FIRST QUARTER EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES
This is an opportunity to learn more about something of interest and share your knowledge with others. The work you hand in can be shared with your classmates: as a posted paper, or read in class or made into a page on this web site. The preferred form of this is on a computer disk. Then a file could be made for the web site.
Extra credit is not primarily for those struggling. It does not make sense for those having difficulty getting the basics of the course to take on extra work. If a student has trouble learning and doing well on his work, he needs to consult the teacher for help and guidance.
If you do this you should do this because you want to learn more. It will be a lot of work for a few points. But you can learn more about an area of great interest, and you can help your classmates learn more.
All extra credit
- must be approved by the teacher beforehand--
and must be approved by the sixth week of the quarter at the latest.
- is due one week before exams start.
- requires a clear agreement about what is to be done and how many points will be awarded.
Only one extra credit per quarter.
Book Ingestion 10 points
Make sure you follow directions. This is worth up to +10.
1. Get and read the Mortimer Adler's "How to Mark a Book" from me.
2. You must buy the book. The books listed are very inexpensive.
3. Mark the book according to what we've taught in class or what was suggested in the Adler article. Mark sparingly!
* Underline key ideas that reveal important truth. If there is a large section or an extremely important section, box it.
* write new vocabulary at top of page
* write comments or observations in the margins of the text.
4. After reading do a three level level paper, but only write about the last two levels:
2nd level: What is a major idea of the story?
3rd level: What is the meaning of this story for you here and now? How did reading this affect you? Did anything influence the way you think? the way you feel?
NB: This should be typewritten. If you cannot for a good reason, see me and we'll discuss it.
Books are suggested that illustate a major theme of the first quarter:
Faith and Love
- C. S. Lewis The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Madeleine L'Engle A Wrinkle in Time
We are all the same, yet each and very person is uniquely special!
Freak the Mighty
Society's values are sometimes bad for us; sometimes they are at odds with what Jesus calls us to be and do.
- Mitch Alblum's Tuesdays With Morrie
- John Howard Griffith's Black Like Me
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Why We Can't Wait
Here's a favorite of mine that might help you with a challenge most of face going into high school.
- Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People
Even if you have already read one of these, do it again. You are not the same person as you were in 7th grade. And read it differently, marking the text as you go. If you have other suggestions about book that illustrate these themes, let me know.
Movie Reflection 5 points
Make sure you follow directions.
Movies that can be watched and written about for extra credit. After watching the movie, do a three level level paper, but only write about the last two levels:
2nd level: What is a major idea of the story?
3rd level: What is the meaning of this story for you here and now? How did reading this affect you? Did anything influence the way you think? the way you feel?
Faith and Love
We are all the same, yet each and very person is uniquely special!
Society's values are sometimes bad for us; sometimes they are at odds with what Jesus calls us to be and do.
- To Kill Mockingbird
- Schindler's List
- The Ghosts of Mississippi
Be Creative! Let's Contract.
You can always come up with your own ideas and contract with me. In the past students have written short stories, done videos, created web sites. I am very open to new ideas and to interdisciplinary work. Use your imagination. Be creative! be bold!