Final Spring Project – A Memoir
Memoirs of a Middle School Graduate
A memoir of your year(s) at Southwest Middle School!
Each student will create a YEAR END SPECIAL EDITION KEEPSAKE MAGAZINE. This magazine should give the reader a glimpse into the mind of today’s teens as well as entertain and inform them.
Objectives:
· 3.01 Identify the components of an effective problem solution essay.
· 6.01 Model an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression: Narrate a personal account which creates a coherent message; organize appropriate to purpose, audience, and context; Use remembered feelings; Connect events to self and/or society
· 2.01 Analyze and evaluate informational materials that read heard and/or viewed by determining the importance of information: Make connections to related topics/information; Draw inferences; Generating questions
· Math Objectives: Design and conduct experiments or surveys to solve problems; report and analyze results; Collect, organize, analyze and display data (including box and whiskers plot and Histograms) to solve problems; Collect organize, analyze, and display data to solve problems.
Requirements
1. Create a catchy title and cover that conveys the THEME OR STYLE of your magazine. The cover should include titles of articles featured inside the magazine.
2. The magazine must be kept neat and have a sturdy binding when put together.
3. Follow all directions for requirements for each page, 22 required content pages total. This includes the Table of Contents.
4. Include a table of contents containing the articles and page numbers
5. All contents must be neatly typed, size 14 font (or smaller). Be creative with your fonts.
6. Each page must include the page number, article title and at least 2 visuals per article except the fashions which require more visuals. Pictures may only come from any non-internet sources unless you are doing this as an internet-based magazine or blog.
7. THIS MUST BE TAKEN THROUGH THE ENTIRE WRITING PROCESS
a. IDEAS/BRAINSTORMING – GATHER IMAGES, MAKE LISTS, ETC.
b. PLANNING – LAY OUT THE MAGAZINE, CONSIDER DIFFERENT THEMES
c. ROUGH DRAFTING – Rough drafts MUST BE HANDWRITTEN AND EDITED BEFORE YOU CAN TYPE OR PRINT ANY ARTICLES
d. EDITING/PROOFING – SHARE YOUR DRAFT(S) WITH OTHERS TO GET FEEDBACK
e. FINAL DRAFTING – TYPE TYPE TYPE TYPE
f. REPEAT CYCLE IF NECESSARY – HOPEFULLY NOT
8. All pictures must come from magazines or they may be original drawings. No internet pictures may be used. Rough drafts can be completed outside of class. No projects will be accepted late. The project will count as four final grades. You should gather visuals for your articles even before you are actually ready to type them.
9. Follow copywrite laws. Do not steal images without giving credit. Do not plagiarize. Check out my website for info on this, and GOOGLE “copywrite requirements”.
Magazine Page Requirements & TOPICS
____1) (1 page) TABLE of CONTENTS – containing the articles and page numbers
____2) (1 page) What’s All the DRAMA About in 8th Grade……YOU MUST BE TRIPPIN’
____a) List 10 things that happened or that you had to deal with as an eighth grader, in other words, list 10 trippin’ situations that caused you or someone you know to ‘go into blank mode’ this year. Cover the following topics: Math, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, PE, Art, lunch, Administrators, parents, best friends, boy friends, girl friends, family drama etc….Use color and visuals on this page.
____3) (1 page) How Sixth/Seventh/Eighth Graders Have Fun…..
____a) Take a poll and create a bar graph by asking the opinion of 20 8th graders about what they do to have fun on the weekend. If you receive duplicate answers, use a tally mark. Create your graph once you have completed your poll. Your graph should include at least 6 items and should use color and visuals.
____4) (1 page) Fashion Fads….
____a) What shirts, skirts, shorts, shoes, pants, hoodies, hats, hair styles, accessories, and bling were really hot this year? You may only include three items from each category. Include pictures or illustrations of each item on your page and label each item.
____5) (1 page) Cool and Unusual Slang…….
____a) Create a list of slang-NO PROFANITY that was popular this year. You must create a T chart with the slang term on the left and the translations for each term on the right or create a comic strip in which the characters are using the slang in their dialogue. 15-20 items. Use color and different fonts.
____6) (1 page) Entertainment News…..
____a) On this page, list what you thought were the 5 best movies, 5 most popular songs, 5 favorite male singers, 5 favorite female singers/group, 5 favorite actors (any age), the 5 hottest videos, the 5 hottest songs, the 5 best TV shows. Rate each item as follows: 5 stars, 4 stars, 3 stars, 2 stars, 1 star. Half stars may also be used. Include visuals and color.
____7) (1 page) Hot Fun in the Summer Time….
____a) List 15 things to do to add some fun to the summer while waiting for your first year of high school to begin. Include visuals and color.
____8) (2 pages) Activity/FUN Pages ……. Create 2 original activity pages such as a crossword, word search, maze, hidden pictures etc—use 10 items/terms per activity. Include an answer key in the back of your magazine for each page. Put these pages in different places in your magazine. Possible sources: the newspaper, puzzles.com, eduplace.com, coloring.com, funbrain.com
____i) Activity 1 – ___________________________________________
____ii) Activity 2 – ___________________________________________
____9) (1 page) What I’m Looking Forward To in 9th grade…..
____a) Sign-in page. This page is an autograph page. Have other 8th graders sign in, all on this page, to tell what they are looking forward to in 9th grade.
____10) (1 page) SPORTS PAGE……..
____a) List the best athletes from around the world, this year, in any six sports. List males and females in T chart form. These are all professional sports and professional athletes. Include visuals and color.
____11) (1 page) Horoscopes
____a) Create a page of your own positive horoscopes, two to three sentences, for each zodiac sign. There are twelve zodiac signs. Include a name and symbol for each sign. See samples in teen magazines, on the internet, or in the daily newspaper.
____12) (1 page) What A Way To Make It Better
____a) If you could start the school year over again and make it better, think of five problems that you or your peers struggled with during this school year? Write an ADVICE COLUMN that identifies the problems and give advice to rising 8th graders about how to make their 8th grade year possibly better than your 8th grade was. The problems should be issues that frustrated you as an 8th grader or caused you to sometimes have a bad day. As a veteran eighth grader with the advantage of hind sight, you can now offer creative advice that will improve the school year for the upcoming 8th graders.
____13) (1 page) THE MOST MEMORABLE DAY…..Group Poem
____a) You and any four friends need to write a stanza each with at least four rhyming lines in each stanza. Each stanza should be about what each of you thinks was the most memorable day at Southwest. Include one picture for each stanza.
____14) (1 page) CHANGE IS GOOD….
____a) Write a ¾ page narrative poem that describes the changes you’ve experienced as a person this year. Describe the way you were physically, socially, academically, emotionally and mentally at the beginning of the year and tell how you’re different now. How have you changed, in what ways do you look, think, feel, and act, and react differently? Are you taller, smarter, bolder, more enlightened or more skilled at something………….Include visuals and color.
____15) (1 page) LIFE LESSONS…
____a) School is more than just books……Make a list of all of your teachers and write three to four sentences that explain what you’ve learned about life from each of them this year. These could be things you learned through observation, advice they gave to help you with a problem, stay out of trouble, or pass a test or because you spent time in conversations with them and gained this knowledge. This should be valuable information that you could pass on to help someone else make it through a tough, dull, or ordinary situation. Include visuals, symbols, and color.
____16) (1 page) EVERYONE’S A CRITIC……
____a) Write a one page review of your favorite TV show, movie, song or video game of the year. Describe the characters, what you like about the plot, your favorite episode. If it is a song or video, explain what you like about it (graphics, action, and plot) and persuade others to like it too.
____17) (1 page)A PERSONAL THANK YOU…
____a) Write a 5 line thank you note to any adult you know, who has been a positive source of inspiration or encouragement to you this year. You do not have to address the note, but do sign your name. Decorate this page.
____18) (2 pages) MAKE IT YOUR OWN: Choose any two of the following and include visuals on each page:
____i) Fashion and Beauty Tips… Create a page that offers 10 fashion do’s and don’t for teens. Include visuals and color.
____ii) Sports Extra… a bio on your favorite athlete. Include visuals and color.
____iii) Entertainment Extra… a bio on your favorite entertainer. Include visuals and color.
____iv) THIS IS ME …a page full of pictures, drawings, or other visuals all about you and any 10 of your favorite things, people, places, foods, phrases, dance moves, stars, etc.,
____19) (2 pages) Last of the requirements- both pages must be completed: Create two full page advertisements. You can create an ad for an original product and an ad for an existing product that you buy often and use for yourself.
____i) Your face must appear in one of the ads.
____ii) The product, slogan, target audience, cost, use, and where it’s sold should be part of the ad. Of course you need a visual.
____iii) Put these pages in different places in your magazine.
DUE JUNE 4th, 2009 – Not to be taken late or taken lightly. – 4 grades. That’s pretty heavy, dude!
OK, So! . . . Who’s in your group? You can work with up to four people. Page headings and content can be modified to fit your group decided interests. You must get approval from me for any changes to the core content of this project. THAT MEANS THAT IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE ANYTHING, YOU MUST SEE ME FIRST. WE WILL WRITE THE CHANGE ON THE EACH GROUP MEMBER’S HANDOUT, AND MOVE FORWARD FROM THERE. CLEAR? Job titles below are just for fun, all of you have to do all the jobs below.
Publisher: _________________________________________________________________
Editor: _________________________________________________________________
Writer: _________________________________________________________________
Graphic Arts: _________________________________________________________________
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