your job today:

First, we need to decide: going it alone or working in groups of three?

Groups of three would be responsible for an entire bundle.

Individuals would be responsible for at least two books and the more quickly consumed media.

Whichever we decide, we will all be doing the same thing---either we're all groups of three or we're all singletons.

Today, send me an email (jepson[dot]mr[at]gmail[dot]com) voting either GROUP or INDIVIDUAL. I will tally and announce tomorrow.

You should also start looking at bundles, thinking about what you would like to do. Starting tomorrow in class, it will be first-come, first-served. The sooner you ask for your bundle, the sooner it is yours.

(I reserve the right to say no if you pick a bundle that is mostly things we've already read in class.)

Ask me if you have questions. I'm just sitting over there. Typing.

April 23, 2013

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JOB ONE

These are this week's notes:

mono
ology
ped / pod
phon
photo / phos

Look up example words and add them to your notes.

Also, so you know, this week's vocab (RNG tomorrow):

comeuppance
dubious
exile
factoid
frazzled
inherent
slipshod
zealot

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JOB TWO

Now that you've decided which country you will be writing about, let's get started.

Your job this week is preparatory to further writing assignment over the next couple weeks. While you're researching, KEEP TRACK OF ALL YOUR SOURCES. If you can't cite it, it didn't happen.

This week's assignment (due Thursday to share with writer coaches) is an overview of your country over the last five to ten years. (You can decide exactly when to start this history---pick an interesting moment in time---but bring it through the present day.) The essay should consist of four parts:

1. Introduction to the nation. Where is it? Who lives there? Is it big or small? Urban or rural? Describe the basics. Give us a tour.

2. Government and recent history. We picked our nations because they're imperfect. So write about what's been going on lately. What's good? What's bad? What's really bad? Be specific to your country. Generalities that are true of a thousand places do you no favors.

3. The most urgent thing. If you could change one thing about your nation to make life better for its people, what would you do? Be specific. Be realistic. Platitudes will get you nothing. And remember: only one thing. Don't forget to explain why that thing is the one thing that will make the biggest difference.

4. Sources. Include a list of your sources. Stealing is not okay.

This is still a shortish assignment. Try to keep it under two pages.

Rough draft due Thursday, April 25.
Final draft due Monday, April 29 (typed, double-spaced, standard font).

You have a few tasks before you.

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JOB ONE

Breaking news is broken

Email all answers to jepson.mr@gmail.com with the subject heading "Breaking news is broken"---don't do that I don't guarantee we'll read your answers.

Read this article ( http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/04/boston_bombing_breaking_news_don_t_watch_cable_shut_off_twitter_you_d_be.html ) then respond to the author's argument with a thoughtful and technically proficient paragraph.

Nominate up to three words from the article for this week's vocabulary quiz.

We can't give you credit unless we know who you are. Please be sure we know who you are by typing your block and name with extreme clarity.

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JOB TWO

Today, you must (must!) decide which country you want to live in over the next few weeks. It should be a country with an oppressive, inadequate, or otherwise troubled government. The more problems the country has, the more you're likely to enjoy the assignment.

Today, research countries with significant problems.  I'll give a list of places to start looking. Read around, then settle on one and start researching it more in depth. Check the news, check the references at the bottom of relevant Wikipedia articles---check anywhere and everywhere. Keep notes, perhaps send them to yourself in your email with links so you can find things again. Learn about the leader(s) or your nation over the last ten years. Research the people too, not just the leaders. Look around. Get creative.

Some websites to start you off:

• https://news.google.com/news/section?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&topic=w&ict=ln&siidp=8b61ac4523b7b0904385d6affbaca16171b1
• http://www.transparency.org/
• http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html