Focusing on the Islands of Japan, Philippines, Papua/New Guinea and Samoa, the Western Pacific Rim unit will enhance our students’ educational horizons. We have constructed a culminating project which will consist of a cultural awareness fair where students and family are invited to attend. Each content area will display students’ work during the fair. For art, students will display their works and artist statements; Social science will have a travel agency booth that will display students’ popular culture travel brochures. English and Biology are having students perform spoken word and seminar presentations. We hope that this event will give our students the ability to share their learning experience with their peers and to empower them to promote diversity and appreciation for other cultures on our campus and beyond.
For an
A:
- Must be 20 -25 minutes in length
(including questions and answers)
- Must include at least 4 visual aids
(colored, and professional)
- Must include a handout regarding
presentation information (1-2 pages)
-Must include all four countries being
represented (PI, Papua/New Guinea,
Samoa, and Japan) that include
information about geography, type of biome,
biodiversity, and human influences on the
country through any type of impact
discussed from
class.
- Must include answer to question: How
does this information pertain to
student life?
- Must meet with teacher 3 days in
advance to review presentation.
For a B:
- Must be 20 minutes in
length
- Must include at least 3 visual aids
(color and professional)
- Include four countries represented (PI,
Papua/New Guinea, Samoa and Japan)
and include information on geography,
type of biome, biodiversity and human
influence on the country through any type
of impact discussed in class.
- Must meet teacher 3 days in advance to
review presentation
For a C:
- Must 15-20 minutes in length (including
Q & A)
- Must have 3 visual
aids
- Include four countries represented (PI,
Papua/New Guinea, Samoa and Japan)
and include information on geography,
type of biome, biodiversity and human
influence on the country through any type
of impact discussed in class.
For a D/F:
- 15 minute presentation (including Q
& A)
- Has 2 visual
aids
- Include four countries represented (PI,
Papua/New Guinea, Samoa and Japan)
and include information on geography,
type of biome, and biodiversity.
English
Assessment
30-25
Points
-Outstanding
demonstration of creativity, mastery of unit, and complete group
participation/cooperation
-Coherently
relates at least two aspects of Western Pacific Rim literary arts & culture
to literary arts & culture in the U.S.
-Dynamic,
well-rehearsed performance
-All group
members efficiently used class and outside meeting
time
-Excellent peer
evaluation from group members
-Conference with
teacher before fine tuning performance
-Piece is at
least 3 minutes in length, and no more than 5
20-24
Points
-Creative,
incorporates different aspects of unit, each member has speaking
part
-Relates one
aspect of Western Pacific Rim literary arts & culture to literary arts &
culture in the U.S.
-Smooth and
engaging performance
-Group members
worked efficiently in class
-Conference with
teacher after fine tuning performance
-Good peer
evaluation from group members
-Piece is at
least 3 minutes in length
15-19
Points
-Could be more
creative, unequal group participation is clear
-Focuses on one
aspect of Western Pacific Rim literary arts & culture but does not compare
to literary arts & culture in the U.S.
-Pieces is
shorter than 3 minutes
-Could have been
more prepared, could have better used class time
-Failed to
arrange teacher conference for fine tuning
-Less than
satisfactory peer review
<14
Points
-Little to no
contribution to creative spoken word piece inside or outside of
class
-Does not relate
Western Pacific Rim literary arts & culture to literary arts & culture
in U.S.
-Little to no
communication with group members or teacher
-Little to no
attendance for in class or out of class meetings
-Lack of
preparation, lack of unit mastery evident in
performance
-Unsatisfactory
peer review
Social
Studies Assessment
Students will be assessed on
their overall participation in the creation of a pop-culture travel booth and
the completion of their pop-culture travel brochures. The booth will be
assessed on creativity in design, decoration and its assembly at the
cultural fair. The pop-culture travel brochures must incorporate
all maps, writings and artwork that have been compiled throughout the unit
of all four countries studied (Japan, Philippines, Papua/New Guinea and
Samoa). Essential elements of grading focus on completion of assignments
that exhibit thought, participation, creativity and
effort.
30 Points
Total |
15-10 |
9-5 |
4-1 |
Booth Design(15 Points) |
Provided
great participation and creativity in design and assembly of the
booth |
Participated
in design of booth b ut could have put more effort into assembly of
booth |
Provided
little or no help in design or assembly of
booth |
Brochures (15
Points) |
Included
all geographic maps, writings, and artistic works. Displayed great creativity and
effort in assignment. |
Included
most maps, writings, and artistic works. Could have provided more
creativity and effort in assignment |
Did not
include either maps, writings nor artistic works. Displayed little or no effort in
overall creativity and design of
brochure. |
At the end of
the four-week unit we will be conducting a whole class critique. The work to be examined will be all four
projects that were completed during the Western Pacific Rim unit. As a group we will offer objective and
constructive criticism. The
students will be guided and encouraged to employ newly acquired art terms in the
critiquing process. The focus of the critique will be on deciding which one
piece, from each student, is the strongest and will then be selected for the
culminating awareness fair.
Following the critique, the students will be assigned a one-page essay,
which will accompany their artwork at fair.
The essay prompt will be determined by which piece of work is selected
for the fair. E.g. if your manga strip was chosen by the class then your essay
would be focused on the Japanese art styles and concepts we worked on. The
following are prompts that may guide the essay writing
process.
1. Discuss the
traditions and elements from historical Japanese art and their relevance on
modern Japanese art forms, such as manga and anime.
2. Discuss the function of tattoo in
Samoa. Compare and contrast traditional Samoan use of tattoo with American
popular culture uses of tattoo. E.g. gang tattoos, musicians, and athletes. Also
address how different elements of design are employed and adapted to different
types of forms.
3. Discuss the
cultural significance and functions of iconography in the Philippines. Compare and contrast how iconography is
employed in popular culture with how it was employed in the historical examples
from the Philippines.
4. Discuss the
function of masks in Papua New Guinea, focusing on their ceremonial and
religious uses. Compare and
contrast these traditional uses to American uses in popular culture. E.g.
Halloween, theatre, movies.
Along with
addressing the prompt, the essay will include an objective description of their
artwork, as well as, a summary of the story or ideas conveyed in the
artwork. The students will be
required to use at least four art terms we examined during the unit. The essays
will be grading on the level of understanding of their particular prompt, their
correct use of art terminology, and the completeness of their story summaries.
The essay will be 10% of the artwork portion of the grade, which constitutes 60%
of the whole unit grade.