01.30 - [Snow Day]

There was no school today due to the inclement weather.

01.29 - Rebuttal Practice (part II)

Today we, switched groups around from last class with those who did research last class completing the article rebuttal and those who had worked on the rebuttal worked on their research.

Extra copies of the article and article rebuttal sheet are available below.

People doing research are aiming to complete 20 notecards for their side of our debate. Notecards should now be focused on their specific claim within their half of the debate.

Handouts:

Teen Ink: Legalize Marijuana
Article Rebuttal


Homework:

If you were researching today: Continue your research creating 20 or more notecards for our next class.

If you were reading the article today: Complete the article rebuttal sheet.

01.28 - [Snow Day]

There was no school today due to the inclement weather.

01.27 - [Snow Day]

There was no school today due to the inclement weather.

01.26 - Rebuttal Practice

At the beginning of class today, everyone looked at their argument focus declaration sheets and identified which elements they had managed to find information for in their research and which elements still needed to be researched.

Then, half the class used this reflection to begin doing their research and the other half of the class read an article related to our current debate topic and responded to reading questions on the article rebuttal sheet.

Next class, the people working with the article will have time to research and the people who were researching today will be reading and responding to the article.

Handouts:

Teen Ink: Legalize Marijuana
Article Rebuttal


Homework:

If you were researching today: Continue your research creating 20 or more notecards for our next class.

If you were reading the article today: Complete the article rebuttal sheet.

01.20 - 01.23 - Midterms

This week we are having our midterm exams.

Everyone will be following the midterm exam schedule handed out in advocacies.

There is no homework this week aside from preparing for midterms.

01.16 - Debate Group Meeting

Everyone spent half of today's class conducting research and creating notecards for their debate. The other half of class was spent meeting with their debate group. The meeting agenda was as follows:

1 - Review and discuss research so far.
2 - Brainstorm key arguments that can be presented in the debate (5 minimum)
3 - Identify and discuss caveats or conditions that will be important to outline in your argument for or against marijuana legalization.
4 - Identify the most significant/powerful arguments and have each person claim one of these arguments.
5 - Complete an argument declaration sheet (see below).

The argument declaration sheets will be used to help focus and guide further research into this topic as we begin writing formal arguments after our midterms next week.

Handout:

Debate Argument Focus Declaration


Homework:

Review appeals, rhetorical devices, and logical fallacies in preparation for the midterm where you will need to be able to analyze the use of these elements in writing (Thursday's midterm) and incorporate them into your own writing (Friday's midterm). The documents below will help you in this review:

Logical Fallacies
Rhetorical Devices
Rhetorical Devices - differentiation
Appeals Overview
Ethos
Pathos
Logos

01.15 - Debate 2 Notecards

At the beginning of class, we reviewed the questions that people had generated to guide their research and then everyone had the rest of the period to work on research.

For tomorrow, everyone should have at least fifteen notecards created. People are free to use the sources listed on our class spread sheet (shared via Google Drive) and to find additional sources on their own. Everyone should use at least six sources in generating their notecards.

Homework:

Have fifteen notecards created in NoodleTools for class tomorrow.

01.14 - Research Notecards

The focus of our work today was on creating notecards of information for the debate on marijuana legalization. We started the class with everyone writing down a question they had related to this topic. As people conducted their research today, they used this question to guide their reading and notecards.

At the end of class, people shared out what they had found so far for answers.


Homework:

Create another three notecards in NoodleTools or create as many notecards as necessary to have at least ten notecards.

01.13 - Establishing Opinions and Perspectives

At the beginning of class today, everyone selected an activity card that would help them respond to the following prompt in their writer's journal:

Identify and explain your perspectives on marijuana legalization.

(Not saying simply if you are "for" or "against," but discuss the various thoughts you have when someone suggests that this drug be legalized).

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we came together as a group and discussed students' various responses. 

This discussion looked at the effects of marijuana on the user; how others are affected when people in their lives use the drug; the effects of the drug as it relates to other drugs like caffeine, alcohol, meth, heroine, and cocaine; and potential consequences (intended as well as unintentional) that various degrees of legalization could have.

This discussion helped us to establish perspectives that the "for" and "against" sides will need to take into consideration as they craft their argument in the debate.

Homework:

Create at least 5 more notecards (so 8 total) in NoodleTools based on the articles posted to our class spreadsheet and from your own research.

01.12 - Debate Research

Today we began getting into the research sources that people had found related to our debate on the legalization of marijuana. As part of this, we (randomly) determined which people would argue for legalization and which people would argue against legalization. We then began sharing sources in a common class spreadsheet. The order of this work was as follows:

1 - Create a new project on NoodleTools for your source and notecards.

2 - On our class spread sheet enter the title and author for the source you found

3 - Use NoodleTools to create a bibliographic citation for your source and paste this into the spreadsheet.

4 - Write a three sentence summary of your article on the spreadsheet.

5 - Begin reading other sources supplied by your classmates and creating notecards in Noodletools (20 in all)

You can view the class spreadsheet through your Google Drive (see Mr. Collins if you are having trouble with this).

Homework:

Create at least 3 notecards in NoodleTools based on the posted articles.

01.09 - Debate Position Paper Revision (featuring citation)

At the beginning of class today, we reviewed how to create a works cited page using NoodleTools and how to use inline parenthetical citation to cite sources. The Purdue "Online Writing Lab" (OWL) site has a great review of inline citation.

Everyone then had the first part of class to review their "for" and "against" position papers and add a works cited page as well as add inline citation to cite all quotes, facts, and other information that came from research resources.

In the second part of class, we reviewed the debate topics that people had brainstormed at the beginning of our work with debate and came up with some new topics. We discussed some of the potential topics with respect to class interest and availability of researchable information. Ultimately we decided on debating the legalization of marijuana since it is something that has been in the news and is a matter of current national debate. For homework, everyone should find three reliable sources with substantial information that relates to marijuana legalization.

We will be splitting the class in half with one half of the class arguing for legalization and one half arguing against legalization. Since we have not identified who will be doing what, people should find sources that are objective or reliable in their arguments for and against. We will pool these sources together to form a base of sources from which to operate.


Homework:

Add a works cited page to your "for" and "against" papers as well as add in inline citation to all facts and information from sources.

Find three reliable sources with substantial information regarding the legalization of marijuana.

01.08 - Debate Debrief Discussion (cont'd)

Today we finished discussing the debate topics that people had selected and to reflect on the debate process. In this format, we focused on debate partner and heard from them regarding what they thought about their topic and what they learned. There was then an opportunity for the rest of the class to weigh in on the topics. We managed to discuss capitol punishment and the Ferguson shooting of Michael Brown today. Tomorrow we will look at bans on assault weapons, abortion, and raising the minimum wage.

Questions that we used to guide today's discussion were as follows:

Partner Groups

Now that you’ve prepared to argue both sides and did argue one side of your debate, what is your final decision on the topic? Do you feel you are “for” or “against” the topic or somewhere in between?

What do you feel you learned from researching this topic?

Group Discussion

What was the actual debate like for you? How would you improve your presentation in a debate another time?

Complete the diagram/rating scale on the back of this sheet and use it to explain your experience of this process.


At the end of the period, I returned assessed work. We will look at grade report sheets in class tomorrow.


Homework:

Revise your position papers (for and against) on your debate topic (see post on 12.17 and rubrics above for more information on paper writing).

      Final revisions are due next Friday (1/16)

01.07 - Debate Debrief

Today we took time to discuss the debate topics that people had selected and to reflect on the debate process. In this format, we focused on debate partner and heard from them regarding what they thought about their topic and what they learned. There was then an opportunity for the rest of the class to weigh in on the topics. We managed to discuss capitol punishment and the Ferguson shooting of Michael Brown today. Tomorrow we will look at bans on assault weapons, abortion, and raising the minimum wage.

Questions that we used to guide today's discussion were as follows:

Partner Groups

Now that you’ve prepared to argue both sides and did argue one side of your debate, what is your final decision on the topic? Do you feel you are “for” or “against” the topic or somewhere in between?

What do you feel you learned from researching this topic?

Group Discussion

What was the actual debate like for you? How would you improve your presentation in a debate another time?

Complete the diagram/rating scale on the back of this sheet and use it to explain your experience of this process.


At the end of the period, I returned assessed work. We will look at grade report sheets in class tomorrow.


Homework:

Both position papers (for and against) on your debate topic should be handed in. If those are not completed, they should be completed as soon as possible (see post on 12.17 and rubrics above for more information on paper writing).

01.06 - Final Debate

We had our final debate group present their debate today. Following this, everyone shared out some perspectives or points that they appreciated hearing in this debate. 

I then handed out a debrief sheet for everyone to use to reflect on their experiences throughout this debate process. In the last five minutes of class, each person shared out something they had learned from this process.

Handouts:

Debate Debrief

Homework:

Complete the debate debrief sheet.

Both position papers (for and against) on your debate topic should be handed in. If those are not completed, they should be completed as soon as possible (see post on 12.17 and rubrics above for more information on paper writing).

01.05 - Debates Part II

At the beginning of class today, we reviewed rubrics for the debates and the debate position papers.
We then established the debate order and who would debate what.

We were able to have two debates today and will have the other debate tomorrow and debrief the debate experience.

Handouts:

Debate Rubric

Debate Position Paper Rubric

Planning Your Debate: Position Paper Outline
Debate Note Sheet

Homework:

Both position papers (for and against) on your debate topic should be handed in. If those are not completed, they should be completed as soon as possible (see post on 12.17 and rubrics above for more information on paper writing).

If your group did not debate today, be prepared to debate tomorrow.

You should be ready to debate either side of your topic. Use the "Planning Your Debate" sheet to plan your debate.

Complete your debate outlines and position papers for your debate topic.