Class Review

CLASS REVIEW FOR WEEK ENDING 01.28.2011 - Mr. Harris' Classes

Hello Students & Parents,

Here is another Class Review to keep you in the know about projects, assignments, and important events happening in Mr. Harris' Classroom. The General Information contains news important to all classes, and the Specific Class Information is separated by individual classes. The Links & Resources section contains a collection of useful online places & spaces.

SECTION I - GENERAL INFORMATION

• Many (but not all) of the pictures and icons listed below are hyperlinked; if you click on them, they will take you to relevant webpages.

• The GradeBook has been updated as of 12:30 PM Friday, 01.28.2011. Any work that came in after that will be updated later this weekend. Please click the image below to access the AISD Online GradeBook:

• Educational Adventure to Washington D.C. & New York City - This will be my fourth year to facilitate a trip to Washington D.C. & New York City. Those interested are invited to attend the Parent & Student meeting on Wednesday, February 2nd at 5:30 in Art I. Click the flag for more information.

• Falcon Media Festival - Fulmore Middle School is taking over the Alamo Drafthouse on Saturday, May 21. We are looking for parent volunteers to help organize and promote the event. Click the image below for more information.

SECTION II - SPECIFIC CLASS INFORMATION

Comic Books as Literature - Periods 2 & 5

For this week, students were engaged in the following:

1. Continued work on their Six Week Comic. You can find the project criteria in the Evernote Archive. Click the elephant to

access the archive:

2. Visited the library and I specifically pointed out the graphic novel section and provide students time for reading and checking out books.

3. On Tuesday, in the computer lab, I asked students to establish an account at www.goanimate.com and "experiment" with the animation building software. Soon, students will be given directions and guidance to create short animations. Click the

logo if you want to check out GoAnimate >>> .

4. You can view some scenes from the classroom during 2nd & 5th Periods. Click on the pictures below for more scenes from the classroom.

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Philosophy - Period 7

This week students engaged in the following activities:• Tots on Bikes Discussion (inspired by The Ethicist). Often I will take an ethical issue straight from The New York Times

Magazine column called The Ethicist and use it to create a classroom discussion/debate. Our Wednesday debate revolved around the issue of whether babies should be pulled behind bikes while seated in those little baby trailers. I audio recorded a few of the students who volunteered to participate in the discussion/debate. You are invited to visit the Evernote Archive and look for the audio files tagged with these keywords: bikes, ethics, the ethicist, Tots. Click the

elephant to access the archive: You can find the original question and response that inspired our classroom

discussion by clicking this picture >>>

• Plato's Cave - Students were given time in class to work on their Group Collaboration for Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

You can find the details for the assignment by visiting the Evernote Archive. Click

the elephant to access the archive: .

• Aristotle quotation and explanation assignment - On Tuesday while in the computer lab, I asked students to choose from one of many famous Aristotle quotations and then write a minimum of 4 sentences explaining what their chosen quotation

means. You can access the assignment by clicking on Aristotle's face here >>>: • Philosophy Discussion @ Home - I alerted students that I would be send the Aristotle quotations home, and they should

be ready for parents to ask them to recite their quotation and then give an explanation for the meaning of the quotation. Students were asked to pick one of these, memorize it, and then be able to explain it:

1. "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit."2. "Dignity does not come in possessing honors, but in deserving them."3. "Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime."4. "Man perfected by society is the best of all animals; he is the most terrible of all when he lives without law, and without

justice."5. "It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen."6. "What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies."7. "We make war that we may live in peace."8. "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."9. "Man is by nature a political animal."10. "Art completes what nature cannot bring to finish."11."It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

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Film as Literature - 1st & 8th Period

This week students engaged in the following:

• Finished viewing Dogs Decoded and had discussions centered around the following questions:1. What is a documentary?2. What is the purpose of a documentary?3. Who created this documentary?4. What credible sources were used in this documentary?5. How do you know a credible source when you see/hear it?6. What do you know about the organization/people who created this documentary?7. What is the subject of this documentary?8. Who is the intended audience for this documentary?9. What do you think the purpose of this documentary is?10. What, if any, is the bias in this documentary?11. Can dogs pick up on emotions just by looking at our face?12. Can we understand dog desires from just their barks? 13. What is the biochemistry of the bond between man and dog and how is that compared to between a

mother and newborn?14. When dog intelligence is compared to that of the chimpanzee what is the unexpected discovery?15. What is the relationship between dogs and the the wolf?16. Does dog domestication come down to nature or nurture?17. How might dog research lead to breakthroughs in curing human disease?

• Dog Picture & Paragraph - Student responses to the Dog Picture & Paragraph assignment have started coming in. You

can find the assignment in the Evernote Archive. Click the elephant to access the archive: . Click on the Golden

Retriever to see and read student responses to the assignment:

• More Dog Media - To add to/round out our discussion of dogs and dogs in media, we viewed the following videos and discussed them:

1. Skateboarding dog - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQzUsTFqtW02. Bizkit - the sleep walking dog - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2BgjH_CtIA3. Amazing Dog Birth - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0MusD_I2x84. Dog Birth Part II - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Woud6fUTo5. Dachshund - 1st Puppy Birth - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvW7GgOGHCQ

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Video Production - Period 4

This week students were engaged in:

• Commercial Analysis - we finished our analysis of the top ten commercials from the Super Bowl. Students analyzed these 10 commercials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACZgJAlPP-4

• Commercials were analyzed using the advertising analysis techniques as listed on the Advertising Analysis PDF file

found in the Evernote Archive: Click the elephant to access the archive: . • Power Video - additonal time in class was provided for students to work on their animations related to the theme of

Power. • Here are two Power Videos as completed examples:1. Alexander's Power Video - http://goanimate.com/user/0nukZ76LX7mA2. Robbie's Power Video - http://goanimate.com/movie/0X_TmO-LLsTk?utm_source=linkshare

• Here are the directions for the assignment:1. Overview - Working with a partner, create a 90 second minimum (to 3 minute maximum) media artifact inspired by the current Fulmore MS theme of POWER. You are required to use one or more of the guiding questions to inspire your project.

Power

-Is power simply the ability to influence?

-How and when is power used or abused?

-Is power always present in some form or another?

-What types of power surround us—chemical, electrical, political, or mechanical?

-Does power corrupt people?

2. Reminder - Before you begin work on your project, I want to see a brainstorm and a draft (storyboard) of your proposed project. Again, before you begin work, a brainstorm and a draft is needed. You may use either www.goanimate.com or www.onetruemedia.com to create your project.

3. Criteria – Use this as a checklist:

-You and partner put forth equal work.

-You choose which partner’s account (GoAnimate or OneTrueMedia) to use.

-You create a brainstorm and a draft (storyboard) before working on the project and get it approved by Mr. Harris.

-You connect your project to the theme and one of the guiding questions

-Deadline is at the end of class on Tuesday, January 25th.

-Your artifact contains at least 50 words (either through character dialogue and/or written as text appearing in various scenes).

-You turn in a 4-6 sentence paragraph explaining how your project is connected to the theme and one of the guiding questions.

-You email me a link with “Power Media Project” and your names in the subject heading of the email.

-Viewers should be able to view your project and make sense of it. If it is so overly abstract or nonsensical that the average person cannot understand it, then you will have to redo the assignment.

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SECTION III - ONLINE RESOURCES

• Website: www.brainbackbend.com• Twitter: www.twitter.com/brainbackbend• Class Calendar:  http://bit.ly/bbbcalendar1• Evernote Class Archive: http://bit.ly/evernote2010-2011• Facebook - (No) I choose to opt out of this social media space• CNN Student News http://www.cnnstudentnews.com• Film Shorts - http://www.shortoftheweek.com• Visit Washington D.C. & New York City: http://www.brainbackbend.com/BrainBackBend/DCNYC.html

• Online Article Archive: http://www.diigo.com/user/coffeeandtea• Fulmore MS Gifted & Talented Online Portal - www.fulmoregt.ning.com• Falcon Films - www.falconfilms.info • Tots on Bikes - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/magazine/12FOB-Ethicist-t.html?_r=1&ref=theethicist• 2nd & 5th Period Scenese from the Classroom: http://gallery.me.com/brainbackbend#102389• GradeSpeed - https://gradespeed.austinisd.org/pc/• Dog Picture and Paragraph Responses - http://gallery.me.com/brainbackbend/102392• Bottle - http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2010/12/19/bottle/• Nuit Blanche - http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2010/02/05/nuit-blanche/• JumpTrumpRumpBump - http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2008/11/10/jumptrumprumpbump/

• Runaway - http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/01/02/runaway/• Mitten - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykOx0-9ZkX4• Phattdippin' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UjsB7QlG3I• Bathroom Trip Song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLAEg5aTXAE• 7:35 in the Morning - http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2010/12/29/735-in-the-morning/• Marry Me - http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2008/06/11/marry-me/• Oktapodi - http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2009/08/10/1709/• Shamwow - https://www.shamwow.com/• Rhett and Link's Shamwow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsQcyhBsSjI• Solar - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUcwIXByowE• There is Only One Sun - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlIt4sdzSMo• The Story of Stuff - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM

• Dogs Decoded - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/dogs-decoded.html • Top Ten Super Bowl Commercials (2007) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACZgJAlPP-4