Day 9: Paragraphing

A. THINKING ABOUT THESIS AND ORGANIZATION 

1. Check/Discuss how two of your classmates moved from a Significant Idea in the reading to a Claim, to Reasons for the Claim, and finally to a Thesis HERE. 
2. Check/Discuss how the thesis helps plan an essay HERE and HERE. 

B. THINKING ABOUT PARAGRAPHS 

1. Read/Discuss: pages 16-19 of the packet. Which part of paragraphing do you think is important to work on first?
2. Read/Discuss: The professor's development of a claim and of a thesis on pages 21-21 of the packet.

C. ON YOUR OWN: Blog Entry 4 
      Write: a blog entry for "I Know the Truth, so Don't Bother me with Facts" that

1. summarizes the reading
2. selects ONE  Significant Idea in the reading to respond to
3. responds to the Significant Idea using a claim OR a thesis
4. develops the claim or thesis with at least two Reasons
5. develops each Reason with at least one example per reason

    Blog Entry 4 should be at least 400 words long.

D. REFLECTING ON PARAGRAPHING 
       In MSWord, type a brief reflection of what you have learned about paragraphing that answers the  questions below. Copy it and paste it as a COMMENT to this post.

• What did you learn from thinking and discussing Outlining and Paragraphing?
• What did you learn from writing a paragraph with your group?
• How could paragraphing make you a better writer?

HOMEWORK

Check "Evaluation of Introductory Unit" (see top right) to make sure you have completed all work before my evaluation this Sunday, March 25 starting at 9:00am.

Paragraphing (9/27)

9/29 Thursday: No Classes

Today we will:

• Review Claims and Thesis Statements 
• Discuss how to organize your essay around a thesis 
• Read about and discuss paragraphing 
• Review sample paragraphs in response to a CAT reading 
• Work in groups to create one paragraph for a second CAT readin
• Reflect on what we have learned
• Work individually to finish the summary and response to "I Know the Truth, So Don't Bother Me with Facts"

A. THINKING ABOUT THESIS AND ORGANIZATION (15 min)

1. For two minutes: look at the list of claims and the list of theses on page 13 of the packet. Which of these give you the most information as to what the essay will be about? Which are somewhat general or vague?
2. For two minutes: Look at outlines on pages 4 and 5: In what ways could outlines help you create a focused, organized paper? How does the "Willie Colon" thesis on page 4 help organize the ideas that follow?

B. THINKING ABOUT PARAGRAPHS (15 min)

1. Take three minutes to read and annotate pages 6-8 of the packet. Pay special attention to the section on EVIDENCE, letter B on page 6, --this is one element of the paragraph that you must learn to write well. 
2. Take two minutes  look at my development of paragraphs for a response to "How To Do One Thing at a Time" on pages 14-15 of the packet. 

C. GROUP WORK: DEVELOPING ONE PARAGRAPH FOR "IS GOOGLE MAKING US STUPID?" (30 min)

1. Read the instructions HERE.
2. Post your responses HERE.

D. REFLECTING ON PARAGRAPHING (5-7 min)
In MSWord, type a brief reflection of what you have learned about paragraphing that answers the questions below. Paste it HERE. Sign it with your first name or a pseudonym/nickname.

• What did you learn from thinking and discussing Outlining and Paragraphing?
• What did you learn from writing a paragraph with your group?
• How could paragraphing make you a better writer?

E. ON YOUR OWN: BLOG 2 (until the end of class)
Go back to Blog 2 and finish your response to "I Know the Truth, so Don't Bother me with Facts" using what you have learned about thesis statements and paragraphing. This blog entry should be at least 400 words long.

HOMEWORK

1. Complete Blog 4: Reflection on Skills
2. Check "Evaluation of Introductory Unit" (see top right) to make sure you have completed all work before my evaluation this Sunday, October 2 starting at 9:00am. 

LAB 1 (3/16)

To Do: Join G-mail Chat

• Open a new window, log into G-mail (if you are not logged in already), and then look for the Chat on the left-hand side. 
• If you cannot join, check THIS PAGE. Notice that adding G-mail will change your USERNAME to get into Blogger!!
• Type my G-mail address into the Chat search box: doctorxgc@gmail.com to invite me to chat

From Geek It To Me

For lab today:

Using the information you learned in the Annotating and Summarizing classes, as well as from my feedback to your Blog 1: Hype, write Blog 4: Revision of "Hype." Your goal is to make this revision at least 400 words. 

Feel free to expand on what you already have or start all over again. Use MSWord to check your word count (the new version shows it at the left bottom frame of the program). If you cannot finish the revision during the lab hour, it becomes Homework.

If you do not have a copy of the reading, click HERE

CAUTION: Blogger will NOT let you copy and paste back from MSWord, unless you are in the "Edit HTML" version of your blog post window.

Google Docs, Revising Blog 4 (10/5)

Google Favicon by Tiger Pixel

• Learning about Google Docs

• Revising Blog 4: Summary of Plato's Allegory of the Cave and “My Place in the Cave.” To do so:

• Review the Summary Evaluation Checklist 

• Check the response you got for your summary from the Media Lives student again. 

• Check the questions for "My Place in the Cave"

• In your revised Blog 4:

• Underline Plato’s thesis in the summary
• Underline YOUR thesis in “My Place in the Cave”
• Use 3 vocabulary words from the reading (write them in capital letters)
• In the part "My Place in the Cave," try to include at least TWO quotes from the reading 
• Make the whole blog entry 400 words

Lost? Here is the Format for the Revised Blog 4. Just cut and paste and fill out with your own writing.

Tying Loose Threads (9/27)

Today we review:

• Fact or Opinion?
• Summary:
This is the Summary Evaluation Checklist that the students of Media Lives will use to asses your summary of Blog 4, Plato's "Allegory of the Cave":

1. Is the main idea (thesis) of the passage clearly and correctly stated? 

2. Are the important supporting ideas stated correctly and fully? 

3. Are all (or nearly all) unimportant ideas excluded? 

4. Is the summary in the writer’s own words? 

5. Is the summary written with few grammar/spelling/style errors? 

6. Does the summary retain the sense and organization of the original passage? 

7. Is personal opinion included in the summary?

==> Before leaving for B333 or another computer lab:  give your e-mail adresses to Dr. X

Revision of Blog 4: Summary/Response to “The Allegory of the Cave” due at 5:30!

The Allegory of the Cave / My Place in the Cave (9/23)

• Read/Discuss: "The Allegory of the Cave" (pages 16-18 of packet) and the the short animated film version at http://platosallegory.com
• Blog 4: Summarize “The Allegory of the Cave” and respond to the prompt “My Place in the Cave” below. Please use 3 words from reading in your summary/response
• Freerice 2.0 GRAMMAR

Blog 4, “My Place in the Cave”: Think about YOUR own life and compare it to Socrates' description of the cave. At what stage are you? Still chained? Looking around in amazement at the shadows that are created for us? Walking out into the light? Trying to help people get free? How do you know where you are? What evidence in your life supports your claim that you are where you are? Where are you planning to go? All the way out? All the way back? Please write about 250+ words on this subject using relevant details and examples from YOUR OWN LIFE to support your claim.