Inquiry and Infographics

Today, students created an inquiry question about something they would like to research that has to do with consumerism. They are going to research to answer their inquiry question and create an infographic. Please see below for more information about this project that we will be working on through next Thursday, October 27.

What is an infographic?
An infographic is information delivered through graphics, rather than in a written report. We choose to assign infographics to support the development of 21st century skills by aligning informative writing ability with visual literacy. Creating an infographic deepens critical thinking skills and encourages students to make connections and create structures that may not manifest in a written report.

Project Dates: Thursday, October 20 through Thursday, October 27

Final infographic due: Thursday, October 27

Standards being assessed through this project:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.7

Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry where appropriate.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.8

Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.9

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Example student-created infographics:

The Dangers of Fracking

Women's Illiteracy & Education

Are We Obsessed with Our Technology?

Panda Mania

My History as a Reader

RADCAB

1. 1. Write this word and definition down in your notebook:
2. 
   
3. CREDIBILITY: 
4. (noun)

• the quality of being trusted and believed in

• the quality of being convincing or believable

2. In your notes, write down the definition for each part of RADCAB. Use this resource to help you

3. Play this game to practice.


When you are finished, go back to the work you did not finish yesterday! 

Consumerism

How does consumerism influence my life?

Hint: Did your mouth just water a bit? Did you say, "I love Sour Patch Kids!"











For today's work, please work independently in your spiral.

Step 1:

Click on the link to get to the Symbaloo: https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/consumerism1

You must click the box that says "Start using this webmix".

If it asks you to create an account, just click "X" in the top right corner.

Step 2:

In your spiral, answer the questions that are on the sheet at your table about the articles, videos, and games you choose.

I will be checking your spiral to see how productive you are today. A sub + computer does not equal FREE TIME.

If your name is written down by the sub you will be serving a detention and calling home.

Living on One Dollar - Netflix Documentary

Today we started watching the Netflix documentary: Living on One Dollar. Students are using learning experience organizers (LEOs) to take notes on the documentary. They will be able to meet in groups to discuss the documentary when it is finished, before writing constructed responses designed to assess their ability to track how events and people are introduced in non-fiction text.

Following are some resources for students and parents who want to learn more about the documentary, and of course if you have Netflix you are welcome to view it yourself (or with your child!) -- we highly recommend it!

Living On One Dollar Website

Summary: Living on One Dollar follows the journey of four friends as they set out to live on just $1 a day for two months in rural Guatemala. They battle hunger, parasites, and extreme financial stress as they attempt to survive life on the edge. An unimaginable reality for most young American, the challenges they face are real and plague over 1.1 billion people around the world. While the friends quickly learn there are no easy answers, the generosity and strength of Rosa, a 20 year old woman, and Chino, a 12 year old boy, give them resilient hope that there are effective ways to make a difference.

Supplemental Articles:
The Reality of a Dollar-a-Day Existence
What if you had to survive on a dollar a day?
What's it really like? Four Americans find out

Narrative Improvements

Narratives are being handed back in class on Monday, Oct. 10. Students will have one week to make any revisions they would like to improve their scores. Students are being directed to the resources that were used during their mini lessons along with the feedback I've written on their stories to make improvements. They will not be able to work on narratives in class as we have moved on to another unit.

All revised narratives are due Monday, October 17, and after this date we will close the gradebook on Unit 1. Students have an improvement plan sheet they will need to turn in to indicate that I should re-grade their narrative.

This is the blog post that contains all of the narrative resources.

Close Reading

With the start of Unit 2, we have been working on the skill of CLOSE READING. Close reading helps when reading non-fiction high-concept texts, poetry, song lyrics, news articles, or any other type of short text that may be difficult to understand or analyze by just reading it over once.

Close reading is: reading a text multiple times for a different purpose each time, in order to analyze and more deeply understand the text. (For more on what Close Reading is, click here.)

We practiced with an article about Jose Fernandez and the impact he had on the city of Miami as a Cuban refugee. We are now moving on to close reading two articles to prepare for a Socratic Seminar on Friday. (For more on what a Socratic Seminar is, click here.) This will be a graded Seminar, and I've attached the rubric as well.

Baseball Star's Death Cuts Short Successful Career and Inspiring Attitude (practice close reading)

Sheriff's Posse Goes on School Patrol (preparation for seminar)

Dark Valley: Life in the Shadows of Poverty (preparation for seminar)

Socratic Seminar rubric

Unit 2: Critical Consumers

Click here to explore our new unit! Be sure to take notes in your spiral that will help guide you through this new learning over the course of a month.

THIS IS THE LINK --> UNIT 2: BEING CRITICAL CONSUMERS