Activity One In 1990, there were only 100 websites. Step One Step Two

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1 Here s a wordle for you to solve: Mind It s time to give your brain a little mental exercise; give it a work out. We re gonna take your mind and stretch it, work it, give it some muscles by working on some mind joggers. After all, learning CAN be fun. Writing big long reports, full of facts, can be useful but they can also be boring. And we often quickly forget what we have learned and written. But take that same info and jazz it up, and you may remember it forever. And maybe you ll even teach the rest of us a thing or two, also! Activity One: We so rely on computers today that I bet you won t believe this fact: In 1990, there were only 100 websites isn t the dark ages after all. The first real computers were made in the 1950s [Of course they DID take up a whole room back then!], so 1990 is pretty far along. But only 100?!? Yikes! Today, there are way more than 100 WAY MORE! But how much is too much? Just about every group has a website these days it seems. That s probably even what you used to do research for this project! But I figure we could always use another site or two, so you re going to create one. Step One: I know you ve looked at websites, but have you ever REALLY looked at a website? I mean, have you noticed their layout, format, type fonts, and colors? Have you noticed that some begin with an intro page and then ask you to click the enter button, while others, such as online shopping sites, begin with a list of their top ten products? Personal websites start with a short biography and perhaps a picture of the person, while most have some sort of menu up at the top or along the side. So check out some websites on your computer, look at them for their content and how they are set up, so you can make sure yours looks realistic. Step Two: Now that you ve checked out some other sites, let s think about how you want to set yours up. How will it be divided? Some typical areas might be an advice column, a bibliography of books for further study on the subject, a chat room where people can discuss a particular issue, or a computer game/quiz that teaches something about the subject. What will be the reasons people come to it? Will people come to your website, or will it be for some other creature or object to visit [if they could!]? Decide on a look that best characterizes your subject is it a classy look, or something more fun? If you were doing outer space, you might want to do a black background. But if you were doing a website for Laurence of Arabia, you may want a sandy-looking background with camel icons to click. 1

2 Activity Two: They are famous in the Wild West. You would see them posted around town, advertising who the bad guys were. WANTED: Dead or Alive, they would proclaim. A wanted poster is a clever way to play with the key facts about your subject. Since people on wanted posters are immediately suspect, your report is immediately funny, especially if your subject did nothing wrong. And remember, it doesn t have to be for a bad guy. There doesn t have to be a reward offered although those things are okay, too. It could be someone wanted for a job or a particular position. It could be an item wanted for a person or a specific task. It could be a place wanted for a special scene. Use your creativity and find some aspect of your topic to include on a wanted poster. Step Three: Want some extras to snazz it up? Include a guest book where visitors can sign in and make a few comments about the site. This can be a fun way to show alternate points of view regarding the site. What would John Wilkes Booth have signed in Lincoln s Website s Guest Book? Or what if a slave signed in to the Roman Empire website. What would he write? Hmmmm. That could be interesting! Check out the example and then create your own! 2 Step One: Make a list of famous people or items associated with your place. Also, take a look at the sample wanted poster. Notice how they include lists of specific facts about the subject, as well as a mug shot or picture. Dredge up facts about your subject and search for photos or drawings to include in your wanted poster. Pay particular attention to the main facts about the place, the people associated with it, or the events that happened there. Use the notes sheet to collect some facts that would be interesting. Remember to mix the fun with the serious to create a quality product!

3 WANTED One Tornado Last seen sucking a house off its foundation & dropping it in a field in the next state Step Two: Now create your own wanted poster for the subject you are studying. Include a big picture of your subject drawn by you, a photo you have taken, or even something printed off the internet. Then, fill your poster with specific facts and details from your research. You can choose to include silly statistics or facts to balance the serious one you have used. Notice how the writers of wanted posters usually don t use complete sentences, so use short phrases and lists instead. Either add color to make it catchy, or make it old fashioned by using a different type of paper. Activity Three: When my Dad was a kid, he collected baseball cards. He was big into the St. Louis Cardinals. He collected and traded card after card until he thought he had the best ones in the neighborhood. After my Dad grew up, moved out, and started his own family, he decided he would like to have those cards again. Just one problem. My grandparents had already sold them off. I can just imagine the fun and memories he would have today, checking out the poses on the front and then reading the statistics, interesting facts, and little stories about the players that are listed on the back. But, alas. As you can see, though, trading cards can have a lot of significance. Will the ones you create? Step One: Look at your research. Pick some more of those interesting facts. Although you can keep mentioning some of their most important features or accomplishments, try to pick some you haven t already used. On the front of your card, put an image of your subject. On the back, list statistics or create profiles, or maybe even tell a short story. Have fun picking your most intriguing, surprising, or strange facts to dazzle your reader! Look for peculiar or fascinating events in the life of your subject and find ways to incorporate them into your card. When you create the profile for the back of your trading card, have fun coming up with offbeat categories for information. Remember, the more you use your specific research, the funnier your cards will be. Step Two: Wanna take it to the next level? Come up with a specific offbeat category for your cards. OR, create cards for people that go with yours. The Abraham Lincoln Card pack might come with a card for his wife [who got locked up in the loony bin] as well as one for John Wilkes Booth [his assassin]. It could also have cards for Salmon P. Chase [How do you like the name of his Secretary of the Treasury?] or Ann Rutledge [his first real love]. 3 Profile Ideas: Nickname Favorite Place to Eat Ideal Date Least/Most Favorite Food Favorite Color Desert Island Book Greatest Achievement Most Embarrassing Moment Famous Last Words Favorite Saying

4 Example: Women Warriors Gretel Born:1264 Place: Germany Favorite Hobbies: taking long walks in forest with bro Favorite food: Bread crumbs and candy houses Defining Life Event: pushed witch into oven Activity Four: Recognize this crazy guy? Even more than that gap-toothed grin, David Letterman is famous for his Top Ten lists. Night after night he entertains his guests and audiences on late night television with his wacky lists, poking fun at actors, politicians, average Americans you name it, he s probably cracked a joke about it at some time. In fact, he read his very first Top Ten List on September 18, 1985 [called The Top Ten Things That Almost Rhyme With Peas ] and it s all been downhill since then. While the original intent was to mock things like People Magazine s 10 Worst Dressed, David Letterman has become the king of Top Tens and the Top Ten List a signature feature of his nightly show. Top Ten Signs Your Kid Had A Bad First Day At School 10 Already was voted Least Likely to Succeed 9 His class schedule includes daily beatings from bullies, teachers, and custodial staff 8 Lunch was whatever he could scrape off the bottom of his desk 7 His school bus driver made him ride on the outside of the bus. 6 Got tackled twice in gym class three times in algebra class 5 He comes home pledging loyalty to fearless leader Kim Jong Il 4 When you ask how his day went, he tells you to direct all further questions to his attorney 3 Homework on the first day try not to be such a loser 2 You know the kid that gets picked on by everyone? He got picked on by that one. 1 Your last name is McGreevey Step One: Go back and review your research. Make a list of facts. See how many you can write from memory if you remember them, that means they must have been interesting somehow. Next, put stars next to ooh! facts, or any facts that seem surprising or interesting beyond the norm. What are the facts that everyone seems to know? What are the facts that seem new? Step Two: A lot of the humor of a top-ten list actually comes from the title. Make sure you come up with a catchy title that grabs people s interest and sets them up for the humor that will follow. Once you ve got your title, collect your facts. Look at your research and try to make the more general details first the more specific. That s what gives your list its punch. 4

5 Top Ten Reasons Why I Want to Be A Grizzly Bear Top Ten Ways to Get a British Soldier Mad At You Top Ten Things To Do After Romans Invade Your Village Top Ten places To Eat If You Are A Toad Sample Titles: Top Ten Things To Say To Your Mother When You Tell Her You Are Going to Fight in the Civil War Top Ten Reasons Why It Is Better to Fight for the Union Top Ten Reasons to Become an Inca Step Three: Wanna make your top-ten list extra funny? Top-tens are even stronger when you mix the real facts with funny or silly facts. In comedy, your true facts are the straight man and your funny facts are the comedian. Experiment with ordering your facts different ways to create the funniest effect. If you want to check out some examples from the pro, David Letterman, go to this site: Activity Five: Just by researching something you become somewhat of an authority on it someone who knows something about a subject that someone else might not know. One way to show what you know and what you think about your subject is two write and illustrate a how-to poem. A how-to poem is a list of details that tells the reader exactly how to do something or be something or someone. But to get there, you need to dig for the most compelling information about your topic. How To Be An Amoeba Date yourself Never eat out Look in the mirror If you don t like what you see, Split. Barry Lane 2003 Step One: Look at the lists of facts you have compiled throughout this study. Look especially for ones you haven t used so far. That will help keep the entertainment value fresh. You may even want to create a new list solely with facts you haven t used yet. Like before, put a star next to those that really grab your attention, or ones you see ways in which you can twist it. Step Two: Play with the idea of formal and informal language. If you look up the word tornado in an encyclopedia, it might tell you a tornado is a rotating column of air. That s all true [and very formal!]. But in a poem, you might want to play with the language and instead call it a twist of terror equally true, yet less formal and so much more poetic! Also look for ways that you can play one line off another. Use your research to make your directions both funny and true. Step Three: Now add illustrations or photographs to make your how-to poem come to life. Want to add another twist try writing your poem as an unreliable narrator a narrator who cannot be trusted by the reader to give the true story and thereby creating some ironic humor. How to Be a Bird by A. Cat or How to Be A Good Worker by Andrew Carnegie. Ideas adapted from 51 Wacky We-Search Reports by Barry Lane 2003 How to Start a World War By Adolf Hitler How to Enjoy a Hamburger By A. Vegetarian 5