HCHS AFJROTC ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
AS-100 ACADEMIC PORTION
Aug 12 – May 13
Instructor note: These assignments will require you to employ additional research techniques and sources. Rarely will anything in life just be handed to you, and the good student looks “beyond the horizon” to find whatever will assist them in accomplishing the task at hand. These assignments are designed to make you think; to help prepare you for speaking and writing opportunities you’ll encounter for the rest of your life; and to help you discover additional sources of knowledge to help you in your academic endeavors.
Web Sites: Here are some useful web sites that you can use for your research assignments, or just to get smart about air-related topics. They are hyperlinked to additional troves of data:
1. http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/ This takes you to the official Air Force Historian’s site, and then hyperlinks you to personalities, topics, and organizations. Click on either “Subjects of Interest” or “Links” once you access this home page.
2. http://www.thehistorynet.com/ A good all-around site for any history-related topic. Take their daily quiz and see how much you know!
3. http://www.spacekids.com/ Space facts and fun information.
4. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kids/flight Click here to meet barnstorming pilots, airmail carriers, and pilots (especially good for AS-1 or AS-2 studies)
5. http://www.flight100.org.index.cfm Shows the evolution of flight.
6. Air War College Webpages. This is where the senior USAF officers go for information.
1. To begin, go to the web page http://tuvok.au.af.mil/au/awc/awchome.htm
2. From there, click on “Gateway to the Internet”
3. This puts you on the page http://tuvok.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awcgate/htm.
4. From there you have the world at your fingertips. I suggest you click on the first green bullet “References, Online and Off.” This gives you access to Military Journals, Publications and other libraries. Also try the fourth bullet, “Military Theory and History,” as well as Bullet 15, which is a Biographies web access.
5. If you go to the Biographies entry, click on “American Airpower Biography” and see what air pioneers are listed. Good stuff!!
7. BOOKS: We have some excellent air-related and historical books available for research as well; check the Instructor Office, on the white bookshelf by the filing cabinet.
Assignment 1: Discuss on 15 Aug
Complete a periodic goals worksheet. I’ll hand out a sheet that sketches your life in time increments. You’ll fill out who and “where” you are now; where you want to be in 5 years; where you envision yourself in 10 years; and so on. We will keep these on file and update them every term that you have JROTC. This worksheet, when thought out carefully, can be used to help with your obituary assignment, and vice versa.
Maximum page limit: 1 (handout from SASI)
DUE: Class, 22 Aug Value: 50 points
Assignment 2: Discuss on 15 Aug
Book Review: “Chew on This.” Each class is required to do some sort of discussion or activity about your summer reading assignment. We will have you write a second “goals sheet” that has you answer some questions about the book, then have you come up with a healthy goal that you can monitor over the course of the year.
Maximum page limit: 1 page
DUE: Class, 23 Aug Value: 25 points
Assignment 3: Discuss on 20, 22 Aug
Write your obituary. You can reference the local paper to see what is normally contained in obituaries if you’d like, but I want you to concentrate on imagining your entire life AFTER GRADUATION FROM HCHS. When and where were you born? How long did you live? What did you do? What schooling did you have? How many children? When and how did you die? Did you make a difference somewhere?
Maximum page limit: 1
DUE: Homework, due 29 Aug Value: 50 points
Assignment 4: Planned discussion date of 15 Oct, 19 Nov
Research and present a biography of a famous air pioneer. The student will research classroom and other sources and write a four-page (double-spaced) biography on an aviation pioneer from any era. Emphasis will be on the period currently being studied, i.e., 1890-1940. Examples of famous aviators include: Wiley Post, Guilio Douhet; Italo Balbo; the Wright Brothers; Charles Lindbergh; General Billy Mitchell; Blanche Scott; the Stinson sisters; or dozens of others. Many famous pioneers are found in the text; others will require additional research.
Page limit: 4 pages (typed, double-spaced with Bibliography)
DUE: 19 Dec Value: 200 points
Assignments 5a and 5b: Writing Assignments (Practical Writing Exercises); planned discussion dates of 20 Aug and early Sep
Each department will be conducting school-directed writing activities over the course of the year. You’ll create a writing piece and take it from a rough draft stage, through peer review, to finished product over the course of a week. One topic will deal with Leadership, and the other with health-related choices.
DUE:
5a: On-Demand writing assignment 1, 12-20 Nov Value: 50 points
5b: On-Demand or Open Response 2, 7-14 Jan Value: 50 points
Assignment 6: Planned discussion date of 27 Feb
Research a Federal Holiday. Do you know the story behind our Federal holidays? What’s the significance of that particular day? Was it always called by that name? Does it fall on a set date, or does it “float?” Who created the holiday, and why? Each student will present a 1-page paper (single-spaced) on a US holiday. (There will obviously be several students researching the same holiday due to class numbers, but this is an individual project.) The student will research the holiday and present their research to the class as a graded event. Ensure you answer the basic questions stated above: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Holidays: Martin Luther King Day; President’s Day; Memorial Day; Flag Day; Independence Day; Labor Day; Columbus Day; Election Day; Veterans’ Day; Thanksgiving
DUE: 27 Mar (homework) Value: 50 points
Assignment 7: Planned discussion date of 25 Apr
Create an on-file resume. The resume will follow the format found in the Air Force Tongue and Quill writing guide, which will be provided to them for this assignment. The instructor will discuss the handout during class. Page limit: No more than 2 pages.
DUE: In class, 1-2 May Value: 50 points
NOTES:
1. The remaining points of your AS-100 grade will consist of weekly quizzes and your final (Promotion) exam.
2. This is ONLY the Academic (AS-100) portion of your JROTC grade. The ASI will also have a grading criteria for the Leadership (LE-100) section, most likely comprised of board reporting, testing, and drill-related activities.
3. We will also intersperse directed reading activities (short quizzes to prepare you for the state testing format) and make time for independent reading.