Hillwood Assignments

Welcome Mr. Clarke to class today. He'll be leading everyone through the making and filming of a stop-motion claymation activity.

To start the morning, though, practice typing using this website. At the bottom of site's page, you will find code that you can embed onto The Herald, if you like.

Now, watch the following claymation videos and get inspired:


If you finish early, tackle one of the following stories:

• Write about how to take photos of people. Please include tips for taking photographs that are cited to this source, as well as information from Mr. Clarke. Read this list of 10 tips for taking photographs. Which ones seem most important to you? Include at least three of your favorite photos from this National Geographic site in your post. Why do you consider them good photographs?
• Write about how to take photos of cities. Please include tips for taking photographs that are cited to this source, as well as information from Mr. Clarke. Read this list of 10 tips for taking photographs. Which ones seem most important to you? Include at least three of your favorite photos from this National Geographic site in your post. Why do you consider them good photographs?
• Write about how to take photos of landscapes (what is the difference between a landscape and a city?) Please include tips for taking photographs that are cited to this source, as well as information from Mr. Clarke. Read this list of 10 tips for taking photographs. Which ones seem most important to you?Include at least three of your favorite photos from this National Geographic site in your post. Why do you consider them good photographs?
  
• Make a Wordle. 
• Explore your neighborhood with Old SF. Write your first post about your neighborhood and what it looked like long ago. Include images in your posts.  
• Start taking this free online typing course for kids. Each week, write a review of the site.
• This assignment will take patience: Here's a new site that promises easy-to-do editing.

PacMan on Google

http://www.google.com/pacman/

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/pac-man-rules.html

Ant's Count"

OMG! Scientists have discovered that ants, who are in the desert actually have pedometers in their heads. Which means that they count the steps they take to get to their destination.

Scientists have conducted an experiment that included three ants. One had it's legs cut off, on was left alone, and the last had stilts glued on it's legs. All of them were put at point a. At the end, only the one that was left alone made it to point b.

For more information, watch this video:


Source: NPR.org

Julian's Video

In this video I talk about the 40th anniversary of the Exploratorium and that I did a video on it. If you want to see it, click here.

by Julian Farr

Build Your Own Super Hero

Marvel Comics has a "Create Your Own Super Hero" website that allows people to design and show off their own super hero.

The site is made with Flash, a multimedia program developed in 1996. It is used to add animation and interactivity to web pages.

Student Assignment: Brendan
Using only this URL, play around with building a super hero (spend no more than 10 minutes doing this). Create your super hero to be posted to The Herald. Before you click "download," have Ms. Moorhead show you have to do a screen grab. This web site does not always work, so we will want to save your creation this way, as well.

Upload your super hero to the blog, and then write a brief story about this website. Remember to include the basics -- the five W's -- of a news story:

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

Consider the following:
• Did the site work perfectly to you?
• Would you recommend this site to friend?
• What would you change about the site?

Team Nutrition: Blast Off to Healthy Eating

Team Nutrition is a project of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. Part of its education efforts include the creation of a computer game to teach young people about healthy eating.

Student Assignement: Brendon
What is Team Nutrition and what is the organization trying to do? Write a news story that explains the five W's of Team Nutrition:

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

Also, review Team Nutrition's new computer game and point readers to this educational page. What do you find most interesting about it? Consider htthe following questions:

• What is the game like to play?
• What ages is it most appropriate for?
• What do you like best about the game?
• What would you change?
• Did you find any bugs (or mistakes in the game)?

Masterpiece Comics

Assignment: Lance
What would happen if Garfield the Cat met Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus? Or if Beavis and Butt-head were left waiting for Godot? It's hard to imagine. Fortunately, comic-book artist R. Sikoryak has mashed up classical works of literature with comic strips. He writes Masterpiece Comics, but there are other artists and writers who have done this.

In this assignment, consider some past work through this link or this one from the magazine Time Out! New York. Remember to credit whatever source you use (NPR or Time Out! New York) and link to both pages (this page one and this one). Also, do a screen grab of one of the images -- whichever one you like best. You can find more images on Sikoryak's web page, as well as his bio.

In “Dostoyevsky Comics,” Sikoryak has made loner vigilante Bruce Wayne Crime and Punishment’s Raskol (instead of the bat signal, he gets an ax). There's also “Good Ol’ Gregor Brown,” lovable loser Charlie Brown wakes up a cockroach à la Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (Snoopy is the maid).

Link to the Wikipedia page that talks about the real classic for each book. You may use the links ALREADY included on this page to save time.

A Report on the City Hall Field Trip

Student Assignment: Irene

Write a report about the upper-graders' trip to both City Hall and the Exploratorium.

For the City Hall portion, link to the appropriate video and images.

For the Exploratorium story, link to the photos from the art project. Explain how you made these images.

If you have time, let's post your Wikipedia entry about Hillwood.

The White House Bird

Student Assignment: Anya

Write about the history of the White House bird. Include images for each president. Use this link for your images and information. Remember to identify your source.

Also, include how the turkey became such a central part of this holiday. Use Wikipedia as your source.

Turkey Cartoon

Create a cartoon about Thanksgiving using this Flash application. Then create a fun story using this application.

Write a Caption to Your Video

Video Caption Writing

Write a Video Caption

RadioLab: Parasites

Student Assignments: Rubina

New York City's RadioLab does an hour-long segment about parasites. Read this blog entry by RadioLab. Watch the different videos, and embedd several onto you page. Also, read and link to this article by Dan Zimmer, the king of parasite.

Write a news story about parasite. What are they and why aren't they all bad.

Also, link to the orignal RadioLab audio podcast.

Assignments: November 13

Computer 1 [Ms. Moorhead's Mac 1]
Student Teacher: Julien G.

Computer 2 [Ms. Moorhead's Mac 2]
Upper-grader visit to City Hall: Irene X.
Hillwood's Wikipedia entry + newstory about the open house: Irene X.
Write a caption to your video.

Computer 3 [The Hillwood PC]
The Historic Fall of the Berlin Wall: Brigette W.

Computer 4 [Zack's Mac]
Building the Wall: Zack O.

Computer 5 [Ms. Moorhead's Mac 3]
Berlin Wall Photo Essay: Julian F.
Write a caption to your video.

Computer 6 [Anya's PC]
Friday the 13th: Anya
(If you have time, create a World about Friday the 13th.)
Write a caption to your video.

Computer 7 [Anya's PC]
Why Parasites Rule: Rubina
Write a caption to your video.
(If you have time, create a World.)

Computer 8 [Mr. Grantz's PC]
Healthy Food Game: Brandon W.

Computer 9 [Lance's PC]
Write a caption to your video.
Berlin Wall Photo Essay: Lance Y.
(If you have time, create a new front-door survey and then a Wordle.)

Student Teacher

Babar Ali is a 16-year-old headmaster in West Bengal, and according to the BBC, a news service in Britain, he spends his mornings at school then devotes his afternoons to teaching others. His school -- relying on ten other volunteer teachers -- are helping roughly 800 students. Watch the BBC interview with him.

Now, watch an interview with Ali by British students.

Student Assignment: Julian F.

What do you think about the work Babar Ali is doing? You're 13 or 14; can you imagine yourself taking on this responsibility?

As you write this news story, remember to answer the five w's:

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

Friday the 13th! What's the History?

Student Assignment: Anya

Yikes! What is the history of Friday the 13th? Read several book pages at Google Books and consider this wikipedia entry. Write a news story about how this day came to be. Remember to answer the five W's of a good news story. Also, remember to include an image representing your story.

Photo Essay: The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Student Assignment: Julian F.

Write an introduction -- at least five sentences -- to your photo essay. You are creating the photo essay because Monday was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Use this link for background.

Remember to pick appropriate music for your video. Remember your audience — your parents, friends, and teachers.

Go to http://animoto.com/

Click on the "Sign In" button in the upper-right-hand corner.
Email: laura_moorhead@mindspring.com
Password: Hillwood

You both will need to pace yourselves with this assignment — do not spend too much time listening to music or selecting images. There will be time to play with the program later.

Photo from The New York Times.

The Making of the Berlin Wall

Student Assignment: Zack

Take a close look at The New York Times' interactive graphic about the making of the Berlin Wall.

Write a news story that discusses both the graphic and the Berlin Wall. Tell readers how it was made and what you find surprising about it.

Remember to answer the five W's of any news story.

The Fall of the Wall: The Berlin Wall 20 Years Later

Just before midnight on Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall — the concrete structure — that divided East and West Berlin started to crumble. The end of the Berlin Wall symbolized the end of communism and the Cold War.

Tell readers about the Berlin Wall -- what it was, how it came to be, and what it symbolizes now.

You are writing a news story about the event and why it still matters. Remember to answer the five W's to a newstory.

Also, look at the following sites for background. Consider linking to them from your story.

• The Fall of the Wall, The Cold War Files / Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
• Freedom Without Walls: Fall of the Berlin Wall, German Missions in the United States
• A before-and-after look, from The New York Times
• Slideshow, from The New York Times
• History of the wall, from Wikipedia
  

Source material: The New York Times