Assignment/Activity Title — Choice Project

Year — Sophomore

Portfolio Competency — Media and Communications

Skill(s) — Writing, Creative

For the Choice Project we were tasked with choosing a component from the book we read and finding an
interesting medium to express it and analyze it through. I read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and I decided to
focus on Oskar’s insomnia and the fact that he uses inventing as a way to cope. I decided to recreate one of his inventions
and present it like I was trying to sell a product on the tv show Shark Tank. I first had to decide which invention I wanted
to use. I decided that I wanted to recreate Oskar’s teakettle that talks. In the book Oskar talks about a tea kettle that plays
his dad’s voice to help him sleep at night. I thought this would be a good invention to use to be able to also talk about
Oskar’s trouble sleeping at night. Once I chose what invention I wanted to use, I needed to actually create the product and
think about what I would add to it. I made sure to add things that would relate to everyone due to the fact that it was a
product I was trying to sell to more than just Oskar. I decided to add things like calming sounds instead of just Oskar’s
dad’s voice. I also add things like temperature settings for water and fast heating technology, so it would seem like a real
product. After I thought about all the details of my product, I needed to write my script. I need to make sure that my script
followed what someone would say on Shark Tank, but that it also incorporated what Ms. Fillman wanted us to use, like
quotes from the book. After I wrote my script, I put information that I needed into a presentation and made sure to
practice over and over again.
We needed skills like writing and creativity to successfully complete this project. We needed writing skills to be
able to write a script that was informative, but also was persuasive. I was trying to convince the “sharks” to invest in my
product, so I had to make sure I used persuasive appeals that would entice entrepreneurs to want to invest. For example,
talking about how much money I’ve made with the product and how many I’ve sold. We needed creativity skills to be
able to express the component we focused on in a creative way. The medium I chose was supposed to be not only
informative, but entertaining and engaging. This project falls under this competency because it gave us a chance to find a
new and interesting way to communicate something that we learned.
The medium I chose impacted my final product as it was definitely something that no one was expecting and not
something that I had to do before. I thought the medium I chose made the project more entertaining and engaging. It was
also a lot more fun for me to complete and I enjoyed doing the work for the project. I also thought that using a more
interesting medium helps to make the project and information presented in the project more memorable. I will definitely
continue to try and find new and interesting ways for me to present information that I’ve learned. Like I said before I think
it makes the presentation more entertaining and it makes the project more enjoyable, so it is definitely something I will
carry with me.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Student Signature (Print here: Karis Kracke-Bock ) Date

________________________________________________________________________________________________
Teacher Signature Date