As you  reflected today on the Enduring Understandings from the year, I wanted to share some excerpts from what you said about how you have personalized your learning in Humanities this year.  After all, you are what this class is all about, and I think it is valuable to hear from many voices. (In all fairness, I listed the excerpts in alphabetical order by first name– both cores mixed together.)

• Connie– “Social change begins with a small group or individual” was also another important Enduring Understanding that I learned. As I did research on the Greensboro sit-in, I figured out that one does not have to have a huge group of supporters to make a difference. Four black people decided to take a peaceful stand against segregation, and that was enough to start a national sit-in movement that contributed to ending the inequity between black people and white people. There are many unfair things that are happening right now, and similar to the people at the Greensboro sit in, I have the ability to make a change. I do not have to wait until I have a lot of influence over other people
• Daniel-   The evidence unit taught me a lot of study skills, “Information exists in a variety of forms”. This EU has made me understand “the devil’s always in the detail,” we can learn things from the tiniest observation, or even from playing games.  Information can help us study and we can learn things from it. Before learning this, I always thought learning can only take place in school, in class and from books or educational websites. It made learning a way Chinese people describe as “dead” learning because it was always inside the box. This EU made me think outside the box, and tells me that we can learn from almost everything, even from TV ads.
• Dinah– I thought that book [The Giver] was really moving. It made me think that I should, like Jonas, stand up for what I believe in. People are too scared to stand up for what they believe in, because other people might disagree with them.
• Eric– “The past and present affect the future.” This seems very obvious. What we do today is going to influence the future in some shape or form. If one invests in a company today, he or she may become rich, or might go bankrupt. If one decides to slack off in school, he or she might not get a good grade on their next test. Even if one decides to rock around in a chair, that person might fall over and get hurt. Everything we do today will affect our future. However, how does this tie into global issues? Global issues are basically problems with the world. Some global issues include child abuse, digital divide, terrorism, economy, and overpopulation. However, as different as they seem, all are linked together because they are happening in the present. “The past and present affect the future” ties into this, because if these global issues aren’t solved today, there will be many more problems relating to these in the future.
• Glarence– The culture unit was important because it related to the real world because there is still racism today, not only about black people, but of other races too like Asians, Muslims, etc. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Instead, you should open it and actually read it. Then, make your conclusions. You can’t just judge someone by looking at one factor or the outside. The world doesn’t work like that. Some people can be a lot different than they appear on their exterior. This is what I mainly learned during the culture unit, which is why this EU, “Cultural misconceptions can breed intolerance and cause conflict”, was chosen to summarize the culture unit.
• Harschal– I feel that humanities is the most important subject in the world, humanities simply teaches you about life. Whether its you not having enough evidence to solve a complication, not having your say in a decision, or not knowing when your journey will end. Everyday is a new adventure, and there is only humanities to guide us. We had 21 Enduring Understandings this year throughout our units, and every Enduring Understanding gave us a better concept about life.
• Ian– Without evidence, you can’t have an argument. You can make a lot out of very little evidence, but with none, you will have no chance of winning the argument. If evidence was not needed for a stable argument, then the world would be in anarchy.
• Issa– This E.U. is also easy to connect, as journeys can be anything that involves change. I also learned that journeys aren’t only personal, and that they can present change for a whole group. For example, when the government changes in a country, the whole population goes under a journey.
• Jeff L– They all were very broad, and not focused on specific times, which is why they are easy for me to understand and use. I think the Enduring Understandings should be used more often for each unit throughout the world of learning, and I think Dr. Brown should keep using them to teach her students.
• Jeff S.– These enduring understandings really define what I want to take out of humanities this year. They go into everyday life, and that is what makes them special.
• Julia- Time flows by quicker than anyone could ever think, and now, it’s the end of the school year. It’s time to write our final essay and reflect. Through the whole year of Humanities learning in SAS this year, we’ve taken a journey. A journey that involves the gaining of knowledge and the change of thinking.
• Kailey– Even though this enduring understanding doesn’t have as deep of a meaning for me as the other two in my essay do, I find that it comes up more in my daily life. Life can’t be all love and butterflies and sunshine, there are arguments too, otherwise life would get pretty boring. Arguments don’t have to be bad though.  Even if I am just having a small debate with one of my friends I find that we both always use evidence to back up our sides, or we would never get down to who was right and who was wrong.
• Keli– Then it finally hit me: no journeys are the same, there’s always a difference in it. Everything we do is sort of a little journey to finding the you in the future.
• Lian- Moving on to the Evidence unit this EU is Argument requires evidence. I learnt  this one very well. Mrs. Brown reminded me of it a lot, especially in Reading logs. “You identify the conflict fine, Lian, but you have not provided textual evidence…” or maybe “You discuss his traits, Lian, but you haven’t used textual support/quotes as evidence to prove them! ” That really taught me to have evidence in everything I do and say. Even at home when I tell my dad that I pulled off a 95% on my latest math test, he wouldn’t believe me until I brought the actual test paper so I really did need evidence.
• Ryan– Journeys can be made by force or by choice.” was an enduring understanding that I established this year. I found out that this EU applied to most of my learning in Humanities, because as time went by I began to learn that everything had to be done by force of choice. For example: 1.In Humanities class, one day, on June the 8th, we were told to do an essay. This was beyond my control so I had to do it. 2. In Humanities class, one day, we had the option to read The Diary of Anne Frank or To Kill A Mockingbird, I had an option which meant I could choose therefore starting my journey into the ‘Mockingbird journey’. These are just a couple of examples, even when Humanities is over this EU will apply to everything I do.
• Vrishti- My eyes opened to some issues I’ve never even heard of. Migrants in China who are desperately in need to find jobs, children in Bangladesh who cannot get access to internet! All I could think of was global warming, child labor, and poverty. In reality, the world we live in is facing disastrous amounts of difficulty. It was almost inconceivable! The greatest opportunity in Humanities this year, was learning to be a better citizen of the world and help make a difference.

I am very proud of the work you have all done this year.  Please have a safe and fun summer.

See you on the internet!

Humanities final essay 2009-10 EQEU Essay

You will have the class period Tuesday to compose your final essay.  You may download the document above to see the EQs and EUs as well as the prompt.  You should write a well-developed essay that showcases your learning, illustrates your ability to organize your ideas and provide evidence to support your thoughts.

Prompt: Consider the Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings from the year. Pick three Enduring Understandings that were personalized for you. In an essay, explain how the three E.U.s you chose summarize your learning in Humanities for the year.  Be specific with examples for each.

When you finish, save as:  namefinalessay (ex:  shannonfinalessay). Then, email to: shannonfae@gmail.com.

If you finish early, please work on something silently.

It has been a truly wonderful year. Thank you to all of you.  “Love you, mean it, bye!” (thanks for that reminder Connie, Lian and Daniel!)

Humanities 2009-10 EQ-EUs

In small groups, review the unit you have been assigned.

• What were the EQs and EUs? (see the above document)
• What did we do during that unit?
• What were funny memories from that unit?
• What could you highlight for the class?

With your group, come up with a 5-10 minute skit, song, or other creative presentation to help your classmates remember the unit.

Groups will present Thursday.

• Evidence: Troy, Julia, Jeff; Keli, Kyungla, Nellie, Glarence
• Global Issues: Eric, Amanda; Liza, Dinah, Issa
• Human Rights: Daniel, Connie, Lian; Frenchy, Kailey, Coco
• Culture: Tiffany, Jeffrey, Michel; Jens, So Hyun, Harschal
• Journeys: Vrishti, Ian, Janssen; Taylor, Kevin, Ryan

Thursday we’ll also celebrate our last day of Humanities (and I’ll give out my own superlatives) as we present.  Students may bring in snacks to share (no nuts!) if they would like (though this is not a requirement).

Consider what we have done in the journeys unit.

• Rabbit-Proof Fence
• Journeys Stations- poem, song, maps, timeline, political cartoons
• Short Stories- Chu, Oreo, Ved, Harriet
• Writing Short Story
• iWeb project

Now, pick 2 EUs.  What specific activities did we do that helped you to personalize both EUs?  Post this response to your blog.

All late, missing or make-up work from this quarter is due by Wednesday, June 2. Please be sure to check Power School closely.  Reading logs and iWeb grades are the only grades not entered since they are due Monday.  Please email or ask Dr. Brown if you need any clarification.

Whew!  We have had a busy couple of weeks with China Alive, High School Shadow Day, the Expo, and the Boat Dance.  Monday marks the beginning of our final 10 class sessions together.  As an overview, we will be:

• working on the historical journeys pages for the iWeb project (this week)
• finalizing the iWeb projects for submission on Monday, May 31
• resubmitting short stories (if desired) by Friday, May 28
• turning in all library materials by Friday, May 28
• writing our final reading logs due Monday, May 31
• reviewing our units throughout the year dramatically
• writing a final essay regarding our learning throughout the year (June 8)

As normal, please email or check MSN is there are questions about specific assignments.

Description
Using iWeb you will be creating a couple web pages about a journey of yours and another journey you admire.  The journeys will be displayed using pictures, text and/or video (if you have it).  The journey you admire should be a historical person, group, event, or even philosophy.  You will also choose one of the EUs that has a connection or similarity to the journeys you are documenting.  You should also gain a better understanding of website presentation and the iWeb application.

Required pages (6 pages minimum)***

• A Welcome Page with a description of what the site is about with clips or teasers of the content (quotes, smaller photos, big words, etc.)
• Who’s Who Pages for each journey (2 separate pages- historical and personal) identifying the key people, their roles and a short description of their backgrounds
• Journey Description Pages for each journey (2 separate pages- historical and personal)
• A Synthesis Page with a minimum two paragraph discussion of how the two journeys are connected through the EUs

Required Content***

• Explanations of the various phases or steps, and major turning points of the journeys
• Photos from the journeys with captions (This may be done on the pages, but you could also make a separate photo page, if necessary.)
• Video or audio from the journeys, if available
• Quotations from the people involved in the journeys

***You have the creative freedom to alter these page titles, and style of your website.  Just make sure all the required information is included.

Grading

iWeb Journeys Rubric

Conventions rubric

• Content: All the required content must be present.
• Conventions: The Six Traits Conventions Rubric will be used to grade your web page.  If you have typos or poor grammar on a website, the viewers may doubt your content or even your intelligence.
• Creativity: The assignment only tells you what you have to present not HOW you need to present it.  This will be an exercise in web design and creativity.  You are encouraged to think outside the box and rubric.

To earn the highest grade you must go above and beyond the required content and be as creative as possible.

Welcome back from China Alive!  We are entering into our final weeks of class.  As we finish out the year and our Journeys units, students will be embarking upon “A Journey on the Super-Highways:  The Journeys Website Design Project.”

Students will be given details in class today.  Check back for more information.

Use the Organization rubric as you look at your partner(s)’s paper.  Revise your short story based upon the feedback you are given on your story.

• Is character development and setting established in the beginning?
• Is the conflict established early on?
• Are there obstacles or challenges that the character must face?
• Is there an obvious climax?
• Does the falling action follow the climax and lead to the resolution?
• Is the Enduring Understanding obvious?  Which E.U. was the focus?