WINTER SYLLABUS 2010: 1MUA - English

Kongsberg Videregående Skole - SYLLABUS: 1MUA - English - Winter Semester
Charles Kinney, Jr., Instructor Monday/Tuesday 8:00 – 9:35, Alternating Thursdays 13:45 – 15:20
Objective: In this class, we'll be using English texts and film to discuss the culture, societies and conditions of English-speaking countries (US, GB, Ireland, etc.) and various regions (India, South Africa, Nigeria, etc.) where English plays an important role. Your goal is to have the ability to analyze and discuss these texts and societies in written and oral form.
Mon. Jan 11 – FS: “Reporting” - Marketing - “Human” essay due - Amelia Earhart flies solo across Pacific (1935)
Tues. Jan 12 – Marketing Campaign - First woman elected to US Senate (1932)
Thurs. Jan 14 – Marketing Presentations due - US Revolutionary war ends (1784)
Mon. Jan 18 – “Thank You, M'am” - Martin Luther King Day (US)
Tues. Jan 19 – “The Cask of Amontillado” – Movie Review for HW - Edgar Alan Poe's birthday (1809)
Mon. Jan 25 – FS: “New Zealand and the Maori” - Movie review due - First winter Olympics (1924)
Tues. Jan 26 – FS: “Australia” “The Stolen Generations”- Australia Day
Thurs. Jan 28 – Film: Out of the Past - Jackson Pollock's birthday (1912)
Mon. Feb 1 (test week) – Youtube Banned Book “Minorities in Norway” due - First US Supreme court (1790)
Tues. Feb 2 (test week) – Youtube Banned Book Project - Groundhog Day
Mon. Feb 8 (test week) – Youtube Banned Book Project - Jule's Verne's birthday (1828)
Tues. Feb 9 (test week) – Youtube Banned Book Project Screening Day - Hershey Chocolate created (1894)
Thurs. Feb 11 (test week) – Youtube Banned Book Screen Day - Nelson Mandela freed (1990)
Mon. Feb 15 – Film: Fahrenheit 9/11 - Susan B. Anthony Day
Tues. Feb 16 – Film: Fahrenheit 9/11 - “Understanding Norwegians” due - Mardi Gras
Mon. Feb 22 - Winter break - George Washington's birthday (1732)
Tues. Feb 23 - Winter break - Santa Anna starts the Siege of the Alamo (1836)
Thurs. Feb 25 Winter break - First African-American elected to US Senate (1870)
Mon. Mar 1 – FS: The Caribbean – FS – Canada – FS – South Africa - First US census (1790)
Tues. Mar 2 (ski day) - Alexander Graham Bell's birthday (1847)
Mon. Mar 8 (test week) – FS: The American People - “I See You Never” - International Woman's Day
Tues. Mar 9 (test week) - “Understanding Americans” “I See You Never” - Barbie debuts (1959)
Thurs. Mar 11 (test week) – FS: American Gov. – America: Thumbs up, or down? due - Johnny Appleseed Day
Mon. Mar 15 (test week) – Film: Slumdog Millionaire - Julius Caesar murdered (Ides of March-44 BC)
Tues. Mar 16 (test week) – Film: Slumdog Millionaire - “Comparing US and Norway” due
Mon. Mar 22 – Practice exam - World Water Day
Tues. Mar 23 (Open House) – English-Language Performances - Lewis and Clark expedition (1806)
Thurs. Mar 25 – The Narrative Style using Pixar short films - Tennessee William's birthday (1911)
Mon. Mar 29 – Spring break - Coca-Cola invented (1886)
Tues. Mar 30 – Spring break - Vincent Van Gogh's birthday (1853)
Mon. Apr 5 – Spring break - First modern Olympics (1896)
Tues. Apr 6 – Spring break - Billie Holiday's birthday (1915)
Thurs. Apr 8 – Spring semester begins – Narrative short story due - First color film shown (1914)
EMAIL AND WEBSITE:
You can ask for help any time at aquaskaya@hotmail.com. You can find the complete schedule, lesson plans and other information at: http://www.myamericanteacher.blogspot.com/
CELL PHONES AND ATTENDANCE:
Please turn your cell off while in class. You are still responsible for work even if you miss class.
PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism, or in simpler terms, COPYING, is wrong. Plagiarism is taking work from the Internet and saying it's your own or using somebody's else ideas or words. We'll work on this endlessly. Cite your source material! http://citationmachine.net/
GRADES:
You will get an American grade on march 25 that will translated into the Norwegian system. LATE WORK IS ACCEPTED WITH A ONE GRADE PER WEEK PENALTY!
Grades will be determined as follows: Winter Quarter
Writing
Humans (general) Jan. 11 100
Movie Review (critical review) Jan. 25 100
Minorities in Norway (research) Feb. 1 100
Understanding Norwegians (analysis) Feb. 16 100
America: Thumbs up, or down? (opinion) Mar. 11 100
Comparing US and Norway (comparative) Mar. 16 100
Marketing Project Jan. 14 100
Youtube Banned Book Project Feb. 11 200
English-Language Performances Mar. 23 100
TOTAL 1000
Grading Scale:
960 - 1000 A 920 - 959 A- 880 – 919 B+
840 - 879 B 800 - 839 B- 760 - 799 C+
720 - 759 C 680 - 719 C- 640 - 679 D+
600 – 639 D 0 - 599 F

Writing Assignments and Projects
Humans (general) – Jan. 11: Write a one-page essay about what makes us human. What's s one thing we all share across linguistic, social and economic boundaries? Choose ONE area and give specific examples and reasons .
Marketing Project - Jan. 14: With a partner, create an A3-A4 paper marketing campaign or 1-minute youtube video advertisement for a product of your choosing. Present your marketing campaign to the class. (75 points for work and 25 points for presentation). You and your partner will receive the same grade for your work.
Movie Review (critical review) - Jan. 25: Write a one-page critical review of a recent movie you've seen. DO NOT copy from the Internet and cite any sources you use. I want your opinion, not someone from Hollywood, London or New York.
Minorities in Norway (research) - Feb. 1: After discussing minorities in English-speaking countries, choose ONE minority or subgroup in Norway and write a one to two page paper about their numbers, location, conditions and outlook for the future.
Youtube Banned Book Project - Feb. 11: After discussing censorship and banned books, your group of 3 will choose one book from the Banned Book list. You'll research where, why, when and how the book has been banned. You'll then prepare a one-page paper discussing your findings. CITE your sources! You'll then write, perform, edit and upload a video version of the book to youtube. One book per group so there won't be any repeats. Finally, you'll present your paper and youtube video to the class. (50 points for paper, 125 points for video and 25 points for presentation).
Understanding Norwegians – (analysis) - Feb. 16: Write a one-page fact sheet similar to “Understanding Americans “ about Norwegians. Choose ONE area and give specific examples and reasons to support your ideas. Possible ideas: Explain the Norwegian class system, characteristics (good or bad), national holidays, habits, etc.
America: Thumbs up, or down? (opinion) - Mar. 11: After discussing the United States, write a one-page essay about your opinion about the United States. Use specific facts and reasons to support your opinion.
Comparing US and Norway (comparative) - Mar. 16: Write a one-page essay comparing either the strengths of weaknesses ob the United States and Norway relative to their respective sizes. Choose ONE area (economy, social conditions, culture, government, etc.). Give specific examples and reasons to support your opinion.
English-Language Performances - Mar. 23: This is Open House Day, and I'd like you all to perform either a musical piece in English, or a favorite dialogue, poetry piece or other excerpt of English literature. You can do almost anything (it doesn't have to be all Shakespearey) but I want quality. Pair work allowed but you'll receive the same grade for your work.
Why do you need this class? Consider if the world were a village of a hundred people:
from http://www.miniature-earth.com/me_english.htm
There would be 33 Christians, 19 Muslims, 16 non-religious people, 14 Hindus, 6 Buddhists, 5 primal/indigenous believers, 5 Chinese traditionalists, 1 Sikh and 1 Jew.
There are 61 Asians, 12 Europeans, 13 North and South Americans, 13 Africans and 1 from Oceania.
47 live in cities. 9 are disabled. 13 are hungry. 14 can't read. 43 live without proper sanitation. 1 has HIV/AIDS.
59% of the entire world’s wealth would be in the hands of only 6 people. All six are citizens of the United States.
70 would be unable to read. Only 12 would have a computer. Only 3 have the Internet.
ONLY 1 WOULD HAVE A COLLEGE EDUCATION. English opens door. It's a necessity, nothing else.