Personal and Social Responsibility

Introduction

Personal Awareness and Responsibility

1. Self-determination
2. Self-regulation
3. Well-being

Social Responsibility

1. Contributing to community and caring for the environment
2. Solving problems in peaceful ways
3. Valuing diversity
4. Building relationships

Consider all of these elements as you work through the assignments in this section.

Summary Explanation of Assignments

Here is a quick overview of the assignments for this unit.  However, be sure you read over the specific assignment instructions that follow for each one.  Review the marking rubrics for the assignments before you start.

ASSIGNMENT 1: Digital Citizenship

Your task is to develop a presentation for a 2nd grade class.  It will be very important for you to consider your audience when you are preparing your slides.  Watch for any bias in your information.  Make it easy to understand and follow.  Use visuals.  Do research on digital citizenship and maintain a working bibliography as you did in previous lessons.  This website on 9 themes in digital citizenship would be a good place to start. You should be helping these young technology users maintain a positive online "reputation management plan".

ASSIGNMENT 2:  Community Service

Goals:  Clarify the main/central idea of a passage; analyze a passage to identify relationships; support important ideas with examples and respond to a question.  In a coherent, well written 200 word persuasive paragraph, respond to the following question.  Do you agree or disagree with the statement ..."Public service is transformative."  Make sure your opinion is clear in the topic sentence.  Practice persuasive writing as it is explained on the next page.  Watch the videos.

ASSIGNMENT 3:  "I Lost My Talk"

Your task is to discuss the impact of first-person point of view in Rita Joe's poem "I Lost my Talk" in a coherent, well-written 200 word paragraph.

Consider:  What effect does a first-person point of view create?  What is Rita Joe's message?  Why has she chosen the first person?  What is the impact of this point of view?  You might consider doing some background research on residential schools and Canadian Aboriginal writers who have communicated their thoughts on disempowerment.

ASSIGNMENT 4:  Public Service Announcement

Demonstrate your personal and social responsibility by developing a public service announcement to raise awareness, change public attitudes and behavior towards a social issue that is important to you.   It is also a good opportunity to further develop your expository and persuasive writing skills.

ASSIGNMENT 5:  Editing FORUM

Go through the 3 Grammar Resources listed under Course Resources.  These sites are from an online Grammar textbook called The Bare Essentials.  There are examples, practice exercises, and practice tests.

Do the practice tests in Unit 1 (WORDS) and Unit 4 (PUNCTUATION).  If you are not achieving 100% on these tests, review the lesson in the EXAMPLES and the do some practice EXERCISES to review.

In this forum, comment on which of the tests you found easiest.  Which one was most difficult?  Was there a concept in these practice tests that was unfamiliar to you?  How might you begin to apply these learning lessons into your own writing?  Can you see where you might use some of these conventions of language?  Provide a discussion of your results and their applications into your creative writing.

ASSIGNMENT 6:  PROJECT:  Persuasive Podcast

Develop a longer piece of writing  (essay, speech, debate about 800 words) that weighs the pros and cons of one of the provided prompts.  Your response should reflect your sense of social responsibility:   contributing to community and caring for the environment; solving problems in peaceful ways; valuing diversity;  building relationships.  You must cite at least 4 sources:  2 for each side of the argument.  Your goal is to synthesize the information from the sources into your persuasive argument. 

And then create your very own podcast of your opinion.  Don't overthink the technology part of this assignment.  If you're having difficulties, ask your teacher right away.

ASSIGNMENT 1: Digital Citizenship

Task:

 "Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately. Digital Citizenship is more than just a teaching tool; it is a way to prepare students/technology users for a society full of technology. Digital citizenship is the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use. Too often we are seeing students as well as adults misusing and abusing technology but not sure what to do. The issue is more than what the users do not know but what is considered appropriate technology usage."

Source: http://www.digitalcitizenship.net

Your task is to develop a presentation for a 2nd grade class. It will be very important for you to consider your audience when you are preparing your slides. Watch for any bias in your information (Note: This link is to an insecure server which means that your browser will probably provide a warning and ask you to approve accessing this material.) . Make it easy to understand and follow. Use visuals. Do research on digital citizenship and maintain a working bibliography as you did in previous lessons. This website on 9 themes in digital citizenship would be a good place to start (note:This link is to an insecure server which means that your browser will probably provide a warning and ask you to approve accessing this material.) . You should be helping these young technology users maintain a positive online "reputation management plan".

You should have at least 10 slides that incorporate information, visuals, and audio.

ASSIGNMENT 2: Community Service

Task:

 Why is Community Service Important? 

The following passage is part of a report that the Obama-Biden campaign prepared about service and volunteering.  

For Barack Obama, public service has not been just the slogan of a campaign; it has been the cause of his life. Obama began his career by moving to the South Side of Chicago to direct the Developing Communities Project.  Together with a coalition of ministers, Obama set out to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued by crime and high unemployment. After graduating from law school, Obama passed up lucrative law firm jobs to head Project Vote, which helped register 150,000 new African American voters in Chicago, the highest number ever registered in a single local effort. Michelle Obama was founding executive director of Public Allies Chicago, a leadership development program that identifies and prepares talented young adults for careers serving the public good. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe public service is transformative, helping both the individuals that serve and the communities that benefit. … 

Barack Obama calls his years working as a community organizer in Chicago’s South Side the best education he ever had. He believes that all students should serve their communities. Studies show that students who participate in service-learning programs do better in school, are more likely to graduate high school and go to college, and are more likely to become active, engaged citizens. Schools that require service as part of the educational experience create improved learning environments and serve as resources for their communities.   

LEARNING LINK: Read the whole report here

Source:  teacher.depaul.edu/Documents/whyiscommunityserviceimportant.pdf

Persuasive Writing

Here is an infographic that breaks down very simply the structure of an opinion piece:

and here is the accompanying video to explain the process of persuasive writing.

and here is a more mature explanation

ASSIGNMENT 3: "I Lost My Talk"

Task:

Point of View

A story has an author, a narrator, and characters, not to be confused with each other. If the narrator and a character in the story are one and the same, you have a story told in first person. If they are separate, you have a story told in third person, of which there are three different types, depending on the amount of knowledge the narrator has about the inner feelings and thoughts of the characters.

Here's a really simple one! Read Charles Simic's poem, "Stone". This poem is from an inanimate object's point of view in the first person. We know this because of the use of the first person pronoun "I".

Here comes the complicated part! Now read "I Lost My Talk" by Rita Joe. Consider the point of view. Ask yourself the 5 questions as you read the poem.

Not only is it important to ask yourself who is the narrator and what is she saying in her poetry, it is also important to understand the background of the poet. Read the background information provided on the next page on Rita Joe, a famous Mi'kmaw poet and songwriter, so you can better understand her point of view. What is her message? Why has she chosen the first person? What is the impact of this point of view?

You must watch this video on Rita Joe before you begin to write such an emotionally charged assignment.

Your task is to discuss the impact of first-person point of view in Rita Joe's poem "I Lost my Talk" in a coherent, well-written 200 word paragraph.

Consider:  What effect does a first-person point of view create?  What is Rita Joe's message?  Why has she chosen the first person?  What is the impact of this point of view?  You might consider doing some background research on residential schools and Canadian Aboriginal writers who have communicated their thoughts on disempowerment.

Here is an example of a student song based on Rita Joe's poem.

Poem: "I Lost My Talk"

I Lost my Talk (1979) by Rita Joe.

I lost my talk
The talk you took away.
When I was a little girl
At Shubenacadie school.

You snatched it away:
I speak like you
I think like you
I create like you
The scrambled ballad, about my world.

Two ways I talk
Both ways I say,
Your way is more powerful.

So gently I offer my hand and ask,
Let me find my talk
So I can teach you about me.

(Poem by Rita Joe reprinted with kind permission of Rita Joe and Canadian Woman Studies: 1989, Canadian Woman Studies 10, 2&3, p. 28).

Background Information

Here is some background on the poem.  The source is cited at the end.

“I Lost my Talk” by Mi’kmaw poet Rita Joe shows the loss of language/ culture/identity and voice in residential schools which pertains to all Indigenous cultures in Canada.

“This poem shows the disempowering effects of the residential schools, in this case the Shubenacadie school in Nova Scotia, which created a twofold tragedy…:they took away the Aboriginal language but they did not teach English well (as the children were also used as labourers).  The mentioning of the spoken language (“talk”) should be read metonymically [a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept] as referring to a way of life vastly different from that of written culture. 

The oral traditions were “taken away,” silencing the medium of talking in their own language as well as the message.  Together with isolation from family, physical and sexual abuse, and punishment for any other kind of cultural expression, this education created “a scrambled ballad.”  So, it took a while until writers emerged who had not only survived but who had also “found their talk.” 

It is worth noting that Rita Joe repeats the work “talk” at the end although she herself is not talking but writing.  It seems that she wants to make a point about the continuation of talk in the written word and thereby a statement about the continuation of her culture despite major disruptions.”

Source:  R. Eigenbrod, G. Kakegamic and J. Fiddler, 2003. “Aboriginal Cultures in Canada:  A Teacher’s Resource Guide”.

There is definitely loss in this poem and a feeling of displacement or disempowerment, but the primary tone and point of view is self-assertive and emphasizes survival and strength.

The National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa premiered a multi-media performance combining music, film and spoken word based on "I Lost My Talk".  You might want to watch the performance to see how to put poetry to musical and theatrical composition.

ASSIGNMENT 4: Public Service Announcement

Task:

 A Public Service Announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated without charge, with the objective of raising awareness, changing public attitudes and behavior towards a social issue.

The earliest PSA's were made before and during World War II to focus on the country's needs in times of war such as encouraging the public to invest their savings in war bonds.  After the war, they were used to educate the public on a broader range of important issues.  Sometimes organizations will enlist the support of a celebrity to read a PSA.  One notable example is Crips gang leader Stanley Williams speaking from prison to urge youth not to join gangs.  Another example is a public health warning sent from the World Health Organization.

An effective Public Service Announcement should persuade an audience to take a favorable action for social change.  PSA's will create awareness, show the importance of an issue, convey information, and promote social change.

Two examples of PSA's that have become a part of our daily life are the ads for fire prevention and not using drugs.  These 2 examples show the massive impact PSAs have on our culture.

Only You can Prevent Forest Fires

This is your Brain on Drugs

Now write your own PSA.

1. Choose a topic that is significant to one of the readings in your focused literary study and create a PSA specific to that reading.  Be creative and relevant.  
2. Research convincing and accurate information on your topic.  Use information for your area of focus.  Identify the topic and area of focus in the reading.
3. Consider your target audience.  Who do you want to rally to action? What are their needs and preferences?
4. Grab your audience's attention. You might use visual effects, an emotional response, or surprise.
5. Make sure your message is clear.  Develop a script beforehand.  A 30 second PSA will typically require about 5-7 concise statements.
6. Submit your PSA in your chosen final format.  You could read it as an audio file, film it, draw it.  It's your message, so you choose the medium.

Here is another site if you need some help.

ASSIGNMENT 5: Editing Forum

Task:

Go through the 3 Grammar Resources listed under Course Resources (on the side of the course). These sites are from an online Grammar textbook called The Bare Essentials. There are examples, practice exercises, and practice tests.

Do the practice tests in UNIT 1 (WORDS) and UNIT 4 (PUNCTUATION). If you are not achieving 100% on these tests, review the lesson in the EXAMPLES and the do some practice EXERCISES to review.

In this forum, comment on which of the tests/concepts you found easiest. Which one was most difficult? Was there a concept in these practice tests that was unfamiliar to you? How might you begin to apply these learning lessons into your own writing? Can you see where you might use some of these conventions of language? Provide a discussion of your results and their applications into your speaking and writing. Comment on another's post. Did you get other ideas for applying these grammar lessons into your own writing?

ASSIGNMENT 6: PROJECT: Persuasive Podcast

Task:  Persuasive Podcast

Develop a longer piece of writing  (essay, speech, debate about 800 words) that weighs the pros and cons of one of the provided prompts. 

Your response should reflect your sense of social responsibility: 

• contributing to community and caring for the environment;
• solving problems in peaceful ways; valuing diversity; 
• building relationships. 

You must cite at least 4 sources:  2 for each side of the argument.  Your goal is to synthesize the information from the sources into your persuasive argument. 

Writing Assignment Options

1.  In "The Singer Solution to World Poverty," an article that appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics, calls attention to the urgent need for food and medicine in many parts of the world.  Singer argues that prosperous people should donate to overseas aid organizations such as UNICEF or Oxfam all money that is not needed for the basic requirements of life. 

"The formula is simple:  whatever money you're spending on luxuries, not necessities, should be given away."

Evaluate the pros and cons of Singer's argument.  Use appropriate evidence as you examine each side.  Indicate which position you find more persuasive in your final paragraph.

2.  Veganism promotes better health as well as sustainability.  Use appropriate evidence as you examine each side.  Indicate which position you find more persuasive in your final paragraph.

3.  Current changing weather patterns indicate the massive impact of global warming.  Use appropriate evidence as you examine each side.  Indicate which position you find more persuasive in your final paragraph.

4. Adolescent depression and anxiety disorders are caused by adolescent hormonal fluctuations and can be treated with prescription drugs.  Use appropriate evidence as you examine each side.  Indicate which position you find more persuasive in your final paragraph.

Now, develop the piece of writing and record it.  Your podcast recording should be 2-3 minutes long. Convince your audience with both oral language and written language that your position is correct and accurate.  Make sure you reflect on your social responsibility as it pertains to the question. 

If you have other topics you'd like to write on, please discuss with your teacher.

Record your writing in podcast format using Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/,  GarageBand, iMovie or other recording software with capacity to edit sound. Add either sound effects or music or both to augment your voice reading. 

Be sure to export as an mp3 format file and upload to the assignment dropbox.

Free sound effect and music sites:

1. https://www.pacdv.com/sounds/
2. http://www.findsounds.com/types.html
3. https://freemusicarchive.org/
4. https://free-loops.com/
5. http://danosongs.com
6. https://incompetech.com
7. https://www.seabreezecomputers.com/tips/freemusic.htm#links … an example from this site:
8. https://www.taylorhayward.org/