Incorporating Multimedia Presentations with Chromecast

When I was planning this class over the summer, I started to find YouTube videos, Prezi and SlideShare presentations, movie clips, etc. that I wanted to use in class.  The problem was the logistics of having 7 teens crowded around a computer monitor or laptop in order to view these things in my living room. I went to my Technology Expert, a.k.a. my son, Eric, and asked if he knew of a way I could project from my computer onto the wall or the TV, and he suggested purchasing a Chromecast device.   This $30 thumb-sized media streaming device plugs into the HDMI port on your TV and lets you project, or "cast" anything from your Chrome browser to the TV.  I can also cast from my Android phone.  ( also works with Android tablets, iPhones, iPads, Mac, Windows, or Chromebook)

It has been working great!  Plus, I now can easily watch Netflix movies on the TV, casting from my phone or computer, since I could never remember all the steps to set it up from the Wii or Xbox.

What Is Point of View?

Dystopia

 The Hunger Games is a futuristic, dystopian, science fiction novel written for young adults. (but enjoyed by young and old alike)

Dystopia = an imaginary place where living conditions are extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror.

Theseus and the Minotaur

The Hunger Games was inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.  Are you familiar with it?   In order to prevent an attack by the army of King Minos of Crete, the city of Athens agreed to send 14 youth - 7 boys and 7 girls - to Crete every 9 years, where they they would enter the Labyrinth to be eaten by the Minotaur, a half-man, half-beast monster.  King Aegeus's son, Theseus, was outraged and volunteered to go to Crete as one of the tributes and slay the Minotaur, which he did.

The Hunger Games - Interview with author Suzanne Collins

To learn about the author of The Hunger Games and what inspired her to write this novel, we watched this video interview with Suzanne Collins.