Mr. Rhodes Technology Class- Howard Bishop Middle School

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This page was last updated on
April 14, 2008

Homework will be assigned once a week with a couple of days to complete the assignment. On webgrade, you will see two grades for each homework assignment. The first grade confirms if the assignment was done in the notebook on time through a spot check with the teacher. The second grade (content) is the grade that assesses the actual content of the assignment based on the criteria of the assignment. If you have any questions about a grade, please see Mr. Rhodes or send him an email.

It is important that students follow the described process of doing the assignment in thier composition books to encourage the practice of editing and revising their work when it goes to be typed. Usually students who type their work as a first draft do not see the benefits of editing their work later.

Homework 19
Character Design

Design 3-5 Characters who will be a part of an upcoming story that you will be creating. You can use ANY image based design program. Even if you don't have fireworks, that is not an excuse. You can use paint, or you can download the next trial version of Fireworks 8. Someone recommended a free program called GETPAINT which can be found at GETPAINT.NET. I will suggest a couple of other ideas for you to acheive this assignment.

Homework 18
Webpage Redesign

Find 3 articles that teach you tips and tricks to improve your webpage. After you have read these articles, make a list (a plan) of 10 things that you think your rebuilt webpage will have. When you are searching for your 3 articles, they must make sense to you. For example, don't choose an article that teaches about HTML unless you understand what HTML is. You are now searching for what people in the web design industry are recommending on how to improve your webpage.

Homework 17
Tutorials

We will be starting an independent study unit next week. This involves you finding skills that you will teach YOURSELF using tutorials that you are able to find on the internet.

1.Decide on a program that you will study. It can be a program that we have used or a program we have not used yet. . Some ideas might include Dreamweaver, Flash, or Adobe Photoshop Elements.

2. SEARCH the internet for tutorials on the program that you choose. You will select 3 lessons that can teach you skills in that program. For example: How to design an animated gif in Fireworks would be one lesson. Your lessons can come from different websites.

3. Record the 3 URLs for the 3 lessons that you have selected. Write me a paragraph about each lesson that you will learn about. Why did you choose the particular lesson? Do you think you will be successful? Did you look for the same lesson on any other websites? If so, why did you choose the website you did? Basically you are explaining to Mr. Rhodes what do you want to learn and why do you want to learn it.

4.Print out your paragraphs and submit to Mr. Rhodes on FRIDAY. DO NOT actually do the TUTORIALS (this is next week's assignment). You can bookmark them (or create a favorite).

Homework #16
"Who am I?"
The Presidential Edition
Due February 29

Use power point to create a who am I game? . Make it so that each slide begins by asking who am I? Then one by one a new clue is given every few seconds. After 5 clues, then REVEAL which president you were describing. The first clues should be harder than the last clues. Make it fun! I can't wait to see your game in action. This game should feature 5 presidents. (You may only use 1 of these presidents: George Washington, George Bush, Abraham Lincoln)

1. Make a list of the 5 presidents for your game

2. RESEARCH facts about your presidents.

3. Write 5 Clues about your presidents

4. THEN make your powerpoint.

5. FINALLY Add effects and timing.

Homework #15
Black History Interactive Quiz

Create an automatic slideshow trivia game using powerpoint. The powerpoint should seem to “interact” with you through “dialogue”. The topic for the powerpoint is Black History. Make the slideshow ask 10 questions about Significant People and Events in American Black History. Each question should be about a different person or event in Black History. Make sure your slideshow gives “wait time” for the person who’s reading the questions to be able to answer the questions, but again, your slideshow should be automated, which means that the person should not have to click to make it run. I will put an example of what yours might look like on the internet.

5 steps…
1. Write 10 GOOD questions
2. Research the answers
3. Make the powerpoint
4. Animate the powerpoint to run automatically
5. Add Flavor and design to make it INTERESTING!

Sample powerpoint quiz on Martin Luther King Jr.

Here are some links to help you find information:
http://blackquest.com/link.htm

http://www.nps.gov/history/aahistory/

http://afroamfl.com/

Homework #14
Plagiarism P.S.A.

Step 1. Read the Wikipedia article about PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS to better understand what one is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_service_announcement

Step 2. Watch these examples of PSAs
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.psa.television

http://psa.americanheart.org/download.php?file=video/hbp/MOM_ENG.wmv

http://www.ncpc.org/newsroom/current-campaigns/cyberbullying

Step 3.

Using Photostory or Powerpoint create your own 30 second PSA to inform others about plagiarism. Your PSA must have pictures and text. It should also have EITHER music or voice (or both). Due Monday February 4
(Friday I will give an extra 10 points to those who submit it EARLY)

Homework #13

Read the following article http://www.lissaexplains.com/basics.shtml (read section 1, 5, and 7)
After you have read the article, pretend that you are a teacher, write a 10 question quiz that you could give to someone who has read the article to see how well they read it. Questions should have 3 multiple choices. Not Yes,No, Maybe.
Include an answer key.

Homework #12
Champions of the Land Video and Inspiration- due December 10 (Monday)

I hear that you have been reading Rachel Carson's Biography, so I figure that this might be a good time for you to learn about her efforts and others who created the conservationism movement.

1.Download and watch the video located here. Champions VIDEO.

2. As you watch the video take notes on the important facts about each scientist. John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Bob Marshall, Rosalie Edge, and Rachel Carson. These notes must then be put into INSPIRATION. You will turn in your inspiration to the BLB by Monday.

3. OnTuesday you can use your notes and your inspiration to help you on the quiz about the inventors.

Homework #11
Due Friday November 30

Choose one of the short stories

The Veldt
After Twenty Years
The Monkey's Paw
The White Circle
The Tell Tale Heart
The Lady or the Tiger
All Summer in a Day

from Mrs. Gardner's Class and RETELL it in your own words. Imagine you were telling the story to a group of 3rd or 4th graders and you wanted to recapture the same emotions. You want them to FEEL the story.

Step 1. Rewrite the story in your notebook.

Step 2. Then type the story in Microsoft word. (If you do the story in another program, be sure to save it to a format that we can use here in class).

You may title the story "...as retold by your name". Example. "The Monkey's Paw, as retold by Mr. Rhodes".

We will use your retelling as the next part of our Homework for next week, so make sure you do it!

Homework #10
Inventors Video and Inspiration- due November 16

In honor of the Science Fair, this week's assignment involves you learning about some of the greatest inventors and scientists in our history.

1.Download and watch the video located here. INVENTORS VIDEO.

2. As you watch the video take notes on the important facts about each inventor. Jonas Salk, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Guglielmo Marconi. These notes can then be put into INSPIRATION. You will turn in your inspiration to the BLB by Friday.

3. On Friday you can use your notes and your inspiration to help you on the quiz about the inventors.

No Homework assigned for the week of November 5

Homework #9
Due Thursday Nov.1

1. Read the following Article
http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointtips/p/present_mistake.htm

2. Go into inspiration and map out the contents of this article.

Main Idea: Mistakes to Avoid in My Presentation

3. Choose the 5 tips that you think could most impact YOU! They will not be the same for everyone.
Make sure you add your level 2 details from the article. You will probably have 3-5 details for each tip.

4. This will be due on Thursday November 1. We will EXPORT your inspiration to a picture file to turn in. I will teach you how to do this on Thursday.

5. If you need to download inspiration for your home computer, you can go here
http://www.inspiration.com/freetrial/index.cfm

Homework 19 Character Design

Homework 18 Webpage Redesign

Homework 17 Tutorials