Kid Nation assignment (episode 1) leadership and personality characteristics

Kid Nation

In watching selected episodes of the TV. Show Kid Nation, you will be expected to be able to answer the following question:

Guiding Question: How do we live in relation to each other?

Using information and ideas from what you learned while watching the show, and your own personal experiences, reflect on the question:

How can I contribute to a community?

Background (promotional material for the show)

RETELL: 40 children, 40 days, no adults. Can they do it? Can they build a better world than grown-ups?

KID NATION is a reality-based series in which 40 kids will have 40 days to build a new world…in a ghost town that died in the 19th Century. These kids, ages 8-15, will spend more than a month without their parents or modern comforts in Bonanza City, New Mexico, attempting to do what their forefathers could not: build a town that works.

They will cook their own meals, clean their own outhouses, haul their own water and even run their own businesses, including the old town saloon (root beer only). They'll also create a real government: four kid leaders who will guide the kids through their adventure, pass laws and set bedtimes.

Through it all, they'll cope with regular childhood emotions and situations: homesickness, peer pressure and the urge to break every rule they've ever known.

At the end of each episode, all 40 kids will gather at an old fashioned Town Hall meeting where they will debate the issues facing Bonanza City. They'll show wisdom beyond their years and the unflinching candor that only kids can exhibit.

There are no eliminations on KID NATION. You only go home if you want to. And in every Town Hall meeting, kids may raise their hands and leave. Will they stick it out? In the end, will these kids prove to adults everywhere--and to their own parents--that they have the vision to build a better world than the pioneers who came before them? Just as importantly, will they come together as a cohesive unit, or will they abandon all responsibility and succumb to the childhood temptations that lead to round-the-clock chaos?

From http://www.cbs.com/primetime/kid_nation/about.shtml

Period 5/6 writing task:

In your language arts notebook: write well-developed paragraphs for each of the questions.

Do a rough copy, edit and then a good copy that will be marked.

If you need type out your writing to help with spelling and grammar check, you may do so on Friday morning (period 1), when we have the computers booked.

**Remember to add your own ideas/opinions and use examples from the show to fortify your answers.**

Reflect: (what do you think?)

1. a) The promotional material describes the show as “reality-based” What do you think “reality-based” means? (Why apply the term to this show?)

2. Based on what you’ve seen so far, what kind of characteristics do you think a kid needs in order to be successful in the Kid Nation environment of Bonanza City?

Relate: (What does this (show) remind you of and how can you link ideas you’ve seen?)

3. Compare your own personality, strengths and needs to those of someone who could be successful in Kid Nation. (you may use a Venn diagram)

4. Out of any kid you know, have read about, seen on TV. etc, who do you think would have a great chance at being the leader of a place like Kid Nation? (Don’t forget to explain why!)

Rough copy: to be completed in class (after watching the 40 minute show)

Good copy: to be marked (in paragraph form) due Monday, January 21, 2008

Remember Successful language learners:

• understand that language learning is a necessary, life-enhancing, reflective process

• Communicate - that is, read, listen, view, speak, write, and represent - effectively and with confidence

• make meaningful connections between themselves, what they encounter in texts, and the world around them

• think critically

• understand that all texts advance a particular point of view that must be recognized, questioned, assessed, and evaluated

• appreciate the cultural impact and artistic (aesthetic) power of texts

• use language to interact and connect with individuals and communities, for personal growth, and for active participation as world citizens

For this assignment 1 Kid Nation a generic Rubric:

Communication - convey meaning through various forms

Criteria 1 - How do you express and organize ideas and information (e.g., clear expression, logical organization) in written form of a well-constructed paragraph (minimum)

• Level 1: expresses and organizes ideas and information with limited effectiveness

• Level 2: expresses and organizes ideas and information with some effectiveness

• Level 3: expresses and organizes ideas and information with considerable effectiveness

• Level 4: expresses and organizes ideas and information with a high degree of effectiveness

Criteria 2 – Are you able to identify your point of view and other possible points of view and support it using evidence?

(Think: have I included evidence in my work that would answer the question/perspective/argument asked? Am I clear?)

• Level 1: somewhat identifies point of view and includes little or no evidence

• Level 2: identifies point of view and includes some evidence

• Level 3: clearly identifies point of view and includes evidence most of the time

• Level 4: clearly and creatively identifies key points of view and usually includes evidence in a creative and meaningful way

Reflection: How do you contribute to your community?

(you may use point form, jot notes)