Dear class,
Thank you for the excellent questions and engagement in what we were doing today! I really thought it was fantastic and hopefully we are all cleared up about what I am expecting you to do this weekend. I also liked how Mrs. DeFrance and I got to chat with most of you about how things are going in the class with your research paper and overall grade. Please remember to keep in touch and ask questions!
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? What are civil rights?
Soundtrack: "Takin' Care of Business" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Lyrics here. Selected for today because we really needed to take care of business when it came down to this paper and with finishing the year strong.
AGENDA 5/28/09:
News Brief
Paragraphs and Citing Sources
Conferences
Homework: Rough draft of paper due for peer revisions! All notes and bibliography due! Read the blog and ask questions!
For those that do not have the original handout about what we are asking you to do with the historical investigation, here is that to download:
The research paper is really built on all of the various handouts that we have given you in class to put in your folder, as well as your own personal research question and sources. Hopefully everyone has all of that and will make it make sense!
Please, please do not stress about the paper, but please also get it done. I will help you out as much as possible, so comment or e-mail if you have questions!
News Brief: For this part of class, after going over the essential questions (which did not get much love today), soundtrack, agenda, and homework, I passed back your grades for the Israeli-Palestinian presentations. Seriously, these kept me up until 1:30 AM last night, and I do put a lot of effort into grading each one, so please read all of my comments! If you are missing aspects of the project (like the explanation paper, skills packet, or presentation notes), please come see me ASAP! Remember that you can always revise if you need to as well.
That being said, I really do not remember much about the news brief today. Partially because I am really tired, and partially because I am not sure that we had much to say about what was going on around the world. Helpfully, Allie brought in this article to talk about: CNN.com - Report: Would-be suicide jumper pushed off bridge. This is really a crazy article! As I pleaded with everyone in class - please don't even think about suicide! Life is so worth living! :-)
Thanks for that article Allie. Ismael, you are up for next class on Monday. Any current news article about anything going on around the world, outside the United States.
Paragraphs and Citing Sources: We talked about how to write a body paragraph in Social Studies, with an Introductory Statement, a Concrete Detail, another Concrete Detail, a Commentary, and a Concluding Statement. There was a really fantastic discussion about the finer points of citing a source and how we want you to write the paper, which would be impossible to entirely recap on the blog. However, if you were paying attention in class, I feel pretty confident that you understand what is going on. If not, please ask questions in the comments about how to construct a paragraph and cite a source! Remember, we do not want you using a ton of direct quotes. Pick a couple really key ones, and summarize the rest! You still have to cite them, but now you are showing me what you think about your research!
Mrs. DeFrance talked about her own investigation and body paragraph, which she did as an example on global warming. Hopefully that was good for you to see how to construct each part of the paragraph.
"Westview is the coolest school ever." (Fritz, 3) - In this case, I am citing myself! Remember that it goes (Author, page number). If you do not have the author of the article, it needs to be ("Title of Article"). If you do not have the page number, do not put anything in.
Thanks for this section! It was fun, even though it lasted for a long time! :-)
Conferences: At this point in class, I had everyone get into base groups to conference on how the paper is going, what help you need, and finally, to really be writing the paper. I am not sure how well you used this time to actually be writing, but I am sure everyone is on top of this paper.
Until the end of class, Mrs. DeFrance and I tried to do a one-on-one conference with everyone. We did not get to some of you, but I do know that it was really awesome to get to talk to the people about how everything was going! We really tried to help you out with a research question and tell you exactly how you were doing in the class, along with possible ways to improve your score. Again, if you are at all interested in keeping in touch about this sort of stuff, please be coming to see either of us!
Generally, it was a good, productive day. I know that you probably feel like you have a lot of work ahead of you this weekend, but it is really just converting your notes into a paper, with an introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion, and bibliography. Okay, that still sounds like a lot. I am here to help! :-)
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I am becoming increasingly busy it seems, but should be mostly available to post and respond to comments over the next few days. This week has been absolutely exhausting! Let's keep working hard together to finish the year! Have a wonderful evening!
Hello Mr. Fritz, i forgot to go at lunch to have the conference thing, so yeah............
ReplyDeleteI got 2 sources so far and the book, i still haven't gotten one.
I am still going to wright my notes though, well the rest of them, and the rough draft is due next class?
Ismael,
ReplyDeleteYes, the rough draft is due next class, on Monday. Also, remember to bring in a news article! Thanks!
O YEAH!!! thanks for reminding me, i would have forgotten completely!!
ReplyDeleteIsmael,
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! It is actually in the blog too, so please remember to read carefully! :-)
Hey Mr. Fritz-
ReplyDeleteSo I have a question:
If I was summarizing a news article and used that summary as my Concrete Detail, how would I cite that? Would I use the title of the new article/magazine article and then the author?
Bit confused on that.
-Iris
Iris,
ReplyDeleteIf your summary includes information that you did not already know yourself, just cite it as you would anything else. (Author, page number) or if you don't know the author: ("Title of Article").
If you have the author, use that.
Thanks for the question!
Wait! What if I don't know the page number?!
ReplyDeleteIris,
ReplyDeleteIf you don't have the page number, just cite the author.
I saw your mom in the starlight parade :)
ReplyDeleteshe was holding up a sign that said something, then FRITZ so I knew it had to be her! hahahaha
Mary,
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! Yeah, she loves walking in parades with her "Hi, I'm Amanda!" sign. I hope you enjoyed the parade! :-)
Mr. Fritz i am having some trouble with my topic sentance, how do i start since i have to do one for each of the 3 body pragraphs...right?
ReplyDeleteJuliet,
ReplyDeleteDo not think of this paper as three body paragraphs. We just want you to have that general structure there. Your topic sentence for each point in the research you want to highlight should directly relate to the rest of the points in the section. For instance:
"Westview is a great high school." Then concrete details about why Westview is a great high school, a commentary on those details, and a concluding sentence.
I know it sounds somewhat difficult, but the peer review should help you out too.
Do we need a different research question each sheet?
ReplyDeleteStephen,
ReplyDeleteNo, the research question is the same for every sheet - they are for different sources that you are using to answer the same question.
Ohhhhh i get it. Ok thank you
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh this is so hard!!! i had to change my question like 4 times!!! i haven't even started on my rough draft!!! My research question is now ... how has nike changed over its existence but I cant find a book or a magazine article. so i only have one article. I want to do one paragraph on how Nike started, one on troubles in Nike, and the last on how Nike has overcome the troubles. But all i can find is websites instead of articles. But the websites have what i need ... not the articles. All the articles are about a new shoe coming out :( i need help ... a LOT of help ahhhhhh and do we have you use all of our sources pages or can we just have 3?
ReplyDeleteDiana,
ReplyDeleteStep 1: Do not stress.
Step 2: Google "History of Nike Time Magazine" - one of the first hits is this magazine article, which I am guessing that you can probably use: TIME.com - How Nike Figured Out China.
Step 3: Read article, and see if you can make it relate to your research question (I am guessing that you can).
Step 4: Continue to Google for news articles about the history of Nike.
You need 4 sources.
Breathe. It will all be good. Keep researching and writing!
ummm can we use a interview as a source?
ReplyDeleteDiana,
ReplyDeleteI believe I covered this in class, but yes, you can use an interview as a source, as long as you take detailed notes about exactly what was said and attach them to your paper. Sound good?
ok ... yeah i remember you saying that but i didn't want to come in doing that then finding out it doesn't count as a source ... hahaha that wouldn't be good
ReplyDeleteI defiantly agree with Diana. This is so hard. I can't find any sources that I need because i can basically write my paper without them, but the sources are mandatory so I'm trying. I'm stressing like no other and this is the only day I've had to work on it because i had basketball all of Friday and Saturday:(
ReplyDeleteStephen,
ReplyDeleteThere is no possible way to write a research paper without sources. That's what research is: finding sources of information and seeing what they have to say.
What sorts of problems are you having finding articles? What is your research question?
Soooo... this is probably a stupid uestion but this is a five parragraph essay right or is it just the 3 body parragraphs and this is 3-4 pages???
ReplyDelete-Suzie
Suzie,
ReplyDeleteDo not think of this paper as a matter of paragraphs. We told you about the body paragraph structure to help you with the sequence of what thought should go where. Instead, concentrate on getting an introduction, all of your main points (the body paragraphs), and conclusion in about 3-4 pages.
does two and a half pages work, because that would make my night ... oh p.s. I'm going to be up until 12 o'clock tonight trying to finish this. so if im tired in the morning im sorry
ReplyDeleteDiana,
ReplyDeleteRegarding your question, I would point out to you that no matter what, the eventual final paper will be 3-4 pages. If you have 2 and a half pages, why not add another paragraph and a solid conclusion and call it a night?
I realize that this is a difficult task at first, but trust me, the more depth you can answer your research question and use your sources to tell the story, the better you will do in high school and in college (in just about every subject). It's really that important.
No pain, no gain! Keep working hard! You will get great feedback tomorrow from the peer review, I am sure!
well i just found my sources that i actually want to use so i haven't even gotten to start my rough draft. This week is going to be so hard with all my final projects, recitals, and tests coming up... yuck im just glad we only have 2 weeks left
ReplyDeleteDiana,
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot to do! I have tons as well. I think everyone is realizing that if we just put in two more solid weeks of good work, we will be into summer! Until then, everyone really has to finish out the year strong!
I should be up fairly late grading and such too, so if you are in need of help, please post away!
I'm having trouble sourcing. the website i used for one of my quotes was extremely long and I'm still not entirely sure how I'm supposed to put that into the paper. Do I put it after the thing i quoted or just write it in a bibliography?
ReplyDeleteStephen,
ReplyDeleteIf you are citing a website inside the text, but it does not have an author, just use the first few words of the title, like this: ("LeBron: Loss Doesn't")
Of course, you want to add the full citation in the bibliography.
Ok thank you
ReplyDeleteMy mom and I decided that we are going to change my subject entirely so this is going to be fun ... :P
ReplyDeleteAre we supposed to type up our citing page also?
ReplyDeleteDiana,
ReplyDeleteYes. Everything for this paper has to be typed, so that you can make easy revisions from the feedback you get in class and from me.
Thanks for working so hard!
:-)
I didn't have time over the weekend to type anything because i was busy working on other things during the time i was home.. I still have everything done (written) is that okay?
ReplyDeletePeter,
ReplyDeleteI would really rather have it typed out so that people can write all over your paper tomorrow with helpful comments. If that is completely impossible, maybe we can make you a photocopy to have your base group peer review?
Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI am headed to bed - I need my rest for the long day tomorrow! If you have any lingering questions, make sure to read the blog and comments first to see if I have already answered them. If not, I am sure that we can talk about it in the morning.
Thank you for all of your hard work!