Brochure rubric

Score Levels	Content	Conventions	Organization	Presentation
4	§   Is well thought out and supports the solution to the challenge or question §   Reflects application of critical thinking §   Has clear goal that is related to the topic §   Is pulled from a variety of sources §   Is accurate	§   No spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors §   High-level use of vocabulary and word choice	§   Information is clearly focused in an organized and thoughtful manner. §   Information is constructed in a logical pattern to support the solution.	§   Multimedia is used to clarify and illustrate the main points. §   Format enhances the content. §   Presentation captures audience attention. §   Presentation is organized and well laid out.
3	§   Is well thought out and supports the solution §   Has application of critical thinking that is apparent §   Has clear goal that is related to the topic §   Is pulled from several sources §   Is accurate	§   Few (1 to 3) spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors §   Good use of vocabulary and word choice §	§   Information supports the solution to the challenge or question.	§   Multimedia is used to illustrate the main points. §   Format is appropriate for the content. §   Presentation captures audience attention. §   Presentation is well organized.
2	§   Supports the solution §   Has application of critical thinking that is apparent §   Has no clear goal §   Is pulled from a limited number of sources §   Has some factual errors or inconsistencies	§   Minimal (3 to 5) spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors §   Low-level use of vocabulary and word choice	§   Project has a focus but might stray from it at times. §   Information appears to have a pattern, but the pattern is not consistently carried out in the project. §   Information loosely supports the solution.	§   Multimedia loosely illustrates the main points. §   Format does not suit the content. §   Presentation does not capture audience attention. §   Presentation is loosely organized.
1	§   Provides inconsistent information for solution §   Has no apparent application of critical thinking §   Has no clear goal §   I pulled from few sources §   Has significant factual errors, misconceptions, or misinterpretations	§   More than 5 spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors §   Poor use of vocabulary and word choice	§   Content is unfocused and haphazard. §   Information does not support the solution to the challenge or question. §   Information has no apparent pattern.	§   Presentation appears sloppy and/or unfinished. §   Multimedia is overused or underused. §   Format does not enhance content. §   Presentation has no clear organization.

Final Project- School Brochure

Now that you have a blueprint in place for your school, it's time to recruit students!  Design a brochure to attract new students.  Remember, you want to be the #1 choice for both students AND their parents!

Please design a tri-fold brochure containing the information found below.  You have 3 choices:

• Draw the brochure on blank paper
• Create the brochure on Microsoft Publisher (go to start- all programs-Microsoft Office-Microsoft Publisher)
• Create the brochure on Microsoft Word (go to start- all programs-Microsoft Office-Microsoft Word)

There are templates for brochure design on both Microsoft Office and Microsoft Word.

Here is the information that your brochure needs to contain:

1. The name of your school.
2. Your school mascot.
3. The kind of student are you trying to attract.
4. Your school’s grade level  (Elementary, Middle, High? K-12?)
5. Your mission statement.
6. Required classes.
7. Reasons for parents to choose your school for their kids.
8. 5 school rules.

This project will be your unit test grade!  Stay tuned for the rubric we will use to grade it.  Finished brochures will be uploaded onto this blog, so do your best! :)

You can click here for an example of a real high school's brochure.  This will give you ideas, but remember that your final brouchure will look different, since we are asking you for different information.

Mission Statements Assignment

Mission Statement:

Use the internet to search “mission statements.”  Answer these questions:

1.      What is the mission statement of MNPS?  (hint:  Go to mnps.org)

2.      What is the mission statement of Stratford High School?

3.      What is a mission statement? (answer in your own words)

4.      Using what you have learned, write a mission statement for your school.

Post your answers as a comment below.  Please be sure to include the names of all group members!

Project Intro- Create a School!

By this time, you should have enough background knowledge to understand what is going on in education today.  Now it's time to use this knowledge!  You will be working in small groups (3 or 4 people!  No exceptions!) creating a plan for a new school. 

You want this school to be the #1 choice for students AND their parents! 

So think about it- promising all A's to every student might make students want sign up, but do you think their parents will go for it?  Probably not!

Your first step will be brainstorming.  Here are your guiding questions:

1. What is the name of your school?  What do you want the name to say about your school?
2. What is your mascot?  What message does your mascot send?
3. Who do you want to recruit to your school?  Is there a certain type of student?
4. What grade level is your school?  Elementary, Middle, High?  K-12?
5. Write a mission statement for your school.* (For this step, please click on the "Mission Statement" assignment)
6. What classes will your students have to take?  Why? List them and give a 1 sentence description.
7. Why should parents send their kids there?

Make sure you answer all of these questions completely and thoroughly.  Turn in or email your answers to james.taormina@mnps.org or erin.gentry@mnps.org.  If you have questions, you can ask us in person, or leave a comment on the blog. 

In your next step, you will be designing a brochure to recruit students to your new school!

Article 4- "When standardized test scores soared in D.C., were the gains real?"

Click here for the article from USA Today.

You may be saying to yourself, "I bet I know what the assignment will be!" Well, guess what?  You are right!!!

Work with a partner (if your last one was a slacker, you might want to find a new one!) to answer the following discussion questions (Stop your whining!  This will make you smarter!).  Turn them in on paper or email them to james.taormina@mnps.org or erin.gentry@mnps.org.  This will be a daily grade.

Discussion Questions for "When standardized test scores soared in D.C., were the gains real?"

1. Define: No Child Left Behind, Freedom of Information Act, standardized test, statistician, anomaly, chancellor, methodology, rationale, impropriety

2. “Noyes is one of 103 public schools here that have had erasure rates that surpassed D.C. averages at least once since 2008. That’s more than half of D.C. schools.” Is this surprising? How many schools would you expect to have higher than average rates at least once in several years?

3. How could an adult cheat without leaving erasures?

4. Why did the USA Today conduct this investigation, according to the article?

5. “The odds are better for winning the Powerball grand prize than having that many erasures by chance, according to statisticians consulted by USA Today.” Does this mean that the odds that the school was honest are as low as those of winning the Powerball?

6. If random chance and cheating were the only possible explanations, which would you think was more unlikely?

7. “A high erasure rate alone is not evidence of impropriety.” Do you agree? Why does the USA Today think that impropriety is a good explanation for the high erasure rate? What other explanations does the article suggest? What others can you think of?

8. Are any other explanations as likely, in your view, as cheating? Why?

9. What benefits come to school officials as a result of cheating if they do not get caught? Why might a school conclude that it is unlikely to get caught?

10. Is it a bad thing that Michelle Rhee pressured principals to produce good scores? How can you encourage somebody to accomplish something without also encouraging that person to pretend to accomplish something?

Article 3- Let Kids Rule the School

Click here to read this article.  I want you to really think about this one, because you will be starting a project soon where you will create your own school.

Your assignment on this article is the same as before.  Work with a partner to answer the following discussion questions.  You can either write them down and turn them in, or email them to james.taormina@mnps.org or erin.gentry@mnps.org.  Be sure to include both names (this will be a daily grade).

Discussion Questions for "Let Kids Rule the School":

1. Define: profound, impediment, flagged, critiqued, queries, inquiry, endeavor, transformative, thwarts

2. Why do you think so many students drop out of school?

3. If students had more responsibility for their own education, would they learn more? Would graduation rates improve? Explain.

4. Do you think the experiment discussed in the article will have a lasting impact on those students’ academic achievement? Why/why not?

5. Would the experiment work if it were implemented school-wide?

6. Do you think students designing their own curriculum would be motivated to challenge themselves, or would they just do the bare minimum? Explain.

7. Would you like the opportunity to design your own curriculum? Why/why not?

8. If you could design your own curriculum for one year, what would you choose to learn?

Article 2- Requiring Algebra II in High School Gains Momentum Nationwide

Click here to read the article from The Washington Post's Business section.

Your assignment: 

Work with a partner to answer the following questions.  You can write them on a sheet of paper and turn them in to Mr. Taormina, or you can email them to james.taormina@mnps.org or erin.gentry@mnps.org.

Discussion Questions for "Requiring Algebra II in high school gains momentum nationwide":

1. Define: imaginary number, Algebra II, economic strength, Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, rigorous, tier, asymptote, prerequisite

2. “There was a fair amount of judgment that went into this.” Why was researchers’ judgment part of the study? How can you tell if their judgment was good?

3. Do most students take Algebra II, according to the article?

4. Is the purpose of students’ education for their own benefit, or for the benefit of the country and its economy?

5. Should we require kids to take a course because it leads to more college graduates?

6. What is correlation? If A causes B, why will A and B be correlated? If A does not cause B, why might A and B be correlated anyway?

7. How would you try to control an experiment to determine whether Algebra II was causing success, or whether some other factor was causing both?

8. What is the purpose of graduation requirements--why don’t high schools and colleges just offer classes and let kids choose?

9. Suppose that somebody failed to complete high school because of the Algebra II requirement, and applied to work at the Kimberly-Clark plant. How would that company likely respond? Does the company care about Algebra II?

10. What kinds of businesses, if any, would benefit from an Algebra II requirement?

11. What kind of thinking does mathematics encourage? What about algebra? Do you think ability to think this way will help you in life?

12. Look at this question set again. Where do you see letters used similarly to how they are used in algebra? Did you understand this use? How can such understanding help you?

Article 1- Seperate and Unequal

This article links our unit on discrimination with our new study on education.  Click here to read this article from the New York Times:

You have two assignments on this article.

• Leave a comment giving your thoughts on the article (This is called a personal reflection.  I don't want a summary- I want to know how this article relates you YOU).
• Work with a partner to answer the questions below.  These should be written down on paper or emailed to james.taormina@mnps.org or erin.gentry@mnps.org for a grade.  Be sure both names are on the paper or email.

Questions for "Seperate and Unequal"

1. When was this article written?

   2. What newspaper did it come from?

3. Who is the author?

4. Define “integration.”

5. What major historical court case is referenced in the article?

6. Is this article a fact piece or an opinion piece?  How do you know? (specific words or phrases that are used)

   7.  Write 1 paragraph summary of the article.  Be sure to answer these questions: 

• WHO is mentioned in this article, and why?
• WHAT is the article about? (What are the main points?)
• WHEN did these events happen?
• WHERE did they happen?
• WHY did the events happen, or why is this important?
• HOW does the article end?

Contemporary Issues- Education Unit. Start here!

Welcome to the education unit of our Contemporary Issues class! 

Mr. Taormina and I are excited to use the technology that Stratford has available to offer this unit to you online.  Education is one issue that is all over the current news (both local and national), but it also affects each one of us directly- every single day.  Here's your first assignment- leave a comment with your thoughts about education.  Some questions you might think about:  Why is it important?  What do you think about the current educational system? 

Be sure to leave your name on the comment- this will be your first daily grade for this unit.