Picture This!

Everyone has now had a chance to get into their books over the weekend. Each person's book is set in a distinct time period. That means People, Places, and Things will look very different from today.

Assignment due Monday, April 27th to be posted on the blog

1. Describe the setting of your book (time period, place, etc.)

2. Does your character live in a home, what is it like? Or are they moving around, what is that like?

3. Locate 3 pictures from the internet that reflect your book the best. (Look at the above example, this woman was photographed during the Great Depression). Be sure to tell why these pictures reflect your time period.

My Name is America Books

Today you have been given your new independent reading material. All of you have a different book which concentrates on a particular part of history. Although the story itself is fictional, the characters and their issues were very real.

Before we begin reading our books we will take the time to explore the historical context which surrounds our book.

Using your Writer's Notebooks as note keeping, research the historical events, location and time in which your book takes place. You can use the following links to research sites or other search engines to find information surrounding your book.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/our_america/index_flash.htm

http://www.scholastic.com/dearamerica/books/series.htm

http://www.animatedatlas.com/timeline.html

http://www.si.edu/encyclopedia_si/nmah/timeline.htm

Assignment: due April 23, 2009

1. Create a timeline of important events surrounding your book. Be sure to only include events that are relevant to the LOCATION of your book.
Ex: Do NOT include information on the building of the Egyptian pyramids in your timeline if your book is not located in Egypt! Only put in events that are relevant to your location.
This is to be written, or typed up. You may either hand it in to me or email it in by Thursday.

Historical Analysis

We have been talking about historical ANALYSIS in class.
Choose one of the following topics to analyze.

a. Holocaust
b. September 11th
c. Iraq War

Assignment:
1. ANALYZE why did this event take place?
-what led up to this event
-what were the effects of this event?