Using Paper Bag Puppets and Student Created Products to Reinforce Use of Propaganda and Persuasive Techniques

The Dreaded Research Paper - can it be any better?

The dreaded research paper – how do you tackle that assignment?  Over my thirty-five years of assigning formal research papers or papers that required research and proper documentation, I have found a few things that made life easier.

Start teaching the basic MLA or proper style format your school district uses from day one for:

Books; Internet sources; Magazines, and newspapers.  I created posters – had them laminated and hung them around the room.  Each week, I had a quiz or test – students were asked to write an imaginary bibliography for a source using the correct format.  Even with the signs hanging in the room – many still had errors, but practice does help improve their command of proper documentation throughout the year and understand the plagiarism will not be tolerated.

If you can – choose a broad umbrella topic. One year I did: Medicine from the middle ages compared to modern medicine – better in most cases?  My students did oral reports using visual aids with this one and although some of the information was pretty ghastly – they loved it. Having an umbrella topic helps you connect with the librarian, your very best friend in collecting sources and getting a better handle on introductory and closing paragraphs.

Please teach outlining – do not let students outline the opening or closing paragraphs.  The purpose of the outline is to show the structure of the research: main topics: sub topics; details and supporting details.  I finally started having my students add the source (properly formatted) to the outline so that I could really dig into the logic of their organization before I reviewed their first drafts.  When I came up with this bright idea – it saved me a lot of time because I was able to catch mistakes of organization in their writing. Having the source identified allowed me to see if the student had made an honest effort to find relevant and/or up-to-date material.

To get ideas for umbrella topics – look to other content areas or non-fiction possibilities generated by the literary pieces you teach.  Try to find topics that don’t exist on the Internet.  When my daughter was in high school – I am sad to say that she did not have one research paper except for freshman year – that could not be found on the Internet. What was her freshman year assignment? 

Every freshman in her high school had to research potential jobs that would exist ten years in the future, find out what it would take to be eligible to be hired for the position, what the salary would be and other data related to the job and possible pluses and minuses for the field of employment.  Because of that paper, my daughter is a successful C.P.S today and knew exactly what moves she needed to take to insure her future.

Yes, I know there are software programs to catch plagiarism, but wouldn’t you rather build dynamic topic choices with your students that didn’t create that problem to start with?  Research papers can be a source of pain or pleasure – I happen to think that handled properly – focusing on topic choice – students can become consumers of information and understand how to use it to their advantage.  I have a really great follow-up assignment mixing research with creating a children’s book. So look forward to that.

The best lesson ever ... Media Literacy - Speed data collection

What was the best lesson I ever taught? I think it was how to collect relevant information in today's technological - 24-hour news cycle - social media world. This could also come under the heading of Media Literacy.

Objectives to be taught: Key word development, scanning first and last paragraphs and looking for statistics or numerical data for personal research and development

Materials needed: Lots of newspaper/magazine articles or printouts of newspaper/magazine articles - enough for two or more per student. Several rolls of scotch tape.  A cutout of a person made from newspaper that you tape to the chalkboard or some other convenient surface. Highlighters of various colors. A Facebook Profile of Person X that is student generated

Preparation: On white board (computer), over head, chalkboard - make list of topics that Person X, a junior college freshman, with writing talent and experience in retail might want to track using various forms of media.   Person X will have a Facebook profile, before you begin the assignment have your students create a profile for Person X. This will help them and you generate a list of interests for this imaginary person.

Pose the question:  How does person X quickly collect and/or track only relative data or knowledge that will improve his or her: employment/education opportunities; knowledge of important current events; insurance options; living arrangements; relationship advice; health and fitness options; entertainment opportunities; shopping bargains and hobbies?

Students will already have some knowledge of scanning for key words. Remind them the trick to information management is learning to scan and listen for key words. Person X must first develop a filter - just like a search engine, but the trick is knowing where to look and when to listen.
 Ask students how do search engines work with key words?
Let them know that:  Headlines, opening and closing paragraphs are the most likely places for clues to decide whether to read an item or dismiss it - the same with commentators - openings and closings. Charts, graphs and statistics are also clues to relative importance. Have one example prepared and highlighted as an example that you can show on your whiteboard or use a class set.

With that in mind - have the articles you have had your librarian help you find (notice how I assume the librarian will be your best friend - if he or she isn't  - I'd Luke Picard that and "Make it so!")and print out grouped in random piles.
The day of the activity - place students in groups - handing each group a stack of articles. Give them five minutes or less to sort the articles for Person X into pile A -keep and read or pile B - dismiss.

Next have them highlight the specific key words or data that matched Person X's profile and then have them bring the articles up and tape them around Person X.  With the profile of Person X still up - have a class discussion about the chosen articles - did the articles selected as "keepers" really match Person X's needs? What mistakes were made? Keep up with Person X . . . have students find a "home run" article or piece of information that matches Person X's profile with the key words or numerical data highlighted.  I only had a chance to do this once because it was a brainstorm idea - what I like to call a shower idea. I saw the trend for media overload and how unprepared our students would be to pick the best information from the coming deluge.  I think we owe it to them to help them wade through the garbage and learn how to become savvy consumers of information.

A follow-up lesson is to demonstrate how a lot of television shows can be accessed later and more information is provided on the affiliate's web site. Golden opportunities for creating an information folder on your desktop filled with your top picks of articles just for your lifestyle needs.

Rubric for Scoring Visual /Graphic Presentaion

Tough Week for the Common Core?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/06/09/320041096/tough-week-for-the-common-core

I just accessed this article today 6/11/14 and it is from NPR which receives money from The Gates Foundation so it is a fair indication of some of the conflicts revolving around the process involved in the set-up and roll-out of The Common Core.  I urge those of you with time and experience to read through those who had a hand in preparing the material - the ivory tower group is still heavily involved.  It troubles me that truly experienced teachers get a wink and a nod - and I still see a lot of recycled 70's material that may have gotten a face lift.  I promise to go back and pull my printouts out of my folder to verify my initial reactions!!!!! I don't want to spout an opinion without giving you some examples so that will be coming after I put up the Visual/Graphic Presentation Rubric Score Sheet.

One item of interest is that as I read through my training manual to prepare to take my American Council On Exercise Group Fitness Instructor Manual, I am stuck by the similarities in preparation to being an excellent teacher -

• Know your material and be certified in a particular area and only that area - you may obtain certificates in additional knowledge, but to add another area of expertise - you must pass an exam.
• Be prepared and safe - know CPR and in the case of Group Fitness Instructors know how to use the portable or automated external defibrillator (AED) - One of my teacher friends said that teachers must now be CPR certified, but it can be an online certification - I'm headed for the local American Red Cross for my training in both CPR and use of the AED
• Check out your environment for safety issues - use wipes and insure the integrity of your equipment
• Only give advice that you are certified to give
• Give pre-tests or  self-evaluations to know the varying fitness levels (in the case of students, learning levels and styles) of participants - get medical records or referrals as needed if certain benchmarks are indicated - high blood pressure, diabetes, family history of heart attacks and other indicators of possible health issues.
• Be encouraging - show modifications in a manner that will make participants feel included - not singled out 

So far - I feel right at home - these are the hallmarks of good teaching practices.  It makes me happy that my career path is lining up with prior experience in an unexpected way.  I can see myself working in an independent location demonstrating proper form so people will feel comfortable Combosizing on their own listening to their own playlists, but feeling confident that the modifications they make are right for their physical abilities. So teachers - what we do is standard practice in many fields.  I worked nine jobs after retiring from teaching and was trained anew for each one - the training materials always worked to match varying learning styles and be hands on - cute huh? 

Guess what?  Despite the fact that teachers are enduring industries attempts to "measure" the quality of our output, they are relying on our methodology to train employees. I find this amusing on one level, but irritating on another as more well-meaning people, like the Gates impose well-financed blitzes to reform and quantify learning in what has proven to be an expensive trial and error method that is now facing the reality of the multiple factors that influence learning and learners. I'm practical and it seems to me that we've just gotten way too fancy. My first principal had a developmentally sound approach to learning and we stressed less about tests until the time was right. Another interesting article -  http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/11/now-bill-gates-demands-that-common-core-tests-be-pointless-for-two-years/  (I do not endorse this article because I do not know the track record of this site, but I put it up here FYI only!)

Common Core - What Do You Think? Do student test results really show your worth as a teacher?

When the Common Core was first announced, I reviewed the reading/literature/grammar part of it because I wanted to see how different it was from what I had been teaching.  Having started teaching in 1972, my first thought was how familiar the methodology looked.  Discovery techniques, making connections, relying on skills rather than data memorization and the recommended reading lists were familiar as well.  In fact, I was surprised by the copyright dates which made the selections seem dated.

Next, I looked at the sample anchor papers and that's when I went into full-on dismay mood.  Just take a peek at the 10th grade writing sample and you'll see that it is formulaic, dull, limited in scope and a boon to teachers who wish to keep their students' writing mediocre. So non-educators - The Gates Foundation - got on a band wagon and it steam-rolled into another test measurement guided curriculum screw-up. In other words, the logarithm for producing the tests will determine the curriculum.

If the reading list had been more multi-cultural or showed reading selections that fostered a strong inter-disciplinary approach in high schools, I would have felt that it was indeed moving toward a 21st century model.  I think we have to come to grips with the changing nature of our population and how best to serve the single-parent household. I believe that will only come if we extend teaming or outcome-based learning into high schools and continue to collaborate with corporations to insure our students are competitive.  Many school systems are doing this, but students are still tracked because schedules can't be flexible - it is hard for AP students to get job skill certifications and equally hard for students in job skill certification programs to fit in AP classes.  Virtual high schools have made this easier, but not every family can afford a computer.

So what do you think? How do you feel about test scores evaluating your worth as a teacher?

The New Essay Portion of the ACT and SAT Some Updates . . . and junk research papers verses the real deal!!

Since I taught high school on the east coast which notably favors the SAT, I knew little about the writing prompts or the scoring of the ACT. However, a brief search revealed that in the past, ACT prompts were somewhat general, students were given a brief overview and thirty minutes to write a clear, well-thought-out essay.  The writing rubric I designed based on the domains for the Virginia Standards of Learning will work to prepare your students to excel on either the ACT or the SAT.  The ACT is holistically scored by two readers on a scale from 6 to 1. Writers who score a 6 demonstrate the most control.  The two scores are added together to obtain a writing score from 12 to 2 which is then added to the English test score. Two scores are generated - the combined English/Writing Score and a writing sub-score.  Visit this web site for more info:  http://www.actstudent.org/writing/writing-scores.html

However, both ACT and SAT testing services are upping their game - revising their test for more information please read this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/act-college-admission-test-to-report-new-scores-in-2015/2014/06/05/1dbd96a8-ecaa-11e3-b98c-72cef4a00499_story.html

When I designed the rubric, I designed it to stand the test of time and I wanted it to reflect not just what the state Standards of Learning valued, but what writers and readers know is the internal checklist writers develop over time. Writers who are compelled to write don't necessarily follow the rules or even care - their passion drives them to create just as hunger drives the rest of us to eat.

The rubric is a tool - not a rule book - it should not be used to red ink students, but to assist them when they find a topic that excites them. I found that to be the most challenging part of my job - constantly generating situations that could set my students free to write about something important to them.  One of my worst days as a sub (after I retired) was asking each student in an 11th grade general English class what his or her topic was for the county mandated 4 page - 5 sources research paper.

It was obvious the students didn't have any passion for their topics - most of them had to refer to their notes to remember what they were. So much for generating a love of research and media literacy. Kids are savvy - it is sad that teachers' hands are tied by the culture of testing and fear of hot topics and the wrath of vocal groups of parents. As always - there are ways to find topics with the help of intrepid librarians - I hope yours is as good as mine always were and that you can encourage students to become fluent and inspired writers.