The Birthday Book Project

First of all, these are the groups and their chapter (assigned by random lottery).

The Birthday Book Project

Jan-Jun:  Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirkey

Jul-Dec:  Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson

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Objectives:

• Students will collaborate in groups to create a concise summary of an assigned chapter
• Students will use technology (Google Docs and Slides) to present knowledge and ideas
• Students will take notes in their notebooks when others are presenting
• Students will take responsibility for one aspect of the Slide Show, while working collaboratively on creating the content for the slides
• Groups will present their chapter orally to the class, taking care not to read slides to the class
• Students will reflect on their work and the work of the group in a one-pager

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The GOAL for this assignment is for the class to debrief the assigned summer reading; to demonstrate understanding of the assigned chapter; to build functional working relationships across social boundaries; to achieve mastery of Google Docs and Google Slides; to develop public speaking and presentation skills.  

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STEP ONE:

Logistics:  Create groups of four.  Chapters assigned by lottery.  Share email addresses, assign roles.

STEP TWO:

Each person will re-read assigned chapter to determine main ideas and their significance.  Each person will choose important quotes from the chapter for consideration by the group.  

STEP THREE:

Make an appointment to meet online.  The QC MANAGER will be the one to create the Google Doc, the Google Slide Show, and invite the rest of the group, including Fletcher.  Make sure that everyone has the power to edit the document.

STEP FOUR:

Everyone collaborates on a Google Doc with their ideas and submits quotes.  Although it is possible to track changes on a Google Doc, please take ownership and sign your work.

STEP FIVE:

Create the slides.  Once the Slide Show is complete, step into your assigned role to ensure that the slides are perfect and your presentation meets the requirements.

STEP SIX:  

Each group presents their chapter to the class on the assigned day. From there, each student has two days to submit their one-page reflection of the project and the work.

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DETAILS : the Slides

You are limited to using between 6-8 slides, total.  Slides are NOT intended to carry the content — that is the job of the speaker.  The slides merely focus the audience and illustrate the big, important ideas.  Slide Themes are assigned:  Here Comes Everybody will use “Modern Writer”; Where Good Ideas Come from will use “Tropic”.

Slide	Content	Format
1	Chapter title, with introductory, focusing text	Section title w/ description
2	Main ideas, ie., building the argument, setting the foundation, establishing background information	Title and body
3	Quotation from text to help focus the audience’s understanding (slide position can switch with 4)	Main point
4	Main ideas, ie., building the argument, providing important context, offering examples	Title and body
5	Main ideas, ie., building the argument, providing important context, offering examples	Title and body
6	Quotation from text to sum things up or to set up the next chapter	Main point

DETAILS:  Roles within Groups

Intelligence Czar	Responsible for keeping the presentation focused, accurate and concise - a Big Picture Person
Executive Editor	Responsible for making decisions about how best to use the information collected by the group - a Detail Person
QC Manager	Responsible for ensuring that formatting on slides is consistent; that the look is clean and open; images align with content - a Detail Person
Overseer of Significance	Responsible for the final selection of quotes; the quotes must work to help viewers grasp the content of the chapter - a Big Picture person

Assessment Information and Deadlines

Description	Grading Category	Due	Rubric Used
The shared Google Doc	Participation	Sept 19	Quality of work
The shared Slide Show	Participation	Sept 21 (??)	Quality of work
The notebook (notes)	Participation	Spot check	Quality of work
The oral presentation	Participation	TBD	Rubric TBD
The One-Page reflection	Performance - worth 50 points	2 days after presentation	9-point AP writing rubric

The One-Page Reflection:

This is typed, single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman with an MLA heading and one-inch margins.  I know you think I am kidding, but this must be exactly one page, so fill the page, but go no farther. Focus on those 1-inch margins.  Your finished work should look like a picture in a frame. This is a good exercise in paragraph development (yes! One-pagers should be organized into paragraphs!) and editing.  Pretend you are a journalist with 15-column inches to fill.  

The content of the one-pager should include a discussion of your group, what your role was, and how the project worked out overall.  Look at the objectives and the goals written at the beginning of this assignment sheet; to what degree do you think you met these objectives?  To what degree do you think your group met the goals?  Give your group a grade, and give yourself a grade:  A = Above and beyond; B = Basically fine; C = Could do better; D = Didn’t try; F = Forget about it.  Be sure to include reasons and examples to substantiate your grades.

SEPTEMBER:  

• Sept 13: Handout BB Project
• Sept 14: Groups established
• Sept 15: Chapter lottery
• Sept 19: Shared Google Doc; everyone connected
• Sept 20: Back to School Night
• Sept 21: Google Slides created
• Sept 23: Oral presentations 1 & 2