Hello, student, and happy summer! We, your Senior English teachers, hope you have a restful summer and are excited to start your final year of high school in August. We know that you probably have a lot planned from June to August, but we expect that you will make time for your summer reading assignment. Your senior year English class will start with a unit on voice, both a look at your own voice as well as an examination of other people's voices. In order to prepare you for this unit, we decided that it would be advantageous for you to read a biography or autobiography over the summer (specific details below). We hope that you will take this opportunity to learn about someone you're already interested in or take the opportunity to learn about someone new. We look forward to seeing you come August and hearing tales of your summer adventures and readings. Assignment: 1. Select and read an autobiography or biography of a person of your choosing; make sure that the book provides some challenge but is not impossible. 2. Create a visual timeline of the life of your person; there are several options to this. You may do it as a physical paper or on a digital site like Poplet. 3. Create (meaning actually burn) a minimum of a 15 track soundtrack of the person's life. Write a short explanation of why you selected the songs you did. Provide an album cover that is representative of the person as well. If your person is a singer, you may not use any of their songs, either performed or sung, on your soundtrack. Due date: August 29 If you need some help looking for biographies or autobiographies, below is a short list of some that might be of interest as well as a website that provides an interesting biography list. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayer The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore The Autobiography of Malcolm X Handbook for an Unpredictible Life by Rosie Perez The Closer by Mariano Rivera http://info.infosoup.org/lists/biosForTeens.asp RUBRIC FOR TIMELINE 5 EVENTS FROM LIFE Includes at least 10 significant moments from the person’s life HISTORICAL EVENTS PICTURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS NEATNESS AND ORGANIZATION Includes at least 5 historical events that happened during the person’s life Includes at least 10, carefully selected pictures and illustrations that represent the person and his life The timeline is neat and well‐organized; time was clearly used to develop the timeline 4
Includes between 8–
10 significant moments from the person’s life Includes at 4 historical events that happened during the person’s life Includes at between 8–10, carefully selected pictures and illustrations that represent the person and his life The timeline is neat and organized 3
2
1
Includes between 6–8 significant moments from the person’s life Includes between 4‐6 significant moments from the person’s life Fails to include 4 moments from the person’s life Includes at 3 historical events that happened during the person’s life Includes at 2 historical events that happened during the person’s life Fails to include any historical events that happened during the person’s life Includes between 6–8 pictures and illustrations that represent the person and his life Includes between 4‐6 pictures and illustrations that represent the person and his life Fails to include 4 pictures and illustrations that represent the person and his life The timeline is neat and organized Very little time was spent on the timeline Timeline is not neat and is disorganized 3
2
• conveys a basic understanding of the text • clearly states connections between information and ideas in the text and the soundtrack • conveys a vague or inaccurate understanding of the text • makes few or shallow connections between information and ideas in the text and the soundtrack 1
• provides no evidence of textual evidence • makes no connection between information and ideas in the text and the soundtrack • develops ideas inconsistently • uses some relevant and specific details from the text • develops ideas simply • uses some details from the text • demonstrates some originality • demonstrates little or no originality RUBRIC FOR SOUNDTRACK CONNECTIONS PROCESS CREATIVITY 5 • demonstrates an in‐depth analysis • makes insightful connections between information and ideas in the text and soundtrack 4
• conveys a thorough understanding of the text • makes valid, clear connections between information and ideas in text and the soundtrack • develops ideas clearly and fully • cites a wide range of relevant and specific details from the text • demonstrates exceptional originality • develops ideas clearly and consistently • uses relevant and specific details from the text • demonstrates originality • does not adequately develop ideas • lacks references to text or uses incorrect references • demonstrates no originality