Find five articles that support your research topic. Print them out and use a highlighter to select the information that you will use in your paper. Print out the list below, and make sure that all articles are attached to this paper when you hand it in after the holiday break.
Name:
Your Topic (remember to be as specific as possible):
Source #1:
URL (web address):
Source #2
URL (web address):
Source #3
URL (web address):
Source #4
URL (web address):
Source #5
URL (web address):
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Cycle 3 Project: Writing the Research Paper
Our assignment is to find a contemporary political issue that you want to research. You will be writing a 5 page paper on the topic. The initial rules for writing the paper are as follows:
Follow the best practices of research found in the handout: "Standards and Practices of Good Internet Research."
"I went to google," is not an acceptable citation. You must go to specific web sites relevant to your issue.
ALWAYS find out who the source is for your data. That is, who made the web site? Who are the people or what is the organization that has written it? You often have to, in Deeno's words, "google what you google." That means, once you find a web site, google the site's authors, before you decide it is a reputable source.
If a web site's information is too complicated for you to understand, do not use it. Do not write down or use information that you do not comprehend at all. I am referring to web sites that are highly technical or written with a very large number of "vocabulary words" that you do not understand. However, if you find a web site in which there are simply a few words that you do not know, please feel free to ask me to clarify those meanings. On the other hand, do not just pick the easiest, most elementary-level web sites. Find information that is relevant, detailed, and well-written.
The topic must be one having to do with the political and social issues facing Americans today. Once you decide on a general topic, say "Abortion," then you must decide what EXACTLY you are researching. Are you researching scientific data about an embryo? Are you looking at different groups in society and what they believe? Are you looking at data about increases or decreases in abortion rates? Are you trying to determine why teenagers do or don't have abortions? All those are different topics, and would lead you to different research sources. So, once again: first pick your general topic, and then, with my help, narrow it down. You must write down your general topic and the narrowed down questions in your notebook. Your notebook must remain in your folder in the classroom, for this part of the class.
Students have brainstormed general topics that could be researched.
MTA budget issues
Iraq war
Afghanistan war
Education
Health care
Poverty
Free Tibet
Palestine
Global Warming
Recession
Is teen “Sexting” criminal?
How does the law define prostitution?
Rights to privacy
Safety at nuclear power plants in China
Power of China in the world
Teen pregnancy: abortion laws
Teen pregnancy: societal causes
China and the US: Financial relationship
The causes of poverty in the US
Abuse in the foster care system in NYC
Follow the best practices of research found in the handout: "Standards and Practices of Good Internet Research."
"I went to google," is not an acceptable citation. You must go to specific web sites relevant to your issue.
ALWAYS find out who the source is for your data. That is, who made the web site? Who are the people or what is the organization that has written it? You often have to, in Deeno's words, "google what you google." That means, once you find a web site, google the site's authors, before you decide it is a reputable source.
If a web site's information is too complicated for you to understand, do not use it. Do not write down or use information that you do not comprehend at all. I am referring to web sites that are highly technical or written with a very large number of "vocabulary words" that you do not understand. However, if you find a web site in which there are simply a few words that you do not know, please feel free to ask me to clarify those meanings. On the other hand, do not just pick the easiest, most elementary-level web sites. Find information that is relevant, detailed, and well-written.
The topic must be one having to do with the political and social issues facing Americans today. Once you decide on a general topic, say "Abortion," then you must decide what EXACTLY you are researching. Are you researching scientific data about an embryo? Are you looking at different groups in society and what they believe? Are you looking at data about increases or decreases in abortion rates? Are you trying to determine why teenagers do or don't have abortions? All those are different topics, and would lead you to different research sources. So, once again: first pick your general topic, and then, with my help, narrow it down. You must write down your general topic and the narrowed down questions in your notebook. Your notebook must remain in your folder in the classroom, for this part of the class.
Students have brainstormed general topics that could be researched.
MTA budget issues
Iraq war
Afghanistan war
Education
Health care
Poverty
Free Tibet
Palestine
Global Warming
Recession
Is teen “Sexting” criminal?
How does the law define prostitution?
Rights to privacy
Safety at nuclear power plants in China
Power of China in the world
Teen pregnancy: abortion laws
Teen pregnancy: societal causes
China and the US: Financial relationship
The causes of poverty in the US
Abuse in the foster care system in NYC
Friday, December 11, 2009
Welcome to Cycle 3, December 2009
READING AND ETYMOLOGY
We are reading "Only Partly Here," by Lucius Sheppard. We've examined a list of "vocabulary words" from the story. How many of them do you already know? Knowing the etymology of a word can help you determine its meaning. Also, if you understand what form of the word it is (noun, verb, etc), that can help you figure out its exact meaning in what you're reading.
Students identified meanings of the following vocabulary words from the story:
phantoms = things that disappear, things that are here and then gone, things that appear ghostly
apparitions = things that appear
vacancy = emptiness
ceremonial = something done as in a ceremony
archaeologist = someone who studies the artifacts of human civilization. The suffix "-ologist" means someone who studies something
scorching, scorch = to burn, something that is burning. Also, something that has been burnt.
wreckage = the thing that is wrecked. The actual stuff: twisted metal, etc, that is the result of a wreck.
cosmic = having to do with the sky, with the stars, with the universe
interlocking = inter=between, + lock = things that lock between them
corporate = having to do with business
edible = ible = able, possible, so "edible" = able to be eaten. Not to be confused with
editable = able to be edited.
decompress = opposite of "compress." "Compress" = squeeze together, make smaller, so "decompress" = expand, relax.
articulate = well spoken, to make clear, to say clearly
speculate = to guess
transported = trans=change, port=to take from place to place
In our class discussion we spoke about etymology = the study of words (not to be confused with entomology= the study of insects). What is etymology? Etymology is the study of the history and meanings of words. When we know what the root word is, what language it came from and what it means, we can better determine the meaning of the word we are looking at.
What is the root word? Sometimes there is a part of the word that you already know and recognize. That might be because you know a word that is similar, or because you know a word in Spanish that sounds like it. These words may be related to the word you are looking to define. Many of the most complex words in English have a Latin root. We know that Spanish is a Latin language. If you know a similar word in Spanish it may have the same or a similar meaning to the one you are trying to define. Use your knowledge of other languages and/or your familiarity with other English words to figure out the meaning of the word you are trying to define. Here is a great page where you can find root words and their meanings.
Many words also have prefixes and suffixes.
A prefix is a small beginning part of a word. The prefix comes before the root part of the word.
As a class we brainstormed some prefixes, and came up with the following:
un = not
non= not
dis = against
sub = under
pre = before
re = again
bi = two
tri = three
quad, quart = four
multi = many
Suffixes - the endings of certain words - also can have a specific meaning. As a class we figured out that:
-ology = the study of something
-tion = the state of being
-able, ible = ability to do something
Here are some great pages to look up the meanings of root words, suffixes, and prefixes.
We are reading "Only Partly Here," by Lucius Sheppard. We've examined a list of "vocabulary words" from the story. How many of them do you already know? Knowing the etymology of a word can help you determine its meaning. Also, if you understand what form of the word it is (noun, verb, etc), that can help you figure out its exact meaning in what you're reading.
Students identified meanings of the following vocabulary words from the story:
phantoms = things that disappear, things that are here and then gone, things that appear ghostly
apparitions = things that appear
vacancy = emptiness
ceremonial = something done as in a ceremony
archaeologist = someone who studies the artifacts of human civilization. The suffix "-ologist" means someone who studies something
scorching, scorch = to burn, something that is burning. Also, something that has been burnt.
wreckage = the thing that is wrecked. The actual stuff: twisted metal, etc, that is the result of a wreck.
cosmic = having to do with the sky, with the stars, with the universe
interlocking = inter=between, + lock = things that lock between them
corporate = having to do with business
edible = ible = able, possible, so "edible" = able to be eaten. Not to be confused with
editable = able to be edited.
decompress = opposite of "compress." "Compress" = squeeze together, make smaller, so "decompress" = expand, relax.
articulate = well spoken, to make clear, to say clearly
speculate = to guess
transported = trans=change, port=to take from place to place
In our class discussion we spoke about etymology = the study of words (not to be confused with entomology= the study of insects). What is etymology? Etymology is the study of the history and meanings of words. When we know what the root word is, what language it came from and what it means, we can better determine the meaning of the word we are looking at.
What is the root word? Sometimes there is a part of the word that you already know and recognize. That might be because you know a word that is similar, or because you know a word in Spanish that sounds like it. These words may be related to the word you are looking to define. Many of the most complex words in English have a Latin root. We know that Spanish is a Latin language. If you know a similar word in Spanish it may have the same or a similar meaning to the one you are trying to define. Use your knowledge of other languages and/or your familiarity with other English words to figure out the meaning of the word you are trying to define. Here is a great page where you can find root words and their meanings.
Many words also have prefixes and suffixes.
A prefix is a small beginning part of a word. The prefix comes before the root part of the word.
As a class we brainstormed some prefixes, and came up with the following:
un = not
non= not
dis = against
sub = under
pre = before
re = again
bi = two
tri = three
quad, quart = four
multi = many
Suffixes - the endings of certain words - also can have a specific meaning. As a class we figured out that:
-ology = the study of something
-tion = the state of being
-able, ible = ability to do something
Here are some great pages to look up the meanings of root words, suffixes, and prefixes.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Finals
Tuesday: Day One of the final. The Day One sheet is not posted here because I don't want you to use "spell check" or "grammar check" in Word to determine the corrections. You can only get the Day One Final sheet from me. If you did not complete The Day One Final sheet, you must complete it during a lunch period this week.
Wednesday: Day Two of the final. You can click on the link at the side to get a typed copy that you can modify. Be sure to save it to your desktop with your name as part of the file name.
Thursday and Friday: Days 3 and 4 of the final. There is an internet research task for each of you to complete within the two days. Please do not be late or absent on Thursday or Friday.
Best of luck! I hope to see most of you again next cycle. It's been a pleasure having you in my classes.
- Camilla
Wednesday: Day Two of the final. You can click on the link at the side to get a typed copy that you can modify. Be sure to save it to your desktop with your name as part of the file name.
Thursday and Friday: Days 3 and 4 of the final. There is an internet research task for each of you to complete within the two days. Please do not be late or absent on Thursday or Friday.
Best of luck! I hope to see most of you again next cycle. It's been a pleasure having you in my classes.
- Camilla
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