The Perfect Society!
A WebQuest on The Giver: A Novel by Lois Lowry
Instructions ( PowerPoint Presentation ) and Activities before the WebQuest
Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Journal | Teacher | Reflection | Results | Feedback
Lois Lowry wrote a novel about a community that seems to function perfectly. The Giver describes a perfect society. What makes this community flawless? How has it managed to keep things organized and under perfect control? It seems that man has finally found the ideal way to live until one member of the community starts to uncover flaws. What went wrong?
You have been assigned by the elders of the community to investigate why Jonas, a promising young man chose to leave the community. What made this gifted individual, chosen to be the next Giver rebel against the norms? What went wrong? What flaws did he reveal about this seemingly perfect community?
The presentation: http://www.nelliemuller.com/ThePerfectSociety.WebQuest.Instructions.htm
Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Journal | Teacher | Reflection | Results | Feedback
The Team will investigate and uncover why Jonas left the community. They will list the reasons for his leaving and recommend alternatives so this will never happen again. The results of the investigation will be presented in a written report . The committee will create a journal where they will keep track of all the information they disclose from observations and interviews. The information will be added to the appendix of the final report.
The team will collaborate, write their final report, and present it to the elders for review. Once approved, the findings will be presented in the main auditorium using audio and visual effects.
The committees' final written reports and presentations will include suggestions on how to improve the life style of the community so that it becomes a perfect society once again. Both written and presentations will be done in a convincing way so that they capture the attention of the whole community. The presentations can be done by creating a team blog, a website, a PowerPoint presentation, a video film, by creating music and lyrics, a play, or composing a dance.
Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Journal | Teacher | Reflection | Results | Feedback
The following guidelines will help you and your team:
1. Organize yourselves in teams of four. Find out about team organization and work on the following page: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Task_and_group_work.htm
2. Make sure everyone on the team has read The Giver by Lois Lowry. You should refer to the story as you work on the project.
3. Read the Task and divide your work among the team members. Each member will interview another member of the community and find out what happened to Jonas. This can be his parents, sister, friends, The Giver or any other member of the community you feel would offer relevant clues as to what happened.
4. You may write your individual interview reports according to the following format http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.committeejournal.htm or create your own questions.
5. The final product is a collaborative writing report that sums up the four interviews. The interviews are added to the appendix. The writing report consists of seven parts. http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.writtenreports.htm
6. Each member will be evaluated for both team http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.evaluationofthecommitteesreport.htm and individual work: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.individualreports.htm
7. Edit your written observations and the results of your interviews as a team. Check the team evaluation rubrics: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.evaluationofthecommitteesreport.htm to find out how you will be graded for team work.
8. Plan your presentation http://www.nelliemuller.com/Oral_Presentation.htm
9. You are encouraged to present your work in a creative way. You can use visual aids and other multimedia techniques such as video, audio or PowerPoint presentations, blogs, podcasts, websites, or a combination of one or two ideas.
10. Make sure that each member of the committee is ready to present one aspect of the findings. Check the team evaluation rubric for your presentation: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.presentation.htm
11. The grade is out of 100: 25 points for the individual work, 25 for the team presentation and 50 points for the team collaborative writing report.
12. Do not hesitate to ask questions throughout the project. Your teacher and I will be available. Please use the following page to send questions to me: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Write_nelliemuller.htm
Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Journal | Teacher | Reflection | Results | Feedback
The Giver: Notes on the book
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/giver/summary.html
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/giv/
Utopia: A perfect society
Utopia by Thomas Moore:
http://www.d-holliday.com/tmore/utopia.htm
Definition and other material on the subject of utopia:
http://users.erols.com/jonwill/utopialist.htm
Utopian Studies: