Blog Post Assignment 6

Write about a random act of kindness that you could do to celebrate Good Friday. Here are some things to consider:

• What does kindness means to you?
• How does doing something nice for someone makes you feel?
• You could show kindness to strangers by…
• The niceness things anyone ever did for you was…
• When someone says, “thank you,” you feel…
• If you had a million dollars to help other people, you would

Post a picture to accompany your post.

Jefferson's Life Box

Here are some pictures from the Character Life Box assignment.

Character Life Box

Imagine what Jefferson must be experiencing inside his cell. He is caged like a hog and has little in his possession. Occasionally, he is visited by guards, family, and friends. He knows the date of his death.

Create a life box for Jefferson. A character life box is a grouping of thoughtfully chosen items that would be particularly significant to or representative of a character in a work of literature. Use the following guidelines:

• Choose six items your character might use daily, have as a keepsake, or be represented by in some fashion.

• Find a quotation from the text that would justify each item. The passage can either be spoken by your character or another character in the book. Attach the quotations in some fashion to each item using a tag and string, a staple, or a paperclip.

• Place the items in a container of some sort--- a shoebox, shopping bag, gift box, and decorated in a manner representative of your chose character.

Once all life boxes have been created, you will present your choices and justifications for each to the class on Monday, March 14, 2016.

Have fun!!

Debate

In this unit, the focus is on politics and government. Students conducted their first debate; students were paired into groups and where asked to take a position on a particular issue. For example, in a group of 4, two students would argue position A and two students would argue position B. The format of the debate consisted of the students giving an opening statement, a rebuttal, answer questions from the moderator, and making a closing statement. Each debate lasted between 20 - 30 minutes. Each group did an excellent job debating the issues. Here are the debate groups and issues:

Topic #1: Custody of Children
Position A: Children belong with their mothers, and in the case of divorce, they should live with their mothers (unless there is a history of abuse, neglect, or other such damaging instances). Fathers should pay child support in all cases.

Position B: Fathers should equal access to their children. More fathers should be given full or equal custody. Contributions besides money should be counted as part of child support.

Topic #2: Separation of Church and State
Position A: There should not be a separation between these two.

Position B: There is not one dominant religion in our culture, and allowing religious observations makes others feel uncomfortable or rejected. The government and the church should stat separate.

Topic 3: The Death Penalty
Position A: The death penalty should be kept legal. Those who commit heinous crimes should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Position B: The death penalty should be abolished. It is an extreme punishment that is costly to the judicial system and doesn't act as a deterrent to prevent crimes.

Topic 4: Affirmative Action
Position A: Only the most qualified candidate should be hired for a position. Race should not be a factor in hiring practices.

Position B: There should be a set number of jobs available to minorities in employment, education, and other legislation. Minorities are still facing prejudices and affirmative action acts as partial protection.

Blog Post Assignment 5: Letter to the Governor

For this assignment, you will write a letter to the governor requesting a stay of execution for Jefferson. A stay of execution is a court order to temporarily suspend the execution of a court judgment or other court order. In your letter, you will take on the character of a prominent person in the community (priest, teacher, community organizer, etc). Your letter should follow this format: A direct characterization of yourself, how you know Jefferson, and reasons why a stay of execution should be issued.

This assignment is due no later than Monday, March 7, 2016.