The GP (Auto)Biography Project - The GLOBAL Pen are some sample “RESPONSE STARTERS” to help you: • I really don’t understand this because… • I really like/dislike this

Credits: Jill Pavich, NBCT [email protected] AICE: General Paper (8004), grade 9 Boca Raton Community High School, PBCSD

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AICE: General Paper—9/Pavich

PROJECT BACKDROP…Read Me!!

Over the summer, you were asked to select any biography or autobiography of your choice and read it as part of the

AICE: General Paper curriculum for incoming 9th graders. If you are new to the school district or just absolutely forgot to do your

assignment, never fear! You still have approximately ONE month before your Biography project is due. Either way, you will

need to get started right away because it’s going to take you some time to pull together the best highlights of the book you read

and to find a way to creatively communicate these to your peers. Keep in mind, after all, that a WHOLE WEEK will be dedicated

to this project, and your hard work will serve as the backbone of our learning experience J

PROJECT DUE DATE FOR ALL STUDENTS: __________________________________________________________

In addition to learning from your own project, you will also study closely the project of a partner. Your teacher will assign your

partner, and you will be required to complete TWO tasks that directly relate to your partner’s work. Last but not least, in groups,

you will use your knowledge from ALL the (Auto)Biography Project Presentations to complete ONE final, learning activity.

Let’s go to work!

I’m assuming you’ve read your (auto)biography already, yes?!

Once you have, you will need to do this first step…

‘DIALECTICAL’ JOURNAL ENTRY REQUIREMENT

It wouldn’t be an academic experience if I didn’t ask you to take notes ;-) During the first week of class, I will issue you a GP

Journal, on whose pages you will practice writing all year. Your first assignment in this journal, and an important part of your

(Auto)Biography Project, will be to record at least 15-20 important facts, thoughts, ideas or other expressions you came

across while reading your selection that you think are valuable to the topic (and the life) it explores. You will use a type of 2-

Column Notes to do this called a Dialectical journal format. Follow the written instructions and accompanying visuals on the

next few pages (pgs. 2-3) to guide you through this process.

The GP (Auto)Biography Project


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DIALECTICAL JOURNAL ENTRY

DIALECTIC: “the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation, or the exchange

of question and answer, to get there.”

Think of your dialectical journal for this (auto)biography as a series of conversations with the text as you try to understand its

contents. The purpose of this activity is to help you develop a better understanding of what you’re reading!

SET UP YOUR JOURNAL:

The title of this journal entry will be: “Dialectical Journal: (Auto)Biography”. Put this on the top line of the page on the left-

hand side, followed by today’s date on the right-hand side on this same line. Skip a space.

Take the page and fold it into equal halves VERTICALLY. You will have a left-hand column and a right-hand column. Label the

LEFT column “TEXT” and the RIGHT column “RESPONSE.” Skip a space.

Let’s begin your journal activity using this format J

“Dialectical Journal: Biography” 8/19/13

TEXT: RESPONSE:

“Even though Eduard and If I was Nellie, I don’t Nellie lived in the same know if I could forgive my cramped apartment, they dad either if he gave me never looked at each other away, but at the same anymore” (29). time I understand why he did what he did b/c the family had no other way to survive.

“…the first time in the This circus is one of the Barnum & Bailey Circus’s oldest and fondest three decades’ history that memories for many the show had opened a new American children. My season in a city outside NY” parents remember going (151). when they were young and I remember riding the elephant. The ‘greatest show on Earth’ is one of the greatest cultural past times for our society.


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TEXT COLUMN (LEFT)

Provided you’ve already read your book, skim back through the selection and recall your experiences in reading it. Give

yourself time to leaf back through each chapter with the intention of finding passages from the TEXT that did any of the

following to you as you read…

PASSAGES THAT:

• spoke to you because your experiences were similar to this person

• made you form a strong opinion where you felt like you had something to say back

• made you realize something important about the person’s story or personality

• moved you because of the creative way they were written or the words that were used

• contained moments where you found yourself interpreting the literary meaning of the content

• confused you because you could not understand or could not relate to the experience of the person

• reminded you of something you’ve seen before

• uses patterns, themes, or ideas in the writing that occur several times in the story, enough that you picked up on it

• discussed events you found to be surprising or confusing, disappointing or even inspiring

• you found yourself judging, interpreting, imagining or trying to make sense of something…where you found yourself

thinking about it or the image it provoked much later in your day or week

• nudged you to predict what would likely come next

• had unusual or unique moments in the writing, organization or other interesting literary hallmark that made the book a

joy or a pain to read

Once you determine the passages that struck you in some way, you will record the portion of text in the left-hand column

labeled, “TEXT.” After you jot down the quotation, put the page number in parentheses (see format on pg. 2).

RESPONSE COLUMN (RIGHT)

Now it’s time to respond to that passage that struck you!

RESPOND TO THE PASSAGE BY:

• Questioning what happened or why

• Questioning the person’s actions or reactions to a particular situation if you found it surprising or if you disagreed

• Justifying the person’s actions or reactions to a particular situation if you would’ve done the same thing

• Interpreting the meaning of something ambiguous or unclear

• Giving your personal reaction to something that happened


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• Relating a situation to something that you’ve experienced or could never imagine experiencing

• Writing about what it makes you think or feel or want to do

• Comparing the person’s character or experiences to a person you know or a character you’ve read about, real or

imagined

• Predicting what might happen next

• Relating it to something you’ve learned in school or from an important figure in your life

• Talking about how a specific event relates to the bigger world around us or how it has an impact on it

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT MERELY SUMMARIZE THE PLOT!!

Here are some sample “RESPONSE STARTERS” to help you:

• I really don’t understand this because…

• I really like/dislike this idea because…

• I think the author is trying to say that…

• This passage reminds me of a time in my life where…

• I can’t imagine what this would be like because…

• If I were (this person), at this point, I would…

• The part doesn’t make sense because…

• This character is heroic (or other adjective to describe) because…

• This idea/event seems to be important because…

• I’ve heard of this before when…

• The language the author uses here makes me feel/think of/catches my ear because…

• When the author does…it creates a tone that…

• When I read this part, I felt…because…

• What would happen if…?

• Now I understand that…whereas before it was unclear because…

• The details create/show that…

• This seems to symbolize that…

• By doing this, the author creates an image of…


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POSTER PRESENTATON REQUIREMENTS

Using a 3-fold, Poster Presentation board, you will need to depict the most important highlights of the

(auto)biography you chose to read over the summer. On the board, in any order that seems creative, clear, and reasonable,

you will need to communicate the following concepts:

Biography Profile:

• Name of Person(s) and their claim to fame/infamy (Famous/infamous for: scientific discovery? literary great? serial

killer? environmentalist? social rights pioneer? terrorist? etc.)

• A brief summary that explains the importance of this figure in our world

Image Cloud:

• A designated “collage” section that includes a visual interpretation of the figure/group you are studying

• This does NOT have to be a mere set of pictures of the individual; it may include SYMBOLIC images that represent

the individual, so try to incorporate BOTH, and be prepared to explain these images during the presentation!

Life Lesson:

• A brief explanation of why you chose to read about this figure/group AND how it has impacted your life as a result.

You MUST use specific information from the story to support your write-up for this section. Prove that you read!

Quotation Section:

• You will need to showcase at least THREE Quotes from your biography selection:

o Are there any quotes you found especially creative, or ones that completely sum up in words how you see the

person in the (auto)biography? If there are any quotes that seem to represent the “essence” of the person or

topic, by all means, pluck them out and share them on your board!!!

o Are there any quotes that demonstrate an important thing this figure/group is known for saying/believing or

that people have said about him/her/them?

o Are there any quotes that truly CHARACTERIZE this figure/group; anything he/she/they/the author has said

that truly expresses who the figure/group is as a human being?

o Are there any quotes from the (auto)biography that you found inspiring or even maddening? What excerpt did

you read that ignited an emotional response from you? After listing a quote like this, please identify the

MOOD of the quote in parentheses (see pg. 7), or the way it made you feel as a reader. Be as specific as

possible!


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Timeline:

• At the top or bottom of your presentation board, in a horizontal fashion, create a timeline of the figure/group’s most

important events; what were the defining moments that made this figure/group notable? Consider the events that were

most important in the book you read—start to finish—and use these to create your timeline.

Bio Poem:

• Find a special spot on your Presentation Board to showcase a BIOPOEM about the person you studied. Use the

“How to Create a Bio-poem” template contained in this packet to help you format it properly (see pg. 8). Use the

format as a solid guideline, but allow yourself a little creative freedom as well!

Impact:

• To make your project “GP Relevant,” you will need to define the impact your figure of study has had on our LOCAL, NATIONAL, and INTERNATIONAL communities. Designate a section of your Presentation Board to “Impact,” where

you separately explain the figure/group’s impact on our local, national, and international communities.

MLA Citation:

• Find a creative/visually appealing way to display the biography’s book information, which will be written in MLA format

(see pg. 7). Take a look at the book’s jacket, title page, and copyright page to secure the following information. Use

the data you gather in the space below to format your MLA Citation.

o Full title of the book: _____________________________________________________________________

o Author(s) of the book: ____________________________________________________________________

o Name of the book’s Publishing Company: ____________________________________________________

o Location of the book’s publication (city): ______________________________________________________

o Year book was published (copyright year): _____________________


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MLA FORMAT MLA format for properly citing a BOOK: (pay specific attention to capitalization/punctuation/italics as you see it below!)

FORMAT

o Last name of author, First. Title of Book. City of Publication: Name of Publishing Company, Year of

publication.

MLA CITATION EXAMPLE:

o Pavich, Jill. Living in Flipflops. New York: Harper Collins, 1999.

WORD LIST TO DESCRIBE A READER’S MOOD

• Amused

• Empowered

• Enlightened

• Hopeful

• Liberated

• Nostalgic

• Optimistic

• Passionate

• Peaceful

• Refreshed

• Pleased

• Relieved

• Satisfied

• Sentimental

• Surprised

• Sympathetic

• Touched

• Warm

• Grateful

• Irritated

• Anxious

• Apathetic

• Apprehensive

• Brooding

• Confused

• Crushed

• Cynical

• Depressed

• Disappointed

• Discontented

• Distressed

• Embarrassed

• Uncomfortable

• Enraged

• Envious

• Frustrated

• Gloomy

• Haunted

• Heartbroken

• Hopeless

• Hostile

• Indifferent

• Infuriated

• Intimidated

• Irate

• Jealous

• Lonely

• Nauseated

• Nervous

• Numb

• Overwhelmed

• Pensive

• Pessimistic

• Rejected

• Restless

• Terrified

• Somber

• Stressed

• Suspenseful

• Tense

• Threatened

• Vengeful

• Violent

• Worried

• Justified

• Vindicated

8 CREDITS TO: Jill Pavich, NBCT The Global Pen www.theglobalpen.com AICE: General Paper, grade 9 [email protected]

BIO-POEM FORMAT

(LINE 1) First Name

(LINE 2) Three or four adjectives that describe this person

(LINE 3) Important Title/Relationships (daughter of…mother of…leader of…dictator of…)

(LINE 4) Two or three things, people or ideas the person loved

(LINE 5) Three feelings the person experienced

(LINE 6) Three fears the person experienced

(LINE 7) Accomplishments made or trouble created (who composed…who discovered…who tormented…)

(LINE 8) Two or three things the person wanted to see happen or wanted to experience as part of his/her envisioned future

(LINE 9) His her residence

(LINE 10) Last Name

BIO-POEM EXAMPLE ROSA

Determined, brave, strong, loving

Wife of Raymond Parks, mother of all children

Who loved equality, freedom, and the benefits of a good education

Who hated discrimination, loved to stand up for her beliefs, and loved to help others

Who feared racism would continue, feared losing the opportunity to make a difference, and feared that young people might lose opportunities to develop strength and courage

Who changed history as she accomplished great strides in building equality and cultivating opportunity for all

Who wanted to see love triumph and see an end to all bias and discrimination in a world where freedom reigns

Born in Alabama, living in Detroit

PARKS


AUDIENCE ASSIGNMENTS

The Biography Project Presentations will take place on September 16th, 17th, and 18th. As an audience member, you will play

an active role in the presentation process, so you will be responsible for 3 very important tasks during this time. Your

responsibilities are listed below and must be completed at the latest by Thursday, September 19th.

Prior to the start of the Biography Presentations, you will be assigned to a partner whose presentation you will study more closely than the others.

For example, if Johnny is your assigned partner and he read a biography on Steve Jobs, you will use the content of his presentation to complete these tasks; your responses will concern what you learned about Steve Jobs.

YOUR PARTNER IS: _______________________________________

THE FOCUS OF HIS/HER BIOGRAPHY PRESENTATION IS:_________________________________

IN CASE YOU NEED IT, YOUR PARTNER’S EMAIL IS: ____________________________________

TASK A: Audience Panel Questions

• Before your partner’s presentation takes place, think about what you want to LEARN about this figure/group. Write

THREE open-ended, upper-level questions that you want to know about this figure/group here; your teacher will select

ONE of these questions to ask the presenter during the “Panel” portion of the presentations. Be sure your questions

are open-ended, and demonstrate higher order thought (see “Effective Questioning” section of this packet):

1) ________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

2) ________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

3) ________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

TASK B: Opinion—Proof Chart

• Choose one of the following OPINION statements on the next page (pg. 10), based on how you view your partner’s

biography figure/group. During the presentation, it is your responsibility to PROVE this statement by finding specific

evidence—or PROOF—to support this opinion. Fill in the accompanying Opinion-Proof Chart (see pg. 12)

accordingly and turn it in at the end of the class period on the day of your partner’s presentation.


OPINION STATEMENTS to choose from:

1) Teenagers today can learn a great deal from (figure/group).

2) (Figure/group) is a true hero/villain in our modern society.

3) Even though (figure/group) encountered many struggles, he/she/they were able to overcome adversity in a

positive way.

4) If I had to choose a single quality that was most influential in shaping the way (figure/group) lived and

influenced others, it would be ____ (select an adjective of your own to complete this opinion).

5) As part of (figure/group’s) cause, he/she/they changed the future forever.

6) (Figure/Group’s) life was truly remarkable/unique/admirable/despicable/tragic (pick one or make up your own!)

7) Our world today would be very different if (figure/group) had not existed.

8) OR…establish your own opinion about the figure/group you are studying closely and support it from what

you’ve learned from the presentation!

TASK C: Journal Response

• By the end of all the Biography presentations, you will have been exposed to a lot of interesting knowledge about many different people who come from a variety of cultures all over the world. They have been influenced by and will have thus influenced this world as we know it, whether for good or for bad.

• You will need to complete a 2-page journal response in which you pick ONE of the prompts below and discuss how the information you’ve ultimately learned this week relates to that prompt. You will write your response in your journal. At the top of the page, title the entry, “GP Relevance in Biographies” and put a date on it, along with your name.

• Let the prompt options be your guide during presentation week; it will help you set a purpose for listening, which makes the task that much easier (because you know what you’re looking for!).

PROMPT OPTIONS to Choose From:

1) ‘The media plays far too much attention to people who don’t deserve it.’ How far do you agree?

2) In what ways has the work of either artists, musicians, and/or writers influenced your life?

3) Do you think writing about the past is relevant to us? Defend your position.

4) To what extent have people from one culture had an influence beyond it?

5) Is there value in reading about the lives of others?


EFFECTIVE QUESTIONING An “open-ended” question is one that requires more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. It needs a more elaborate, detailed answer, therefore requiring more thought to produce.

L CLOSE-ENDED Question: Do you like school?

J OPEN-ENDED Question: What do you like most about school?

L CLOSE-ENDED Question: Would you be friends with this person?

J OPEN-ENDED Question: If you could meet this person, what would you say?

L CLOSE-ENDED Question: Do think this person is wrong for what they’ve done?

J OPEN-ENDED Question: Why do you think this figure made the decisions he did? What might have influenced him/her/them?

QUESTION STEMS

1. What questions would you ask of…?

2. Who could this help…?

3. If…happened, what could the outcome have

been?

4. How is this similar to…?

5. Why did…changes occur?

6. What were some of the motives behind…?

7. What was the problem with…?

8. How did…manage to be a successful…?

9. Do you think…is a good or a bad thing?

10. How would you have handled…?

11. What changes to…would you recommend?

12. How would you feel if…?

13. How effective was…?

14. What are the strengths/weaknesses of…?

15. Why were you interested in…?

16. What was the biggest obstacle…?

17. Tell me about the greatest/worst…?

18. In what was has…impacted…?

19. How might this affect…?

20. In what ways will…?


NAME: _______________________________________________________ DATE: _______________

PARTNER NAME: _____________________________________________ PD. ____________

OPINION-PROOF CHART

OPINION STATEMENT (FROM PAGE 10)…

PROOF (SPECIFIC INFORMATION GATHERED FROM THE PRESENTATION THAT PROVES THIS GENERAL

STATEMENT TRUE!)…

FACT #1:

FACT #2:

FACT #3:

Documents

The GP (Auto)Biography Project - The GLOBAL Pen are some sample “RESPONSE STARTERS” to help you: • I really don’t understand this because… • I really like/dislike this