"XXXL: Why Are We So Fat?" & CAT Revision

From DevelopmentCrossing.com

A. Advanced Claims, Reasons, and Evidence

You will have approximately 1 hour to complete this exercise. Read the WHOLE document before beginning your work HERE.



B. Blog 10: Revision of CAT Practice #2

Once you get your CAT response back from me:

1. Read my feedback. 
2. Determine ONE, or at most TWO areas of your writing that need the most work.
3. Plan on how you will revise your writing in the area(s) you have chosen. Your goal is to try to reach the next score level for each area your are revising. If you had a 2, figure out how to get a 3; if a 3, how to get a 4, and so on. 
4. Begin Blog 10: Revision of CAT Practice 2. You may  have to start your response all over or add/delete ideas as you see fit. The completed blog entry is due Tuesday, November 1 at the beginning of class. This blog entry must be 400+ words.

Feel free to ask questions at any point.

HOMEWORK

1. Finish Blogs 9-10.

Welcome to the Food Unit (10/25)

A. Thinking Critically

1. Thinking about Food Labeling
With a partner, examine the eggs crates, milk cartons, cereal boxes, etc. I have brought to class. One member of the pair type what you both consider KEY WORDS to describe the product HERE. I will make a Wordle out of your key words for our discussion later.


2. Thinking about the Causes and Consequences of Our Eating Habits
On your own, watch the two videos below: "Potato or Tomato?" from Jamie Oliver's television show Food Revolution and "Old McDonald's Farm," an advertisement by Compassion Over Killing, an animal rights organization. 


Once each video is over, write down the answers to the questions below on a piece of paper. 

• What was the main idea of the video?
• Were you surprised by the harsh reality the video revealed? Why? Why not?
• Who/What do you consider responsible for this reality? 
• Who benefits from this reality? Who suffers? 
• Is this reality necessary? Could the situation be different? How? 

B. Introducing the Food Unit and Class Discussion
Now check my introduction to the Food Unit HERE. On your piece of paper, write down any comments or questions that you may want to ask during the discussion.



C. Screening The Meatrix films and Writing Blog 9, Part I: Summarizing the Stories

Watch The Meatrix, The Meatrix: Revolting, and The Meatrix II 1/2 below. (Sometimes they are easier to watch on the original website: http://www.themeatrix.com ).

Write THREE 5-8 line paragraphs, the first summarizing the main points of The Meatrix, the second summarizing the main points of The Meatrix: Revolting, and the third summarizing the main points of The Meatrix II 1/2. If the dialogue is hard to understand, click on the Close Captioning symbol (CC) once the film begins to play.

1. The Meatrix


2. The Meatrix: Revolting


3. The Meatrix II 1/2




D. Blog 9, Part II: Responding to a Factory Farming Issue
Choose ONE issue connected to factory farming that interests you from The Meatrix website:

Additives
Animal Welfare
Antibiotics
Family Farms
Feed
Food Safety
Genetic Engineering
Organic
Pesticides
Waste
Water Pollution

Read about the issue and take notes. Then, write 250+ words arguing why this issue is significant. Your piece must have

• a CLAIM,
• at least TWO REASONS to support the claim, and
• at least TWO QUOTATIONS from the webpage where you got your notes. Use this format: According to The Meatrix website, _______________.

Do not forget to use quotation marks when needed!

Paragraphing (3/23)

Today we will:

• 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 reading
• Work individually to finish the summary and response to "I Know the Truth, So Don't Bother Me with Facts"
• Reflect on what we have learned

I.  Understanding Paragraphing
1. On your own, read and annotate the information on pages 5-7 of your packet (for the transitions, identify at least five you'd like to use in your papers). You may also want to check this visual representation of the main parts of a paragraph. Be prepared to share your ideas and questions with the class.

2. Re-acquaint yourself with "How To Do One Thing at a Time" on page 9 of the packet. Now examine the document "Developing a Claim and a Thesis" below. Be prepared to share your ideas and questions with the class.

Developing a Claim and a Thesis for "How To Do One Thing at a Time"

II. Writing a Group Paragraph

With your group, choose ONE of the reasons in your THESIS responding to "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" and expand it as a paragraph with a topic sentence, details, and some kind of conclusion or transition to a new paragraph. Once the group is satisfied with the paragraph, copy and paste it under your group section in the Google Docs below.

Google Docs: Group Work for "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"

III. Blog 8: Developing Your Summary and Response to "I Know the Truth, so Don't Bother Me with Facts"

1. From the Google Docs below, copy all the work you have done so far in response to "I Know the Truth, so Don't Bother Me with Facts" to an MSWord document or a blog entry (your choice).

Google Docs: Individual Work for "I Know the Truth, so Don't Bother Me with Facts."

2. Develop your response into a full-blown essay of 400+ words. As you write, try to use the writing strategies we have covered in the last weeks. Post it as Blog 8: "I Know the Truth..."

10-15 minutes before class ends:

Go to your blog and create Blog 9: Reflecting on Paragraphing. In this blog entry, please answer the following questions:

• What have you learned from the paragraphing class?
• How do you know that you have learned it?
• Can you describe how you learned it? 
• What helped your learning? What made it difficult?
• How do you feel after today's class? 

Summarizing the three Meatrix films; responding to 360 tour of a factory farm (10/26)

Today you will compose Blog 9: Summary of The Meatrix. For it, you need to

• Write THREE paragraphs, the first summarizing the main points of  The Meatrix, the second summarizing the main points of The Meatrix: Revolting, and the third summarizing the main points of The Meatrix II 1/2. (To view the films, click HERE)
• Explore The Meatrix's 360-degree interactive tour of a factory farm, clicking on items to learn more about its context and history and then write a 250-word response to ONE of the items in the tour