Epidemic Webquest

Epidemic Mini-Research

A WebQuest for 10th Grade (English Language Arts)

Designed by

Jaimie N. Hatfield
jaimie.hatfield@lrsd.org

     

       

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits

Introduction

You wake to find a portal in your room. You are too curious to walk away, so now you have traveled to a time and place where there is an extreme epidemic. People are dying every where around you.

It is your job to discover what is causing so many to suffer and die. You must first identify the symptoms and the progression of the disease. After that, you must determine the causes of the disease and how the environment/people have been impacted.

Before you succumb to the illness yourself, you wake up to your alarm going off. Whew! I was only a dream. Yet, you are still curious as to how the epidemic was handled. You wonder, “Did they find a cure? Is it preventable? Is it still around today?” You will only find these answers through the magic of research.

(Note: Although the introduction is written in second person, you have to maintain a third person point of view for your research paper as a matter of formality.)

Essential/Guiding Questions: How have epidemics impacted society? Why are they represented in literature?  

 

The Task

• Research your chosen epidemic position;
• Develop a informational text that addresses the epidemic;
• Demonstrate academically appropriate writing and MLA format usage. 

 

The Process

To accomplish the task, what steps should the learners go through? Use the numbered list format in your web editor to automatically number the steps in the procedure. Describing this section well will help other teachers to see how your lesson flows and how they might adapt it for their own use, so the more detail and care you put into this, the better. Remember that this whole document is addressed to the student, however, so describe the steps using the second person.

1.      Preview this video 

2.      Choose one of the discussed epidemics to research.

3.      Find five online sources and email me the links at jaimie.hatfield574@students.lrsd.org

4.      Complete the bubble map for your essay.

5.      Begin your first draft.

6.      Use Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) to assist you in using the proper MLA format.

7.      Use Bower’s Essay Architect to help with the structure of the essay.    

8.      Submit your first draft to jaimie.hatfield574@students.lrsd.org

9.      Upon return of your draft, edit and revise your paper to create your final draft.

 

Evaluation

Research Report : Epidemic Webquest Teacher Name: Ms. Hatfield  Student Name:     ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4 AWESOME SAUCE	3 LOOKING GOOD	2 MET EXPECTATIONS	1 OPPORTUNITY FOR REDO
Graphic Organizer	Graphic organizer or outline has been completed and shows clear, logical relationships between all topics and subtopics.	Graphic organizer or outline has been completed and shows clear, logical relationships between most topics and subtopics.	Graphic organizer or outline has been started and includes some topics and subtopics.	Graphic organizer or outline has not been attempted.
First Draft	Detailed draft is neatly presented and includes all required information.	Draft includes all required information and is legible.	Draft includes most required information and is legible.	Draft is missing required information and is difficult to read.
Mechanics	No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.
Paragraph Construction	All paragraphs include introductory sentence, explanations or details, and concluding sentence.	Most paragraphs include introductory sentence, explanations or details, and concluding sentence.	Paragraphs included related information but were typically not constructed well.	Paragraphing structure was not clear and sentences were not typically related within the paragraphs.
Quality of Information	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Sources	All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented in the MLA format.	All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but a few are not in the MLA format.	All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but many are not in the MLA format.	Some sources are not accurately documented.

 

Pre-Activity for Night by Elie Wiesel

We are preparing the read Elie Wiesel's memoir Night. The novel depicts his time in the Nazi German concentration camp.

Part of our literary journey will be to analyze how ignoring a belittling joke can eventually lead to genocide. It is hard concept to imagine that ignoring a joke can lead to such drastic events, but it does happen.

Examples of belittling jokes and stereotypes

The first thing that one should familiarize themselves with the various forms of prejudice that exist in the world. It is far more than race and sexual orientation (a primary focus in the current landscape of American culture). 

Survivors of Buchenwald Concentration Camp

1. Go to Most Common Prejudice. After reading the list and 

description of the various forms of prejudice, create 

Cornell Notes for each type. Include questions that can be used for a Socratic Seminar. 

2. Familiarize yourself with the history of genocide so that you may have a full historical understanding and the background knowledge needed for an analysis. There are two sites that you should read and add to your Cornell Notes: 8 Stages of Genocide and 10 Atrocious Genocides In Human History. 

3. Although The Pyramid of Hate was discussed thoroughly in class, resources for personal research and growth can be found at The Southern Povery Law Center (a group focused on fighting hate and teaching tolerance in the United States) and The Anti-Defamtion League (a group that was orginally formed to fight against the defamation of Jewish people, but has grown to fight many forms of discrimination and hate). 

The Hate Map on The Souther Poverty Law Center website tracks various hate groups throughout the country. 

4. We began creating Cornell Notes over Oprah's interview with Elie Wiesel at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. You can find videos 1-6 at Winfrey and Wiesel - Auschwitz. 

5. Read and try to retain the information found at  26 Holocaust Facts for easier comprehension of Night by Elie Wiesel.

Teaching Tuesday: Fall Semester Study Guide for 2014

Fall Study Guide 2014

The majority of your exam will be formatted in the PARCC format. You will have passages to analyze. Each question will be in two parts. The first part will pertain to a literary device listed below and the second part will consist of four options to best justify your answer for the first part.

You will need to be able to understand the following words as they will appear in the prompts:

ü LITERARY DEVICES (also known as literary terms and literary techniques)

ü ANALYZE

ü COMPARE

ü CONTRAST

ü CRITICIZE

ü DEFINE

ü DESCRIBE

ü DISCUSS

ü EVALUATE

ü IDENTIFY

ü ILLUSTRATE (Not the drawing definition)

ü INTERPRET

ü OUTLINE

ü PERSUADE

ü PROVE

ü STATE

ü SUMMARIZE

ü PARAPHRASE

ü CITE

ü JUSTIFY

ü TEXTUAL SUPPORT

ü ANNOTATE (ANNOTATION OR CLOSE READING STRATEGIES)

You must be able to identify, define, interpret, and support your argument for each of the following terms (pages 979 – 991):

Ø ALLITERATION

Ø ALLUSION

Ø ASSONANCE

Ø AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Ø CHARACTER

o   DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

o   INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

Ø CONFLICT

o   INTERNAL

o   EXTERNAL

Ø CONNOTATION

Ø DENOTATION

Ø DIALECT

Ø DIALOGUE

Ø DICTION

Ø FORMAL ESSAY

Ø FIGURE OF SPEECH (ALSO KNOWN AS FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE)

Ø FLASHBACK

Ø FLASH-FORWARD

Ø FOIL

Ø FORESHADOWING

Ø GENRE

Ø HYPERBOLE

Ø IDIOM

Ø IMAGERY

Ø IRONY

o   VERBAL IRONY

o   SITUATIONAL IRONY

o   DRAMATIC IRONY

Ø METAPHOR

Ø MOOD

Ø NARRATION

Ø NARRATOR

Ø NONFICTION

Ø NOVEL

Ø ONOMATOPOEIA

Ø PERSONIFICATION

Ø PLOT

o   EXPOSITION

o   RISING ACTION

o   CLIMAX

o   FALLING ACTION

o   RESOLUTION

Ø POINT OF VIEW

o   OMNISCIENT

o   THIRD-PERSON-LIMITED

o   FIRST-PERSON

o   CREDIBLE/RELIABLE

o   UNRELIABLE

Ø PROTAGONIST

Ø ANTAGONIST

Ø PUN

Ø SETTING

Ø SHORT STORY

Ø SIMILE

Ø SPEAKER

Ø STYLE

Ø SUSPENSE

Ø SYMBOL

Ø THEME

Ø TONE

Ø VOICE

You will be writing two essays. You will need to be able to demonstrate your knowledge of basic components of an essay. You will need to be able to discuss literary elements from the literary pieces and cite textual support in MLA format to justify your argument.  You must be very mindful to use a formal voice with correct spelling, grammar, mechanics, and conventions.

§  GRABBER/HOOK

§  FOCUS STATEMENT/BACKGROUND INFORMATION

§  THESIS STATEMENT/ARGUMENT/CLAIM = PROMPT + CLAIM + PROOF OF CLAIM (3)

§  TOPIC SENTENCE

§  EVIDENCE

§  EXPLANATION

§  MODIFIED THESIS/ARGUMENT/CLAIM

§  MODIFIED FOCUS STATEMENT/CLOSING INFORMATION

§  CHALLENGE

Essay Questions (written in MLA format with a Works Cited Page)

1.     Determine what mood and tone are created through use of imagery in Elie Wiesel’s Night. Explain the importance of mood and tone in a non-fiction novel. Justify your claim with textual support.

2.     Examine the symbolism of fire, technology, and books in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Interpret each symbol and analyze how the symbols collectively represent an oppressive government and dystopian society.

ARGUMENT   (9-10)
Description	5 Exceptional	4 Skilled	3 Proficient	2 Developing	1 Inadequate
Claim: The text introduces a clear, arguable claim that can be supported by reasons and evidence.	The text introduces a compelling claim that is clearly arguable and takes a purposeful position on an issue. The text has a structure and organization that is carefully crafted to support the claim.	The text introduces a precise claim that is clearly arguable and takes an identifiable position on an issue. The text has an effective structure and organization that is aligned with the claim.	The text introduces a claim that is arguable and takes a position. The text has a structure and organization that is aligned with the claim.	The text contains an unclear or emerging claim that suggests a vague position. The text attempts a structure and organization to support the position.	The text contains an unidentifiable claim or vague position. The text has limited structure and organization.
Development: The text provides sufficient data and evidence to back up the claim as well as a conclusion that supports the argument.	The text provides convincing and relevant data and evidence to back up the claim and effectively addresses counterclaims. The conclusion strengthens the claim and evidence.	The text provides sufficient and relevant data and evidence to back up the claim and addresses counterclaims fairly. The conclusion effectively reinforces the claim and evidence.	The text provides sufficient data and evidence to back up the claim and addresses counterclaims. The conclusion ties to the claim and evidence.	The text provides data and evidence that attempts to back up the claim and unclearly addresses counterclaims or lacks counterclaims. The conclusion merely restates the position.	The text contains limited data and evidence related to the claim and counterclaims or lacks counter-claims. The text may fail to conclude the argument or position.
Audience: The text anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns about the claim. The text addresses the specific audience’s needs.	The text consistently addresses the audience’s knowledge level and concerns about the claim. The text addresses the specific needs of the audience.	The text anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns about the claim. The text addresses the specific needs of the audience.	The text considers the audience’s knowledge level and concerns about the claim. The text addresses the needs of the audience.	The text illustrates an inconsistent awareness of the audience’s knowledge level and needs.	The text lacks an awareness of the audience’s knowledge level and needs.
Cohesion: The text uses words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, creates cohesion, and clarifies the relationships between the claim and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claims and counterclaims.	The text strategically uses words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text. The text explains the relationships between the claim and reasons as well as the evidence. The text strategically links the counterclaims to the claim.	The text skillfully uses words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text. The text identifies the relationship between the claim and reasons as well as the evidence. The text effectively links the counterclaims to the claim.	The text uses words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text. The text connects the claim and reasons. The text links the counterclaims to the claim.	The text contains limited words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text. The text attempts to connect the claim and reasons.	The text contains few, if any, words, phrases and clauses to link the major sections of the text. The text does not connect the claims and reasons.
Style and Conventions: The text presents a formal, objective tone that demonstrates standard English conventions of usage and mechanics along with discipline- specific requirements (i.e. MLA, APA, etc.).	The text presents an engaging, formal and objective tone. The text intention- ally uses standard English conventions of usage and mechanics along with discipline-specific requirements (i.e. MLA, APA, etc.).	The text presents an appropriate and formal, objective tone. The text demonstrates standard English conventions of usage and mechanics along with discipline specific requirements (i.e. MLA, APA, etc.).	The text presents a formal, objective tone. The text demonstrates standard English conventions of usage and mechanics along with discipline specific requirements (i.e. MLA, APA, etc.).	The text illustrates a limited awareness of formal tone. The text demonstrates some accuracy in standard English conventions of usage and mechanics.	The text illustrates a limited awareness or inconsistent tone. The text illustrates inaccuracy in standard English conventions of usage and mechanics.

Exam Schedule

Fall Semester Exam Schedule 2014-2015
Tuesday	December 16, 2014	A-Day
			1st Block	8:45 - 10:45
			Break/Study Time	10:45 -11:00
			2nd Block	11:00 - 1:00
			Lunch	1:00 – 1:20
			Buses	1:25
Wednesday	December 17, 2014	B-Day
			1st Block	8:45 - 10:45
			Break/Study Time	10:45 -11:00
			2nd Block	11:00 - 1:00
			Lunch	1:00 – 1:20
			Buses	1:25
Thursday	December 18, 2014	A-Day
			3rd Block	8:45 - 10:45
			Break/Study Time	10:45 -11:00
			4th Block	11:00 – 1:00
			Lunch	1:00 – 1:20
			Buses	1:25
Friday	December 19, 2014	B-Day
			3rd Block	8:45 - 10:45
			Break/Study Time	10:45 -11:00
			4th Block	11:00 - 1:00
			Lunch	1:00 – 1:20
			Buses	1:25