Seniors- Growin' Up...

As we near the completion of our class presentations, I'm sure most of you are anxiously looking forward to the events of the near future. Finals. Prom. Graduation. Summer. College. And so on. However, for this assignment I'm going to ask you to suppress those thoughts and look back to your past. As a result of signing up for child psychology, you should have a good understanding about the physical, cognitive and psychosocial development of children from birth to early childhood. Now it's your turn to provide personal examples of these developmental aspects.

Here is the assignment... Sit down and talk (put your cell phone away, close your facebook, turn off the television) and TALK with one or both of your parents about your development throughout childhood. Think of it as an interview or a discussion. Ask questions about your childhood development and use topics from class to initiate your discussion. You will discover stories and characteristics about yourself that you've never known about. Plus, your parent(s) will be thrilled to talk with you about when you were young, especially now that their baby is off to the next phase of life.

Here are some example questions to help you get started...
- What was my temperament like as an infant, child, ect? Did my personality change over time?
Explain with specific examples.
- At what age did you learn to crawl, walk?
- Did I have a transitional object? If so, what was it?
- What was I like during the 'terrible twos'?
- Favorite games, tv shows?
- What was my first word? Ask for other characteristics about your language acquisition.
- Ask for deferred imitation examples.
- What were some of my favorite activities to do as a child?
- What was I like on my first day of preschool/kindergarten?
- These are only a few. Feel free to ask any other question that relates to class this year.

Length: 2-3 pages typed word document, double-spaced, font size 12 times new roman.

Due: Monday, May 17th

Value: 25 points

Note: If you have any conflict in doing this assignment, please see me for an alternate assignment.

Seniors- A Class Divided

In 1968 Jane Elliot of Ricetown, Iowa was supposed to teach a Sioux Indian lesson to her third grade class with the prayer "Help me not judge a person until I have walked in his shoes." However, the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated, she decided her students needed a life-long lesson. As a result, her brown eyes, blue eyes experiment taught her third graders an influential lesson on discrimination. Hopefully, it was an eye-opening program for you seniors to watch.

Choose one of the following questions and write a one page typed response, citing specific examples from the program. Click here if you need to watch it again.

1. What did you learn from the program? What scenes do you remember the most? Did any part of the film surprise you?

2. How did the negative and positive labels placed on the group become self-fulfilling prophecies? Be sure to discuss the children's body language.

3. How did Jane Elliot's discrimination create no-win situations for those placed in the inferior group? How did she selectively interpret behavior to conform the stereotypes she assigned?

Seniors- Ch 10

A child's understanding of death.

Read the following article by Tuesday, April 20.

Death in Disney Films

Sophs- 1920s Cultural Conflicts

Topics:
1. Prohibition- Speakeasies, Bootleggers, Al Capone and the rise of organized crime
2. Racism- Rise of the Ku Klux Klan, Marcus Garvey movement
3. Religion- Fundamentalism, Scopes Trial (evolution)
4. Red Scare- Sacco and Vanzetti, Palmer Raids

Task:
- Create a mini powerpoint presentation on your topic. You must research your topic first. The following links may help...
digital history
1920s life
Roaring Twenties
Cultural Conflicts
Scopes Trial


- Length: 4 slides- 2 slides with information in bullet points; 2 slides of pictures, maps, or graphs that relate to the topic
- You will present your slides to the class. Be able to explain and elaborate in your presentation.

- Save your presentation to your e-locker to continue work next class.
- Finished powerpoints will be dropped into my Hobbes folder.

Sophs- political cartoons

Go to this political cartoon link...

Choose a cartoon about one of the following topics...
- Haiti relief
- Chile earthquake
- Health care issue
- Jim Bunning filibuster

Next, choose a cartoon of your choice of topic.


For each cartoon, answer the following...

1. List the objects or people you see in the cartoon.

2. Identify the cartoon caption and/or title

3. Identify any symbols and their meaning

4. Describe the action taking place.

5. What is the background information of this cartoon? You must do research in the news to answer this question

6. Explain the message of the cartoon.

Seniors- Children's Books

Hopefully, Friday's class gave you further insight into what it's like to be a beginner reader. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Old Hat New Hat, The Cat in the Hat, The Foot Book, and Inside Outside Upside Down (and you may have read several others) all have distinct characteristics that make them good sources for improving a child's literacy skills.

Your assignment is to choose one book to analyze. Note the number of syllables used, the extent of the vocabulary, repetition of words, and use of rhyming. Was there a plot to the story? If so, explain. Who were the characters in the book? What was the gender of the characters?
How would this book help children with reading and language development? Explain. Also, in your opinion, what was the most complex book, the simplest book, the book that was easiest to memorize?

Answer the above questions in a well-developed paragraph, citing specific examples from your class worksheet.

Hawaii's Last Queen

After watching the film, "Hawaii's Last Queen," you should have a better understanding of imperialism and the motives that cause strong nations to overpower weaker nations. You saw Queen Liliuokalini's unsuccessful struggle to keep her Hawaiian people independent of foreign rule. You witnessed her faith in the American government as she gave up her throne with optimistic thoughts that her power would be restored in the near future. As we know, this was not the case. Hawaii was annexed as an American territory in 1898 and eventually became the 50th state in 1959.

In your reflection of the film, give a response with a summary (paragraph length) describing how Americans gained political and economic power in Hawaii. Be sure to include specific details about the missionaries, Queen Liliuokalini's childhood, foreign influences on Hawaiian culture, etc. Use your video question sheet and answers to help with this paragraph.

In addition, write a short paragraph on the way the story was portrayed through the Queen's perspective. You often heard excerpts from her diary that described her thoughts and feelings. Was this an effective way to tell the story? Do you think the program tried to persuade viewers to sympathize with the Hawaiian queen and people? Be specific in your argument.