Gabriel

4431 Mt. Herbert Ave. San Diego CA 92117 December 2, 2010 Dear Senior Committee, One value I learned at Muir is international collaboration. For my grauation project, I will be working on a website called Global Virtual Classroom in a project with Iraq and India. We will study "recovery after disaster", and I will be in charge of editing and posting. Iraq will send information about the war's effect on the environment, India will study about flooding in New Delhi, and USA will report on Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill and the San Diego Fires. My final project will be the completed website, which is due March 20, 2010. In December, I will do research and collect photos for the website. My mentors are Hazim Thannon in Iraq and Archana in India. In Febuary, I will learn Dreamweaver software and post the website. The audience is judges and schools around the world. See Muir's site from last year here. This is a learning stretch for me. I will learn how to do websites, and I will meet students in Iraq and India.

Sincerely,

Gabriel Castaneda

Francisco A: very nice man, great choice.

Anne: I hope this project will be approved. Gabriel will learn, and grades 8-10 will benefit from his help.

Mr Loessel: This project will be a major undertaking. Make sure when you edit that you maintain continuity. You've already indentifed the various elements of the main theme, 'recovery after disaster'. Make sure you pace yourself considering the hours you'll spend editing and posting. I wish you well.

Anne: Your paper could be about any disaster and how people recovered from it. Iraq might appreciate it if you could study the environmental impact of war--maybe Vietnam or the Gulf War.

**December 15 Essential Questions** How can countries recover from disaster? What are the most helpful organizations?

**December 17 Thesis ** Countries such as Haiti have the best hope of recovery when...  Specific topic + Attitude/Angle/Argument = Thesis

What you plan to argue + How you plan to argue it = Thesis

**January 4 Map** (a map which illustrates your topic)

**January 5 Works Cited** (at least two books, two database sources, two internet sources, one interview)

**January 7 Introduction** (50 -100 words)

**January 13 First supporting idea** (150-500 words)

**January 18 Second supporting idea** (150-500 words)

**January 21 Third supporting idea** (150-500 words)

**January 25 Conclusion** (50-100 words)