Today's talk about writing essays included a bunch of pictures of Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco. Here's a picture of the city from that trip (Spring Break in 2011).
Dear class,
I realize that there has been a lot of me standing and talking to the class this last week! I apologize - hopefully it will not stay that way. I am simply guessing that you would rather hear all of this information personally explained to you, rather than copy notes from the textbook. On to the recap:
Critical Thinking and Analysis LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems, and concepts.
Knowledge LT 20: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements.
Soundtrack: "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand. Selected for today because of the band name (of course), and because Franz Ferdinand was taken out to start World War I. Lyrics here.
AGENDA 2/15/17:
Read Letters
The Most Important Skill
Graphic Organizing
Homework: Read the blog! Keep working on your World War I essay (we will continue to work on it in class the next two days, too). Next news brief: Kira.
News Brief: Matthew had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: EuroNews.com - Fatal train collision in Luxembourg near French border. We found Luxembourg in our world map packets (a new one for us, I think!) and discussed this story, before moving on to talk together about what is going on outside of class for everyone.
We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):
Read Letters: A few students volunteered to read their "letters from the trenches" aloud as a class. I really enjoyed these, and thought the students that shared did a great job of incorporating some of the vocabulary and concepts that we talked about, along with creatively writing about the subject. Way to go! Keep these - you will be turning them in at the end of the unit.
The Most Important Skill: I said this in class and I really believe it: the ability to write (especially a good essay) is the most important skill that you will need in order to be successful in high school and college. Thus, this lecture was something I hope you paid very close attention to. Please see the PowerPoint below (remember that if the text doesn't show up in Google Docs, click "File" then "Download" and it should when you have a copy on your own computer):
The basics: every essay needs to start out with a "thesis statement" in the first paragraph (the introduction). Each of the three paragraphs after that should contain one main point you are trying to make. The format (or recipe) for those "body" paragraphs are like this: topic sentence, concrete detail/fact, concrete detail/fact, commentary/opinion, and then a concluding sentence. Finally, after the three body paragraphs, you will write a conclusion that restates the thesis. This is a LOT of information to try and learn, I know. That is why I am having you practice in class before I ask you to write me a real one at the end of the World War I unit.
Graphic Organizing: Based on the essay question on the last slide of the PowerPoint, I gave three different examples of "graphic organizing" your essay. I asked you to use one of these examples to start up your essay. If you missed class, here is one of the examples that you can use to start thinking about your essay:
Along with this, I gave the class a good format for writing a thesis (and even included one on World War I to start you off, if you were having trouble):
Hopefully this made sense. It is okay if it does not right away. That is why we are practicing!
For the rest of class, I had you start up your essays using your graphic organizers - then the actual writing if you finished that. Here are the prompts that we were using (the last slide of the PowerPoint):
Question: Why did World War I start and what happened at the beginning of it?
Words to use: militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism, Franz Ferdinand, Sarajevo, Triple Alliance, Triple Entente, June 28th 1914, trenches, Eastern Front, Western Front.
Use your notes! Cite my presentation as (Start of World War I Notes) for any concrete details directly from me. You can also use the textbook, if you like.
Again, we will continue working on this in class. The essay is not homework - I want to help you through each step this time. Next time, it will be an actual assignment/test. You will be including your work here with that final assignment - so it is not like this work will not count.
Phew! I know that is a lot. Please let me know if you have any questions! See you next class!
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