Project: My Roots and Who I Am - 4 points
01/06/2014
As part of your Oral Bagrut in English, you are required to complete a research project. This project must be
handed to the Oral Bagrut tester in grade 11 for the advanced English class, or 12 for the 4 - 5 points classes, in
order to be tested.
You cannot be tested without it.
‫ בלעדיו לא תוכלו להבחן‬.‫פה בכיתה י"ב או י"א דוברים‬-‫שמרו את הפרויקט למבחן הבגרות בעל‬
.‫בעל פה‬
General Instructions
1. In this project you will work in groups of 2 people.
2. Your work should include:
a. Cover Page with – The title; your name; the name of the teacher, class, school – Yehud
Comprehensive High School, relevant pictures.
b. Table of Contents Page – includes numbers for each step.
c. The work itself – including all the steps
1) Answer all the questions in the body of the project.
2) Find, print and keep 2 to 4 original articles in English that deal with your topic, and
read them.
3) Do not put the pages in plastic sleeves.
4) Spell-check your work, and proofread (‫)בדקו היטב את האיות ואת מבנה המשפטים‬
d. Bibliography Page –which includes the names of your sources as well as a list of Internet sites
you have used in alphabetical order.
e. Appendix – Keep all notes, papers, drafts with teacher's comments, articles, checklists, rubrics
and all the material given by the teacher together in a folder. Attach them at the end of the
project.
3. Due date – The first week of September.
4. No copy-paste from the Internet. Everything should be in your own words.
5. Your project will be typed in 12 point Times New Roman (except headings), 1.5 line spacing.
6. Vocabulary. You must submit a list of 20 vocabulary words that you needed to look up while reading.
Underline these words in the articles you summarized, copy them, and find the correct definitions in
English and their translation to Hebrew.
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The Work Process
)‫(תהליך העבודה‬
Step 1: Introduction- (‫)הקדמה‬
10 points
We all know that out origins influence our personality: behavior and future.
To find out how your roots influence you, choose one of your grandparents (preferably not born in Israel) as the
subject of this project.
Write your answers in the form of a composition of about 100 - 150 words.
In order to write a good introduction, here are a few questions you should answer in the form of a paragraph:
1. Where are your grandparents from?
2. Which one have you chosen and why?
3. What do you know of his/her town of origin?
4. What customs, beliefs, food, traditions, clothing, have you learned from that grandparent? What do you
think about them? Which of these do you like or dislike and why?
Step 2- Background
15 points
Read in English or Hebrew about the city you have chosen and its history. Then find information in English in
one of the sites below.
1. Write 100 – 150 words about the geography and history of the city.
a. Describe where it is (centre, north, south, east, west) in the country.
b.
Add in which continent the country is.
c. Describe 2 – 3 important or interesting places in the city. How old each place is? Why it is important
(capital, industrial, historical, cultural importance, tourism).
d. You can add general information (‫ (מידע כללי‬about the city.
e. You can add pictures/map of the city and country.
2. Write 100 – 150 words about the art and / or food in the city.
a. Find 3 types of food your family eats that came from this city / country.
b. Find 3 types of music, clothing or traditions your family has that came from this city / country.
c. You can add relevant pictures.
3. Write 100 – 150 words about the Jewish life in the city.
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a. What you learned about the Jewish history in this city.
b. You can add pictures of the Jewish life in this city.
Useful sites:
1. www.wikipedia.com
2. www.wikipedia.co.il
3. http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
4. http://www.bh.org.il/Communities/index.aspx ( great site about Jewish communities)
5. http://www.mindspring.com/~jaypsand/index.htm ( about Jews from Africa)
6. http://photo.net/travel/israel/timeline
7. http://www.infoplease.com
8. http://www.answers.com
9. http://pages.infinit.net/jackross/jt-history.htm
10. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/jewishsbook.html (many sites inside)
Step 3 – About My Grandfather / Grandmother
10 points
1. Describe the grandparent you chose.
2. Write about his/ her life in the home city.
3. What influenced your grandparent to leave for Israel? Use the following points
to write 3 - 4 paragraphs of about 100 - 150 words:
a. Who decided to immigrate?
b. His/her reasons for immigrating.
c. His/her reasons against immigrating.
d. What problems did he/she have? How did he/she solve these problems?
e. What do THEY think NOW about their decision? What do YOU think about it?
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Step 4 - Family Album
5 points
Create a family album of the person you are researching. You can add photos, documents, passport copies (if
possible) and other details of his or her history. Go back at least 3 generations. Do not include original
documents or pictures – instead, scan everything you use.
Write under each picture or document a short explanation.
.‫ אלא בעותקים‬,‫אין להשתמש בתמונות ובמסמכים מקוריים‬
Step 5- The Interview - The Creative Work
10 points
Interview family members about your grandparent. You can also interview the grandparent himself / herself.
It can also be an imaginary interview in which you invent the answers.
Prepare at least 10 questions and answers – altogether no less than 150 words.
Be certain that you provide detailed, important relevant and interesting facts about the interviewee )‫(מרואיין‬.
Ask about the following: family’s life before immigration and nowadays (socio-economic status, education,
careers, daily routine, culture, religious observances, holidays, customs and traditions, cuisine). You might want
to compare life before and after the immigration.
If your interviewee was born in Israel, find out information he/she knows about the member of their family who
immigrated to Israel.
Following is a suggestion for questions you can use for the interview:
1. Can you tell me about your childhood in the city you grew up?
2. Please describe your family (who lived with you, who lived nearby).
3. Tell me please about everyday life in your home.
4. How did you celebrate the Jewish holidays?
5. Did you have special food for the holidays?
6. Did you celebrate Christian / Muslim holidays?
7. What did you parents do for a living?
8. Describe the school you went to.
9. Describe the sports activities you took part in.
10. What did you do in your free time?
11. Did you feel a difference between Jews and non-Jews?
12. Tell me, please, about your friends.
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Step 6 - Diary Entry
10 points
Create an imaginary diary entry of one of the family members right during / after immigration. Be sure to
include their social situation, education, professions, fears and problems. Write about 100 -150 words.
Step 7- Reflection and Conclusion
15 points
By now you must know quite a lot about your family. This part summarizes what you have researched and
written about in the project. Your must write 100 – 150 words.
Write about the following:
1. What is the connection between my family’s historical and social background and who I am today?
2. How has this person influenced me and who I am? For example, How did the cultural mix of a Turkish
grandfather or a Greek grandmother affect the family?
3. How has this project enriched my knowledge and awareness of my background and my connection to my
family? Give examples.
4. If you could change anything in your family's history, what would you change and why?
Step 8 - Bibliography
3 points
Write a bibliography - be certain it is complete and accurate. It must be arranged alphabetically, according to
author and the address of the site.
Cover Page –
5 points
Page no. 1 is the cover page, which must include the following:
The name of the project. / Your teacher’s name / Your name/class.
The school’s name (Yehud Comprehensive High School). / Date the project was handed in.
This is how your cover page should look like:
My Roots
Presented to [Write Teacher's Name]
By [Write your Name]
Yehud Comprehensive High School
Date: Month dd, yyyy
[add picture(s)]
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Table of Contents
2 points
Page no. 2 is the table of contents, which must include the name of the chapter and the page number.
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a. Appendix 1 - Evaluating written tasks on the bagrut examination
State of Israel
Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport
English Inspectorate
Rubric for Assessing Written Presentation – Module D 2006
Criteria
Descriptors
 information is relevant to the
 some information is irrelevant to
topic
Content and
Organization
 information is irrelevant to the
the topic
topic
 text is well organized
 text is fairly well organized
 text is poorly organized
 content is easily understood
 content is sometimes difficult to
 content cannot be understood
 text is written mostly in pupil's
 text is not written in pupil's
follow
 chunks of the text are not written
own words
own words.
in pupil's own words
30
22
 correct use of varied vocabulary
7
 correct use of appropriate
 appropriate word/idiom choice
vocabulary
 several errors of word/idiom
 use of appropriate register
3
 limited or inappropriate
vocabulary
and usage
Vocabulary
15
 frequent errors of word/idiom
form, choice and usage
form, choice and usage
 occasional use of inappropriate
 use of inappropriate register
register
20
15
 correct use of basic language
5
 occasional incorrect use of
structures
1
 consistent incorrect use of
language structures
 hardly any errors of word order,
Language Use
10
language structures
 several errors of word order,
 frequent errors of word order,
connectors, pronouns,
connectors, pronouns,
connectors, pronouns,
prepositions
prepositions
prepositions
40
30
 hardly any errors of spelling,
10
 several errors of spelling,
punctuation, capitalization
Mechanics
10
20
8
5
 frequent errors of spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, run-
punctuation, capitalization,
ons
run-ons
5
2
1
TOTAL: ___ / 100
Teachers can give in-between grades e.g. 24 pts.
If the format of presentation does not include all the required elements, deduct up to 3 points.
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Appendix 2 - Table of Contents
Pages
1. Introduction……………………………………..……
3
2. Background
a. Geography and History of the City …………….. 4
b. Art and Food in the City ………………………… 0
c. Jewish Life in the City …………………………….0
3. About My Grandfather / Grandmother …………………………0
4. Family Album
5. The Interview
6. Diary Entry
7. Reflection and Conclusion
8. Bibliography
8
Marking Checklist
Spelling
Vocabula
Item
Content
ry
Grammar
and
Punctuation
1.
Cover Page ( 5)
2.
Table of Contents (2)
3.
Bibliography Page (3)
4.
Step 1: Introduction
5.
Step 2: BackgroundIncludes: The articles,
all drafts –corrections.
Total
Points
Per
Item
/10
/10
/15
Vocabulary list.
6.
Step 3: About my
grandparent
/10
7.
Step 4: Family Album
/5
8.
Step 5: The Interview
/10
9.
Step 6: Diary Entry
/10
10. Step
VII- Reflection
and Conclusion
11. Step
VIII- Your Oral
Presentation
12. Total
Grade:
/10
/20
100
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