ABC COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL

Juan Daniel Diaz Perez

9th grade English Literature

May 13, 2021

Dear Clark County Board of Education,
It has come to the attention of the ABC Community High school teacher staff, that an
agenda aimed towards the elimination of technology usage in the school curriculum is
currently under progress. The news of such a decision, not only comes with the
certainty of jeopardize the brilliant potential that every single one of our student posse,
it also aims to contradicts the scared fundamental principles of educations at its core.
The very concept of education once described by Aristotle is the, “Process of training
man to fulfill his aim by exercising all the faculties to the fullest extent as a member of
society”. It is undeniably true, that we inhabit a globalized society today, one in which
every professional trajectory includes the usage of technology in one form or another.
Thus, denying technology to our students, is equivalent to denying them the tools
needed to succeed in our modern society.

In her 2013 article, “Need and Importance of Technology in Education”, Marcela

Červeňanská, expands on the idea that, “Education is one of the most influencing
systems of our society for the development and growth of the nation. The Education
system of a society reflects its image”. With that being said, it is often stated within the
corridors of academia that, “children are the future”, and Červeňanská’s conclusion
couldn’t be further from the truth. We live in the wealthiest and most influential nation
in the developed world, and thus it is our responsibility to be at the forefront of every
new development. The vase reach of technology will only continue expand, and that is
why it is our responsibility to invest in the next generation of society. If we decide to let
this opportunity pass, other nations will righteously take the mantle.

We teachers here at the ABC Community High School have learned that the usage of
computers, tablets, scanners, and laptops have become key ingredients in the learning
process in recent years. These devices, if applied with precision and used as
companions to the learning process, can result in high levels of engaging productivity.
In contrast, standardized tests most often then not accomplish the task of disengaging
students from the learning process. Valerie Strauss, a veteran educator and writer for
the Washington Post, stated in her article titled “The Important Things Standardized Tests
Don’t Measure…”, that standardized tests can not, “Measure, and attach a meaningful
number to the quality of original thought”. When technology is embraced and used
correctly, students engage in methods of critical thinking, while exploring assets that
they will need in their future professions.

The teachers here at ABC Community High School, would like to ask the Board of
Education to reconsider the dismantle of technology from the school district. As of
today our school has been placed within the high achieving category, and it is not a
cocninedunce that our a student to computer ratio is of 1:1.

Thank You,

Teachers Staff at ABC Community High School

 National and State Standards

1. Creative and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking,

construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes
using technology

• 1B 8.1: Create an original, digital work as a form of personal or group expression

6-12: Writing Standards Production and Distribution of Writing

Production and Distribution of Writing

• 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.

• 8. Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital 8.

sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in
answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to
maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for
citation.

• 9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, 9.

reflection, and research.

Connection between standards and classroom lesson plan

• For this 9th grade English literature assignment, the students will break down
the components of a short story, on a tablet. The students are to pay special
attention to the, themes, motifs, settings, symbols, metaphors, and characters
within the story, as this will inform the later objectives of the project. (9. Draw
evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, 9. reflection,
and research.)

• After the students have anaszyised the desired text, they will be given the
chance to use a variety of technological techniques to design an appropriate
book cover for the short story they have analyzed. This means that the students
will be given the opportunity to create original digital artwork, using tablets,
computers software programs (FIGMA), and a printer/scanner. (1B 8.1: Create
an original, digital work as a form of personal or group expression)
 9th Grade English Literature Lesson Plan (Using Technology)

Short Story Commissioned Covers

“Short fiction seems more targeted – hand grenades of ideas, if you will. When they work, they
hit, they explode, and you never forget them. Long fiction feels more like atmosphere: it’s a lot
smokier and less defined.” ~Paolo Bacigalupi

When we think about reading literature, an image of a five or six thick inch books often
comes to our minds. Don’t get me wrong, we will read and diagnose books of this
quality but for this assignment we will explore the cousin of the Novel— The short
story. Short stories, often explore the same themes and motifs that books do, but they do
so at a more concentrated and private scale. In other words, great short stories are just
as fruitful and powerful as full length novels, yet they are often forgotten and neglected.
This is where you, will come in. Your goal is to make a short story more appealing.

As many of you have already noticed most short stories, are found within a collection of
stories book, within a literature text book or within an analogy collection. When readers
or non-readers open these books up, all they see are dull white pages. In contrast,
publishing houses of full length novels often get commissioned artist to come in and
design the cover in an esthetically appealing way. This makes readers attracted to the
work.

Here are a few examples:

Notice how each cover conveys a unique tone. Each cover also hints at an important
theme or symbols within the book.

For this assignment you will become a commissioned literature cover designer. Your job
is read and analysis the motifs, symbols, themes, tones, moods…etc of a short story (I
will provide short stories to choose from), and successfully express these ideas in your
own original cover. This assignment correlates to the National 1B 8.1 Standard: Create
an original, digital work as a form of personal or group expression

ALSO: Don’t Forget that books also have a summary back cover and a spin side
cover . YOU MUST INCLUDE THESE AS WELL.

Pick one of these short stories to read:

• Sunny’s Blues — James Baldwin

• Ace in the Hole — John Updike

• Flowers for Algernon — Daniel Keyes

• A Good Man is Hard to Find — Flannery O’ Conner

• Odour of Chrysanthemums — D.H. Lawrence

• Once in a Lifetime — Jhumpa Lahiri

• Landfill —Joyce Carol Oates

• A Pair of Tickets — Amy Tan

Cover must include:

1) Title of Book (Front cover)
2) Author of Book (Front Cover)
3) Original art work
4) Back Cover summary (Original)
5) Spin design
Rules/Direction:
The software we will be using for this assignment is FIGMA.

Figma: Is an online free design software that works similar to drawing softwares on
MAC and and Windows computers. However the advantage of FIGMA, is that is lets
you save your progress on its website, so you are able to access it from any location or
device. You could work on the assignment from home.

1. Go to FIGMA.com

2. Sign up for free using your Google account

3. Click on, “+ New” on the top right corner to begin a new project.
Please consider:

Read the story in its entirety (They are short stories after all), and write down your
initial impressions of the book. The images that the book made you think about. These
are often the most powerful.

A technique to create truly original artwork, (If you want to Design a logo for your own
made up publishing company)

-Draw your design on a blank piece of white paper

-After your finished, scan your design using the classroom scanner.

-Now copy and paste it onto your book cover.

Remember the goal is to make someone want to read the short story you read. The short
story cover must be creative, original, and it must be RELATED TO THE BOOK.
Themes, symbols, motif, characters, settings…etc, must be part of your cover.

You may work in groups of two or individually.

When you are done, save your work as a PDF image, on a flash drive. We will print the
work on a large poster paper, and hold an in classroom gallery full of the work, where
everyone will get a chance to share their unique design.
 Work Cited

Cervenanská, M. (2013). NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION.

Technologia Vzdelavania, 21(1), 1-2. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.csn.edu/login?
url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.csn.edu/scholarly-journals/need-
importance-technology-education/docview/1399318522/se-2?accountid=27953

Strauss, V. (2015). The important things standardized tests don't measure:

Thirty-three things that standardized tests, unfortunately, do. Washington: WP Company
LLC d/b/a The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.csn.edu/login?
url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.csn.edu/blogs-podcasts-websites/
important-things-standardized-tests-dont-measure/docview/1659975615/se-2?
accountid=27953