Nightmare & Vision: Science-Fiction & Fantasy

 

Semester 2: 2008

 

“Challenge your Preconceptions, or they will challenge you.” ~Vulcan Proverb

 

Instructor:

           

Darth VanDerKern

JVanDerKern@sau29.org

(603) 352-0640 ext. 7080

www.oocities.org/vanderkernj

http://vanderkern.edublogs.org  

 

Course:           Nightmare & Vision:  Science Fiction & Fantasy.  1 credit.

 

Time:              Block 2, Rm. 17

                       

 Student Learning Expectations:

           

 

Academic

(1)

Graduates read critically

(2)

Graduates comprehend at or above grade level

(3)

Graduates read for a variety of purposes

(4)

Graduates write competently

(5)

Graduates apply a writing process

(7)

Graduates use a problem solving process

(8)

Graduates can find and use information

 

Social

 (10)

Graduates speak clearly, concisely, and effectively

(11)

Graduates listen actively, critically, and responsibly

 

Civic

(13)

Graduates demonstrate a sense of community

(14)

Graduates respect diversity

(15)

Graduates show respect for self and others

(16)

Graduates demonstrate conflict resolution skills

(17)

Graduates develop and utilize skills for a changing world (communication, leadership, teamwork, cooperation, creativity, critical thinking, decision-making, organization, problem solving)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Description:

Nightmare & Vision:  Science Fiction & Fantasy-153

1 Credit, Semester Course

Nightmare & Vision is a comprehensive level senior English course for the student who enjoys science fiction and fantasy, critical thinking, discussions, and course work.  Themes include the advancements of science and technology, the hero’s journey, and the roles of the individual and authority in real and imagined worlds.  Students considering this course should have good reading and writing skills and be willing to participate in class discussions.  Individual research projects are required.

 

Materials:      

1.      Students will need to bring the following to class each day: The current novel (covered), a three-inch three-ring binder with dividers and college rule paper, completed homework, and a writing utensil (pencil and black pen).  I also HIGHLY recommend a flash drive to transfer files (email is not reliable).

 

2.      The front office or the English Department provides supplies upon request to any student in financial need.

 

Costs of Replacement Books:

1)              Textbooks:                                                         $60.00 to replace.

2)              Permabound (hardcover) books:                        $15.00 to replace.

3)              Paperback books:                                               $10.00 to replace.

4)              Keene High School Research Guidebook:         $  5.00 to replace.

 

You must have the book you were assigned or purchase a new book.  Coming to class unprepared will result in a grade reduction.  Failure to return or replace a book will result in an incomplete grade.

 

Instruction:   

•         I will keep my lectures short and to the point.

•         I prefer all work to be typed or neatly printed in double-spaced, black ink.

•         I will strive to keep you interested by using the Internet, the library, television, radio, CDs, magazines, newspapers, field trip opportunities, guest speakers, and relevant movie clips.

•         We will have daily discussions and book talks.

•         We will create weekly blogs.

•         We will have 20+ pages per night of reading followed by short weekly reading quizzes.

•         Most major assessments will be project-based.

•         Participation tokens can be earned daily and redeemed weekly.

•         I will teach you skills that will help you in the “real world.”

•         I will respect you, and I expect the same courtesy.

 

Grading:        


                        To earn a “C” in this course, simply do what is asked and what is expected.  To earn a “B,” go one step beyond what others may think of.  To earn an “A,” be excellent

 

 

UNITS

         

1)   Story-Telling

 

 

 

2)   Fantasy

a)      Read Fantastic Worlds introduction page 3-39

b)      Fantasy Encyclopedia  (398.21 ALL)

c)      Light vs. Dark

·         Activity:  Chess Games

·         Power Point Lecture: Fear of the Dark

·         Power Point Lecture: Ying  & Yang 

·         Book: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

·         Movie:  Fallen clip

d)     Creatures

e)      Worlds

 

 

3)   Nightmare

a)      Death & Dying

·         Short Story:  The Scythe by Ray Bradbury

·         Movie: Meet Joe Black clip

·         History Channel:  Rites of Death

·         Project: Poster on Afterlife

·         Book: Sabriel by Garth Nix

·         Demonstration: Bells Chimes & Gongs

·         Book:  The Green Mile by Stephen King

·         Movie:  The Green Mile clip

·         Movie:  City of Angels clip

b)      Witches: 

·         Movie: Practical Magic clip

·         History Channel:  Witches DVD

·         The Witches of Salem; The Horror and the Hope (VCR 973.2 WIT)

·         The Witch Book:  The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neopaganism (REF 133.4 BUC)

·         New England’s Witches & Wizards  (974 CAH)

·         Book:  The Other Ones by Jean Thesman

c)      Shape shifters

·         Book: Hawk Song by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

·         Movie: LadyHawke clip

·         Movie: The Secret of Roan Inish clip

d)     Werewolves: 

·         History Channel:  Legends of the Werewolves

·         Movie: Teen Wolf clip

·         Book: Blood and Chocolate by Annette Klause

·         Buffy Episode: Phases

·         Movie: Blood & Chocolate clip

·         Meet the Werewolf (398.21 MCH)

·         Wolf:  Spirit of the Wild (599.773 LAN)

e)      Vampires

·         Movie: Lost Boys clip

·         The Vampire Encyclopedia  (REF 398.21 BUN)

·         Vampires (398.21 SCA)

·         History Channel:  Vampire Secrets

·         Book: Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde

·         Buffy Episode: Phases                                                                    

f)       Ghosts: 

·         Activity: Ouija Board

·         Speaker: Real-life Paranormal Investigators

·         Movie: Ghost Busters clip

·         Movie: The Sixth Sense clip

·         When Ghosts Speak:  Understanding the World of Earthbound Spirits (VCR 133 HAU)

·         Supernatural Episode

·         Book: Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

·         New England’s Ghostly Haunts (974 CAH)

·         The Haunting of America:  Ghost Stories from Our Past (133.1 AND)

·         The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (also movie)

·         Project:  Group Ghost Story iMovie

 

g)      Monsters:

Classic

·         Buffy: Hush

·         Movie: Gremlins clip

·         Movie: Monsters Inc. clip

·         Book: Beowulf (also movie)

·         Grendel by John Gardner  (FIC GAR)

·         Monsters, giants, and little men from Mars:  an unnatural history of the Americas (001.94 C66)

·         Alfred Hitchcock’s Monster Museum (short stories)  (SS HIT)

·         Nightmares:  12 Poems to Trouble Your Sleep (811.PRE)

 

Manmade Monsters

Dr. Jeckyll:

·         Book: Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

·         Buffy Episode:  Beauty and the Beasts

·         Spiderman (green goblin) clip

The Invisible Man:

·         Buffy Episode:  Out of Mind, Out of Sight

·         Book: Things Not Seen by Andrew Clement

·         The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells (FIC WEL)

·         Invisible Man clip

Frankenstein: 

·         Buffy Episode:  Some Assembly Required

·         Movie: Edward Scissorhands clip

·         Movie: Young Frankenstein clip

·         Short Story:  Dial “ F” for Frankenstein by Arthur C. Clarke

·         Book: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (also audio book)

·         Movie: Frankenstein  (VCR FIC FRA)

·         History Channel:  Frankenstein

·         Understanding Frankenstein (823 SHE)

·         City of Night by Dean Koontz (FIC KOO)

 

·         Project:  Create a Comic for a Classic Monster Story

 

5)   Vision

a)      History Channel:  Truth About Science Fiction

b)      Future People

·         Movie: X-men introduction clip

·         Movie: Powder clip

·         Articles on Genetic Engineering

·         Biotechnology VCR 660.6 BIO

·         The Debate about Genetic Engineering 174.957 MOO

·         Everything You Need to Know about Genetically Modified Food 664.024 FRE

·         Genetic Engineering:  Opposing Viewpoints 660.65 GEN

·         Short Story: Pursuit of Happiness by Rena Yount

·         Book: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

·         Project: Designer Baby Catalog activity

·         Designing Babies:  The Brave New World of Reproductive Technology 176 GOS

·         Research Paper:  Genetic Engineering, Farming, Cloning, Genetic Defects (many topics), Mendel, Mutation, Evolution, Darwin, Mapping Genomes, Gene Therapy, DNA Analysis, Cancer…

c)      Robots & A.I.: 

·         Movie: War Games clip

·         Buffy Episode:  I was made to love you

·         Short Story:  There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury

·         Movie: Short Circuit clip

·         Article:  Smart Skin by Shawna Vogel

·         Flesh & Machines:  How Robots will Change Us (629.892 BRO)

·         Artificial Intelligence (006.3 THO)

·         Short Story:  Robbie by Issac Asimov

·         First Robotics Club demonstration

·         http://www.khsfirst.com/contacts.php

·         Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Building a Robot (629.892 ABS)

·         Book: Shades Children by Garth Nix

·         Movie: Stealth clip

·         Movie: I, Robot VCR FIC IRO

·         Movie: The Matrix VCR FIC MAT

·         Robots:  From Science Fiction to Technological Revolution (629.892 ICH)

·         Article:  The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI):  Two Views

·         Project: Usefulness of Technology Ethical Debate

·         Movie: Star Trek First Contact clip

d)     Aliens: 

·         Movie:Flight of the Navigator clip

·         Short Story:  A Death in the House by Cliford Simak

·         Movie: Batteries Not Included clip

·         Movie: Men in Black clip

·         Movie: E.T. clip

·         Movie: Contact clip

·         Are We Alone?  (576.839 SKU)

·         Movie: Lilo & Stitch clip

·         Movie: K-Pax clip

·         Movie: Sphere clip

e)      Alien Planets:

·         Solar System Notes

·         Guide to Space: A Photographic Journey Through the Universe (520 BON)

·         Mars & Mercury (VCR 523.4 MAR)

·         Short Story:  Arena adapted by James Blish

·         Book: Red Planet by Ray Bradbury

·         Dragon Riders of Pern by Anne McCaffery

·         A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (also audio book)

·         Presentation:  Astronomy Club

f)       Space Travel: 

·         Star Trek Enterprise Episode

·         UFOs (001.942 UFO)

·         History Channel:  UFOs:  What You Didn’t Know

·         The Story of the Space Shuttle (VCR 629.44 TRI)

·         History of NASA (229.4 DEW)

·         Short Story:  The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin

·         Book: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

·         Space Exploration (REF 629.4 NAG)

·         Movie: 2001:  A Space Odyssey (VCR FIC SPA)

·         Movie: Star Trek The Voyage Home clip

g)      Time Travel:   

·         Movie: Quantum Leap clip    

·         Article:  Is Time Travel Possible?  By Mark Davidson

·         Short Story:  Of Time and Third Avenue by Alfred Bester

·         Short Story:  Absolutely Inflexible by Robert Silverberg

·         Project: PowerPoint of Your Astrological Sign

·         Guest Speaker:  Tarot Cards

·         Movie: Forever Young clip

Movie: Frequency clip

·         Movie: Minority Report clip

·         Book: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

·         Movie: The Time Machine clip                                                                       

·         Movie: Back To the Future I & II clips

h)      Future Worlds: 

·         Jetsons TV episode

·         Short Story:  The Sliced-Crosswise-Only-On-Tuesday World by Philip Farmer

·         Book: Feed by M.T. Anderson

·         1984 by George Orwell (also movie)

·         Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (also movie)

·         Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (also movie)

·         Slaughter House V by Kurt Vonnegut

·         Movie: Red Planet clip

·         Movie: Fifth Element clip

i)        Armageddon:             

·         History Channel:  Doomsday 2012:  The End of Days

                                   

·         Global Warming

·         Article:  Exploring Other Worlds and Protecting This One by Carl Sagan

·         Short Story:  A Pail of Air by Fritz Leiber

·         The Day After Tomorrow clips

·         Movie: Waterworld clips

 

·         Alien Invasion

·          “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast

·         War of the World clips

·         War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (FIC WELL)

·         The Tripod Trilogy: The White Mountains

·         Independence Day clips

·         Titan A.E. clips

 

·         End of world myths

·         Project:  “How Will the World End” Survey and Chart

 

 

How you will be graded:

 

Participation:                           20%

Being in class on time each day.  Coming prepared.  Staying in class.  Participating.  Engaging in discussions and debate.  Active listening.  Note-taking.  

Writing:                                   20%

Formal & Informal.  Blogs.  Journals.  Essays.  Research Paper.  Movie responses.  Book Reports. 

Reading Guides:                     20%

Class work & Homework related to assigned reading or elected texts.  Completing study guide packets or sheets.  Maintaining Reading Blog.

Projects:                                  20%

All Major Projects (see list—included)

Tests & Quizzes:                     20%

Oral & Written.  Open & Closed Note.

 

 

The Final Exam will be cumulative

 

 

 

  

Classroom Rules:

 

1.      RESPECT:  yourself, each other, me, supplies, KHS, etc.

2.      Hand in work on time (or make other arrangements before work is due).

3.      Be on time (third tardy =administrative detention).

4.      No pass, stay in class.

5.      No ipods or CD players are allowed during direct instruction.

6.      No eating or drinking will be permitted in the classroom when it distracts from the learning process.

7.      Maintain low tones.

8.      Be silly elsewhere.

9.      See three before me.

10.  Keep room clean.

11.  No excuse for abuse.

12.  Follow all school rules.

 

Academic Honesty: Plagiarism is defined as "the unacknowledged use of someone else’s work.” The word comes from a Latin word meaning 'kidnapping.’ Plagiarism "is not limited to the unacknowledged quotation of words." If you change every third word in your source but you do not give the author credit, you are still plagiarizing.  Plagiarism is unacceptable and illegal.  Any discovered “rip-offs” will be reported, pursued, and vigorously penalized. All resources that are used need to be adequately cited and documented in MLA format. Plagiarism, cheating, violation of test conditions, complicity in dishonest behavior, or other falsification of academic work will result in a failing grade for the assignment. Depending on the severity of the infraction, other actions may be taken. To simplify, if you borrow words or ideas from anyone or anything, give credit where credit is due.

 

Makeup Policy: See KHS Handbook. For excused absences, students have one day for every day absent to make up missed work (Unless other arrangements have been made or work has been provided in advance).  If a student comes to school late or leaves early, work must be dropped off and/or picked up at that time.  For projects, papers, and any other assignment given in advance: students are expected to hand in work on the day it is due regardless of absences.  Work may be dropped off, submitted via e-mail, or mailed to K.H.S.  If a student is absent on a test day, the test will be made up after school on the day the student returns.  I do not accept other late work unless arrangements have been made in advance.  Students who are in-school-suspended are expected to request/ complete work that will be missed.  This work is due at the end of the scool day.  Students who are out-of-school-suspended may not make up any missed work. All unexcused late work will be penalized with the loss of 20% of the possible points, per assignment, per school day.  No work will be given points after five (5) days past the original due date.  Other late work will only be accepted with a prior discussion with the teacher.

 

Submitting Work: All work must be legible.  All work must be on time.  All work must have a proper heading: First & last name, block, date, and assignment title in the top right-hand corner. It is the student's responsibility to make sure work is handed in on time.  Work submitted via e-mail or brought in on an electronic storage device (like a disk, CD, or jump drive) does not guarantee that work will be received on time or that the teacher will be able to open it or print it.  There will be a point deduction if I have solve your computer glitches or printing problems for you on the DUE DATE.  For helpful hints, please refer to handout entitled Saving and Sending by Kelly Budd, KHS Librarian.

 

 

Web site: I offer a unique tool.  As I continue to develop this course, I will place current units.  These materials can be assessed through the school web site or by going to www.oocities.org/vanderkernj. Every student has access to this tool.  At the start of each year, students and parents are required to fill out an “Acceptable Use Policy” for computers and the Internet.  Big Brother is Watching!  Computer privileges can be revoked.  Beware.

 

 

Packets:  At the start of each major unit, I pass out a complete packet of all related work and a tentative calendar.  This packet contains web links, study guide questions, project guidelines, rubrics, vocabulary terms, extra credit, blog prompts, discussion questions, sample quizzes, etc.  This packet helps ensure that students, parents, and support staff always know what we are doing in class, what is expected, and when it is expected.

 

 

Online Grades:  Every parent has the ability to access itemized online grades from any computer with Internet access.  The grades can be accessed by going to the KHS website.  Blue House can provide parents with secure user names and passwords.  I expect parents and students to check grades regularly and bring any discrepancies to my attention either via voice mail or email.  Questions about individual assignments should be discussed with students first.  Students and parents should then attempt to understand assignment guidelines by utilizing all resources before consulting with me.  I will do my best to enter assignments in advance and provide clear expectations for each assignment.  I will also do my best to enter grades as soon as possible. Online grades are, at best, a draft version of final grades.  Once a month, I will also print hard copies of student grades. I consider these to be the most accurate grades. These will be sent home and must be signed by both students and parents. At this time, students should highlight items in questions, write explanations when necessary, and attach any missing work or any assignments they would like reconsidered.

 

Blogging: Students will be expected to use http://edublogs.org to create new weekly blog entries on a specified topic related to our current unit and reply to pre-existing blog entries.  Only students enrolled in Mr. VanDerKern’s NF:FF course may participate in blog dialogue.  Entries are subject to review by student’s parents, KHS staff, and KHS administration.  The class blog is http://vanderkern.edublogs.org

All entries must adhere to the following guidelines:  Content and links must be appropriate to unit and KHS Handbook, use only first names for all students, restrict access to your blog to those addresses sent by Mr. VanDerKern, post positive constructive feedback only, no harassment or ganging up on someone, no personal stories or information of a compromising nature, use common sense and good judgment, no spamming or gibberish, use standard English and conventional grammar only, be responsible for your blog site and the content you post.

Breaking rules could lead to any of the following consequences depending on severity and/or repetition:  Warning, deletion of post, temporary loss of blogging privileges, permanent loss of blogging privileges, administrative action.

 

Cell Phones:  All cell phones must be turned off when in class.  Anyone caught texting will have his/her cell phone confiscated and delivered to his/her house office.  No personal phone calls should be made during class from the room.  All calls must take place in the nearest house office.  Do not check voice mails during class.  No frequent, prolonged trips to the restroom for the purposes of using a cell phone will be tolerated.   Please help us maintain a professionnal academic environment.

 

Newsletters: I will send periodic email newsletters and/or cell phone text messages regarding upcoming units, extra credit, field trips, guest speakers, assignments, due dates, announcements, etc. If you would like to receive these email messages, please email me.  jvanderkern@sau29.org 

If you would like cell phone text message messages, please include your cell phone number in the email.    

 

Harassment: I believe that verbal, physical, and/or sexual harassment is wrong—ethically and morally. I believe it is wrong from the point of view of maintaining proper respect within our learning environment. For this reason, therefore, I have zero tolerance for harassment, no matter the form or content.  All forms of harassment will immediately be reported to the appropriate school authorities and possibly the school resource officer.

 

Inclusion: The Keene School District does not discriminate in its educational programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex, handicap, sexual orientation or marital status.  If any student has a documented disability or a special circumstance, please consult privately with the teacher. Special services will be arranged and accommodations made to better suit the learner. Any student may request more time for any assignment if request is made prior to when the assignment is due. Extra Credit will be made available.  I am available after school on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:15 to 2:45 for supplemental help.  Other arrangements can also be made.

 

This course is based upon New Hampshire’s K-12 Language Arts Curriculum Framework which can be viewed at:       http://www.ed.state.nh.us/CurriculumFrameworks/k-122.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selected Book List

 

Each student will be exposed to 30 different texts and complete related unit work in addition to maintaining an online blog responding to these texts.

 

1.                  The Epic of Gilgamesh

2.                  Legends:  Short Stories

3.                  Textbook: Fantastic Worlds

4.                  The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

5.                  Dragon’s Bait by Vivian Vande Velde

6.                  The Lord of The Rings:  The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien

7.                  Stardust by Neil Gaiman

8.                  Sabriel by Garth Nix

9.                  The Other Ones by

10.              Hawk Song by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

11.              Blood and Chocolate by Annette Klause

12.              Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde

13.              Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

14.              Beowulf

15.              Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

16.              Things Not Seen by Andrew Clement

17.              Science Fiction, Science Fact, and You (selected works)

18.              Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

19.              Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

20.              Shades Children by Garth Nix

21.              Red Planet by Ray Bradbury

22.              Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

23.              The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

24.              Feed by M.T. Anderson

25.              Outside Reading

                         

 

 

 

Complete Project List

 

1.               Present a Creation Story

2.               Modernize a Traditional Tale and create a Podcast

3.               Create and Explain a 3-D Creature

4.               Create and Play a Board Game for a Fantasy World

5.               Design and Create a Poster Advertising a Culture’s view on the Afterlife

6.               Plan, Create, and Present an iMovie Group Ghost Story

7.               Create a Graphic Novel for a Classic Monster Story

8.               Complete Designer Baby Catalog activity

9.               Prepare and Participate in an Ethical Debate on “The Usefulness of Technology.”

10.           Create and Present a PowerPoint of Your Astrological Sign

11.           Create and Conduct a Survey on “How Will the World End?” Present results.

12.           Research Paper:  Genetic Engineering, Farming, Cloning, Genetic Defects (many topics), Mendel, Mutation, Evolution, Darwin, Mapping Genomes, Gene Therapy, DNA Analysis, Cancer, other

 

 

 

$ Currency of the Realm $

 

 

Earning Tokens

Being on Time

Coming Prepared

Participating

Sharing Valid Insights

Taking Detailed Notes

Helping a Classmate

A Nice Gesture

Earning an “A” on a Test

Earning an “A” on a Project

Coming for Extra Help

Extra Credit (pre-approved)

Organizing our Classroom (pre-approved)

 

 

Spending Tokens

Coming Late (5 minutes)

Leaving Class (up to15 minutes)

Text Box: Not relinquishing a Token to the teacher upon request will result in an automatic zero for weekly participation and the cessation of any future Tokens until amends have been made. Not Being Prepared

·         Pencil?

·         Paper?

·         Book?

·         Homework?

Not Being Engaged

Not Following Directions

Cheating

Breaking a Class Rule

 

 

 

Students earn Tokens throughout the week and spend Tokens when necessary.  Students will keep Tokens until Friday.  Tokens will be cashed in each week.  Each Token is worth 1 participation point.  20 points are possible each week.  Extra Tokens may be carried over to the next week.  Each week, students start over and start gathering Tokens again.  If Tokens are Lost, no Participation Points will be awarded that week.  In addition, some weeks, students may cash in Tokens for various rewards.

 

 

 

 

 

Saving & Sending Files

 

 

November Beacon Library News

 

It’s 7:15 and the student frantically tries to open the attachment she sent to her hotmail account; she needs this essay for her block 1 class.  It’s 7:20 and the student is struggling to open his Word Perfect file on the school’s networked computers; his report is due in five minutes.  It’s 7:25; school is about to begin, and the student cannot get the computer to recognize the floppy drive, which contains his homework assignment.

 

These examples are what we see in the library every day. Students begin projects at home and want to finish them at school or print them at school. However, they are not always successful in their attempts. This month, we offer helpful technology tips so that your son or daughter will be able to open files created at home on school networked computers.

 

Saving Files

First, the computers in the Drew Library Media Center are Macs which use Appleworks and Office 2004. . This isn’t a problem for PC users as long as students save their work so that it can be opened by a Word file. Word files end in a doc suffix (.doc). Even if a student does not have Microsoft Word on his/her home computer and is using Microsoft Works or Word Perfect, when saving the student can still save the file as a Word Document by using the pull down menu and by selecting Word as a saving option. If this is not available, every word processing program should include the option of saving the file as a Text (.txt) or Text Only (.txt) file.

 

    

 

If a student is using a Mac at home and is using Appleworks, the file may be saved as an Appleworks document (.cwk) and it will open on the school’s computers.

 

 

 

Attaching Files in an Email

When students attach files in an email message and mail it to themselves, they should save the file as a Word or Text or Text Only file. To be safe, they should also copy the file directly into the email message as well. Most students use hotmail or aol or gmail which are free email services. Sometimes students are unable to access their email accounts in the morning at school. This is not because the email account is blocked; rather, free email services experience heavy usage at certain times of the day, and that is why students cannot always access their email account and will not be able to access the attached file. If students choose to attach a file in an email to a KHS staff member, they should still save the file as a Word (.doc) or Text (.txt) or Text Only (.txt) file.

 

Word Perfect or Microsoft documents which contain images or special formatting may lose these design elements when the file is saved as a Word (.doc). Files saved in text (.txt) format will lose all images and formatting. 

 

External Devices for Saving

Using a flash drive is another way to transport and transfer files from one location to another. The library has flash drives that students can check out. Flash drives are more reliable than floppy disks or zip disks, but flash drives can fail sometimes as well. Flash drives can be purchased at most retail stores; Staples tends to have the cheapest prices.

A $15.00 investment can make life easier for students who want to transfer files.

 

Free software for home use

If students do not have Word or Excel or PowerPoint at home, but would like to have these programs, the library has CDs of Neo/Open Office available for check out. Neo/Open Office is a free suite of applications similar to Microsoft Office. When using these applications at home, the student should save the files as a Word document, a PowerPoint file (.ppt) or an Excel file if the student wants to open the file on the school computers in the library. Again, use the pull down menu to change the file type.

 

NeoOffice for Mac OS X is also available as a free download from

http://www.neooffice.org/

 

OpenOffice for the following platforms: Windows, GNU/Linux ("Linux"), Sun Solaris,), and FreeBSD, is available for free download from

http://www.openoffice.org/

 

An older  version of OpenOffice for Windows is available for free download from

http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/source/1.0.3/index.html

 

A high-speed internet connection is recommended as the application installers are very large (150mb).

 

 

 

 

 

Sign on the Dotted Line

 

 

I have read Mr. VanDerKern’s Nightmare & Vision/ Fantasy & Fiction course prospectus.  I understand how he teaches, what major units will be covered, what major themes and concepts will be discussed, which texts and movie clips will be utilized, and how students will be assessed. I know that I can check grades online and that I can expect printed progress reports once a month.  I know that Mr. V will provide detailed unit packets and that this material will be online.  I know that I can receive class information via email or text message.  I know that he does not accept late work and has very high expectations.

 

 

Student Name (print): ________________________________________________________________

 

Students Sign Here:   _________________________________________________________________

 

By signing this form, I acknowledge that I wish to stay in the class and promise to strive to be the best student I can be.

 

 

Include

 

Student Email:

 

Student Cell Phone:

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

Guardian Name (print): ______________________________________________________________

 

Guardians Sign Here:   _______________________________________________________________

 

By signing this form, I acknowledge that I have read Mr. VanDerKern’s course prospectus and wish for my child to remain in this course.  I give Mr. VanDerKern permission to play relevant movie clips regardless of rating and trust that these movie clips will introduce and reinforce concepts being taught in this course.  I know that I can always bring questions, comments, or concerns to Mr. V’s attention via email or phone.

Include

 

Guardian Email:

 

Guardian Work Phone:

 

Guardian Cell Phone:

 

Guardian Home Phone: