Introduction
Kassie Paul, Miami University
Target: 8th GradeSubject Area: EnglishToday we are going to do a web quest to research and understand the historical context behind the book The Boy in Striped Pajamas and how the history effects different elements of the book such as themes, setting, characters, and symbols. Through this assignment you will gain a deeper understanding of how to identify all the different elements of a story. You will get to see the impact the different elements have on the reader but ultimately we will focus on setting because as mentioned earlier, its imperative to understand the historical context behind this story in order to see its effect on the different elements on the book.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BS6FjTqqL._SY344_BO1,204,203,20…
Task
For this webquest you will read and annotate "The Boy in Striped Pajamas" book then look at a multitude of sources such as videos, prezis, and websites to research and learn more about the context of the book and the different elements of the book.
Once you are done with that, you will create a compilation project that synthesizes everything you've learned pertaining to the characters, themes, and other elements of the story and how the historical context of the book effects each one. You will do this by either writing an essay or creating some type of visual, oral, or visual and oral presentation. You can choose the method that you are most comfortable with and feel will allow you to present the information you learned in the best way! GET EXCITED! :)
Image courtesy of: http://kendranicole.net/boy-striped-pajamas-book-review/
Process
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ypMp0s5Hiw
Watch this youtube video trailer of the movie "The Boy in Striped Pajamas". It will help us review the book and get a glimpse into the development of the character's. This is just for fun, don't worry about taking notes!
2.https://sites.google.com/site/theboyinthestripedpjs/home
Next, check out this website! It has a bunch of information you could use for the final project so I would suggest taking notes on the different sections. Navigate through each one and start jotting down ideas for which elements you'll want to start using in your project.
3.http://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/the-holocaust-a-learning-site-for-s…
Now, navigate through this website a little. Use it to help you familiarize yourself with the Holocaust. There are many helpful videos, articles, and lots of other forms you can use to assist you in learning more about what happened. After looking at all the the different headings ("Nazi Rule", "Jews in Prewar Germany", "The Final Solution", "Nazi Camp System", and "Rescue and Resistance"), I want you to pick at least one subheading under each heading to explore. Please take notes and try to pick subjects that you feel will help in your final project.
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKmUZprD3RA
Watch this brief documentary on the Holocaust to again help deepen your understanding.
5.http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-holocaust
With this website I want you to pick a medium through which you feel you learn best. That means if you learn by watching videos, then watch at least 2 videos on the Holocaust. If you learn by reading, read at least 2 articles on the Holocaust. You may also watch 2 speeches as an alternative or look at all of the photos under the photo heading.
6. https://prezi.com/izzvmp4n7moq/the-holocaust-the-boy-in-the-striped-paj…
Lastly, take a look at the prezi which will help you connect the book to all the information you just learned.
7. Finally, you need to now begin synthesizing all the things you've just watched, read, etc. All the information you've read or heard today can be used as resources for your project which you should now begin if there's time left in class.
Evaluation
|
Category |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Meaningful use of visual aids such as pictures or graphics |
Visual aids are plentiful and enhance the presentation. |
Visuals are useful but not very meaningful. |
Visuals are relatable but hardly relate to idea being presented. |
Visuals are either not present or are placed randomly and don’t relate to ideas being presented. |
|
Maintenance of enthusiasm and use of eloquent speech |
Presenter maintains enthusiastic disposition throughout speech and uses eloquent language that flows. |
Presenter is somewhat enthusiastic and language flows in most parts of presentation. |
Presenter is hardly enthusiastic and uses too many filler words such as “um”, “uh”, etc. |
Presenter is not enthusiastic at all and is distracting because they filler words on many different occasions. |
|
Meaningful analysis of the historical context of the Holocaust and the effect on different elements of the book |
Analysis is well thought out and thought provoking and related to every element of the book. |
Analysis has been given some thought but not extensively. Only partially related to the elements of the book. |
Analysis has hardly been developed or related to the elements of the book. |
No analysis, only displaying of factual information with no relation to the different elements of the book. |
|
Use of eye contact and posture |
Presenter maintains good eye contact with audience and good posture. |
Presenter occasionally makes eye contact and posture is sometimes lacking |
Presenter hardly makes eye contact and struggles with posture |
Presenter makes no eye contact and has poor posture. |
|
Overall organization |
Presentation is organized in a way that is easy to follow and understand. |
Presenter is somewhat organized but partially hard to understand at times. |
Presentation doesn’t flow very well and presentation isn’t organized in a very cohesive manner. |
No apparent flow to presentation. Presentation is random and all over the place with no thought to organization. |
Rubric for an oral presentation with visual component
Conclusion
My hope is that through this web quest students were able to find a vast amount of information from many different sources and were then able to compile it into a creative project in order to synthesize the main components of the books consisting of, but not limited to, setting, themes, symbols, and characters and the effect the historical context has on the story and these different elements. I also hope that in doing this they were able to develop a deeper understanding of the author's purpose of writing this story and are able to apply what they learned to future books that we read in class.