S+Blaine,+Jacqueline

**Office: Room 208** **Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 2:00-3:30** ** E-mail: Jacqueline.Blaine@maine.edu **
 * Teacher:** Ms. Blaine

=Summary of Unit= Through the wizarding world of Harry Potter we will learn about themes and how plot, characters, and setting all contribute to one another. We will begin the unit by discussing what a theme is and then we will throw ourselves into a world of spells, dark lords and grounds keeping giants! Throughout the book the students will learn about setting and how it can effect the character. We will also explore how characters can effect the plot. Through various activities that are Harry Potter related the students understanding oh how these four components of a story work together will grow.

=Establish Goals= Common Core State Standards Content: English Grade: 8th Domain: Reading- Harry Potter Cluster: Key Ideas and Detail Standard: // 2)Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. // // 3Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. //

=Students will understand that= •there is a theme in every novel. •setting plays a role in contributing to the plot. •character dynamics add drama and complexity to the plot.

=Essential Questions= •Why is theme important to a novel? •How can setting effect the plot? •How do characters effect the plot?

=Students will know= Terminology: Theme, climax, setting protagonist, antagonist, tone, mood,resolution, conflict •Sequence: opening, conflict, rising action,falling action, resolution •Important characters and events: Harry Potter,Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Dumbledor, Voldemort, Hagrid, Snape, Malfoy,Professor McGonagall

=Students will be able to= •predict the outcome or results of the character's actions. •illustrate a setting using description they read in Harry Potter. •analyze the various themes in Harry Potter. •produce examples of how actions effect plot. •consider the obstacles that setting adds to the plot. •recognize that character's actions define their character.

**Performance Task Overview**

Imagin8tion is a charity that promotes Literacy. This year the theme is Harry Potter. Imagin8tion challenges the readers to create a product that shows the importance of characters and how they are an important aspect of all stories. The judges have given a few options that the participants could choose from such as creating a movie recreating one of the chapters, a comic, or putting their writing skills to use and rewriting a chapter to demonstrate. The Judges will then look over all of the projects and pick a first, second, and third place winner. The first place winner will be flown over to England to meet J.K. Rowling and attend a creativity workshop run by her. They will also have their product featured on Pottermore for the Harry Potter world to see.

=Expectations=

Students __**are**__ and __**will be**__ responsible for all missed work in class. It is crucial for students to be on time and attend class everyday. If a student were to miss class then they should first check the class website to see what was taught, then he or she should come to class the very next day before or after school to collect the work they have missed and ask any questions that they may have. If they have missed a quiz then it is their responsibility to reschedule a time that they can take the quiz. Students will be allowed up to __**one week**__ to reschedule and take the quiz. If a test is missed students must set-up a time to take the test before or after school up to __**one week**__ after the missed test.
 * __Absence__**

__**Plagiarism**__ __Plagiarism__:an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author(Credit: www.dictionary.com) There will be no "I'm going to let you finish but," plagiarism will __**NOT**__ be tolerated. It is in the student policy book as a to-don't and will be treated with serious consequence. All in all? Just don't do it. It's really not worth the time and effort nor the punishment afterwards.

__**Assignments**__ Homework will be due during the first part of class. If students have questions it is their responsibility to either email me or come in before it is due to ask. Homework will count as a participation grade and not be graded for accuracy. It is advised that students put forth their best effort on the homework as it will help them later on when it comes time to study for a test or quiz.

__**Classroom Expectations**__ 1. We all know the golden rule, treat others how you would like to be treated. Lets try and stick to that. 2. Be prompt and prepared. 3. Hand in homework when you walk into class. 4. It's my time when I'm talking. This means you will not talk. When it's your time you will be permitted to talk as much as you want quietly. 5. Everyone loves positive attitudes! Lets strive to always have one in class.

=Benchmarks Total Points: 300 points=


 * Comic Life:** Students will be put into groups and create a comic through comic life software. It should incorporate a theme that the team designed together. It's important the groups use what they've learned about themes and apply it to this comic. Groups will begin by brainstorming their ideas. They will write these ideas down because they will be turning it in for a participation grade. Students will then begin writing their comic life and then transfer their rough draft to a computer. All students must have a chance to work on the comic life. Make sure to be creative and imaginative with this project. **(25 pts.)**


 * Brochure:** Students have read good and bad examples of descriptions and now it's time to apply what they know about settings and create a brochure advertising to go to a place that the students read about in Harry Potter. The job of the student is to make me want to go to wherever they're advertising. They will achieve this by making the brochure fun, bright, and colorful. This is an individual project therefore students will work by themselves. **(25pts)**


 * Glogster:** Students will begin a new miniature project on Glogster. Students will be instructed to create a poster for one of the themes in Harry Potter of their choosing. It must be attractive and colorful. The poster must capture the theme so when I look at it I'll know which theme I'm looking at. Sounds/Music must be part of the glogster. Students should add pictures and words that they think will really get the point of the theme across. Spelling and punctuation is a must! **(20pts)**


 * Inspiration:** To demonstrate understanding of cause and effects students will take the actions they found to contribute to the story and write them down on the graphic organizer. They will then transfer the cause and then effects that they found and recorded to inspiration to make a neat and professional looking web. Students have the option of working in pairs or individually. Spelling and punctuation are a must! **(15pts)**


 * Character Blogs:** Students will choose a character they had read about in the book and create a blog for them. What was the character thinking during this point in the book? Why did they do that? The job of the student is to bring the character to life. What is their favorite food? Favorite color? This is meant to be a creative writing assignment so students shouldn't worry so much about accuracy of a character's color preference as they should on making sure it makes sense and goes along with the books. There should be at least two weeks worth of journal entries in the blog by the time it's over. Student's will turn in their URL to me and I will check them out the last week of the unit. **(35p****ts)**


 * Online Newspaper:** Students will create a newspaper article on the character they had chosen for their blogs. By this time I expect students to be 'experts' on their character. The students will be journalists and are doing a profile on their character for their newspaper company. It's their job to write an article on their character's background and create a profile. For example Draco Malfoy is greedy. Why is this? Because he was an only child growing up and his parents supposedly spoiled him. I want reasons as to why they are the way they are. It must make sense. Spelling and punctuation are a must! **(30pts)**


 * Participation and Attendance:** Students will be expected to be in class on time with all their materials out and ready to go. Points will be docked for unexcused tardies/absences as well as homework turned in late. **(50pts)**

**Final Product for Imagin8tion:** See performance task above **(100pts)**

=Grading Scale=
 * A ** (93 -100), ** A- ** (90 - 92), ** B+ ** (87 - 89), ** B ** (83 - 86), ** B- ** (80 - 82), ** C+ ** (77 - 79), ** C ** (73-76), ** C- ** (70 - 72), ** D+ ** (67 - 69), ** D ** (63 - 66), ** D- ** (60 - 62), ** F ** (0 - 59)