Magazine/Newspaper project

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

IB Theme: Human Ingenuity

The area of 'Human ingenuity' is pretty vast. The most obvious and common interpretation is 'technological cleverness', but arguably you can be ingenious in practically any area - poetry, in politics, even in giving a neat excuse for being horribly late for a date.

Sci-tech ingenuity

As suggested, 'technological cleverness' is the most obvious interpretation of 'human ingenuity', think about examples of ingenuity which have changed the world in some way: clever solutions which have dramatic, far-reaching consequences

What examples of ingenuity have changed the world?

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Communication & media

In a way, all language is an ongoing opportunity for ingenuity - how can you phrase things in such a way as to communicate a message most effectively and efficiently? Furthermore, the media in the 21stC are embodied in fantastically ingenious hardware and software ... to say nothing of the ingenuity involved in the constantly-varying messages presented.

Social media is an example of human ingenuity. Do you think it has changed the world in a positive or negative way?

Ingenious explanation

If we want to study ingenuity in language, we should consider the two prime modes by which complex ideas can be communicated: (i) methodical sequencing of ideas; and (ii) the use of figures of speech to make abstractions more vivid ... which is rhetoric, actually.

Reading

Read the text in the following slide, answer the questions.

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How are these texts examples of human ingenuity, specifically ingenious explanation?

Witty ingenuity

The difference between explanation and wit is that ingenious explanation is defined by the clarity of the message, of what is expressed, whereas ingenious wit is defined by the playfulness of the message, of how it is expressed. Ingenious explanation is useful ... ingenious wit is fun! And the most ingenious is when usefulness and playfulness overlap...

IB Theme: Social Organisation

What possible topics could link to Social Organisation?

IB Theme: Social Organisation

Sharing???

- implies 'cooperating', as in 'sharing things fairly'? or...

- 'competing', as in 'fighting for scarce resources'?

- is 'sharing' essentially morally driven - or is it practically driven?

- do human beings like sharing? Evidence, for and against?

The planet???

do we view 'the planet' principally as an ecosystem? or...

as a social system? or...

as an economic system? or...

as a political system? or...

all of these, mixed up? - in which case, how do all of the elements interact?

Which of these three themes appeals most to you?

Human Ingenuity

Social Organization

Sharing the Planet

The Assignment

In groups, you will be creating a magazine or newspaper.

Your groups have been formed based on your choice between 3 out of 5 IB themes:

- Human Ingenuity

- Social Organisation

- Sharing the Planet

Your group will create a newspaper OR magazine (your choice!) with different text types, the topic of each text needs to be linked to the IB theme assigned to your group.

You will be assessed individually and as a group (see rubric criterion E). Each of you choses a different text type (see below). Together you analyse what features these text types have; do research to each text type (use, for example, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z2t3rdm/revision/1)

Text Types

-news report

-article

-opinion column

-letter to the editor

-editorial (opinion piece)

-review

-set of instructions/guidelines

-public commentary (readers’ letters, + respond by editor)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z2t3rdm/revision/6

Teams

See: Teams --> lesmateriaal --> text types

for materials on text types, incl. example texts. 

Specifics

Deadline: May 21, 2021

Word count: 450-600 words per text, a minimum of one text per group member.

Rationale: For each text, you also write a rationale (200-300 words) in which you explain both the link to the IB theme and your text type choice. In your rationale, discuss the following:

- Choice of text type

- Context

- Purpose

- Audience

- Link to IB theme

- Language use

All of the above, you need to illustrate with examples from your text.

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Which Text Type are you writing?

Article

Opinion Column

Interview

Review

Newsreport

Letter to the Editor

Other

Text Types

With your fellow text type writers, discuss your text type and how you will make sure that your text type is as best as can be based on the criteria.

Use this link or qr-code for additional text type info:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z2t3rdm/revision/6

How are you going to get all the points for
Criterion A: Language
How successfully does the candidate command written language?

How are you going to get all the points for
Criterion B: Message
To what extent does the candidate fulfill the task?

How are you going to get all the points for
Criterion C: Conceptual Understanding
To what extent does the candidate demonstrate conceptual understanding?

How are you going to get all the points for
Criterion D: Rationale
To what extent does the rationale for the written task explain the choices being for the text type?

How are you going to get all the points for
Criterion E: Layout & Coherence
To what extent does the magazine or newspaper look attractive?