We had our first presentation this week. Jade shared some details from her research about the effects of divorce on adolescence; she also brought someone to interview as part of her presentation. We all learned a lot from her presentation. Good work, Jade!
We are nearing the end of our semester, and most of the focus for the class is finishing the papers and putting together the presentations. There's very little that I have to teach them at this point, but I've been doing more answering of questions in the past weeks. We talked this week about the "hows" of the presentations and steps for revising their rough drafts.
The presentations can be an overview of the main facts of their research, or it can be focused on one section. They can use PowerPoint slides, poster boards, or other items for visual presentations. In fact, they don't need visual aids if not absolutely necessary.
When revising their papers, students should look at these areas:
1. Introduction (with a hook, thesis, and road map), conclusion (summary, thesis, and parting words). In addition, they should make sure that their thesis statement is clearly stated in the intro and reiterated in the conclusion.
2. Content.
3. Organization, including transitions.
4. Mechanics & grammar
When professional editors go through manuscripts, they often work from the end to the beginning.
This is the last week to hand in any rough drafts, whether it's a second or third rough draft. If a student wants me to go over his/her paper before handing in the final draft, I would like to have them by Sunday night so that I have time to go over them by next Thursday.
If you have any questions about any aspect of your paper or presentation, make sure you contact me.
This week's Class Notes.
Keep Calm and Get Those Papers Done.
Mrs. Prichard
