Monday, March 25 -- English 101

1. Big Picture
2. Review Reading / Generate questions
3. Test drive ProQuest and Academic Databases at DigitalMaine.org, using your topic
4. Check in:  3 articles bookmarked.  Note on primary sources.
5. Work on Personal Position Analysis (see Classroom), which is due at the start of class tomorrow.


-------------------------------------------
Upcoming

1. Debrief Personal Position Analysis (biases and where they come from)

2. Videos on search tips

3. Diigo vs. Note Cards

Assignment:

--Use academic databases to find three more articles and bring a total of at least 6 articles (bookmarks, Diigo bookmarks or printed)  to class.

Thursday, March 21 -- English 101

• Commas revisited
• Get checked off for having 3 articles about your topic to class.
• Review text, pp. 350 - 370. 
• Present highlights of your topic proposal to the class

Assignment for Friday:

--Read pages 370 - 388 in the handbook

Assignment for Monday:

--Complete Personal Position Analysis (see Classroom)
--Other TBA. 

Upcoming:
--Use academic databases to find three more articles and bring a total of at least 6 articles (bookmarks, Diigo bookmarks or printed)  to class.

--Advanced search techniques.

--Diigo vs. note cards

Tuesday, March 19 -- English 101

During Class:
 --Discuss & "Turn in" Potential Topic List Exercise
--Discuss political stances (as a way to start seeing positions)

 --Discuss reading
--intro. to academic databases.  (Why isn't Google the answer for everything?)
--research options including notecards, Diigo, bib. generators.
 --research log sheet
 --begin your topic proposal, a template for which is on Google Classroom

Assignment for Thursday, March 21:

• Complete your topic proposal (see template on Google Classroom)
• Bring 3 articles about your topic to class (these can be bookmarked or printed).  2 or more of the articles should be found via an academic database.
• Academic Databases
  --Digital Maine Library (See especially General One File and Research in Context)
  --ProQuest (recommended for news search)
• --SDMHS Library:  Resources for Research
• --Current Controversies (a list of academic databases selected for you by Mr. Richards)--Marvel
• Read text, pp. 350 - 370.  (You may be able to skim over some sections.)

Finding Truth in an Era of "Fake News"

--Click here to see image in full size.
--See also:  Media Bias Fact Check

Wednesday, March 13 -- English 101

During Class:

• Portfolio 1 will be collected.  Please refer to the assignment checklist we created to make sure you have met all requirements.  Other documents to refer to include: Portfolio 1 Contents, Portfolio 1 Guidelines, and Portfolio 1 Rubric.


• Intro to portfolio 2; research topic criteria overview; potential topic list exercise. 

Recommended Publications for News Articles:

Quality sources that tend to have more balanced coverage:
1.  NPR News

2. New York Times

3. Christian Science Monitor

4. Reuters

5. Wall Street Journal

6. The Economist

7. Bangor Daily News

8. Portland Press Herald

Sources that reflect more political bias:
9. The New Republic

10. Utne Reader

11. Fox News

Sources that present both sides:
12. Pro/Con.org

13. Issues & Controversies (link to be updated)

14. Newsela (Class code is XMTXDT)

Assignment for Thursday, March 14:
Read and annotate "The Argument Culture" (article)

Assignment for Tuesday, March 19:
1. Complete the Potential Topic List Exercise by listing 5 articles (include source information, a one sentence summary, and a potential question for each).

2. Decide on a topic/issue for Portfolio 2 – refer to the research topic criteria discussed in class to make sure your topic is a good fit.

3. Read pages 345-349 in the handbook.

More on Revision

.

Self-conference:

• A Guide to Revision
• Guide to Revising Body Paragraphs and Conclusions
• What is the last word of your essay?

During Class Friday:

• Create checklist using 
• Portfolio 1 Guidelines
• Portfolio 1 Grading Rubric
  

Removing Clutter

Revision
--"Tips to Cut Clutter in Writing"
-- "5 Ways to Cut Clutter"
--"Removing Word Clutter"
--"Avoiding Wordiness"

Goal for today:
1. Read through your draft and Revise to absolutely eliminate wordiness. and extra words that you don't need.

Priorities for Revision

Tuesday, March 5 -- English 101

1. Review Portfolio #1 assignment sheet and rubric.
Talk about deciding which summary/response essay you want to revise & polish for Portfolio I. 

2. Resources:

• Intro. to Response Writing
• Examples of Major Revision
• A Guide to Revision
• Guide to Revising Body Paragraphs and Conclusions
• A complete set of resources for Portfolio #1 is here.

Homework due Wednesday, March 6:
1. Choose one summary/response essay to revise and polish for Portfolio I. Copy & paste this essay to the template on Google Classroom. Complete preliminary revisions on this summary/response essay. This revised draft will then go through a self/peer/teacher critique process.
2. Complete a reverse outline of your essay. The idea of a "reverse outline" is to construct an outline of an essay you have already written. The purpose is to identify the main parts and make sure the essay holds together. Your reverse outline should be 5 - 8 sentences in length.  More on the how's and why's of a reverse outline are here and here.

Due Dates:

Peer-Review Draft Due:  Wednesday, March 6 (at the start of class)

Mandatory Teacher Conference:  Monday, March 11 (by the end of the day)

Portfolio I Due:  Wednesday, March 13 (at the start of class)