Thursday, May 13, 2010

Today is our last class! Make sure you have completed both of the cultural events surveys. On the second survey, you will need to enter our class CRN number.  Our CRN number is 20165.

Survey 1: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V3P7QK7

Survey 2:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VD3NXFC

Lab for Tuesday, May 10, 2010

Background knowledge is all that you as the reader bring to the text: your personal history, all you have read or seen, your adventures, the experiences of your day-to-day life, your relationships, etc.

Select two of the following links. On a sheet of paper, write the title of your two selections. For each, write 3 pieces of background knowledge you have about each topic. For example, what do Happy Meals make you think of? Did your friend’s mom always buy you Happy Meals? Do you buy them for your children? Does your friend buy Happy Meals even though he is an adult? Is there a particular Happy Meal toy that you remember playing with?

Then, write one new fact you learned about each article.

10 Notable Happy Meal Toys

A Roller Derby Primer

Clifford the Big Red Dog

10 Awesome Works of LEGO

10 Questionable Cigarette Ads and Slogans

10 Competitive Eating Records

10 Things You Didn’t Know about Mickey Mouse

Lab for Thursday, May 6, 2010

Read one of the following articles:

Funeral Home Closed after 40 Bodies found in Garage

Ripken Baseball hosts teens, coaches from Iraq

Va. students to hold candlelight vigil for slain Cockeysville lacrosse player

Deep beneath the Gulf, oil may already be wreaking havoc on sea life, contaminating food chain

Norway Builds the World’s Most Humane Prison

College Threatened With ‘Crack House’ Law

Can 3-D movies, television make you sick?

Boy Scouts add videogames to list of ability badges kids can earn

After reading the article, then go to  http://www.yourtake.org/session-1607-1287

and write at least two main issues that are presented in the article. Paraphrase the article (use your own wording instead of copying and pasting). After entering your issues, comment on two classmates’ responses. In your responses to your classmates, include your opinion on what they have written. Write more than “that’s interesting,” to demonstrate that you have read and thought about their comments.

Lab for Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Go to the following link and select one topic that interests you (you can scroll to the bottom and click on Next Posts for more options). On  a sheet of paper, write 4 differences between the two subjects you have chosen. Then, whether or not you favor one subject over the other, and why.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/difference/

Lab for Thursday, April 29, 2010

Go to http://www.freerice.com/index.php?s=English%20Vocabulary&t=13040652780&l=5

and spend 10-15 minutes practicing with the vocabulary questions. For each correct response, the website will donate 10 grains of rice to the UN World Food Programme to help feed the hungry. In order to receive full credit for this lab, you need to earn at least 400 grains of rice. If completed during class lab, show me the screen when you have completed the assignment. If done at home, print out the page with the total and turn it in to receive credit.

Lab for Tuesday, April 26, 2010

An inference is a reasoned guess about what you don’t know made on the basis of what you do know. When you infer you are drawing conclusions, using clues from the text. Read the beginning of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss below. Click on the link underneath of the questions and answer numbers 1-3:

(1)Who is the author’s intended audience and why does he use terms like “Grickle-grass” and “miff-muffered moof“?

(2) What can we infer about the Once-ler after reading the following line: “He’ll tell you, perhaps…
if you’re willing to pay.”

(3) After reading the last paragraph, what else can we infer about the Once-ler? Which words helped you to make your conclusion?

http://www.yourtake.org/session-4113-1482

The Lorax – by Dr. Seuss

At the far end of town
where the Grickle-grass grows
and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows
and no birds ever sing excepting old crows…
is the Street of the Lifted Lorax.

And deep in the Grickle-grass, some people say,
if you look deep enough you can still see, today,
where the Lorax once stood
just as long as it could
before somebody lifted the Lorax away.

What was the Lorax?
And why was it there?
And why was it lifted and taken somewhere
from the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows?
The old Once-ler still lives here.
Ask him. He knows.
You won’t see the Once-ler.
Don’t knock at his door.
He stays in his Lerkim on top of his store.
He lurks in his Lerkim, cold under the roof,
where he makes his own clothes
out of miff-muffered moof.
And on special dank midnights in August,
he peeks
out of the shutters
and sometimes he speaks
and tells how the Lorax was lifted away.

He’ll tell you, perhaps…
if you’re willing to pay

Lab Assignment for Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Read the article at the following link:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1981916,00.html

Answer the questions using the following Microsoft Word document:

Why Drug Addicts are Getting Sterilized for Cash

Lab for Thursday, April 15, 2010

Today our class will be writing letters to students in another RDNG 052 class.

First, select a student’s name from the pile on the center table.

Next, open a Microsoft Word document and begin you letter with Dear _______,

This assignment is worth 30 points. The following requirements must be met in order to receive all points:

• 5 points: The introductory paragraph is 3-4 sentences and explains the theme our class has been discussing this semester: The American Dream. Include your definition of The American Dream.
• 5 points: The first body paragraph (4-5 sentences) begins with a topic sentence (the main idea of the paragraph). What are some of the obstacles and struggles that Paul Rusesabagina (hotel manager of Hotel Rwanda), his family and friends faced? Paul’s family now lives in New York where the children attend school. What do you think “The American Dream” means to them?
• 5 points: In the second body paragraph (4-5 sentences), discuss your section of the collage we worked on a few weeks ago about the events from Hotel Rwanda. In the topic sentence, explain what part of the timeline your section represents. Explain why you chose to include the images that make up your collage. Include at least 3 images from your collage and explain how they represent the events from Hotel Rwanda. Be more detailed than simply stating, “The picture represents violence.”
• 5 points: In the third body paragraph (4-5 sentences), give a brief summary of Adam’s goals and experiences in Scratch Beginnings (remember that the person you are writing the letter to has no clue who Adam Shepard is) and explain that he is searching for “The American Dream.” Make sure to begin this paragraph with a topic sentence.
• 5 points: The concluding paragraph (3-4 sentences) wraps up your letter. Now that you are familiar with the stories of Adam Shepard and Paul Rusesabagina, how has your vision of “The American Dream” changed? Do you have any advice or lessons that you can give to the reader of your letter?
• 5 points: The letter is written using formal English (texting such as lol, cuz, or b4 is not acceptable). Each paragraph contains specific examples and details to support your points. The letter shows evidence of higher-level thinking.

When finished, proofread your letter and then print it out.

Lab for Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Read the first page at http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/The-Buried-Life-Whats-on-Your-Bucket-List to familiarize yourself with The Buried Life.

Then, go to the link www.theburiedlife.com and click the link Your List

• If you have a facebook account, sign in and enter 10 things you want to do before you die. You can click on Our List in the middle of the page to get some ideas if you have a hard time coming up with 10 things
• If you do not have a facebook account, just jot down your 10 things on a sheet of paper.

After you have created your list, answer the following questions and be prepared to discuss. Write your answers on handout. After completing the handout, hold onto it because we will be discussing it.

1. The group calls their show “The Buried Life.” One member says:

“You have things you’re almost told to do, but sometimes, those things and all the things that go on in your life can bury you. You can feel like the whole world is on top of you. We wanted to dig through that and live our buried lives. … We thought of looking at life as a finite resource and something worth celebrating.”

What does the term “the buried life” mean to you in your own words?

2. Click the following link and read the story about Shay Kelley

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/07/shay-kelley-homeless-woma_n_529158.html

What is Kelley’s goal?

What inspired her to make this trip?

How is she funding her trip?

Will her project have any long-term benefits for her, after her travels are over?

How is her personality similar to Adam Shepard, author of Scratch Beginnings?

How is her mission different from Adam Shepard’s?

What do the guys from The Buried Life, Adam Shepard, and Shay Kelley all have in common?

Lab for Thursday, April 8, 2010

Today we are going to be discussing the impact that technology is having on our society. This generation is growing up with the Internet, which makes almost anything we can think of instantly available.

Think of a website that you are familiar with. Open the following Microsoft Word document, then go to your chosen website.  You may choose any website except for facebook or myspace (since we are all already familiar with these sites), as long as it is school-appropriate.

We will have time after lab for any students who would like to take a few minutes to show the class their chosen website and go over their responses.

website review