Argument Unit - Credible Sources

The internet seems infinite. Even if you spent every second of every day viewing as much as you possibly could, you'd never get to the end of the internet. The amount of new content added to the internet today alone would be too much to view in a lifetime. Isn't that insane?

And ANYONE can add content to the internet at any time. Even me! All I had to do was provide an email address and a few personal details, and some fools gave me a free blog that I now use to mold the minds of the future leaders of our country. Scary, huh?

Luckily for you, I am a (mostly) sane person with (mostly) sane goals. I use this blog for good, not evil, but the same can't be said for everyone who adds content to the great and powerful World Wide Web. There are a lot of people out there with questionable motives, and sometimes it's hard to know what you can and can't believe on the internet.



Honest Abe sure knows how to drive home a point, doesn't he? ;)

As you're researching on the vast, infinite information highway, it's important to remember that not everything you click on is going to have the most rock solid information. You're going to come across a lot of information that is based purely on opinion instead of facts. OR, information that is stated as fact, but no facts are cited. Beware of the article (or video or infograph) that doesn't provide sources!



How about some examples, eh?

Unreliable sources:

• Wikipedia.org - Wikipedia is a great website, chock full of information on just about any subject you could think of, BUT it can be edited by anyone, so watch out for it. The folks who run Wikipedia do their best to fact check everything, but sometimes misinformation slips through the cracks. Your best bet is to check the links at the bottom of the Wikipedia page - a lot of times that's where the author got their information, and it's where you can get information, too.
• Debate.org - Great site for forming opinions and seeing what the public thinks about an issue, but that's about it. Please don't use debate.org as a source of information, because it is impossible to know if what anyone says there is true. 
• TheOnion.com - This is a satirical website, meaning all of the articles written here are a joke - usually a joke that pokes fun at a real issue. The thing is, they can sometimes sound serious, and people are fooled by satirical websites like The Onion all the time. If you think something that you're reading is satire, let us know, and we'll help you figure it out.
• Anything that seems too one-sided may not be credible. 
• Anything that doesn't site sources is unreliable.
• Anything that's out of date (more than a few years) is questionable. 

Credible sources:

• Newsela.com - We like it, and we want you to use it whenever possible. The articles are taken from newspapers around the world, which means the stories have been fact checked. See if they have anything about your topic!
• Local newspapers/news stations - They all have websites, and are usually a little less biased than national news channels.
• Websites that end in .gov (government) have information that has been thoroughly researched.
• National newspapers like The Washington Post, The New York Times, and USA Today also have information that has been thoroughly researched. 
• Websites that are CURRENT usually have more accurate information than those that are outdated.
• Websites that have links to their sources are usually more trustworthy.
• Websites that are objective (unbiased) tend to be more reliable than those that are biased.

Here is a handy checklist to use when checking the credibility of your sources. If you have any questions about whether a source is credible or not, please let me know!


Once you have finished this lesson and the Media Bias lesson, head on over to Google Classroom and start part two of the scavenger hunt. Good luck!

Argument Unit - Media Bias

As you are researching for your final project, you have probably come across some pretty biased information. What's bias? I'm so glad you asked! Allow me to illustrate bias with an example.

Right now, kids from both Team J and Team S are reading this lesson. So, let me ask you this: Who do you like better - me or Miss Mosher?

This is a hypothetical question - I don't need or want to know the answer. :) BUT I can guess what the results will be. By and large, Team J kids probably chose me and Team S kids probably chose Miss Mosher. And why? Because you're biased. Bias, more simply put, is favoritism. It would make sense for Team J kids to like me better because they see and interact with me every day. Likewise, Team S kids like Miss Mosher better for the same reasons. Most people like what they know.

What does this have to do with your research? Everything! The internet is media, and media is full of bias.

Typically, media is divided up into two major camps: liberal or conservative. Most media outlets fall somewhere between those two extremes. MSNBC is typically viewed as more liberal leaning, whereas FOX News is seen as more conservative.

But how do you know the difference? Student News Daily has a really great (and unbiased!) article that you can read here: http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/conservative-vs-liberal-beliefs/ Many of you chose controversial topics such as abortion, gun control, or marriage equality - each of which is discussed from both perspectives in the link above. It's a great read if you're wondering which side of things you typically fall on - liberal or conservative?

To help you understand bias more deeply, please view this prezi: https://prezi.com/o9ovcyvm8x28/media-bias/ The author of this prezi talks about different types of bias and provides great examples. Pay special attention to the blue underlining in the examples. This is something that will really help you determine whether your sources are biased or not, so view it more than once if you need to!

Once you've completed this lesson and the Credible Sources lesson, head back to your Google Classroom page, open part two of the scavenger hunt, and get searching!

Literary Essay - Gathering Evidence for Body Paragraphs

It's time to start thinking about body paragraphs, and the first best step is to reread your story and plan out your evidence. Watch the video below for a better understanding of how to think through your body paragraphs.

Now it's time to find your evidence. You will need a copy (digital or paper) of your story to read, of course, but rereading your story isn't enough. You have to be organized for your evidence to be effective. So, back in Google Classroom, use the attached organizer to gather and elaborate on the evidence you find. Good luck!

Try Not to Laugh

Oh my goodness. I can't even get past the first video without losing this challenge.

Try it!

Analyzing Fiction - Point of View and Dramatic Irony

Point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. Most stories are told from either first-person point of view or third-person point of view. “Death by Scrabble” is told in first-person point of view. (Remember, "Heading Home" was told in the rarely seen second-person point of view.)

Sometimes, a writer gives the reader more information than the narrator or a character has. By doing so, the writer creates dramatic irony, a forceful contrast between what the reader knows to be true and what the narrator or character believes.

Have you seen The Lion King? It was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and one of those rare Disney movies that my brothers and I all liked (they weren't usually all about the princesses), which means we ended up watching it A LOT. We even bought the soundtrack and made our mom play it over and over again in the car. I can still sing every word to every song from that movie. I'll spare you a concert. :)

What you might not have realized when you watched that movie as a kid is that it's an excellent example of dramatic irony. I know, I know - that's not a term you're familiar with, but just stick with me here. Read this hilarious comic for a definition of dramatic irony:

Source: theoatmeal.com

The comics below are good examples of dramatic irony as well. We (the audience) see and understand what's about to happen, but the characters do not.

So, how does that apply to The Lion King? Watch this:

And then watch this:

Scar tells Simba that he is responsible for Mufasa's death and convinces Simba that he needs to run away and never return. Simba spends the rest of the movie dealing with the overwhelming, soul-crushing guilt that he caused the stampede that killed his father, never knowing that Scar actually murdered Mufasa and scared Simba off so he could be the king. 

That's dramatic irony. The audience knows all along that Scar is the villain, but Simba never figures it out until the end. And that's important because, as everyone knows, Simba is the rightful king and the only one who can take power back from Scar after he's completely ruined the Pride Lands by over hunting to feed his hyena army.

Now that you know all about dramatic irony, head on over to our Google Classroom page for your assignment!

Analyzing Fiction - Suspense

Today in class we read the short story Heading Home by Ramsey Campbell. It's a very short story with a LOT of suspense packed in, and almost all of you were totally surprised by the ending. I love stories like that!

If you've ever watched a scary movie, read a creepy book, walked through the woods in the dark, or have been left home alone at night, you've probably experienced the sensation of suspense. It's that uncomfortable nervous feeling you have when you're not sure what's going to happen next, but you can almost guarantee that it won't be good.

In movies, suspenseful moments are pretty easy to identify. The following movie clips are some of the most famous suspenseful scenes of all time. Cue the foreboding music!

Jurassic Park (1997): Velociraptors want to know, "Why you no want to hang out with us, childrens?"

Jaws (1975): The shark attack that filled my nightmares. Warning: there will be blood.

The Dark Knight (2008): The Joker has a totally psychotic social experiment. Fun on a boat!

 

While movies have the luxury of music, lighting, and set design to create nail-biting, breath-taking, heart-pounding moments, in stories, we depend on the author to provide suspense for us. Not an easy task! So, how do they do it? I'm so glad you asked!

After you've read and annotated the short story Death by Scrabble by Charlie Fish, you will need to visit this website to learn all about how writers create tension (suspense) in a story. Taking notes on that page would be helpful, but is not required. Once you've studied that page closely, head on over to Google Classroom for your assignment!

Analyzing Fiction - Justifying Evidence

Howdy ya'll! Today we're going to be talking about how to justify the evidence you collected to prove your theme. Sound confusing? It's not so bad!

The first thing you need to understand is that not all evidence is created equal. The process you'll go through today will help you identify the information that you want to keep and weed out the stuff that doesn't really help make your case. So, let's talk a little bit about evidence, shall we?

Good evidence...

• directly supports the idea you are presenting.
• is clearly explained on how it supports. (This is what you're doing today!)
• is directly from the text.

Bad evidence...

• somewhat supports your idea, but it's a stretch. Not super clear; feels forced.
• is not explained; just listed. 
• is all summarized and very brief.
• doesn't support the complete idea you're presenting.

Ugly evidence...

• doesn't support your idea at all.
• seems random.
• has no explanation.
• just plain doesn't exist!

In the video below, I'll walk you through my process and then you'll do the same with your story. Remember, to prove a theme, you need to have evidence from throughout your entire story. So, you may have a theme that is strong, but maybe you haven't considered all of the evidence you could include.