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Monday, June 8, 2015

06.08 - Final Day 01

Today we had the first day of our final. Our work today took most people longer than planned so we will be allowing for an extra half hour on part 01 in the second part of the final on Wednesday.

I will modify part 02 of the final so that it can be completed in the remaining hour of final time on Wednesday. For this part of the final, it will be helpful for people to review the appeals and rhetorical devices we studied in the first part of the year (see below).

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

06.03 - Program Investigation and Evaluation (work day)

Everyone had the period today to work on their program investigation and evaluation. At this point, each person should have identified the group/organization's program they want to investigate and be using that group/organization's site and/or related news article about their program to gather information. Resources for this work are located below:


Program Investigation and Evaluation Activity
(directions and worksheet)

Program Investigation Brainstorm
Groups/Organizations that seek to address the problems people have been researching in class.
Everyone should choose one group/organization associated with their problem.
For those unsure which group/organization to choose, I have identified a default/top pick that would be well suited for this investigation

For homework, people should check out the provided list of groups/organizations to investigate (along with any other groups with which they may be familiar) and then select a group/organization whose work interests them and that they would be able to fully investigate.

People may also begin identifying important information about the group/organization and creating notecards. Everyone will have the period tomorrow and Thursday to work on this assignment.

Resources:
  • Searches
  • Sources and Notecards

Submitted Today:
- - -

Homework:
  • Continue research into the program you are investigating, creating notecards, and completing the Program Investigation and Evaluation Activity
  • Revisions
    • Problem research essay
    • Debate observation sheet (from the debate in Ms. Gervais' class)

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

06.02 - Program Investigation

Today we began work on our program investigation where everyone will research a group or organization that seeks to help solve the same problem that people in class were researching. In class, we reviewed what this work will require (see Program Investigation activity below) and brainstormed groups/organizations that people could investigate.

Program Investigation and Evaluation Activity
(directions and worksheet)

Program Investigation Brainstorm
Groups/Organizations that seek to address the problems people have been researching in class.
Everyone should choose one group/organization associated with their problem.
For those unsure which group/organization to choose, I have identified a default/top pick that would be well suited for this investigation

For homework, people should check out the provided list of groups/organizations to investigate (along with any other groups with which they may be familiar) and then select a group/organization whose work interests them and that they would be able to fully investigate.

People may also begin identifying important information about the group/organization and creating notecards. Everyone will have the period tomorrow and Thursday to work on this assignment.

Resources:
  • Searches
  • Sources and Notecards
  • Outlines

Submitted Today:
- - -

Homework:
  • Identify the group/organization you wish to research (whose work is related to the problem you have been researching).
    • Start looking at the group/organization's website and identifying important information for notecards.
  • Revisions
    • Problem research essay
    • Debate observation sheet (from the debate in Ms. Gervais' class)

Monday, June 1, 2015

06.01 - Grade Reports and Revisions

At the beginning of class today, I handed out update grade report sheets and returned the debate observation work that people completed last week for the debate in Ms. Gervais' class on women in military combat roles.

Everyone had the rest of the period to work on revising these debate sheets and revising or completing their essay on a problem that affects our community (resources below). I was on hand to meet individually with people and respond to questions or provide guidance on these assignments.

- - -

Homework:
  • Revisions
    • Problem research essay
    • Debate observation sheet (from the debate in Ms. Gervais' class)


Friday, May 29, 2015

5.29 - Essay Writing

Everyone had the period today to work on writing their essay response explaining the problem their civic action problem seeks to solve (see "Bare Bones of an Essay" handout in the outline resources below).

During this time, I was available to meet individually with people to respond to questions about the outline and essay writing process.


The rubric that I will be using to evaluate responses is available here.

Completed draft of your essay exploring the problem that your civic action project seeks to solve.

Homework:
  • Use your outline to begin converting your thesis, claims, and evidence into an essay (due today)

Thursday, May 28, 2015

05.28 - Debate Debrief, Outline > Essay

At the beginning of class today, we debriefed the debate that we observed in Ms. Gervais' class yesterday by discussing the responses to the after-the-debate questions that people were answering for homework.

Everyone then had the rest of the period to work on writing their essay response explaining the problem their civic action problem seeks to solve (see "Bare Bones of an Essay" handout in the outline resources below).

During this time, I met individually with people to respond to questions about the outline and essay writing process.

At the end of class, we reviewed questions to prepare us for a debate we will be observing in Ms. Gervais' AP English class. For homework, everyone should respond to the "before the discussion" questions that were provided in class.

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Homework:
  • Use your outline to begin converting your thesis, claims, and evidence into an essay (due Friday)

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

05.27 - Debate Observation

Today, we listened to a debate with Ms. Gervais' English class on whether or not women should serve in combat roles in the military. At the beginning of class, we discussed student responses to the pre-debate questions. We then watched the debate in Ms. Gervais' class with everyone taking notes on the arguments and rebuttal that were presented.

For homework, everyone should respond to the post-debate questions. For a 100 on this work, people may elect to identify an unsuccessful or missing argument in the debate and make that argument effectively using at least one appeal and one rhetorical device. The author should then explain why this argument is more effective.

People should continue to turn their essay outline into a fully developed essay using the "Bare Bones of an Essay" guidelines. We will continue work with this tomorrow in class with essay drafts due on Friday.

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Homework:
  • Respond to the "after the discussion" questions for today's debate in Ms. Gervais class on women serving in the military.
  • Use your outline to begin converting your thesis, claims, and evidence into an essay.