English and Technology Class

During the past few weeks we have discussed many aspects of journalism in class. We have learned about advertising, persuasive writing, newspaper targets, online journalism, etc. For your final project you have to create a high school newspaper that incorporates all of these elements. You will be working in groups for this project.  Newspaper Project

 Here are your group assignments for the project: Group Assignments

In case you are wondering how your project will be graded, here is a rubric for the project: Rubric

This is the second article you need to comment on. The article is titled “Qaeda is Seen as Restoring Leadership” by Mark Mazzetti.  Qaeda is Seen as Restoring Leadership

This is the first article you need to comment on. This article is titled “Many Plans – No News” by Thomas Friedman. Many Plans – No News

In class we have been discussing journalism. So far, we have learnt about persausive arguing and made brochures with the intention of persuading other people to agree with our opinion. Next, we will discuss bias in the media. Over break your assignment is to read articles and write about whether or not you see opinions in them.

 Directions: For each article you have to write two paragraphs -

1. Summarize the main points and ideas in the article.
2. Explain whether or not you believe the author’s opinion is present in the article. Make sure to include how you know this.

Both of these postings are due by 10AM Wednesday, April 11th.

Over the course of the poetry unit students created power point presentations where they taught a poem to the class. Below are some exceptional projects from students:

Yana’s Project      Wes’s Project      Fanny’s Project

Rimsha’s Project   Reynaldo’s Project    Tanisha’s Project

Before you received the project for persuasive writing, we did a lesson on persuasive advertising. We discussed how companies try to persuade you into buying their products by specifically marketing to target groups. These are a few methods that advertisers use in their commercials to grab out attention:

• celebrities
• models
• positive information
• coolness
• attractiveness
• cool features
• good deals
• etc.

Important information to include when trying to persuade someone:

• Include pictures that will grab their attention
• Give only the information you want them to know
• Keep the information short, simple, and to the point

In class we are making persuasive brochures. You have to make a brochure that will convince people to agree with your opinion.

• Persuasive Brochure Project

Over the course of the past two weeks we have learned about persuasive writing. Through debates, discussions, and writing we have learned methods on how to argue effectively. The key things to remember:

1. Research – always have facts to support your argument
2. Research the opponents – always have facts to combat your opponent
3. Organize – know the order that you want to present your facts
4. Be passionate – you should argue about something you care about

You had to write thesis statements about three topics you would want to write about. Parts to a thesis:

1. Subject – informs the reader what you are discussing in the essay
2. Opinion – your answer to a question about the topic. Shouldn’t be too obvious or simplistic.
3. Blueprint of reasons – the how/why. The support that you will use as evidence for your argument.

Advertising Lesson

Now that we have studied poetry and learned all about how to depict a poem, it is your turn to teach the class a poem. You will receive a poem that you must create a power point presentation on to present to the class. Each person will have a different poem; there will be at least 30 different presentations in class. In class I will show you an example of how this power point should look. You will be the teacher for this poem, which means you must come up with an aim and motivation. We will be going over how to do that in class. Have fun and be creative with this project. Final Project