Writing 3 -- Technology Updates

Greetings!

CHAT classes start tomorrow, and I'm excited to start my writing classes on Thursday.  I have a great mix of returning students, new students, and younger siblings of students I've previously taught.  We're going to have a great year!

As I mentioned in my first "Welcome" e-mail (which you can see here), I will be using a new online grade book this year.  Below are explanations of my online sources that I provide as a resource for families.  

Class Updates:  Weekly, following our class, I will send out an e-mail that explains what we covered in class and what the assignments are. Occasionally I will include links to interesting or pertinent sites that pertain to our class discussion.  Any handouts from the class will be attached to these e-mails.  Double check to make sure these e-mails are making it to your Inbox and not the Junk/Spam folder.

Writing 3 Blog:  The weekly updates and other messages are also posted on this site.  If you need to see a number of the updates at once, this is an efficient way to do it. Copies of the handouts (with the exception of those that are pdfs) will be posted on this blog.  Also, photos, images, videos, and links to other websites will appear on this site.  If you're curious, you can peruse the blog for past posts in order to get a feeling for what to expect this year.

Dropbox:  This is an online storage site, and I have folders with all of the documents that I use in a folder for this class.  If a student is missing a worksheet or a handout, he/she can find it there.  You will be getting an invitation to join this folder.

My GradeBook:  This is the online grade book that I will be using this year.  It is new to me, but since it is similar to the one I had previously used, I don't anticipate any problems.  My paper grade book is up to date with every assignment, but it may take a week or so to get the grades onto this site.  That said, it should be a pretty accurate picture of what homework is missing and ongoing scores for the work.  You will be getting an invitation to join this  site, also.

Long story short:

-- If a student isn't sure of an assignment, he/she can check

     -- the syllabus that was handed out

     -- the Class Update

     -- the blog

-- If a student is missing something that I handed out, he/she can find it 

     -- as an attachment to a Class Update

     -- on the blog

     -- in the Dropbox folder.

-- If you have questions about grades or missing homework, you can

     -- check My GradeBook

     -- send me a personal e-mail.

If you have any questions, let me know.  Look for e-mail invitations from Dropbox and My GradeBook.  

I'm looking forward to meeting my new Writing 3 class!

Tammy

Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 7 (Oct. 9)

Greetings!

We had a good, productive class today.  We started the class with a Quick Write.  Instead of doing ACT/SAT essay prompts, I gave them some prompts for brainstorming college application essays.  We took some time to discuss the value of these essays and how they play a role in the application process.  Because these are older students, I often take time in this class to talk about some of the writing aspects of the college search process.

Following our Quick Write, we discussed the syllabus, which I altered in order to give them more time for the next rough draft.  Below is the an updated plan:  

Class	Discuss	Hand In
Week 7	Rough Draft #1 MLA citations	Rough Draft #1
Week 8	Peer Edits	Rough Draft #1 (extra copy)
Week 9	Works Cited page	Peer Edit
Week 10	Revising & Editing	Works Cited Draft
Week 11	Giving Presentations	Rough Draft #2
Week 12	MLA formatting	Presentation Plan
Week 13	Presentations	Rough Draft #3 (opt)
Week 14	Presentations	Final Draft
Week 15	Presentations	Final Draft

In class, we watched a video about MLA citations, MLA Tutorial #6,  This is part of a series, which might be helpful to watch if any students have questions or are unclear about to do in-text citations or Works Cited pages:

MLA Tutorial #1 -- Basic Paper Formatting

MLA Tutorial #2 -- Basic Citation Format

MLA Tutorial #3 -- Works Cited Page Formatting

MLA Tutorial #4 -- Web Citation

MLA Tutorial #5 -- Citing Research

MLA Tutorial #6 -- In-Text Citation

I also  showed them one of the online resources for putting together the entry that would be on a Works Cited page.  EasyBib is one of several useful sites.

I have some writing handbooks available for the students that I will bring to class next week.  Most students prefer to use online sources for the specifics of formatting.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Continue to work on your papers, researching and writing

-- Bring an extra rough draft to class for the peer edits

This Week's Blogs:

Class Notes

MLA Style Guide

Helpful Citation Sites

MLA & Microsoft Word

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 6 (Oct. 2)

Greetings!

We had a good class yesterday.  We're progressing nicely through the research writing process.  I divided the class into 3 groups to discuss 3 different ACT/SAT essay prompts:

1.  In this country, most people see and hear advertising for many different products every day.  Some people think advertising is useful because it provides important information about many different products. Other people think advertising is not useful because it tries to persuade people to buy products they do not really need. In your opinion, does advertising serve a useful purpose in our society?

In your essay, take a position on this question. You may write about either one of the two points of view given, or you may present a different point of view on the question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

2.  In some high schools, students are required to complete a certain number of community service hours prior to graduation. Some people think community service is a good requirement because they think students will benefit from this experience. Other people think schools should not require community service because students will resent the requirement and, as a result, will not benefit from the experience. In your opinion, should high schools require students to complete a certain number of hours of community service?

In your essay, take a position on this question. You may write about either one of the two points of view given, or you may present a different point of view on the question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

7.  Educators debate extending high school to five years because of increasing demands on students from employers and colleges to participate in extracurricular activities and community service in addition to having high grades. Some educators support extending high school to five years because they think students need more time to achieve all that is expected of them. Other educators do not support extending high school to five years; they think that students would lose interest in school and that attendance would drop in the fifth year. In your opinion, should high school be extended to five years?

The small groups then presented their ideas about important points and a potential outline for the essay.

Following the test prep work, we discussed the informal and detailed outlines, choosing sources, principles about quoting and citing sources.  The detailed outlines were due this week.  Those who didn't have them ready for class time should get them in sometime this weekend.

The first rough draft is due next week.  With this rough draft, I will be looking for content and organization.  If they don't feel they have enough information, they should write using what they have.  It's easy to feel overwhelmed at this point, but I encourage the students to just start writing, even if they don't feel they are ready to put together their research papers.

I mentioned to them that I have some resources for citing sources.  Below are some links from previous Writing 3 classes.  I've also attached some other documents that will be helpful.  An important reminder:  since we only meet once a week, most of the work that students need to do is between classes.  

I will be sending another e-mail with more attachments regarding citing your resources.

Next week we will discuss  citations and the peer edit.

Assignments for Next Week:  

-- Rough Draft #1

Helpful Links for this Week:

Class Notes

MLA Guide from Purdue OWL

Helpful MLA Citation sites

Another Helpful Web Resource

Have a great weekend.  Stay warm and dry!

Mrs. Prichard

Helpful MLA Citation Sites

Research papers are challenging.  Not only are you required to come up with an original, thought-provoking thesis, but you have to research primary and secondary sources for enough information to back up your position.  And on top of that, you need to use your sources with integrity and give credit to those who are experts on your topic.  And if that's not enough, you need to follow specific guidelines for letting your reader know where you found this information.  Whew!!

Below is a list of helpful websites that will help with the MLA format.

Son of Citation Machine:  This website does the formating for you.  Type in the essential information, click on "Make Citation" and it gives you the entry that you can copy and paste into your paper.  Some college professors encourage their students to use this so that they have the correct format.  Others consider it cheating and the lazy student's way out.  I don't mind if students use it because I feel it's part of the learning process.

Easy Bib:  This site is similar to Son of Citation.  Like the above site, I think these are especially helpful with non-traditional sources.  Citing books with one author is not difficult.  Other print and non-print forms are challenging.

Purdue OWL:  One of my favorite writing resources is the Purdue Online Writing Lab.  If you go to the homepage, you will find just about any topic related to writing essays.

MLA formating videocast:  This Youtube video helps students format their papers.  It refers to Microsoft Word 2007. Some students already know a lot about using Word; others have parents who can help.  This is a helpful video if this information is needed.

MLA Works Cited videocast:  Another Purdue OWL video specific to the Works Cited page.

Durham College MLA style:  This is a longer video, but it's very complete!  In fact, I'd really like everyone to take the 30 minutes and give this video a careful "listen."

These are only a few websites.  If you need more help, google "MLA citation," and you will find a plethora of options.

Another Helpful Web Resource

If you google MLA style, or footnotes/endnotes or documentation or in-text citations, you will find a plethora of websites.  In the past blog posts, I've given links to sites that I feel are clear in their explanations.  My goal has been to help you find the place where you can find the information.  Your job is to acquire the information for your own use in writing you paper.

The links given below are from "A Research Guide for Students."


How to write an A+ research paper,
How to effectively deliver a presentation,
How to format a research or term paper,
How to quote passages,
How not to plagiarize,
How to write Footnotes and Endnotes
Examples on writing First Footnotes and Endnotes in MLA Style
Footnotes Sample Page and an Endnotes Sample Page.