Inching to the end...

Yesterday we had our Senior Trip to FDR State Park. A week from today you will be at Lehman College wearing your IS 52 Graduation robes and receiving your well-earned Middle School diploma.

As you inch toward the end of your time spent at IS 52 it is a good time to reflect on the past years and anticipate the future ones to come.

Assignment due Friday June 12, 2009 IN COMPLETE SENTENCES
1. Describe your experience on the Senior Trip; what were the best parts, what were the worst parts?
2. If you could have planned your Senior Trip, what would the day look like?
3. What high school will you attend next year?
4. How do you think that school will be similar to IS 52?
5. How will that school be different?
6. What is one thing you are looking forward to? What is one thing you are dreading?

Historical Essay

Today you will begin writing your historical essay. You should have finished reading your book at this point and should be ready to start discussing the historical events.

This assignment will be completed in your WRITERS NOTEBOOK

Assignment due May 20, 2009

1.Write a summary of your historical fiction book: this summary should be broken into 3 parts, an introduction, a body and a conclusion

2. Do a character analysis: write 1-2 paragraphs on ONE character from your book

3. Once you have completed these paragraphs you will then go to
http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/conditional2.htm

and complete the English quiz

Speaking into the Void

Today we have discussed inference in class and what it means to put yourself into another person's shoes. Today you will have the opportunity to use what you know about infering- you will get a chance to interview a character from your book!

Assignment due Monday May 11
1. What character will you interview and why?

2. Describe the character's personality and individual characteristics.

3. Now interview them! Write 10 Questions that you want to ask your character. (be sure the questions are thoughtful, no Yes/No questions here!)

4. Answer each question as if you were the character (again, be sure to answer them in complete sentences- no Yes/No answers here!)

Historical Contemporary

As we read further into our books many of you have noticed that some of the people mentioned in the diaries were real people. These people are historical contemporaries, meaning they lived in that time period along with your character.

Assignment due Monday May 4, 2009

1. Who is the President/King/Queen during your book's time period?

2. Find one person's name mentioned in your book. Was this person a real person?

3. Research this person's biography, when and where were they born? What did they contribute to the world? Find one picture of them if you can.

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?