Final Exam Project and a Few More Things

In case you lose your copy, here is the final exam project option.

Also, here is the reading guide and quiz bombing forgiveness program.

Some of you have a zero for the Hearth and the Salamander take home assessment. You can find another here. 

The Sieve and the Sand Ending

Step One: Two question open book quiz on yesterday's reading.
Step Two: Today, I'd like you to finish the Sieve and the Sand and record your thoughts in the double entry journal I've provided.

We will spend Monday talking about this section so make sure you have your double entry journal completed.

Tomorrow is SSR, so bring your independent novel.

Fahrenheit 451 Prezi

Here's what we've discussed so far. Tonight you are to read up to page 80 in the book.  Content Removed.

So, you think you might want to write an ISearch Paper instead?

If you do, here are two links that might help you.

I've prepared this handout to help you along the way and to explain what this assignment entails.

I've also found this chapter of this textbook online. It's a great resource and contains sample papers, directions, and a whole host of other stuff.

Lastly, here is another example of the I-Search Paper. It was written collaboratively by John Nazzarett and Drew Wiatrowski.

Research Paper

Your Task:  Write a 5-7 page research paper in which you develop a thesis that is the answer to your research question, using outside sources and documenting them according to MLA rules. 

Now that you’ve developed your research questions (essential question and supporting questions), it is time to get down to the research.  Your job over the next four weeks is to research your questions using multiple sources.  After you’ve created your answer you must form a thesis and then develop your argument throughout the paper.   

We’ll be using Noodletools as our organizer for this paper.  You will be using the notecard function to gather your information, the outline function to structure your paper, and the bibliography function to assemble your Works Cited page.  Your paper will be composed using Google Docs and then printed by the due date.

You may request that I read and provide feedback at any time during the research process.   

Due Date: Friday, April 29th

This Week in Corner Ink

Wednesday Checklist

By the beginning of class Wednesday, make sure you hand in:

• your 1.5 - two page paper proposal (printed and double spaced with Google Docs) (Total Package = 200 points)
• Introduction of topic (25 points)
• Explanation of importance of topic (25 points)
• Essential questions and support questions (25 points)
• Short response to two articles (50 points)
• Correct in text citations (25 points)
• Works Cited (25 points)
• Also, make sure you have shared your proposal project in Noodlebib with my dropbox. I will check that you have completed two notecards (25 points).  

This points will be applied to the Writing Piece category of my gradebook, so it is very important that you get everything in ship shape.  

Lastly, you have two and a half weeks left in the third quarter stretch run.  Make sure you review the reading requirements for this stretch. Decide what you want to shoot for, make up a plan, and go for it.  

Wednesday is SSR.

Mr. Malley's Research Proposal

Running is great exercise.  The half marathon is a thirteen mile race.  The younger brother of the full marathon, it was most likely created as a stepping stone for those who lack the endurance to run the 26 mile race.  Each year marathons and half marathons are run by people in every city.  

Two summers ago I downloaded a program called Couch to 5K for my iPhone.  It touted itself as a program to help couch potatoes develop the endurance to run 5k, or 3.1 miles.  This program starts people off running for 90 seconds and then walking for 90 seconds.  It escalates until people can run the 3 miles without walking. I started the program and quit within two weeks.  Last January I began to run again, this time on a treadmill at my local YMCA.  This time I kept with it and eventually worked my way up to be able to run three miles without stopping.  I dropped fifty five pounds in the process.  

As I have successfully completed 5k and 8k races, I feel like it is now time to push myself towards the next challenge; the half marathon.  So, this May I will enter the Nissan Challenge Buffalo Half Marathon.  I’ve never run more than six miles so I know this will be a major challenge.  As such, I know that I need to do significant research if I am to be successful.

The essential question I will be trying to answer is how can I best prepare myself to run a 13 mile race.  I need to find a good plan to build myself up to that level.  I also need to know how to train the rest of my body to be successful, which will include a strength building regimen.  I need to determine how people build up the mental endurance.  Lastly, I want to know how people stay hydrated and any other tricks I need to know to help me run the half marathon.

In my preliminary research I’ve found a few interesting sources thus far.  Hal Higdon, a well respected marathon guru, has put out a guide to help people prepare for this race.  The article has a week by week program as well as a breakdown of things prospective runners should consider such as pace, rest, and cross-training.  What’s more, he offers some encouraging words, explaining “assuming no major problems, most healthy people can train themselves to complete a 13.1-mile race” (“Training for your First Half”).

Another article reinforced my belief that I have to train for this race, explaining that “The days of just “gutting it out” are long gone” (“How to Train”).  Apparently, I can’t just walk up to the line and tough it out.  This site has tons of links to helpful articles that I plan to investigate during my research.  

Rules for Writing Workshop

I want to remind folks about my expectations for behavior writing workshop.

1. It is to be quiet during writing workshop.  If you talk, you are driving out the thoughts of everyone else.  If you have to give a quick hand to the person sitting next to you, whisper.  
2. On that note, do not shout my name for help.  It is disruptive.  Daily you will grab a red cup.  If you need help, flip it upside down.  If you've figured it out, flip it right side up. 

Research Paper Proposal

And so it begins. This week, we begin your research paper. Well, almost. This week we will write the proposal.

But first, I need you to pick a good topic. For the love of Peter, Paul, and Eminem, pick a good topic.  Something you’re interested in. Please don’t pick the first thing that comes to mind. This is a perfect opportunity for you to figure out something you’ve always wanted to know or plan a course of action to conquer a problem or simply become a more well informed person in this world.  

As long as you can develop an essential question you can pick any topic you’d like. I’m thinking of all the topics I’ve had to look into lately.  For instance, in May I’m running in my first half marathon.  I’ve never run that far before. So, in order to prepare for that race, I had to do a ton of research to figure out the best plan to help prepare myself for that toil.  Here’s another example.  This week we bought a TV. I had to spend the entire weekend reading reviews, comparing prices, calling stores.  There was a lot of research involved.  Recently I also became really interested in the revolutions going on in the Middle East. Since it has piqued my interest I’ve read countless articles, watched a slew of videos, and had to do some pretty in-depth research in order to gain a basic understanding of the uprisings.

Why am I telling you this? Two reasons.  First, because people research all the time. We live in a 

complicated society. To keep up, you have to look up. Secondly, because I want you to think beyond the first idea that comes to mind (<bored student voice> “okay, time to do yet another research paper. I guess I’ll do global warming again” </bored student voice>.

Instead of that, why don’t you ask yourself, What do I need to know right now?

Here’s your assignment.  It’s due next Wednesday, March 23rd.

Your Task:  Write a 1.5 - 2 page paper in which you do the following:

• Explain your topic.  What topic are you researching. (1 paragraph)
• Explain why this topic.  You could research anything you want.  Why are you researching this particular topic?  Why is this topic of personal significance to you? ?  Why is this topic important enough to research? (1 or more paragraphs)
• Explain what you hope to find out.  What is your essential question?  What supporting questions might you have to answer in order to answer this essential question? (1 paragraph)
• Find two articles about your topic for preliminary research. Instead of printing and annotating these articles, you will use Noodletools to create a notecard for each source.  You have a field for direct quotation, paraphrase, and “my ideas.”  Use them.  In your proposal, respond to these articles.  What interesting information did you find? Comment on that information.  Make sure to include correctly formatted parenthetical in-text citations. You will share this Noodletools project with the dropbox I have set up.
• Hand in a Works Cited page with citations for these two articles.

This week and early next week we will balance SSR/Independent reading and work on this paper.  So gear up.  Enjoy!

The Girl Who Threw Butterflies

Hey folks.  This afternoon I finished The Girl Who Threw Butterflies.  I wrote a quick response to the novel that maxed out at 275 words.  When you finish reading your books you have responses due, so if you'd like to see a sample, feel free to read mine. 

Research Paper Topic

It is time to start thinking seriously about the topic you will choose for your research paper.  I invite you to pick any topic of interest to research as long as you can generate an inquiry question about this topic.  An inquiry question is one which:

• a question which requires the student to develop a plan or course of action. 
• a question that requires the student to make a decision  (source)

For example, you are free to do a research paper on football but you need to formulate a research question that will lead you to take a stance on an issue.  For example:

• NFL:  
• Possible inquiry question:  Should the NFL issue more severe punishments regarding hits to the head? 
• Possible inquiry question:  Should the NFL do more to protect it's small market teams?
• Possible inquiry question:  What should the NFL do to prevent it's players from taking performance enhancing drugs?
• Possible inquiry question:  What should the NFL do to help rookies and young players assimilate into the league and avoid common pitfalls like embarrassing arrests, etc. 

Here are some more sample essential questions:

• Why is the concept of cloning human beings controversial? (decision-making) 
• What invention of the 20th Century has had the greatest impact? Justify your response (decision-making). 
• Why was _________ the greatest home run hitter in baseball history? (decision-making) 
• Which credit card is best for me? (decision-making). 
• What plan could be developed to reduce the impact of zebra mussels on the Great Lakes ecosystem? Your plan can include three strategies. (developing an action plan)
• What is the best plan for losing 20 pounds? Your plan can include 3 strategies (developing an action plan) 
• What plan could I use to prepare for a 5K run? The plan can include 2 strategies (developing an action plan)

Independent Reading Project

Here is the independent reading project we went over this week.

Shelfari Directions

1.  Renew your Shelfari account.  Choose "I do not have an Amazon.com password" and put in the email you used to sign up for Shelfari. (It should be your Gaggle.net account.)
2.  Add any books you've forgotten to add.
3.  Change the search field to "members."
4.  Find Mr. Malley!  Request his Shelfari friendship.
5.  Find the last book you finished.  Click on "Recommend Book."  Choose Mr. Malley from the drop down box.
6.  Write one sentence telling me why you liked this book so much.
7.  Complete those steps and you've earned credit for today!
8.  If you have extra time, add your friends!

Article of the Week (3/7 - 3/11)

For the next article of the week I'm going to again ask you to find an article about a topic you are interested in, but this time I'm going to suggest that you find something related to your research project.  Also, this week, your article must come from the library database EBSCO: Eric.

Your Task

• Find an article about a topic that interests you from a library database.
• This article must be at least 1000 words (use wordcounttool.com to verify the length). 
• Print the article. Annotate the article. 
• Make sure there is ample evidence of your active reading. 
• Write a one page response to the article in your notebook.  This week, you must include one in-text parenthetical citation after a direct quote or paraphrased portion of the article.
• Create a citation for your article using Noodlebib. Print the Works Cited page. 

On Friday you will hand in:

• The printed/annotated article (25 points) 
• the one page response (25 points) with a correct in text citation (10 points) 
• the Works Cited page with one entry (15 points)

Checklist for 3/4

Check off the list of the following as you complete each portion of the assignment.  All of your work is due  in the beginning of class on Friday.

• I’ve found an article of at least 1200 words
• I’ve printed this article
• I’ve created a Works Cited page with a correctly formatted citation using Noodlebib
• I’ve read and annotated my article
• I’ve written a one page response to my article, being careful not to simply summarize but instead sharing my own thoughts, insights, and reactions to what the article says

Ignore what the original assignment sheet said about in text citation.  We'll broach that assignment next week.  

Getting In to Noodlebib

You should be able to figure out your username and password from prior years.  If for any reason you try and cannot, please follow these directions:

• Click "Create a Personal ID"
• Choose "An Account linked to a school/library subscription or trial"
• Enter the username and password.  I've written this information on the chalkboard.
• Complete the form:  Use your computer login as your personal ID and Password
• Click "Create a new project."  Choose "MLA Advanced"

Find your article.  Enter the citation information.  Create a Works Cited for your article of the week.  

Finding an Article

Today you are to hop online and find your own article of the week. The only requirement is that this piece of writing:

• be an article (as opposed to a story)
• be 1200 words (use the word counter tool to verify)
• be from a reputable news source (New York Times, Buffalo News, Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, etc.  For this assignment you'll need to avoid blogs and websites of questionable accuracy.  Use your best judgement.)

By the end of the class, you'll need to print and bookmark the article.  

Article of the Week (2/28 - 3/4)

We will be beginning the early stages of our research project next week so I want you to start thinking about issues and ideas and topics you are interested in, curious about, worried about, wondering about, upset about, etc.

This week you will choose your own article of the week. Here is what you are responsible for the following:

• Find an article about a topic that interests you 
• This article must be at least 1200 words (use wordcounttool.com to verify the length). 
• Print the article. Annotate the article. 
• Make sure there is ample evidence of your active reading. 
• Write a one page response to the article in your notebook.  Include one in-text parenthetical citation after a direct quote or paraphrased portion of the article.
• Create a citation for your article using Noodlebib. Print the Works Cited page. 

On Friday you will hand in:

• The printed/annotated article (25 points) 
• the one page response (25 points) with a correct in text citation (10 points) 
• the Works Cited page with one entry (15 points)

Saying No to $1 Billion

I read an interesting article in The Atlantic yesterday about the Sioux nation and their struggle to reclaim ancestral lands unethically taken from them.  It is a very interesting piece related to the Seneca article we just read.

Crafting an Essay Lead

Opening an essay is tough.  Once you get past the lead (opening sentence or sentences) and the thesis, usually it is clear sailing.  Take a look at the following site to remind yourself of possible essay  leads.  This should be a review of what you've learned in prior years, but if we need to spend more time on it we can.

What Does it Mean to Be American? (Part Deux)

What does it mean to be an American?  As we've discussed, there are a million different ways to answer this question.  You can tell a story about something that happened to you.  Or you can focus on a few key characteristics and develop an idea.  You can write about what it doesn't mean to be an American.  All we ask is that you be thoughtful, creative, complex, interesting, and blow our doors off.  

As usual, if you need help we are both here to read drafts, conference, etc.  Feel free to Google the question and find other resources to help you figure it out.  Lastly, if you need to see some samples, visit Teen Ink and look at the nonfiction or opinion sections to see some stellar writing. 

The New Jim Crow: How the War on Drugs Gave Birth to a Permanent American Undercaste

In class today I read some statistics from a section of a book relating to our conversations about stereotypes, self perception, and what it means to be an American.  Here is that article. 

Book Response (Due 2/18)

This week you have a required response for your novel.  I want you to try to connect the ideas from your novel to this overarching unit question we are discussing.  What does your novel say, either directly or indirectly, about the American experience?  What does it say about being American?

(For some of you, this may seem a stretch.  Try to make it work.  Stretch yourself.)

Whole Class Participation

I wanted to help you get a better idea of what I expect from you during class discussion. Being able to articulate your ideas in public and navigate an evolving discussion is an extremely important life skill. In college and in the workplace, you will be required to talk, collaborate, tell stories, present, etc.

So, here are the characteristics I expect you to exhibit during class discussion:

• Freely participated
• Supported Opinions
• Made significant contributions
• Stayed on task
• Cooperated with peers
• Modified thinking when appropriate
• shared personal experiences, opinions
• showed confidence in own judgement
• encouraged others to participate (appropriately)
• displayed tolerance for differing opinions

President Obama's State of the Union Address

Yesterday in class we read the first few pages of President Obama's State of the Union. In case you missed it, here is what we wrote about:

Write a half page response in your journal. In your opinion, how does Barack Obama define our nation in 2011. Are there sections you disagree with? Strongly agree with? Please explain.

What Does it Mean to Be American?

Your Task:  Write an essay explaining what you think it means to be American.  

Guidelines:

• This can be a personal essay, an essay of definition, a descriptive essay, or a persuasive essay. 
• In addition to development, language use, organization, and development, you will also be graded on the sophistication of your ideas.  This can be a complicated question.  We are reading several texts that make different assertions about what it means to be American (Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Barack Obama’s “State of the Union,” the article on the Seneca Nation) and we expect you to consider all of these sources, as well as your prior learning and lived experiences, as you attempt to answer this question.  
• Due Thursday, February 17th

Seneca's Long, Tragic History

This week's Article of the Week has to do with the Seneca Indians and appeared in the Buffalo News.  Here is the link to the original article.  I will not be printing any more articles as I have come to believe that many of you (usually the same people) are becoming negligent with your articles.  You may print a copy of the article from the link above.

The Legacy of High-School Cliques

This week's article is "The Legacy of High School Cliques," which recently was published at Newsweek.

One possible thing you could explore in your response is what this articles says about America.  What can you infer?

What do you hear America Singing?

Today in class we took a look at Walt Whitman's poem "I Hear America Singing." Here's the full text of that poem:

I Hear America Singing
I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.
- Walt Whitman

____________________________________________________________
For homework, we asked you to do a little writing. Here is that assignment:

I Hear America Singing Writing Activity
Walt Whitman tries to capture the spirit he saw in America in his poem “I Hear America Singing.”

Now, it’s your turn. Mimic Whitman’s style and list the things you hear America “singing.” What does this poem look like in 2010? What does this country sound like in 2010?

You may think that you don’t hear America singing at all. Maybe it’s screaming. Maybe it’s murmuring. Maybe it is rapping. I don’t know. Feel free to go off and spin Whitman to your liking.

Book Response (Due 1/21)

Due to the MLK day and guidance visits there is no book response due this Friday.

Mourning Christina-Taylor Green- AOW Due 1/21

This week's article of the week is about the murder of Christina-Taylor Green.  Here's the article.  Grab a copy from my room to annotate but feel free to respond in the comments below.   Use your Google account to login.

Writing Assignment: Memoir

Here's your next writing assignment folks.  Due next week.  We'll start working on it tomorrow.  

Book Response (Due 1/14)

If you'd prefer, you can write your response to your novel in the comments section below.  Please put the title and author of the book you are reading as well as the page numbers you've read.

Make sure you sign the response so I know to whom to give credit.  Use your Google Docs account information to sign.

The Education of Demetrius Walker - AOW Due 1/14

This week's article of the week is about recruiting and ranking child athletes.  Here's the article.  Grab a copy from my room to annotate but feel free to respond in the comments below.   Use your Google account to login.

My Writing About Neighborhood

Hey folks.  Today you did some wonderful writing about your neighborhood.  A few years back I sat down and wrote about my neighborhood and came up with a full fledged memoir that gives an overview of my childhood.  If you'd like to read it, here's the link.