Character Sociogram

The concept of using a Sociogram is to find out who the most "connected" character in a story is. By connected, I mean the character that knows the other characters and has the most knowledge of the other characters in a story. Who knows who, how they know them, and how they know the other characters.

In a Sociogram you map out the relationships between characters. I would like you to do this for The Great Gatsby and from your results tell me who the most connected character is. Before you begin, I want you to guess and write down who you think the most connected character is and   then do the Sociogram and find out who the most connected character is. 

Was your guess right or wrong? If it was right, how did you figure out this person was the most connected? If it was wrong, does the right answer surprise you, and why did you think the character you guessed earlier was the most connected?

Google+ Account

I invite you to follow me on Google+. My username is my name, Tyler Webb, and my profile picture is of me. All the information you need to find me is located on the right side panel of this very page, how convenient. ===>

I don't want you to follow me just because I take pride in the number of views, followers, and +1's I get. Not at all what I am interested in.

But Google+ allows me to post polls, videos, events, and links. These are all relevant to the classroom and what goes on in the classroom. The account it setup directly with my blogger.com account, so if for some odd reason the blogger.com site was down you could still find your assignments posted on my Google+ page.

It's also useful to post little assignments and questions on there. I will tell you in class to check the page for updates. And in some cases I may find a video or something else I find to be relevant to the lesson and post it for everyone to see.

If you have a problem logging on please come and talk to me so we can work something out.

Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover Project

As much as we don't want to admit, we do judge a book's value on its cover. The Great Gatsby has an interesting cover. For this assignment you will create a new cover for The Great Gatsby, you can make it yourself by hand, using colored pencils, makers, crayons, etc,. You can also make the cover on a computer with Photo Shop or using another application. You have total creative freedom on this project, I want to see how you would make your covers. They can be funny, unique, artistic, serious, or goofy, anyway you want to make them.

When everyone has turned in their covers we'll vote on the best cover. To keep them anonymous know your cover and put your name on the back, we'll cover it with a post it note so that it won't damage your artwork. After we've voted on a best in the class that cover will go against the other winners from the other classes and then we'll vote on who has the best cover!

The only rule for this project is that you don't plagiarize another cover and pass it off as your own, that's the only way you will receive a 0 for this project. Everyone that does this project, has fun, and puts forth effort on their cover will receive full credit.

Movie Trailer Group Work

Because The Great Gatsby is referred to as one of the classics, there have been movie adaptations. The first movie adaptation was in 1974 and had Robert Redford playing Jay Gatsby. The second adaptation was in 2013 and had Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby. Of the trailers below pick the one you think was the best at describing what happened in the novel and which one was the worst at describing the novel. Give your reasoning behind your choices of best and worst.

Learn About the Author

There are many great writers, but the one we will focus on is F. Scott Fitzgerald. A famous American writer, most famous for writing The Great Gatsby, had many other great novels. This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender Is the Night, and The Last Tycoon were his other novels, and he wrote short stories as well. His most famous being The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

To learn a little bit more about one of America's greatest authors we will watch a YouTube video.

F. Scott Fitzgerald Video

After watching the video I would like for you to answer the following questions:

When and where was F. Scott Fitzgerald born?

How old was he when he first got something published?

Name the first novel he had published.

What year was The Great Gatsby published?

What novel was published in 1934?

How and when did F. Scott Fitzgerald die?

Storybird.com Assignment

For this assignment I would like you to create a story using storybird.com. The story needs to be related to The Great Gatsby somehow. You could make a story about the author, any of the characters, an event, or anything you want. You can decide if you want to work on this alone or work in groups, but groups no bigger than three people. This assignment is about creativity and lets you showcase your personality, have fun with this assignment!

Here's an example of my story using storybird.com:

My Storybird Story

YouTube Videos (Only to be viewed after finishing the novel)

The videos posted on this part of the blog are only to be viewed after finishing The Great Gatsby.
Don't forget that I can see who views the blog post and if I see that you have looked at this page before we finish, points will be deducted.

Now that we've finished reading The Great Gatsby I would like you write down your impression of the novel whether you liked it or disliked it. It needs to be at least half a page, it can be longer, but the limit is two pages.

Then I would like you to watch the following videos and tell me what you think of them. Make sure you watch them in order, and if you decide to peek, it will ruin the reading experience for you. There will also be no questions to go with these videos, they're just for you to watch.






















Do you agree with them or disagree with them? Write down and points you shared and what points they were, or any points you disagreed on and show me your argument as to why you disagree. This should be a bit longer in length, but should not be longer than three pages. If you think it will be longer talk to me in class or email me.

Weekly Plans

For The Great Gatsby Unit Plan, I will post what we are doing weekly along with what is done in class and what is to be done at home to prepare for class the next day. The following is an example of how it will look:

Monday- Introduction to The Great Gatsby, watch a YouTube video on the author F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a handout to remember facts.

Tuesday- A brief history of the story and the 1920s shown through a PowerPoint. Assign copies of The Great Gatsby.

Wednesday- An overview of the culture in the US, especially in New York, in the 1920s. Shown through a YouTube Video.

Thursday- Go over the characters found in the story, identify them, and write down first impressions.

Friday- Identify the plot and the storyline, continue reading The Great Gatsbyover the weekend, and prepare for open discussion on Monday.

Please check this weekly, it will keep you up to date as to what we are doing in class and what is due in class. You should also check daily, in case the schedule were to change due to weather, emergencies, etc,.

Lesson Videos and Channel Information

I would like the students to know a little more about the setting and the time The Great Gatsby was written in and took place in. For that reason I have found YouTube videos that I thought were useful and decided to post them. This is also for the students who missed class so that they can be caught up with the rest of the class when they return. The students could look up the video themselves, but it would be easier to post the video itself, to stop anyone from watching the wrong video.

Its also a good idea to know the channel that I got this video from, they make quick and detailed videos about almost every topic imaginable, definitely take time to look through other videos that can be found on their channel. It may be useful in another class you're taking.