Christian Education 11—Term 2 Project

Tempus Magazine—the Third Crusade[80 + 80 = 160 marks]

To start the 2nd semester, you will be doing an independent study on the 3rd Crusade (1187-1192). You will be creating a news magazine, similar to Time, Macleans, Newsweek, etc. (tempus is Latin for “time”…Tempus Magazine…Time Magazine…get it?). This is worth 25% of your CE mark. I will mark this very critically, so work well on this. Don’t plagiarize either; anyone caught plagiarizing will be given a zero according to departmental policy; this can also affect the entire group. This project has several elements.

Part A: Group Mark [80 marks]

1) Layout [20 marks] This is the general presentation of the Tempus magazine. Like any magazine, you need a title page and a table of contents, and there should be pictures that go with every article. Select your pictures with care. Also, don’t forget to number your pages (which should obviously be typed), and don’t be afraid to put in imaginative things, like advertisements, sports stories, fluff stories, etc.

2)Citations and Bibliography [5 marks] You must cite your sources within each article andhave a bibliography at the end of the magazine for the books, encyclopedias, articles, and websites that you used for your research. I will refuse to mark magazines that do not have citations within the articles and a bibliography at the end of the magazine!

If you don’t know how to cite a work in the MLA style, ask me or your English teacher, or look up the following website:

In order to do the bibliography, use the following website:

By the way, articles from Wikipedia, about dot com, and other such unapproved online encyclopedias are banned.

3) News Articles [5 x 5 marks = 25 marks] This is a crucial part of themagazine. You must write a minimum of 5 articles on significant events during the 3rd Crusade, and each article needs a minimum of threeprint sources (i.e., non-website) sources. You must send your roving correspondents to report on these events, and your “photographer” should include good pictures to accompany it. Some events that you could chronicle are the following:

  • The Battle of Montgisard (November 1177)
  • *The defeat of the Christian army in the Battle of the Horns of Hattinand the Fall of Jerusalem(July1187)*
  • *The call of the 3rd Crusade and the response by Richard I of England, Phillip II of France, and Frederick Barbarossa i.e., the “Saladin Tithe” (1188-1189)*
  • *The Battle of Acre and the massacre of Muslim prisoners (July 1191)*
  • *The Battle of Arsuf and the capture of Jaffa (September 1191)*
  • The Assassination of Conrad de Monferrat (April 1192)
  • *Richard’s attempts to capture Jerusalem, the peace negotiations, and treaty between Richard and Saladin (September 1192)*
  • The role of the military orders: the Knights Templar and/or the Knights of St. John (Hospitallers)

 If there are any other events on which you’d like to report, ask me. Keep in mind that you need a minimum of three print sources (i.e., non-website) sources for each article.

3) Profile [5 marks]In reporting great events, magazines often profile previously unknown people who suddenly become household names. You have to do the same. Select one of the main characters of the 3rd Crusade, and do a “People”-type profile on him, and this needs a minimum of two (2) sources, one of which must be a print source. Possible characters are the following:

  • Saladin
  • King Richard the Lionhearted of England
  • Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
  • King Phillip II of France
  • Guy de Lusignan
  • Reynald de Châtillon
  • Baldwin IV “the Leper” (this could be an obituary)
  • Conrad de Monferrat

4) Q & A Interview [5 marks]Good reporters also get exclusive interviews with important people. Your editor has managed to get a scoop interview with an important person. Conduct a Q & A with this person, and this needs a minimum of two (2) sources, one of which must be a print source. It cannot be the same person you are profiling for #3.

5) Letters to the Editor [5 marks] This is where you show different takes on the Crusade. Your readership will send in letters on what they (not you) think of this “pilgrimage”. Have several letters sent in; they will be marked as a whole, so the more letters you have, the better it will be. Try some of the following perspectives:

  • A German Crusader under Frederick Barbarossa
  • An English Crusader under Richard the Lion-Hearted
  • A Saracen/Muslim soldier under Saladin
  • A Knight Templar or a Knight of St. John (Hospitaller)
  • A Jew who lived in Jerusalem
  • A citizen of the city of Acre or Jaffa
  • One of the Christians ransomed at Acre

6) Editorial [10 marks] This is where the Tempus Magazine team as a whole gives its opinion on the Crusade as a whole. You will reflect and examine whether the 3rdCrusade was consistent with the principles and morality of Christianity. Give reasons why or why not. As a further help, on my website is a copy of St. Thomas Aquinas’ (+ 1274—one of the premier theologians in Church history) writings on what constitutes a just war, so be sure to use that.Here also, you should use a minimum of two sources for this article.

You may also want to consider how/if Acts 1: 8, Mt. 16: 18, Lk. 20: 25, and Mk. 4: 21 factor into your analysis.

7) Group Organizing Spreadsheet [5 marks] Via Google docs, your group must submit an outline of who is responsible for what. It must be shared with me and commented by your group members. A sample of this can be found at the end of this packet, and I will check this regularly.

B. Individual Marks [80 marks]

1) Research Notes [5 marks individually x 5 = 15] At the end of all three of your research blocks, I will quickly mark your notes you took and return them. Make sure you have the bibliography information for each source you use.

2) Magazine Elements [5 marks individually x 6 = 30] The author of each Article, Profile, Q & A, or Letters to the Editor must be identified. I will then give each individual a personal mark on how s/he did on that article. Each member must write at least one thing. If a group member writes more than one, I will count the best mark.

3) Article Draft [5 marks] By the second week of the project, each of you is to submit via Google Docs a draft of your articles including citations and a partial bibliography. This is to be shared with me and the other members of your group, and each member must comment at least once. You will resubmit an edited draft on the fourth week of the project.

4) Additional Paragraph--Reflection [5 marks individually x 6 = 30] In a handwritten (not typed) paragraph, each group member will give a personal reflection on the following:

 Is there a connection between the Crusades as a whole and the global events surrounding 9/11 or other issues today in the Middle East? Why or why not? One in-class sized paragraph is needed for this.

The due date isFriday, February 23rd, 2018 (any extension must be negotiated with a cost).

Hints:

  • Work well as a team (max. 7 per group—in some cases 8 with negotiation). Designate who will do what, and designate it evenly, playing to individual strengths. This is why you have the Organizational Spreadsheet on Google docs.
  • Pace yourselves, and don’t procrastinate. Take a look at this schedule.
  • Week 1: you will have 3 library days for research (Jan. 11-18—notes marked)
  • Week 2: You will also have three class days for the film Kingdom of Heaven (Jan. 19-26); at the end of this week, the first draft of your article should be submitted to Google docs (3 pm Jan. 27—yes, a Saturday).
  • Week 3: We continue with the last three lessons of Unit 5 (Jan. 29-Feb. 5). Meanwhile, you should be continue working on your draft(s) checked by me.
  • Week 4: I give you one more class day to re-check your resources and ask me questions (Feb. 6/7). The second draft of your article and your group spreadsheet should be submitted to Google docs (3 pm Feb. 10—a Saturday).
  • Week 5 & 6: you should put the finishing touches and get it ready to submit either electronically or on hard copy. Aim to have the project completed two or three days before the due date. We continue Unit 6 in class.
  • Use resources beyond the internet. Even in the 21stc.,books are better as resources. No one may sign the library books out nor take my personal books from the classroom.
  • Donotplagiarize. Do not even come close to plagiarism. Do not cut and paste from Google/Net source. Any plagiarism according to departmental policy results in a zero, potentially for the whole group.
  • If you use internet sources, it is up to you to make sure they are academicallyappropriate. If in doubt, check with me. I reserve the right to reject a source I deem unsuitable, which may result in a zero!

Sample of Citing Your Sources for your Tempus Projects

When you write your pieces for your Tempus Project, you must realize that merely having a bibliography at the end of your magazine isn’t enough to cite your sources and avoid plagiarism. Instead, you have to detail what fact you got from what source within the article itself.

Below is an excerpt from my university term paper on the Fullness of Time. MLA was the citation method used here.

***

The preservation of an existing religion was one thing, but the rapid circulation of an entirely new one throughout the ancient world was quite another. A necessary prerequisite for this was an efficient means of communication. As before, events came into Christianity’s advantage. By this time, most of the known world was under Roman rule and was inter-connected by a network of roads. Complemented by the Roman domination of the Mediterranean and other waterways (e.g., the Nile and Meander Rivers), these roads made travel from one part of the empire to another much easier and faster than before. Even access to those regions still out of Rome’s direct control (e.g., Parthia, India, and northern Europe) became more simple, albeit more dangerous (Cary and Scullard 336). In the East, for instance, a major road system which was fully paved by AD 56 included a route linking Alexandria to Antioch to Colona Claudia Ptolemais, a town located on the Mediterranean coast of Samaria (Isaac and Roll 3). Another route, connecting Caesarea (located on the Mediterranean coast of Samaria) to Scythopolis (a town near the Jordan River) and eventually to Arabia, has been called the “Great Road to the East” by some because “it connected the Asian frontier of the Empire with the capital” (Isaac and Roll 20).

***

At the end of your magazine will be your bibliography in alphabetical order of the author’s name. On my website is a link to another website that shows you how to do a bibliography.

Cary, M. and H. H. Scullard. The History of Rome, 3rd ed. London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1992.

Isaac, Benjamin and Israel Roll. Roman Roads in Judaea: the Legio-Scythopolis Road. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports International Series, 1982.

***

You will be expected to cite your sources for the articles, the profiles, and the Q & A, and any other piece in which you borrow information. If you are not sure about works citation or bibliography, it is up to you to ask me or to show me a draft of your article before the due date. What you submit on the due date will be marked strictly according to departmental policy, so it is your responsibility to make sure that you are not plagiarizing, (which will result in a mark of zero!).

Tools you may find useful with your Tempus Project

(Courtesy of Mr. Vogel).

Presentation:

Calameo (

Example:

You’ll need to supply a PDF to Calameo. You can create a PDF of your work directly from most versions of Word, Publisher and from Google Docs by saving as a PDF. If you have multiple pages, created say by different people, then you’ll need to combine those into one PDF.

LucidPress ( Note: to get print quality you need to sign up for the educational vesion using your myndrs.com account. Thanks: Raven Bruan for pioneering this! Here’s the URL:

Combining PDFs:

PDFMerge (

Can also be done on Macs by dragging files into Preview.app

Word cloud generators:

Wordle ( Tagxedo ( and others

Family tree generator (for example):

Bubbl.us (

Comic Strip Creator:

Pixton (

ICT students have an account.

Altering Photographs:

Photoshop (software) or Pixlr (

Use layers, magic wand, move tool to alter photos

Photofunia (

BeFunky: photo editor and collage maker (

Tuxpi: (

Convert a web page to PDF

PDFontheFly:

Instant (well nearly) web page creator

Tackk:

Multimedia page creator

Glogster: (

Student accounts are being created for this service

Motivational Poster:

Historical figures exchange text messages

Historical figure’s fake “Fakebook” page

Sample of Group Organizational Spreadsheet

Name / Responsibility / Approximate finish date / Draft in Google Docs? / Checked by Mr. D?
Br. Jimmy / Article: Horns of Hattin / Jan. 28 / Y / Y
Br. Ruprecht / Profile: Richard the Lion-Hearted / Jan. 26 / y / N
Sr. Hildegard / 3 Advertisements / Feb. 2 / N / N
Sr. Kate / Front cover / Feb 3 / N / N
Sr. Hildegard / Article: Arsuf/Jaffa / Feb. 1 / Y / Y
Br. Howard / Q & A: Saladin / Jan. 17 / Y / Y
Br. Howard / 2 Advertisements / Feb. 14 / N / N
Sr. Kate / Battle of Acre / Jan. 15 / Y / Y

10 Scientifically Proven Tips for Beating Procrastination
(courtesy Ms. J. Formby)

Source:

APR 15, 2016 @ 02:47 PM

Vanessa Loder

CONTRIBUTOR

I write about business, motivation, productivity and mindfulness.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Here are ten tips for overcoming that daunting task you’ve been avoiding, based on science:​ ​

1. Pick Your Poison.

The key to beating procrastination is focus. We often give ourselves too many things to do and become overwhelmed. Start by choosing just ONE thing that you’ve been procrastinating and make a commitment to complete that task in the next week.

2. Start today.

Once you’ve narrowed it down to one task, you must take immediate action. Today. If it feels daunting or you don’t think you have enough time to complete the task, do the Five Minute Miracle below.

3. Five Minute Miracle.

This is one of the best techniques for people who struggle with procrastination. The Five Minute Miracle involves asking yourself; “Hmm, what action can I take in less than five minutes TODAY that moves this forward even the tiniest bit?” Once you’ve identified a small action, set a timer for five minutes and spend five minutes working on the task. Research shows that once you start something, you’re much more likely to finish it. This is due to a psychological phenomenon called theZeigarnik effect, which says that unfinished tasks are more likely to get stuck in your memory. (This is also why our mind gets stuck in a loop thinking about all the things we haven’t yet completed.) Remember: Small action is still action. Five minutes can make all the difference.

4.Do a Power Hour.

A Power Hour consists of putting away all distractions and working in concentrated chunks of time (to begin with I suggest no more than twenty minute intervals) followed by short periods of rest, in order to harness the optimal performance of your brain and body. Science has discovered that our brain naturally goes through cycles with peaks and valleys. To maximize your output, it is vital that you honor these peaks and valleys by balancing concentrated, focused time with relaxation and integration.

5. Kill It With Kindness.

Research showsthat the more you can forgive yourself for past procrastination, the more likely you are to overcome your current procrastination and take action. Practiceself-compassionwhen thinking of your past experience procrastinating.

6. Have a ProcrastinationPower Song.

Pick a song that really gets you energized, and play it whenever you want to tackle something you’ve been procrastinating. The brain likes to have a trigger to create a new habit, plus you’re more likely to follow through when you’re feeling good in your body.

7. Get under the hood.

Sometimes, it can be helpful to understand exactlywhyyou’ve been procrastinating a specific task. Are you afraid of something? Maybe you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. Fill in the sentence; “I’m avoiding this task because…” or “I’m avoiding this task because I’m afraid that….” And see what shows up. Identifying your fears can help you realize the monsters in the closet aren’t as bad as you think.

8. Let It Go.

Most people put way too much on their To Do list. One way to stop procrastinating something is to decide you’re never going to do it. What can you take off your to do list? Try crossing something off your list simply because you realize you don’t really need to do that thing…ever. Give yourself permission to let it go.

9. Make a bet.

It can be very helpful to have an accountability buddy. One fun way to take this a step further is to have a bet with your buddy. Choose a day and time within the next week that you will complete this task and then tell your friend or colleague; “I’ll give you $10 / take you out to lunch / buy you coffee / watch that awful movie you’ve been wanting to see / etc. if I haven’t completed this task by next Wednesday at 10:00am.” Give your accountability buddy a date and time within the next week and tell them in order to redeem the agreed upon prize, they must check in with you at that appointed day and time. If you haven’t completed your task by then…you owe them whatever you bet!