1984 Moderator Assignment

(Discourse = 25 points)

Assignment: Each student must sign up for a time to lead class discussion. Your responsibilities as one of the moderators is to have closely read the novel and the ancillary articles, develop five in-depth questions, contribute a new ancillary source article, ensure participation from a variety of classmates, and leave the class with lingering questions to take on to the next reading assignment.

Rationale: It is important to have your voice heard. There are many interpretations of literature and hearing others' views helps us develop our own understandings. Sometimes our best ‘teachers’ are those who harbor differing points of views. Questions are essential in the process of understanding anything, but particularly literature.

Requirements:

  • Post your five questions to Turnitin.com Discussion Board
  • Print enough copies of questions for each in your group
  • Print enough copies of ancillary article for each in your group

+1 for Mr. C

  • Your five questions must include:

1)Use of an excerpt from 1984 that relates to your theme

2)Choose from 3 of Bloom’s Taxonomy levels

  1. No more than one question can come from

“Knowledge” and “Comprehension”

  1. The other two questions must come from “Application,” “Analysis,” or “Synthesis”

3)Repetition – good writers don’t make mistakes, if something seems familiar there must be a reason.

(What ideas are repeated? When does tension occur and over what? What stays the same?

What changes?)

4)Application beyond this text should relate to the ancillary article you’ve selected

(Start with the themes and then look for modern day implications. How might the characters of 1984 react to this article?)

Grading Criteria:

  • Prep Work (annotation, copies printed, & 5 questions) = 1 pts
  • Level of questioning = 4 pts
  • Appropriate & meaningful selection of ancillary source = 5 pts
  • Interaction with the class (small group & whole group) = 10 pts
  • Reflective written response (to be completed after class) = 5 pts

Process:

Sign up for day and theme (first come, first served)

Post 5 questions on turnitin.comandprint copies for your group

Lead small group discussion using your 5 questions as a guide

Introduce an ancillary source and further the discussion

Take notes of key ideas and who contributed

From small group move to whole group with your notes

Report major understandings and pose key question to the class

* All moderators for the day share in the responsibility of ensuring full class participation

Complete Reflection questions from Discussion (Will be coming from Mr C. as we discuss) and email answers to him.

“Uh, what if I’m absent?” The short answer, you lose all points related to class participation. In an extreme emergency you can sign up for a later reading assignment. If you already chose the last reading assignment, then, well, you should be in class.

Don’t know what to talk about? Try these:

The usual suspects of elements of fiction(plot, character, conflict, etc.)

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Competence /

Skills Demonstrated

Knowledge /
  • observation and recall of information
  • knowledge of dates, events, places
  • knowledge of major ideas
  • mastery of subject matter
  • Question Cues:
    list, define, tell, describe, identify, show, label, collect, examine, tabulate, quote, name, who, when, where, etc.

Comprehension /
  • understanding information
  • grasp meaning
  • translate knowledge into new context
  • interpret facts, compare, contrast
  • order, group, infer causes
  • predict consequences
  • Question Cues:
    summarize, describe, interpret, contrast, predict, associate, distinguish, estimate, differentiate, discuss, extend

Application /
  • use information
  • use methods, concepts, theories in new situations
  • solve problems using required skills or knowledge
  • Questions Cues:
    apply, demonstrate, calculate, complete, illustrate, show, solve, examine, modify, relate, change, classify, experiment, discover

Analysis /
  • seeing patterns
  • organization of parts
  • recognition of hidden meanings
  • identification of components
  • Question Cues:
    analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify, arrange, divide, compare, select, explain, infer

Synthesis /
  • use old ideas to create new ones
  • generalize from given facts
  • relate knowledge from several areas
  • predict, draw conclusions
  • Question Cues:
    combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute, plan, create, design, invent, what if?, compose, formulate, prepare, generalize, rewrite