Mr. W's Blog

The second step in our inquiry process is to use information seeking strategies. We’ll largely be using the internet. A Google search can actually be very useful, especially if you narrow down your search with specific keywords. One of the best places to start is Wikipedia. Wikipedia offers an overview of just about any topic. It is constantly being updated so new information can be found all the time. Sometimes the new information can be inaccurate, so it is best to use information that is cited in the “References” section. These references can also help you do more in depth research. Many entries also have a Bibliography section and an External Links section. These are great places to get more information and find some valuable sources.

DON’T FORGET TO RECORD ALL THE SOURCES YOU USE!!! If you download photos, record where you got these from as well.I recommend EasyBib! Don’t forget, “Google Image Search” is NOT a source.

You must turn in the HR Research Summary for credit.

The third step, of course, is to find information from these sources.

I recommend the following websites to get some information for your project

http://www.channelone.com/ – some great information in a familiar format (This site has some great information on North Korea as well.)

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http://www.hrw.org – one of the most well known sources for information on Human Rights abuses

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http://www.amnesty.org – another well known source with more of an emphasis on advocacy

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http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr/index.htm – the United States’ official site for Human Rights

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http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/index.htm – the site much of our classroom materials come from

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http://www.humanrights.com/#/home – the mother organization of Youth For Human Rights

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http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/index.aspx – another Human Rights organization

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http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx – the UN’s site for HR

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http://www.antislavery.org/english/default.aspx – anti-slavery organization

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http://www.omct.org – anti-torture organization

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http://www.article19.org – freedom of expression organization

Now that 9th graders have created a draft that focuses on a single important and interesting event in their grandparent person’s life, it is time to start revising. Your work should refelct the character of the person you interviewed. If they are sweet and kind, your work should reflect these characteristics. If they are sharp and witty, your work should reflect those traits. There are many ways of accomplishing this goal. Use the Revision Checklist to help you employ such strategies as dialogue, sensory detail, interior mononlogue, etc.

You should also meet with a peer to get some ideas for revision. Document this meeting with a CRS.

Track your changes in your word processing document and submit your work on WSD Online.

Now that 9th graders have collected stories from your grandparent person, it is time to start creating a draft. Remember that your story should focus on just ONE event in your grandparent’s life. This is not a biography or “report” about their life; it is a memoir focusing on one important and interesting event. You may need to go back and do another interview if you didn’t get enough details to create this type of work that should be between 3 and 5 pages.

It’s probably not too early to be looking at the Grandparent Project Rubric to begin revising your work. We will be peer reviewing the stories next week.

Please submit your draft on WSD Online. If you start making some revisions, make sure you turn on “track changes” so you can submit your work on WSD Online as a revision artifact.

9th graders will be doing a little bit of research to add some  historical validity to their Grandparent Projects. We will be going to the computer lab to research details about the time in which your story takes place. You will include at least one of these details in your story. You also need to cite your source in your work. (Visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/ if you need help citing your source.) Use the Scavenger Hunt Chart to record your work. Submit the spreadsheet on WSD Online.

Here are some websites I recommend for historical details:

This website gives you details of what was happening and what was popular for the last 100 years

http://www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html

This Utah website shows you the fads throughout the years

http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/tourFames.cgi?tour_id=13227

This New England website helps you explore the economy in different times

http://www.economicadventure.org/index.cfm

This website will let you look at some newspapers from the past (only some of it is free)

http://www.newspaperarchive.com/DailyPerspectiveFullView.aspx

Hair and fashion sites:

http://www.hairarchives.com/private/archivesnew.htm

http://www.fashion-era.com/

Car sites:

http://www.carsplusplus.com/years/index.php

http://www.acarshow.com/car.html

http://www.shs58.org/cars/

A website dedicated to the 60’s

http://www.sixties60s.com/index.html

If you find a helpful site you can add it in a comment above. Happy researching!

9th graders will be writing a short memoir about a grandparent or other important older person in their lives. You will need to use the time you have between now and the end of Thanksgiving break to interview this person. We will then be drafting, revising, and editing the story. The story will then be given as a gift to your grandparent person. (Shhh. That part is a surprise.)

Schedule a date and time to meet with your grandparent or older individual. You may need to schedule a telephone interview if they do not live near you.

Choose a list of questions ahead of time to ask this person. Use the KW chart and upload it on Moodle to help you formulate questions. You can use some from the list I gave you in class, but make sure you have a few selected ahead of time. Don’t try to just read all of them from this list. If you lost your list, it can be found at http://www.legacyproject.org/guides/lifeintquestions.pdf.

Use the questions to start a conversation with your grandparent at the meeting–don’t just ask questions that can be answered in one word. You may need to ask follow up questions.

You need to write down what they say. You may use a video/audio recorder, but this is not neccesary.

It is best to get several stories so you have a lot to choose from, but your final piece must focus on ONE story only. THIS IS NOT A BIOGRAPHY.

Use the Grandparent Interview Rubric to give yourself a grade on the interview. This must be turned in right when you get back from break for full credit. (December 2) Points will be deducted for every day it is late.

http://www.webertube.com/video/5403/utah-english-quest

It is not too early to start preparing for Utah English Quest.

http://www.ucte.info/index.php/english-quest

Here are the books for this year’s event.

Maze Runner by James Dashner

Matched by Ally Condie

Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Manhunt by James L. Swanson

As we continute to learn and practice observation, 9th graders will read an excerpt by Virginia Woolf titled Death of a Moth. Then respond in a one page paper (TNR, 12pt font, double spaced). Remember that this is a response, not a summary or an evaluation. Submit you work in .doc, .txt, .rt, or .pdf file formats on WSD Online.

This year, Tuesdays are dedicated to writing workshop. Writing workshop is a structured time of working on various writing projects. Students will be engaged in different steps of the writing process. This could include brainstorming, typing/writing, revising, editing, publishing, meeting with a classmate for help, meeting with Mr. Wenzel for advice, etc. To learn more about the writing process, we will be using the internet.

 Here are two helpful websites.

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-writing-process/

http://writing-for-kids.com/writing_process.html

Find at least one other resource and record your notes on the Writing Process Notes form.

9th graders will be writing a one-page piece each week, and submitting them on WSD Online (moodle). These will be on various topics and in various genres. For the first week, we’ll be starting with a traditional essay in respones to an excerpt from Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

Please save your work as a standard file: doc. or txt. and submit them online by Wednesday night (September 7).

Here is the web address for WSD Online: http://online.weber.k12.ut.us/

So, 8th grader… you gave yourself a day off to ski? You missed an assignment in the computer lab. Please research the life and story of a holocaust survivor. Write a one page summary of what you discover. YOU MUST CITE YOUR SOURCES. Every paragraph should have at least one in text citation. Plagiarism will result in a zero on this assignment. Please upload your work before the end of the day on Tuesday, March 1.

(9th graders missed a work day in the lab. Please continue to work on your human right video.)