Narratives in Contemporary Issues A Look at Stories That are Important to Us

Key Skills: In Reading Informational Text, students will be able to: analyze and evaluate whether the structure of an exposition makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

Key Skills: In Writing, students will be able to: Engage and orient audience in narratives and establish the significance of the problem, situation, or observation

Key Skills: Establish one or multiple points of view Purposefully sequence events using a variety of techniques Use narrative techniques to develop experiences, events and/or characters Sequence events so they build on each other to create a particular tone or outcome

Key Skills: Use word choice appropriate to the purpose and audience of the narrative Use word choice to convey a vivid picture of experiences, events, setting, and/or characters Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed or resolved over the course of the narrative.

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t. -Mark Twain

The Process 1. Students will pick a topic and research it. 2. Students will create images (8-10) to tell their story (no words on the slides)

The Process Continued 3. After telling the story through images, students will end with a piece of flash nonfiction (a brief piece of prose condensed to one slide that tells a story that is connected or related to the chosen topic)

The Process Continued 4. End the presentation with a Works Cited page. 5. Share the presentation with Mr. Boesch

Point Values One Person: 50/50 points Two People: 25/25 points each

Due Date We will begin presenting our narratives to the class starting Monday.

Contemporary Topics Art Biography Business Culture Economics Education Medicine Nature Politics Science Society Sports Technology Travel

The Following is a Skeletal Structure for our Narratives

Specific Person, Place, Thing, or Idea Student Name(s) Topic:__________ Specific Person, Place, Thing, or Idea Student Name(s)

Image(s) 8-10 slides (no text) Pay attention to 1. the ordering of the images 2. the quality of the images 3. the transitions of the images 4. the details to discuss about the images

Flash Nonfiction The story should be connected to the chosen topic. It is not a recap of events already told. Use in medias res. Has conflict and a brief beginning, middle, and end. No more than fifty words

Questions?

Works Cited MLA Format Alphabetical Order All images should be cited Use www.easybib.com

Questions?

The Presentation Scoring Guide

A Level Participant Participant offers enough solid information, without prompting, to move the conversation forward Participant, through her comments, demonstrates a deep knowledge of the story without reference to the slides Participant has come to the seminar well prepared (5-7 minute presentation time frame is met) Participant, through her storytelling, is actively engaged with the audience and offers Participant offers strong details, clarification, and/or follow-up that extends the storytelling. Participant’s remarks offer clear mastery of the topic.   Works Cited page is flawless (20% of grade)

B Level Participant Participant offers solid story telling without prompting or reference to the slides behind her Through comments, participant demonstrates a good knowledge of the story and knows most of the latest news Participant makes eye contact with the audience most of the time. Participant has come to the seminar prepared: Student has good command of the story without notes or other written prompts Participant shows that she is actively listening to others and offers clarification and/or follow-up Works Cited page has minor mistakes, but all sources are cited and overall meet MLA standards.

C Level Participant Participant offers some incongruous parts of the story, but needs prompting from the teacher or audience. Through comments, participant demonstrates a general knowledge of the story. Participant makes some eye contact with the audience. Participant is less prepared and does not offer clarification and/or follow-up to others’ comments. Audience is left with many questions. Participant summarizes some of the slides. Participant relies more upon his or her opinion, and less on the facts to drive her story. Works Cited page has several minor errors, but all sources are noted.

D or F Level Participant Participant offers little commentary about the story (goes too fast) Participant comes to the seminar ill-prepared. Participant does not field questions, offers no background to further the discussion. Typically, the student simply summarizes the images in front of her.   Participant fails to pay attention to the required time (5-7 minutes) Participant has no understanding of the details to the story she is telling the class. Participant simply summarizes the slides before her. Participant does not cite all of the sources or merely cites the URL.

Scoring Breakdown Requirements Grade Percentage Pacing (4-7 minutes) 40% Images and Layout (8-10 slides) 20% Flash Nonfiction Slide Works Cited Page Off-task Behavior During Another’s Presentation -10% per day

Recommendations: Prior to presenting, practice your presentation with Mr. Boesch or a family member or friend.