What we'll accomplish:

• Learning Target: I can watch, reflect, and discuss a video about the implications of technology, ultimately connecting it to my own life.
• Common Core State Standard: CCSS RI 9-10.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. 

Here's how we'll do it:

Simon Sinek, author and speaker, makes a case for the downfall of millenials as well as future generations in a 2016 interview with Tom Bilyeu. Sinek's focus is on "the millenial question," as he explores assumptions surrounding the current youngest generation of members of the workforce. After discussing the issues of this current generation, Sinek claims, in part, "the best case scenario is that you'll have an entire population growing up and going through life and just never really finding joy. They'll never really find deep, deep fulfillment in work or in life. They'll just waft through life" (Willrath, 2016). His conversation with Bilyeu continues as Sinek urges companies to change their focus and habits, otherwise future generations are doomed to fail.

Take a look at the following video:

(Willrath, 2016)

Discuss with your classmates the implications of what Sinek discusses in this interview. Before your discussion, you will be making a list of five different claims Sinek makes in the video. Use these as the anchors to your discussion with a small group. The question we should all be asking is whether the technology we have at our fingertips every day is ultimately hardwiring us differently and setting us up for failure.

Assignment:

Create a post in which you summarize your conversation with your peers, highlighting what really stuck out to you. In your post, you should also reflect on your own use of technology, and whether or not that has changed the way in which you think and operate. 

It is encouraged to also talk with the adults in your life- parents, older siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. about their view of things. The conversations you have may ultimately be eye-opening for you.

What we'll accomplish:

• Learning Target: I can read a text critically in order to prepare for a discussion.
• Common Core State Standard: CCSS RI 9-10.3 Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.

Here's how we'll do it:

Nicholas Carr's 2010 book, The Shallows: what the internet is doing to our brains, is a deep dive into evidence surrounding the fact that the internet is causing us to think less for ourselves. Carr paints a grim picture of what is to come when technology gets out of hand and takes over. It would be easy to assume that the book has lost its impact after almost ten years on shelves, but its premise and discussions have actually continued on despite its age. Perhaps even more interesting, it may be telling that even with its age, the conversations around the impact of the internet have not fundamentally shifted.

(NPR, 2010)

Carr has also made several speaking appearances over the years. The following is a clip which we will all watch and discuss:

(PBS NewsHour, 2010)

We will be reading excerpts from the book over the next two weeks, having conversations as we go. We will then finish out the two weeks with an academic conversation (one where we will sit in a circle and talk as a complete class). Finally, we will head into a new week watching a film and working toward a synthesis essay.

Assignment:

As you read the required excerpts, keep track of the claims presented by Carr. Take a critical look at those claims and decide what you think of them. The main focus for our academic conversation will be to look at the following questions:

1. Are Carr's claims true?
2. Are Carr's claims still relevant today?

For the academic conversation, you will be bringing additional evidence. This evidence will either support or refute Carr's claims. It is imperative that your sources are updated and relevant. Part of the focus for our unit is about technology's impact on different generations of people, with a focus on when each generation was school-aged; for that reason, your updated and relevant sources are very important. 

What we'll accomplish: 

• Learning Target: I can watch a film, recalling information from a text I have read, in preparation for writing a synthesis essay
• Common Core State Standards: CCSS W 9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. CCSS W 9-10. 5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.

Here's how we'll do it:

As we read Nicholas Carr's book, we discussed the frightening reality of the internet and its control over our lives. Carr offers a warning for us that unless we learn to change our ways, we really are not in control of the way in which we think.

A possible parallel with Carr's book is the 2008 Disney film, WALL-E. According to the WALL-E page on Internet Movie Database, or IMDB, the film's premise is, "In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind" (IMDB, 2019). Critic Lawrence Toppman from the Charlotte Observer said of WALL-E that it is "a potent environmental message wrapped up in an irresistibly cute romance between robots" (IMDB, 2019). WALL-E serves as a possible warning for all of us that unless we change our ways in how we manage our planet and ourselves, we may never escape the inevitable bad future ahead of us. We will be looking closely at WALL-E and discussing The Shallows along side it. Eventually, we will be working our way to a synthesis essay, in which we discuss the themes presented in the book as well as the film. The purpose of a synthesis essay is to settle on a theme that runs directly through both texts being studied. In this case, the texts are a film and a nonfiction book. Although both texts may present the same idea of possible doom and gloom, the way in which the theme is presented is very different. The essay will allow you to explore that idea as well as have conversations surrounding the fact that this may not end up being our collective fate.

(YouTube Movies, 2017)

Assignment:

After watching the film, you will embark on a week long opportunity to write a synthesis essay. You will be synthesizing the way in which The Shallows: what the internet is doing to our brains by Nicholas Carr and WALL-E by Walt Disney Pictures present a theme. See the image below for the definition of a theme:

(CITATION)

Additionally, it is important to note that a theme is a universal idea about humanity. It is not text specific on its own, though it of course has to do with the text or texts being discussed.

You will be writing your paper over the course of the next week with checkpoints along the way, including one near the end in which you will peer edit your classmates' papers. The peer editing will allow you the opportunity to see another take on the topic as well as have your own essay looked over by a classmate. This is all with the intention of improving your own synthesis argument.

What we'll accomplish:

• Learning Target: I can understand and be able to utilize the power of rhetorical appeals
• Common Core State Standard: RI 9-10.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.

Here's how we'll do it:

Rhetoric is vitally important in the way in which people, companies, organizations, nations, and so many more bodies of humanity communicate with one another. Specifically, for our purposes, we will be looking at the power of rhetoric in order to persuade an audience to do something. Advertising uses rhetorical techniques all the time, and for the next few days, you will be exploring ways in which you can use it right here in the classroom.

Rhetoric (2019) defines rhetoric as "the art of speaking or writing effectively: such as the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion. Put plainly, if you are trying to get someone to do something, you need to choose your words effectively.

There are three main components that go into rhetoric. Those methods are presented in the following graphic:

(Rhetorical Triangle, 2019)

Ethos, pathos, and logos all contribute to a solid and sound argument. So why should we care? Our next assignment is a speech. This speech will involve a component in which you must convince your audience, our class, that you are correct and that you have made the most sufficient argument possible. It is because of this that you must understand what you can do to convince your teenage audience that they should respect your arguments and ultimately think that your presentation is the most sound presentation out there.

Assignment:

You will create a post which is a reflection on your understanding of the rhetorical appeals as well as your plan for how you will present yourself to your audience when it comes time to give your speech. Consider the following questions:

1. How can you personally use the rhetorical appeals to your advantage while delivering your speech?
2. What do you anticipate being an issue in your presentation to your peers?
3. What is one thing that you believe you do best that will help in the effectiveness of your speech delivery?

What we'll accomplish:

• Learning Target: I can write and deliver a researched speech to a classroom of peers
• Common Core State Standard: CCSS SL 9-10.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.

Here's how we'll do it:

In all of our discussion of the impact of technology and its stranglehold on society today, we will be reflecting on the implications of a multitude of inventions and their impact on modern day society. You will be researching and selecting an invention (invented over the last 200 years) that you belive has had the biggest impact on society. While it may be easy to respond immediately with something like the cellphone, the computer, or the automobile, it might be even more compelling to think of something less initially provocative. For example, you could select something like the microwave, indoor plumbing, or video game consoles. All of these inventions can be researched and discussed in your four to five minute speech.

After you select your topic and begin your research, you will submit your topic to your teacher, who will then compile all of the topics. You and your class will then anonymously assign a number, one through ten, to each of the inventions. You will receive your average number and then begin constructing your speech. It will be your job to use your understanding of rhetoric to get the audience to believe that it is in fact your invention that is the most important invention in the last 200 years. Your speech will discuss the history of your invention as well as the current use and future implications of its use.

Consider using the following link for inspiration to help you choose your invention:

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/magazine/who-made-that.html

Once you're ready to start writing, be prepared to follow Monroe's Motivated Sequence (MMS)for persuasion. Utilizing MMS for your organization will allow you to create the most airtight argument possible. MMS communicates to the audience that there is a problem that needs solving. In this case, your "problem" is that you need to earn the highest average vote possible. The "solution" you offer is a well-researched speech that proves that your invention has had the biggest impact possible on society.

Monroe's Motivated Sequence is as follows:

1. Attention- Grab the audience's attention and bring them into the world of the topic
2. Need- Establish a need for the audience- make them think something is missing from their lives (in this case, the need is their need to see your perspective and to vote for your invention)
3. Satisfaction- You satisfy the audience's need that you established in the previous step. Make the audience think that a vote for you will leave them feeling like they've made the right choice
4. Visualization- Give all of the evidence and data that you found on your topic. Make the audience really believe that you've chosen the best possible invention
5. Action- The final step is to motivate the audience to get out there and vote for your invention by ranking it a 10 out of a possible 10

Take a look at the following video for some tips and tricks if you're feeling a bit (or a lot) apprehensive about giving your speech. The video will hopefully leave you with some strategies you can use to have the best, most relaxed speech possible. Enjoy!

(WatchWellCast, 2012)

Assignment:

Your six to seven minute speech will feature research and original commentary on your invention. You will be asked to carry with you a great deal of passion as you convey to the class, your audience, why it is that your invention is the most important invention. As you are writing your speech, keep in mind that the audience will also vote at the conclusion of the speeches. If your speech makes the largest improvement from initial vote to the final vote, or if you end up with the largest number out of ten, you will earn extra credit.

What we'll accomplish:

• Learning Target: I can use technology to create a post and respond to others about the future implications of society’s actions.
• Common Core State Standard: CCSS W 9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

Here's how we'll do it:

At this point in the eight week unit, with less than a week remaining, we will be taking a look at everything we have done up to this point by discussing the implications for what we have studied. You will reflect on one of the larger questions of the unit, which has to do with technology and its implications on this and future generations. Is the technology of today's generation a bigger detriment than ever before, or is it blown out of proportion? You will have an opportunity to write out and ultimately discuss your thoughts. In class, we will have a "think, pair, share" opportunity followed by an individual reflection opportunity.

Check out the following video for some more commentary on this issue:

(NBC News, 2018)

Assignment:

You will be exploring the question: Is the technology of today's generation a bigger detriment than ever before, or is it blown out of proportion? First, you will do a think, pair, share in class. Then, you will be using Flipgrid to post a one minute video with your response. Use our discussions, our resources, and your projects as sources. You are then responsible over the next two days for responding to at least three of your classmates' posts. Your Flipgrids will be assessed in a number of ways, including on your delivery ability, your ability to articulate a clear argument, and your number of responses to your classmates. Oh, and YES, you WILL be turning your camera on to film your response- not just the microphone!