Percy+Jackson+Beowulf

=Pairing Project, Part Two= Kirsti Jenkins, Jeanna Watson, Cody Johnson, Cody Anderson

=Young Adult Title= Sources:
 * ====Riordan, Rick. //Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief //. New York: Disney, 2005. Print. ====
 * ====//Instructional Strategies for Online Courses //. N.p.: University of Illinois, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014 ====

//Beowulf //. NA. Trans. Burton Raffel. New York: Signet Classics, 1963. 3-128. Print. //Beowulf. //NA. Trans. John McNamara https://is.muni.cz/el/1441/podzim2013/AJ2RC_STAL/2._Beowulf.pdf
 * Links ** :

//Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief// would serve as a great introduction text to the more difficult //Beowulf// and Mythology as a whole. //The Lightning Thief// is an easy read but we hope its first person narration and fast paced, plot-driven story would capture the students and hopefully peak their interest in Mythology. Riordan stays somewhat faithful to Joeseph Campbell's monomyth but follows David Leeming's eight steps of the heroes' journey almost precisely: Beowulf is more faithful to Campbell's hero path but both our Percy and Beowulf follow similar paths. Beowulf is already a man grown when our story begins whereas Percy is still ignorant to his ability and must go through the second and third steps. Beowulf begins with the fourth when he and his soldiers journey to Heorot to kill the monster. Another connection we hope our students will be excited about are the monsters present in both of the stories. Beowulf faces two vague monsters and finally a dragon and Percy faces practically every monster known to man: from a minotaur to chimera. There is certainly a maturation of our heroes as the stories unfold, Percy especially. If Percy possessed the power he wields at the start of the story that he has at the end Gabe would no longer be ordering his mother around so rudely (more likely serving as a statue in her garden). And Beowulf progresses from an incredible warrior fit to burst with pride to a king. He seems to take Hrothgar's advice about his pride and his last battle against the dragon seems to be more for duty rather than proving himself as the greatest warrior in the land it was with Grendel and Grendel's Mother. Although //The Lightning Thief// deals in exclusively Greek and Roman mythos it would help our future students comprehend //Beowulf// and hopefully help to get the maximum enjoyment out of the ancient text.
 * Points of Connection:**
 * 1) Miraculous conception and birth--Somewhat shaky but Poseidon was not supposed to father another child.
 * 2) Initiation of the hero-child--Mrs. Dobbs and the Minotaur serve as Percy's initiation.
 * 3) Withdrawal from family or community for meditation and preparation--Percy going to Camp Half-Blood to be trained with sword and spear and discover his parentage and powers.
 * 4) Trial and Quest--The gangs journey West where Percy proves himself along the way.
 * 5) Death--The five days spent in the Las Vegas hotel seem to act as a death of sorts; but the trip to the Underworld would also serve.
 * 6) Descent into the underworld--The boat ride to confront Hades.
 * 7) Resurrection and rebirth--Using the pearls to escape the Lord of the Dead.
 * 8) Ascension, apotheosis, and atonement-- The reader is not shown this step until //The Last Olympian// (the fifth and last novel in the series).

=Research: Online Instruction=

Source One: http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/instructionalstrategies.asp

This source lays out several examples of the benefits of online learning that any teacher can use in any type of classroom setting. Some of the benefits the website outlines on online learning is that it teaches our students to be resourceful and to learn to collaborate with one another. Lectures are the most frequently used ways of relaying information, according to the website, and there are ways to implement lectures online by video, audio, or even uploading class notes. Another useful tool that will be helpful with our pairing project is uploading projects online in order to receive feedback from their peers. Overall, this source is a great stepping stone for how to include online learning in our future classrooms.

Source Two: http://ferris.edu/HTMLS/online/facultyresources/documents/Resources/stone.pdf Core arguments of this essay include the notion that face-to-face lesson plans depend too heavily on past experiences to scaffold one's own educational environment––in effect stagnating the educational environment; this issue can and should be mitigated by the introduction and embracement of online lesson plans, which directly undermine the traditional approach and forces teachers to plan their lessons more diligently––resulting in more instructive and comprehensive lessons which better the education of the students. Furthermore, the rise of online courses gives an accessibility to education that certain demographics fail to be able to obtain otherwise, thus enhancing the educational opportunities of the entire society. The most critical point, however, is the notion that online courses should still be informing the face-to-face classroom instruction, influencing the planning and management of that sphere through the Internet to provide a more holistic and personable teaching style which benefits all students.

Source Three: This Guide To Teaching Online Courses Is The Product Of, Collaboration Among A Number Of Organizations Committed To, Ensuring The Quality Of Online Instruction To Secondary Students In, and The United States. It Is Intended As A Guide For Policymakers,. "Guide to Teaching Online Courses." //Virtual High School, Inc. Http: //www.nea.org/technology/images/onlineteachguide.pdf// (n.d.): n. pag. 2003. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. [] This document is a guide to how to teach online courses and the different benefits of using technology to enhance a course. It focuses on the importance of communication between the teacher and the student to be able to have a successful online course. In today’s world, technology has to be included in lessons and courses because it is important to adapt to technology age and use it as an educational tool. This goes through productive ways to teach the class with technology as a tool but not overpowering the entire lesson. It also shows the side of the teacher and the student for better understanding.

=Process=


 * 1) Now that we have finished reading both //Beowulf// and //Percy Jackson//, we will continue to find connections between the classic and young adult books. By doing so, we will parallel our ideas with our new findings of online learning.
 * 2) We will begin brainstorming ways to incorporate our classic work and young adult work into a unit plan with the help of online learning.
 * 3) We will start working on part three of the pairing project.