Tic Tac Toe Grid

Developed by Julie Nourie nourieja@unit5.org http://www.unit5.org/pjhs/8-1/langarts/index.htm

Illinois State Goals Met

Overview

Nearly everyone has problems finding a good book now and then.  Sure, you could ask a librarian or a teacher for a book suggestion, but you can't always trust an adult's taste, right?  In order to help give everyone new ideas for independent reading books for the rest of the year, you and your book club will choose a new novel to read for INDY 500 and complete this WebQuest that will help you "sell" your book to the rest of the team.
 

Introduction

For this INDY 500 reading project, you will be able to work in groups of your choice, 3-4 people in a group.  Together you will pick a book that you are all interested in.  Any novel is fair game, but your book should be between 200-300 pages long. 

You must also pick a book that you can find enough copies of for everyone in your group; there will be no sharing of books for this project.    Your novel will become your language arts text for the duration of this project.  Ask the librarian for help finding copies of your book if you hit a roadblock here.  These sites may also be of use when choosing a novel:

Teenreads.com

Teen Ink Book Reviews
 

Quest(ions) and the Tasks

Can we work alone?
All student must work with other students in the class.  True, there are always challenges to working with other people, but the discussions and collaboration that will come from this project far outweigh the possible difficulties.  Plus, working with others is a fact of life, ask any adult.

How much time will we have to finish our book?
You will have two weeks to finish your novel.  Take your total number of pages and divide by 14 to get your daily goal.  You will have 5 days of language arts class time to read your book in addition to the time you spend reading outside class.

What if we don't like our book after we start reading it?
You will be expected to finish the book you and your group choose at the beginning of the project.  It is important to learn the value of committing to something, even if isn't what you hoped it would be.  For this reason, choose your book (and group members) carefully.

What exactly will we be doing besides reading the book?
You and your group have several tasks to complete along the way and when you finish the book:

• Research your book's author, as a group, and complete the About the Author Project from the Bookseller's Tic Tac Toe Grid before reading the book.  Finding out essential information about the writer before reading the text can help you understand why he or she wrote the way they did.
• Set a date for everyone in your group to be ½-way done with the book.  Each group member must do the Journal Prompt Assignment in class during independent reading time.  The assignment will help practice the Extended Response for Reading model we have been using all year.
• Finish the book and choose and complete your Plot Analysis Project from the Bookseller's Tic Tac Toe Grid.  Here you will demonstrate the elements of plot as we have learned them throughout the year.
• Choose and complete the Book Advertisement Project from the Bookseller's Tic Tac Toe Grid.  Remember, you are trying to persuade your audience to "buy into" reading your book.
• Present your group's Tic Tac Toe Projects during the Bookseller's Exposition.  All elements of good public speaking we have studied this year apply here.

How will we be graded for this project?
All students in a book club group receive the same grade for all assignments and projects done together.  The only independent grade will be the Journal Prompt Assignment.  You will need to decide how you will divide up your tasks throughout this project.  This project is worth 100 points, as reflected in the Bookseller's WebQuest Rubric.
 

Process

1)      To accomplish the tasks listed, you must first choose a group to work with.  You must choose others in your language arts class with whom you get along.  You may have as few as two of you in a group and no more than four.  With all of the tasks listed, you and your group must come to some consensus regarding who will do what work.  Please communicate with me how you are doing; no one person should be doing all the work.  I will monitor this myself as well.

2)      You and your group must become experts on your book's author.  There is a chance your author has his or her own website with a plethora of information all ready for you to explore.  Many of these websites are listed on the pages linked below.  You may also search for your author's name in Google.  You will find 3 articles that give information about your author to help you finish this part of your Tic Tac Toe.

Random House Publishing Author Information

Children's Literature Web Guide

3)      Set a goal to be halfway through your book by a certain date.  I will not assign this date for you, but you must let me know when that date is.  On that day, everyone in your group will be expected to write a journal using the prompt given.  If you haven't met the reading goal you set for yourself, it will be hard to write about your book.  You will need to be very specific in your journal; vague answers will not earn full credit.  Your goal is to be as specific as possible, as this is the kind of writing that is required on the state's ISAT tests.

4)      When you are finished with the book, you need to choose your products from the Tic Tac Toe grid.  You do not have to make and actual tic tac toe line, but you must choose one product from every row.  You will have a week of time in class to finish a product in each of the three categories:
About the Author Products:  These are the products you make after you have researched your author using the Internet.  Your choices are all kinesthetic and include a group skit, speeches in character, and a live interview.  All group members must participate in the presentation of this product.
Plot Analysis Products:  These products have you analyze the plot and 7 Big Ones (literary terms to know) from your novel.  Each takes the form of some kind of technology:  PowerPoint Presentation, Original Web Page, and Original Video.  Group members will share the job of making this product and presenting to the team on Bookseller's Expo Day.
Book Advertisement Products:  Since the Expo is a day to "sell" your book, you will need an advertisement.  All three of these products are visual and require some artistic creativity on your part.  You may choose from a Tri-Fold Poster, Book Cover & 2 Bookmarks, and a Diorama.  This product is created and presented by all group members.

5)      At the end of the Bookseller's work week, we will have an exposition.  You and your group will present your book and "sell" it to the rest of the team.  You will have a station to set up your products, and half of the team will tour all the stations while the other half presents.  Students touring will travel in their Bookseller's groups, and you will present your "sell" approximately 25 times.  For this reason, it is important that you and your group practice what you will say and how you will present.

Resources

In order to complete your products, you may bring any supplies/equipment needed from home (video camera, special art supplies, etc.).  You may also want to use the following available at school:

Microsoft Word
PowerPoint Software
MovieMaker Software
Microsoft FrontPage
Color Laser Printer
Books from the Biography Section in the IMC
Any URL listed on this page
Google Search Engine
Classroom Art Supplies

Evaluation

Only high-quality work will receive top grades.  Not only does your research and interpretation need to be accurate, the quality of your products should reflect effort and creativity, and they should be visually appealing.  Your group will be graded using the following objective rubric:

Print a copy of the rubric to be used by Mrs. Nourie for your expo presentation.

Conclusion

When you have finished with your expo presentations, you need to individually reflect on your experiences.  Please follow the link to  the Bookseller's Recap form.  As you answer the questions, consider how well you know your book now, having studied it so intensely, as opposed to other books you have read this year, and reflect on how your book choice and partners affected your expo products completion.  Think also about how you would do things differently, if you were to do this project again.

Print the Bookseller's Recap Form, fill it out, and turn it in after the Bookseller's Expo.