STARSHIP
Space Technology - a Rhetoric Strategy Helping Improve Proficiency

Starship Painting by Pat Rawlings owned by NASA which is a picture of an astronaut reaching out to a book entitled Reading/Writing Skill

STARSHIP

A Drug Free Reading Project

Click here for SPACE EDUCATORS' HANDBOOK resources resident on the DVD/CDROM.

STARSHIP LESSONS AND RESOURCES

Click on the accompanying lesson picture to open the lesson file.
These are excellent Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) lessons for gifted STEM students who are challenged rhetoric-wise.

picture of astronauts, spacecraft and dinosaurs sharing a jungle environment

Click here for an explanation of the plans and purposes for the STARSHIP Project.

Click here for instructional flyer for using STARSHIP in the classroom.

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(Note: While some of the lessons do not fall in the traditional categories of rhetoric reading/writing exercises - narrative, descriptive, etc., the variety and uniqueness of each has merit in developing investigative thinking leading to articulate prose. In all cases an appreciation for science, i.e., space technology is encouraged and employed as a motivational strategy. Additionally, the following patterns of organization are employed in the lessons as indicated: Descriptive, Narrative, Process/Instruction, Example, Classification, Comparison/Contrast, Definition, Cause/Effect, and Persuasive.)

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Lesson No. 1

ROCKETSHIP RHETORIC
Rocketry Examples Explaining Parts of Speech

picture of a rocket

Content of this lesson uses examples of astronautics and rocketry to explain the parts of speech.

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Lesson No. 2

picture of Buzz Lightyear next to Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Lightyear and Buzz Aldrin Compared amd Contrasted

Click here for lesson.

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Lesson No. 3

The Rube Goldberg Launch System Process/Instruction Paper

picture of Rube Goldberg apparatus

Click here for lesson.

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Lesson No. 4

The Moon Golf Mulligan Narrative Exercise

picture of moon golf shot

Lesson No. 4a

The Earth Mulligan - A Reading Comprehension Exercise with Test

picture of earth golf ball, a Spalding 3:23

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Lesson No. 5

Astronaut Santa, A Descriptive Writing Exercise

picture of doll astronaut Santa Claus

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Lesson No. 6

Egocentric Orbit Short SciFi Story, Comprehensive Reading Exercise

picture of astronaut in spacecraft

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Lesson No. 7

Updating Jules Verne's FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON with Today's English

picture of Jules Vernes Rocket

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Lesson No. 8

The Lunar Games, a creative narrative exercise adapting Earth based experience to Moon sports

picture of athletic games being played on the Moon

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Lesson No. 9

Creatures in Science Fiction Hollywood Movie Descriptive Writing Exercise

picture of make-believe science fiction creature looking like a human sized featherless chicken with the head and teeth of a shark and the horns of a deer

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Lesson No. 10

Comic Book Space Rhetoric - Using Comics as a Rhetoric Exercise

picture of four comics featuring covers depicting comic characters in space scenes

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Lesson No. 11

Comic Book Space Rhetoric (2) - Reading Comprehenstion Exercise

picture of Superman on comic cover of World of Krypton

Sentence punctuation exercise.

Sentence punctuation exercises based on superheroes

(Placing capitals and periods correctly avoiding run-on sentences, fragments, and comma splices)*

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Lesson No. 12

Moon Landing Hoax Persuasive Writing Exercise

picture of Weekly World News paper claiming a NASA moon landing hoax

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Lesson No. 13

Comparing Astronaut John Glenn and Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin Writing Exercise

pictures of TIME covers featuring Astronaut John Glenn and Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin

Click here for a youtube video song depicting John Glenn's career as a NASA astronaut.

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Lesson No. 14

Comparing Columbus's Voyage to Apollo 13 Writing Exercise

pictures of Christopher Columbus and Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell

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Lesson No. 15

Composing a Movie Review Comparing Jules Verne's Book to the Movie FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON

scenes from the movie adaptation FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON

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Lesson No. 16

Analyzing the Game of Space Foosball as a Writing Exercise

scene of a robot and astronaut playing foosball in the cargo bay of the space shuttle

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Lesson No. 17

President John Kennedy's Rice Stadium Moon Race Talk as a Reading/Writing Exercise

picture of President John Kennedy speaking in Rice Stadium as Presidential podium/seal

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Lesson No. 18

Science Fiction Space Fallacies Writing Assignment

(Note: How can the missile be guided without thrusters for a guidance system?)

picture of science fiction cover of guided rocket with no guidance system

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Lesson No. 19

Moon Race Money - Writing a History Narrative

picture of a fictitious 11 dollar bill with Moon race themes imaged on the note

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Lesson No. 20

Barnyard Space Shuttle Descriptive Narrative

picture of a fictitious aircraft fashioned from barnyard items

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Lesson No. 21

Dick Tracy's Watch and the Iphone - A Comparison Exercise

picture of Dick Tracy comic book panel and photo of the Iphone

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Lesson No. 22

Comparing Amelia Earhart to Christa McAuliffe

picture of Amelia Earhart and Christa McAuliffe

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Lesson No. 23

Comparing Apollo Era Technology Products to 2010 Ads

picture of 1960s product versus 2010 product

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Lesson No. 24

Made an Argument for Continuing Exploration of Space (a persuasive writing exercise)

scenes from the video of

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Lesson No. 25

The Apollo 13 Rescue

A Cause and Effect Reading/Writing Exercise

picture of Apollo 13 exploding comic book panel

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Lesson No. 26

Pluto Should be returned to Planet Status Writing Prompt

picture of Planet Pluto with sign stuck in its mass saying

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Lesson No. 27

Comparing Astronaut Neil Armstrong to Explorer Christopher Columbus

pictures of Neil Armstrong in Apollo spacesuit and Christopher Columbus

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Lesson No. 28

De-Plagiarism in Space

A Definition Exercise/Activity

pictures of cartoon suggesting plagiarism

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Lesson No. 29

The Seven Original Mercury Astronauts

A Classification Exercise

picture of original seven Mercury astronauts in fron of an aircraft

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Lesson No. 30

Buzz Lightyear Video Game Lesson

picture of Buzz Lightyear Game CDROM

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Lesson No. 31

Semester Project - 12 Week Novel Reading Exercise

A Novel Reading Exercise

*Coming of age novel reading: a chapter each week, The Eagle Has Landed (Coming of Age novel) – On-line and on DEH DVD with comprehension questions to answer

picture of topics in the novel THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

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OTHER FILES:

Starship Individual Lesson Evaluation Questionaire

picture of word questionaire in big block letters in its center with big red question mark

STUDENT COMMENTS FROM EVALUATIONS

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CREDITS

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DISCLAIMER

Betty Woodfill, a San Jacinto Community College College Prep Instructor, and Jerry Woodfill of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas developed this program known as STARSHIP (Space Technology, a Rhetoric Strategy Helping Improve Proficiency) for educational use. Approval to use copyrighted materials which are not public domain has been obtained except for items which are deemed "Fair Use" by the copyright act of 1976. Opinions and materials included in this program do not necessarily reflect NASA policy, research, or endorsement or the same for San Jacinto Community College, Pasadena, Texas. Please contact Mr. Woodfill if errors in data, spelling, or program operation are found.

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The content of this page complies with Section 508 handicapped accessibility requirements for information technology.

Last modified: Thursday, 24-Mar-2011 04:30:00 PM CDT

Creators: Jerry Woodfill / Betty Woodfill

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